South from Hudson Bay An Adventure and Mystery Story for Boys
By Ethel Claire Brill
A stretch of log fencing in a bog was not their idea of fortification. However, it had the interest of novelty, for it was very different from anything they had ever seen. The logs were set upright and close together, and above this stockade rose the flat, leaded roofs of the buildings. Near the fort stood a cluster of strange dwellings, quite unlike the Eskimo summer huts of stones, sod, and skins with which the Swiss had become familiar since reaching Arctic waters.
These queer skin tents were roughly cone-shaped, and the ends of the framework of poles projected at the peak. They were Cree Indian summer lodges. Men were carrying sacks and boxes up the wide boardwalk from the dock to the fort gates. The unloading of the supply ships had begun. The Perier family were among the last of the immigrants to go ashore. Very much like a homeless wanderer, motherless Elise Perier felt as she stood on the river bank beside her father, with Max clinging to her hand and their scanty belongings piled around them.
It was good to be on land again, but this was such a strange land. Despite cramped quarters, poor food, seasickness, and the other hardships of the voyage, Lord Wellington seemed almost homelike compared to this wild, barren country. Elise tried bravely to smile at her father and Walter, but she felt she must cry instead. Captain Mai was calling them. “Go right up to the fort, Perier. I want to get you all together.”
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Ethel Claire Brill
Ethel Claire Brill was born on January 19, 1877, into a family already making its mark in the development of the Minnesota city of St. Paul and the wider environs of Ramsey County.
Biography.
Her father, William S. Brill, and uncle, Hascal Russell Brill (who became a well-known and much-respected district judge), were “English” Canadians born in Quebec, Canada. Their family immigrated to Minnesota around 1860, where William married Anna Sheldon a few years later. Ethel was the youngest of three children. Her brother William was a journalist, most remembered for his coverage of the Leech Lake Ojibwe Uprising in 1898, but whose historical mementoes and manuscripts left to Minnesota historical societies confirm a colourful career up through the Russo-Japanese War and World War I.
Ethel graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Literature degree in 1899, a noteworthy achievement for a woman of her generation. At the time of her graduation, she was listed as a book reviewer for a local newspaper, a task she did for various publications throughout her writing career—with a specialization in reviewing books pertinent to the geography and history of Minnesota and Great Lakes regions. Ethel C. Brill is best known to modern readers for her exciting tale of New France. Madeleine Takes Command—the portrayal of a historical happening quite likely inspired by her own family’s roots in this area of Canada.
Her other meticulously researched books, whether historical adventures or more factual accounts, all show a similar deep interest in the history of the Northwest—Minnesota, the Great Lakes regions of Wisconsin, Michigan, and over into the Dakotas and parts of central Canada. Miss Brill died in November 1962 at 85 in her home state of Minnesota.
Ethel Claire Brill
