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diff --git a/11413-0.txt b/11413-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..da28d97 --- /dev/null +++ b/11413-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14219 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11413 *** + +THE REFUGEES + +A TALE OF TWO CONTINENTS + +A. CONAN DOYLE + + + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PART I. + +IN THE OLD WORLD. + +Chapter + + I. THE MAN FROM AMERICA. + + II. A MONARCH IN DESHABILLE + + III. THE HOLDING OF THE DOOR + + IV. THE FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE + + V. CHILDREN OF BELIAL + + VI. A HOUSE OF STRIFE + + VII. THE NEW WORLD AND THE OLD + + VIII. THE RISING SUN + + IX. LE ROI S'AMUSE + + X. AN ECLIPSE AT VERSAILLES + + XI. THE SUN REAPPEARS + + XII. THE KING RECEIVES + + XIII. THE KING HAS IDEAS + + XIV. THE LAST CARD + + XV. THE MIDNIGHT MISSION + + XVI. "WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES" + + XVII. THE DUNGEON OF PORTILLAC + + XVIII. A NIGHT OF SURPRISES + + XIX. IN THE KING'S CABINET + + XX. THE TWO FRANCOISES + + XXI. THE MAN IN THE CALECHE + + XXII. THE SCAFFOLD OF PORTILLAC + + XXIII. THE FALL OF THE CATINATS + + + +PART II. + +IN THE NEW WORLD. + +Chapter + + XXIV. THE START OF THE "GOLDEN ROD" + + XXV. A BOAT OF THE DEAD + + XXVI. THE LAST PORT + + XXVII. A DWINDLING ISLAND + + XXVIII. IN THE POOL OF QUEBEC + + XXIX. THE VOICE AT THE PORT-HOLE + + XXX. THE INLAND WATERS + + XXXI. THE HAIRLESS MAN + + XXXII. THE LORD OF SAINTE MARIE + + XXXIII. THE SLAYING OF BROWN MOOSE + + XXXIV. THE MEN OF BLOOD + + XXXV. THE TAPPING OF DEATH + + XXXVI. THE TAKING OF THE STOCKADE + + XXXVII. THE COMING OF THE FRIAR + +XXXVIII. THE DINING-HALL OF SAINTE MARIE + + XXXIX. THE TWO SWIMMERS + + XL. THE END + + +NOTE ON THE HUEGENOTS AND THEIR DISPERSION + +NOTE ON THE FUTURE OF LOUIS, MADAME DE MAINTENON, AND MADAME DE MONTESPAN + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +THE MAN FROM AMERICA. + +It was the sort of window which was common in Paris about the end of the +seventeenth century. It was high, mullioned, with a broad transom +across the centre, and above the middle of the transom a tiny coat of +arms--three caltrops gules upon a field argent--let into the +diamond-paned glass. Outside there projected a stout iron rod, from +which hung a gilded miniature of a bale of wool which swung and squeaked +with every puff of wind. Beyond that again were the houses of the other +side, high, narrow, and prim, slashed with diagonal wood-work in front, +and topped with a bristle of sharp gables and corner turrets. Between +were the cobble-stones of the Rue St. Martin and the clatter of +innumerable feet. + +Inside, the window was furnished with a broad bancal of brown stamped +Spanish leather, where the family might recline and have an eye from +behind the curtains on all that was going forward in the busy world +beneath them. Two of them sat there now, a man and a woman, but their +backs were turned to the spectacle, and their faces to the large and +richly furnished room. From time to time they stole a glance at each +other, and their eyes told that they needed no other sight to make them +happy. + +Nor was it to be wondered at, for they were a well-favoured pair. +She was very young, twenty at the most, with a face which was pale, +indeed, and yet of a brilliant pallor, which was so clear and fresh, and +carried with it such a suggestion of purity and innocence, that one +would not wish its maiden grace to be marred by an intrusion of colour. +Her features were delicate and sweet, and her blue-black hair and long +dark eyelashes formed a piquant contrast to her dreamy gray eyes and her +ivory skin. In her whole expression there was something quiet and +subdued, which was accentuated by her simple dress of black taffeta, and +by the little jet brooch and bracelet which were her sole ornaments. +Such was Adele Catinat, the only daughter of the famous Huguenot +cloth-merchant. + +But if her dress was sombre, it was atoned for by the magnificence of +her companion. He was a man who might have been ten years her senior, +with a keen soldier face, small well-marked features, a carefully +trimmed black moustache, and a dark hazel eye which might harden to +command a man, or soften to supplicate a woman, and be successful at +either. His coat was of sky-blue, slashed across with silver braidings, +and with broad silver shoulder-straps on either side. A vest of white +calamanca peeped out from beneath it, and knee-breeches of the same +disappeared into high polished boots with gilt spurs upon the heels. +A silver-hilted rapier and a plumed cap lying upon a settle beside him +completed a costume which was a badge of honour to the wearer, for any +Frenchman would have recognised it as being that of an officer in the +famous Blue Guard of Louis the Fourteenth. A trim, dashing soldier he +looked, with his curling black hair and well-poised head. Such he had +proved himself before now in the field, too, until the name of Amory de +Catinat had become conspicuous among the thousands of the valiant lesser +_noblesse_ who had flocked into the service of the king. + +They were first cousins, these two, and there was just sufficient +resemblance in the clear-cut features to recall the relationship. +De Catinat was sprung from a noble Huguenot family, but having lost his +parents early he had joined the army, and had worked his way without +influence and against all odds to his present position. His father's +younger brother, however, finding every path to fortune barred to him +through the persecution to which men of his faith were already +subjected, had dropped the "de" which implied his noble descent, and he +had taken to trade in the city of Paris, with such success that he was +now one of the richest and most prominent citizens of the town. It was +under his roof that the guardsman now sat, and it was his only daughter +whose white hand he held in his own. + +"Tell me, Adele," said he, "why do you look troubled?" + +"I am not troubled, Amory," + +"Come, there is just one little line between those curving brows. Ah, I +can read you, you see, as a shepherd reads the sky." + +"It is nothing, Amory, but--" + +"But what?" + +"You leave me this evening." + +"But only to return to-morrow." + +"And must you really, really go to-night?" + +"It would be as much as my commission is worth to be absent. Why, I am +on duty to-morrow morning outside the king's bedroom! After chapel-time +Major de Brissac will take my place, and then I am free once more." + +"Ah, Amory, when you talk of the king and the court and the grand +ladies, you fill me with wonder." + +"And why with wonder?" + +"To think that you who live amid such splendour should stoop to the +humble room of a mercer." + +"Ah, but what does the room contain?" + +"There is the greatest wonder of all. That you who pass your days amid +such people, so beautiful, so witty, should think me worthy of your +love, me, who am such a quiet little mouse, all alone in this great +house, so shy and so backward! It is wonderful!" + +"Every man has his own taste," said her cousin, stroking the tiny hand. +"It is with women as with flowers. Some may prefer the great brilliant +sunflower, or the rose, which is so bright and large that it must ever +catch the eye. But give me the little violet which hides among the +mosses, and yet is so sweet to look upon, and sheds its fragrance round +it. But still that line upon your brow, dearest." + +"I was wishing that father would return." + +"And why? Are you so lonely, then?" + +Her pale face lit up with a quick smile. "I shall not be lonely until +to-night. But I am always uneasy when he is away. One hears so much +now of the persecution of our poor brethren." + +"Tut! my uncle can defy them." + +"He has gone to the provost of the Mercer Guild about this notice of the +quartering of the dragoons." + +"Ah, you have not told me of that." + +"Here it is." She rose and took up a slip of blue paper with a red seal +dangling from it which lay upon the table. His strong, black brows +knitted together as he glanced at it. + +"Take notice," it ran, "that you, Theophile Catinat, cloth-mercer of +the Rue St. Martin, are hereby required to give shelter and rations to +twenty men of the Languedoc Blue Dragoons under Captain Dalbert, until +such time as you receive a further notice. [Signed] De Beaupre +(Commissioner of the King)." + +De Catinat knew well how this method of annoying Huguenots had been +practised all over France, but he had flattered himself that his own +position at court would have insured his kinsman from such an outrage. +He threw the paper down with an exclamation of anger. + +"When do they come?" + +"Father said to-night." + +"Then they shall not be here long. To-morrow I shall have an order to +remove them. But the sun has sunk behind St. Martin's Church, and I +should already be upon my way." + +"No, no; you must not go yet." + +"I would that I could give you into your father's charge first, for I +fear to leave you alone when these troopers may come. And yet no excuse +will avail me if I am not at Versailles. But see, a horseman has +stopped before the door. He is not in uniform. Perhaps he is a +messenger from your father." + +The girl ran eagerly to the window, and peered out, with her hand +resting upon her cousin's silver-corded shoulder. + +"Ah!" she cried, "I had forgotten. It is the man from America. +Father said that he would come to-day." + +"The man from America!" repeated the soldier, in a tone of surprise, and +they both craned their necks from the window. The horseman, a sturdy, +broad-shouldered young man, clean-shaven and crop-haired, turned his +long, swarthy face and his bold features in their direction as he ran +his eyes over the front of the house. He had a soft-brimmed gray hat +of a shape which was strange to Parisian eyes, but his sombre clothes +and high boots were such as any citizen might have worn. Yet his +general appearance was so unusual that a group of townsfolk had already +assembled round him, staring with open mouth at his horse and himself. +A battered gun with an extremely long barrel was fastened by the stock +to his stirrup, while the muzzle stuck up into the air behind him. +At each holster was a large dangling black bag, and a gaily coloured +red-slashed blanket was rolled up at the back of his saddle. His horse, +a strong-limbed dapple-gray, all shiny with sweat above, and all caked +with mud beneath, bent its fore knees as it stood, as though it were +overspent. The rider, however, having satisfied himself as to the +house, sprang lightly out of his saddle, and disengaging his gun, his +blanket, and his bags, pushed his way unconcernedly through the gaping +crowd and knocked loudly at the door. + +"Who is he, then?" asked De Catinat. "A Canadian? I am almost one +myself. I had as many friends on one side of the sea as on the other. +Perchance I know him. There are not so many white faces yonder, and in +two years there was scarce one from the Saguenay to Nipissing that I had +not seen." + +"Nay, he is from the English provinces, Amory. But he speaks our +tongue. His mother was of our blood." + +"And his name?" + +"Is Amos--Amos--ah, those names! Yes, Green, that was it--Amos Green. +His father and mine have done much trade together, and now his son, who, +as I understand, has lived ever in the woods, is sent here to see +something of men and cities. Ah, my God! what can have happened now?" + +A sudden chorus of screams and cries had broken out from the passage +beneath, with the shouting of a man and the sound of rushing steps. +In an instant De Catinat was half-way down the stairs, and was staring +in amazement at the scene in the hall beneath. + +Two maids stood, screaming at the pitch of their lungs, at either side. +In the centre the aged man-servant Pierre, a stern old Calvinist, whose +dignity had never before been shaken, was spinning round, waving his +arms, and roaring so that he might have been heard at the Louvre. +Attached to the gray worsted stocking which covered his fleshless calf +was a fluffy black hairy ball, with one little red eye glancing up, and +the gleam of two white teeth where it held its grip. At the shrieks, +the young stranger, who had gone out to his horse, came rushing back, +and plucking the creature off, he slapped it twice across the snout, and +plunged it head-foremost back into the leather bag from which it had +emerged. + +"It is nothing," said he, speaking in excellent French; "it is only a +bear." + +"Ah, my God!" cried Pierre, wiping the drops from his brow. "Ah, it has +aged me five years! I was at the door, bowing to monsieur, and in a +moment it had me from behind." + +"It was my fault for leaving the bag loose. The creature was but pupped +the day we left New York, six weeks come Tuesday. Do I speak with my +father's friend, Monsieur Catinat?" + +"No, monsieur," said the guardsman, from the staircase. "My uncle is +out, but I am Captain de Catinat, at your service, and here is +Mademoiselle Catinat, who is your hostess." + +The stranger ascended the stair, and paid his greetings to them both +with the air of a man who was as shy as a wild deer, and yet who had +steeled himself to carry a thing through. He walked with them to the +sitting-room, and then in an instant was gone again, and they heard his +feet thudding upon the stairs. Presently he was back, with a lovely +glossy skin in his hands. "The bear is for your father, mademoiselle," +said he. "This little skin I have brought from America for you. It is +but a trifle, and yet it may serve to make a pair of mocassins or a +pouch." + +Adele gave a cry of delight as her hands sank into the depths of its +softness. She might well admire it, for no king in the world could have +had a finer skin. "Ah, it is beautiful, monsieur," she cried; "and what +creature is it? and where did it come from?" + +"It is a black fox. I shot it myself last fall up near the Iroquois +villages at Lake Oneida." + +She pressed it to her cheek, her white face showing up like marble +against its absolute blackness. "I am sorry my father is not here to +welcome you, monsieur," she said; "but I do so very heartily in his +place. Your room is above. Pierre will show you to it, if you wish." + +"My room? For what?" + +"Why, monsieur, to sleep in!" + +"And must I sleep in a room?" + +De Catinat laughed at the gloomy face of the American. + +"You shall not sleep there if you do not wish," said he. + +The other brightened at once and stepped across to the further window, +which looked down upon the court-yard. "Ah," he cried. "There is a +beech-tree there, mademoiselle, and if I might take my blanket out +yonder, I should like it better than any room. In winter, indeed, one +must do it, but in summer I am smothered with a ceiling pressing down +upon me." + +"You are not from a town then?" said De Catinat. + +"My father lives in New York--two doors from the house of Peter +Stuyvesant, of whom you must have heard. He is a very hardy man, and he +can do it, but I--even a few days of Albany or of Schenectady are enough +for me. My life has been in the woods." + +"I am sure my father would wish you to sleep where you like and to do +what you like, as long as it makes you happy." + +"I thank you, mademoiselle. Then I shall take my things out there, and +I shall groom my horse." + +"Nay, there is Pierre." + +"I am used to doing it myself." + +"Then I will come with you," said De Catinat, "for I would have a word +with you. Until to-morrow, then, Adele, farewell!" + +"Until to-morrow, Amory." + +The two young men passed downstairs together, and the guardsman followed +the American out into the yard. + +"You have had a long journey," he said. + +"Yes; from Rouen." + +"Are you tired?" + +"No; I am seldom tired." + +"Remain with the lady, then, until her father comes back." + +"Why do you say that?" + +"Because I have to go, and she might need a protector." + +The stranger said nothing, but he nodded, and throwing off his black +coat, set to work vigorously rubbing down his travel-stained horse. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +A MONARCH IN DESHABILLE. + +It was the morning after the guardsman had returned to his duties. +Eight o'clock had struck on the great clock of Versailles, and it was +almost time for the monarch to rise. Through all the long corridors and +frescoed passages of the monster palace there was a subdued hum and +rustle, with a low muffled stir of preparation, for the rising of the +king was a great state function in which many had a part to play. +A servant with a steaming silver saucer hurried past, bearing it to +Monsieur de St. Quentin, the state barber. Others, with clothes thrown +over their arms, bustled down the passage which led to the ante-chamber. +The knot of guardsmen in their gorgeous blue and silver coats +straightened themselves up and brought their halberds to attention, +while the young officer, who had been looking wistfully out of the +window at some courtiers who were laughing and chatting on the terraces, +turned sharply upon his heel, and strode over to the white and gold door +of the royal bedroom. + +He had hardly taken his stand there before the handle was very gently +turned from within, the door revolved noiselessly upon its hinges, and a +man slid silently through the aperture, closing it again behind him. + +"Hush!" said he, with his finger to his thin, precise lips, while his +whole clean-shaven face and high-arched brows were an entreaty and a +warning. "The king still sleeps." + +The words were whispered from one to another among the group who had +assembled outside the door. The speaker, who was Monsieur Bontems, head +_valet de Chambre_, gave a sign to the officer of the guard, and led him +into the window alcove from which he had lately come. + +"Good-morning, Captain de Catinat," said he, with a mixture of +familiarity and respect in his manner. + +"Good-morning, Bontems. How has the king slept?" + +"Admirably." + +"But it is his time." + +"Hardly." + +"You will not rouse him yet?" + +"In seven and a half minutes." The valet pulled out the little round +watch which gave the law to the man who _was_ the law to twenty millions +of people. + +"Who commands at the main guard?" + +"Major de Brissac." + +"And you will be here?" + +"For four hours I attend the king." + +"Very good. He gave me some instructions for the officer of the guard, +when he was alone last night after the _petit coucher_. He bade me to +say that Monsieur de Vivonne was not to be admitted to the _grand +lever_. You are to tell him so." + +"I shall do so." + +"Then, should a note come from _her_--you understand me, the new one--" + +"Madame de Maintenon?" + +"Precisely. But it is more discreet not to mention names. Should she +send a note, you will take it and deliver it quietly when the king gives +you an opportunity." + +"It shall be done." + +"But if the other should come, as is possible enough--the other, you +understand me, the former--" + +"Madame de Montespan." + +"Ah, that soldierly tongue of yours, captain! Should she come, I say, +you will gently bar her way, with courteous words, you understand, but +on no account is she to be permitted to enter the royal room." + +"Very good, Bontems." + +"And now we have but three minutes." + +He strode through the rapidly increasing group of people in the corridor +with an air of proud humility as befitted a man who, if he was a valet, +was at least the king of valets, by being the valet of the king. Close +by the door stood a line of footmen, resplendent in their powdered wigs, +red plush coats, and silver shoulder knots. + +"Is the officer of the oven here?" asked Bontems. + +"Yes, sir," replied a functionary who bore in front of him an enamelled +tray heaped with pine shavings. + +"The opener of the shutters?" + +"Here, sir." + +"The remover of the taper?" + +"Here, sir." + +"Be ready for the word." He turned the handle once more, and slipped +into the darkened room. + +It was a large square apartment, with two high windows upon the further +side, curtained across with priceless velvet hangings. Through the +chinks the morning sun shot a few little gleams, which widened as they +crossed the room to break in bright blurs of light upon the +primrose-tinted wall. A large arm-chair stood by the side of the +burnt-out fire, shadowed over by the huge marble mantel-piece, the back +of which was carried up twining and curving into a thousand arabesque +and armorial devices until it blended with the richly painted ceiling. +In one corner a narrow couch with a rug thrown across it showed where +the faithful Bontems had spent the night. + +In the very centre of the chamber there stood a large four-post bed, +with curtains of Gobelin tapestry looped back from the pillow. A square +of polished rails surrounded it, leaving a space some five feet in width +all round between the enclosure and the bedside. Within this enclosure, +or _ruelle_, stood a small round table, covered over with a white +napkin, upon which lay a silver platter and an enamelled cup, the one +containing a little Frontiniac wine and water, the other bearing three +slices of the breast of a chicken, in case the king should hunger during +the night. + +As Bontems passed noiselessly across the room, his feet sinking into the +moss-like carpet, there was the heavy close smell of sleep in the air, +and he could near the long thin breathing of the sleeper. He passed +through the opening in the rails, and stood, watch in hand, waiting for +the exact instant when the iron routine of the court demanded that the +monarch should be roused. Beneath him, from under the costly green +coverlet of Oriental silk, half buried in the fluffy Valenciennes lace +which edged the pillow, there protruded a round black bristle of +close-cropped hair, with the profile of a curving nose and petulant lip +outlined against the white background. The valet snapped his watch, and +bent over the sleeper. + +"I have the honour to inform your Majesty that it is half-past eight," +said he. + +"Ah!" The king slowly opened his large dark-brown eyes, made the sign of +the cross, and kissed a little dark reliquary which he drew from under +his night-dress. Then he sat up in bed, and blinked about him with the +air of a man who is collecting his thoughts. + +"Did you give my orders to the officer of the guard, Bontems?" he asked. + +"Yes, sire." + +"Who is on duty?" + +"Major de Brissac at the main guard, and Captain de Catinat in the +corridor." + +"De Catinat! Ah, the young man who stopped my horse at Fontainebleau. +I remember him. You may give the signal, Bontems." + +The chief valet walked swiftly across to the door and threw it open. In +rushed the officer of the ovens and the four red-coated, white-wigged +footmen, ready-handed, silent-footed, each intent upon his own duties. +The one seized upon Bontem's rug and couch, and in an instant had +whipped them off into an ante-chamber, another had carried away the +_en cas_ meal and the silver taper-stand; while a third drew back the +great curtains of stamped velvet and let a flood of light into the +apartment. Then, as the flames were already flickering among the pine +shavings in the fireplace, the officer of the ovens placed two round +logs crosswise above them, for the morning air was chilly, and withdrew +with his fellow-servants. + +They were hardly gone before a more august group entered the +bed-chamber. Two walked together in front, the one a youth little over +twenty years of age, middle-sized, inclining to stoutness, with a slow, +pompous bearing, a well-turned leg, and a face which was comely enough +in a mask-like fashion, but which was devoid of any shadow of +expression, except perhaps of an occasional lurking gleam of mischievous +humour. He was richly clad in plum-coloured velvet, with a broad band +of blue silk; across his breast, and the glittering edge of the order of +St. Louis protruding from under it. His companion was a man of forty, +swarthy, dignified, and solemn, in a plain but rich dress of black silk, +with slashes of gold at the neck and sleeves. As the pair faced the +king there was sufficient resemblance between the three faces to show +that they were of one blood, and to enable a stranger to guess that the +older was Monsieur, the younger brother of the king, while the other was +Louis the Dauphin, his only legitimate child, and heir to a throne to +which in the strange workings of Providence neither he nor his sons were +destined to ascend. + +Strong as was the likeness between the three faces, each with the +curving Bourbon nose, the large full eye, and the thick Hapsburg +under-lip, their common heritage from Anne of Austria, there was still a +vast difference of temperament and character stamped upon their +features. The king was now in his six-and-fortieth year, and the +cropped black head was already thinning a little on the top, and shading +away to gray over the temples. He still, however, retained much of the +beauty of his youth, tempered by the dignity and sternness which +increased with his years. His dark eyes were full of expression, and +his clear-cut features were the delight of the sculptor and the painter. +His firm and yet sensitive mouth and his thick, well-arched brows gave +an air of authority and power to his face, while the more subdued +expression which was habitual to his brother marked the man whose whole +life had been spent in one long exercise of deference and +self-effacement. The dauphin, on the other hand, with a more regular +face than his father, had none of that quick play of feature when +excited, or that kingly serenity when composed, which had made a shrewd +observer say that Louis, if he were not the greatest monarch that ever +lived, was at least the best fitted to act the part. + +Behind the king's son and the king's brother there entered a little +group of notables and of officials whom duty had called to this daily +ceremony. There was the grand master of the robes, the first lord of +the bed-chamber, the Duc du Maine, a pale youth clad in black velvet, +limping heavily with his left leg, and his little brother, the young +Comte de Toulouse, both of them the illegitimate sons of Madame de +Montespan and the king. Behind them, again, was the first valet of the +wardrobe, followed by Fagon, the first physician, Telier, the head +surgeon, and three pages in scarlet and gold who bore the royal clothes. +Such were the partakers in the family entry, the highest honour which +the court of France could aspire to. + +Bontems had poured on the king's hands a few drops of spirits of wine, +catching them again in a silver dish; and the first lord of the +bedchamber had presented the bowl of holy water with which he made the +sign of the cross, muttering to himself the short office of the Holy +Ghost. Then, with a nod to his brother and a short word of greeting to +the dauphin and to the Due du Maine, he swung his legs over the side of +the bed and sat in his long silken night-dress, his little white feet +dangling from beneath it--a perilous position for any man to assume, +were it not that he had so heart-felt a sense of his own dignity that he +could not realise that under any circumstances it might be compromised +in the eyes of others. So he sat, the master of France, yet the slave +to every puff of wind, for a wandering draught had set him shivering and +shaking. Monsieur de St. Quentin, the noble barber, flung a purple +dressing-gown over the royal shoulders, and placed a long many-curled +court wig upon his head, while Bontems drew on his red stockings and +laid before him his slippers of embroidered velvet. The monarch thrust +his feet into them, tied his dressing-gown, and passed out to the +fireplace, where he settled himself down in his easy-chair, holding out +his thin delicate hands towards the blazing logs, while the others stood +round in a semicircle, waiting for the _grand lever_ which was to +follow. + +"How is this, messieurs?" the king asked suddenly, glancing round him +with a petulant face. "I am conscious of a smell of scent. Surely none +of you would venture to bring perfume into the presence, knowing, as you +must all do, how offensive it is to me." + +The little group glanced from one to the other with protestations of +innocence. The faithful Bontems, however, with his stealthy step, had +passed along behind them, and had detected the offender. + +"My lord of Toulouse, the smell comes from you," he said. + +The Comte de Toulouse, a little ruddy-cheeked lad, flushed up at the +detection. + +"If you please, sire, it is possible that Mademoiselle de Grammont may +have wet my coat with her casting-bottle when we all played together at +Marly yesterday," he stammered. "I had not observed it, but if it +offends your Majesty--" + +"Take it away! take it away!" cried the king. "Pah! it chokes and +stifles me! Open the lower casement, Bontems. No; never heed, now that +he is gone. Monsieur de St. Quentin, is not this our shaving morning?" + +"Yes, sire; all is ready." + +"Then why not proceed? It is three minutes after the accustomed time. +To work, sir; and you, Bontems, give word for the _grand lever_." + +It was obvious that the king was not in a very good humour that morning. +He darted little quick questioning glances at his brother and at his +sons, but whatever complaint or sarcasm may have trembled upon his lips, +was effectually stifled by De St. Quentin's ministrations. With the +nonchalance born of long custom, the official covered the royal chin +with soap, drew the razor swiftly round it, and sponged over the surface +with spirits of wine. A nobleman then helped to draw on the king's +black velvet _haut-de-chausses_, a second assisted in arranging them, +while a third drew the night-gown over the shoulders, and handed the +royal shirt, which had been warming before the fire. His +diamond-buckled shoes, his gaiters, and his scarlet inner vest were +successively fastened by noble courtiers, each keenly jealous of his own +privilege, and over the vest was placed the blue ribbon with the cross +of the Holy Ghost in diamonds, and that of St. Louis tied with red. +To one to whom the sight was new, it might have seemed strange to see +the little man, listless, passive, with his eyes fixed thoughtfully on +the burning logs, while this group of men, each with a historic name, +bustled round him, adding a touch here and a touch there, like a knot of +children with a favourite doll. The black undercoat was drawn on, the +cravat of rich lace adjusted, the loose overcoat secured, two +handkerchiefs of costly point carried forward upon an enamelled saucer, +and thrust by separate officials into each side pocket, the silver and +ebony cane laid to hand, and the monarch was ready for the labours of +the day. + +During the half-hour or so which had been occupied in this manner there +had been a constant opening and closing of the chamber door, and a +muttering of names from the captain of the guard to the attendant in +charge, and from the attendant in charge to the first gentleman of the +chamber, ending always in the admission of some new visitor. Each as he +entered bowed profoundly three times, as a salute to majesty, and then +attached himself to his own little clique or coterie, to gossip in a low +voice over the news, the weather, and the plans of the day. Gradually +the numbers increased, until by the time the king's frugal first +breakfast of bread and twice watered wine had been carried in, the large +square chamber was quite filled with a throng of men many of whom had +helped to make the epoch the most illustrious of French history. +Here, close by the king, was the harsh but energetic Louvois, +all-powerful now since the death of his rival Colbert, discussing a +question of military organisation with two officers, the one a tall and +stately soldier, the other a strange little figure, undersized and +misshapen, but bearing the insignia of a marshal of France, and owning a +name which was of evil omen over the Dutch frontier, for Luxembourg was +looked upon already as the successor of Conde, even as his companion +Vauban was of Turenne. Beside them, a small white-haired clerical with +a kindly face, Pere la Chaise, confessor to the king, was whispering his +views upon Jansenism to the portly Bossuet, the eloquent Bishop of +Meaux, and to the tall thin young Abbe de Fenelon, who listened with a +clouded brow, for it was suspected that his own opinions were tainted +with the heresy in question. There, too, was Le Brun, the painter, +discussing art in a small circle which contained his fellow-workers +Verrio and Laguerre, the architects Blondel and Le Notre, and sculptors +Girardon, Puget, Desjardins, and Coysevox, whose works had done so much +to beautify the new palace of the king. Close to the door, Racine, with +his handsome face wreathed in smiles, was chatting with the poet Boileau +and the architect Mansard, the three laughing and jesting with the +freedom which was natural to the favourite servants of the king, the +only subjects who might walk unannounced and without ceremony into and +out of his chamber. + +"What is amiss with him this morning?" asked Boileau in a whisper, +nodding his head in the direction of the royal group. "I fear that his +sleep has not improved his temper." + +"He becomes harder and harder to amuse," said Racine, shaking his head. +"I am to be at Madame De Maintenon's room at three to see whether a page +or two of the _Phedre_ may not work a change." + +"My friend," said the architect, "do you not think that madame herself +might be a better consoler than your _Phedre_?" + +"Madame is a wonderful woman. She has brains, she has heart, she has +tact--she is admirable." + +"And yet she has one gift too many." + +"And that is?" + +"Age." + +"Pooh! What matter her years when she can carry them like thirty? +What an eye! What an arm! And besides, my friends, he is not himself a +boy any longer." + +"Ah, but that is another thing." + +"A man's age is an incident, a woman's a calamity." + +"Very true. But a young man consults his eye, and an older man his ear. +Over forty, it is the clever tongue which wins; under it, the pretty +face." + +"Ah, you rascal! Then you have made up your mind that five-and-forty +years with tact will hold the field against nine-and-thirty with beauty. +Well, when your lady has won, she will doubtless remember who were the +first to pay court to her." + +"But I think that you are wrong, Racine." + +"Well, we shall see." + +"And if you are wrong--" + +"Well, what then?" + +"Then it may be a little serious for you." + +"And why?" + +"The Marquise de Montespan has a memory." + +"Her influence may soon be nothing more." + +"Do not rely too much upon it, my friend. When the Fontanges came up +from Provence, with her blue eyes and her copper hair, it was in every +man's mouth that Montespan had had her day. Yet Fontanges is six feet +under a church crypt, and the marquise spent two hours with the king +last week. She has won once, and may again." + +"Ah, but this is a very different rival. This is no slip of a country +girl, but the cleverest woman in France." + +"Pshaw, Racine, you know our good master well, or you should, for you +seem to have been at his elbow since the days of the Fronde. Is he a +man, think you, to be amused forever by sermons, or to spend his days at +the feet of a lady of that age, watching her at her tapestry-work, and +fondling her poodle, when all the fairest faces and brightest eyes of +France are as thick in his _salons_ as the tulips in a Dutch flower-bed? +No, no, it will be the Montespan, or if not she, some younger beauty." + +"My dear Boileau, I say again that her sun is setting. Have you not +heard the news?" + +"Not a word." + +"Her brother, Monsieur de Vivonne, has been refused the _entre_." + +"Impossible!" + + +"But it is a fact." + +"And when?" + +"This very morning." + +"From whom had you it?" + +"From De Catinat, the captain of the guard. He had his orders to bar +the way to him." + +"Ha! then the king does indeed mean mischief. That is why his brow is +so cloudy this morning, then. By my faith, if the marquise has the +spirit with which folk credit her, he may find that it was easier to win +her than to slight her." + +"Ay; the Mortemarts are no easy race to handle." + +"Well, heaven send him a safe way out of it! But who is this gentleman? +His face is somewhat grimmer than those to which the court is +accustomed. Ha! the king catches sight of him, and Louvois beckons to +him to advance. By my faith, he is one who would be more at his ease in +a tent than under a painted ceiling." + +The stranger who had attracted Racine's attention was a tall thin man, +with a high aquiline nose, stern fierce gray eyes, peeping out from +under tufted brows, and a countenance so lined and marked by age, care, +and stress of weather that it stood out amid the prim courtier faces +which surrounded it as an old hawk might in a cage of birds of gay +plumage. He was clad in a sombre-coloured suit which had become usual +at court since the king had put aside frivolity and Fontanges, but the +sword which hung from his waist was no fancy rapier, but a good +brass-hilted blade in a stained leather-sheath, which showed every sign +of having seen hard service. He had been standing near the door, his +black-feathered beaver in his hand, glancing with a half-amused, +half-disdainful expression at the groups of gossips around him, but at +the sign from the minister of war he began to elbow his way forward, +pushing aside in no very ceremonious fashion all who barred his passage. + +Louis possessed in a high degree the royal faculty of recognition. +"It is years since I have seen him, but I remember his face well," said +he, turning to his minister. "It is the Comte de Frontenac, is it not?" + +"Yes, sire," answered Louvois; "it is indeed Louis de Buade, Comte de +Frontenac, and formerly governor of Canada." + +"We are glad to see you once more at our _lever_," said the monarch, as +the old nobleman stooped his head, and kissed the white hand which was +extended to him. "I hope that the cold of Canada has not chilled the +warmth of your loyalty." + +"Only death itself, sire, would be cold enough for that." + +"Then I trust that it may remain to us for many long years. We would +thank you for the care and pains which you have spent upon our province, +and if we have recalled you, it is chiefly that we would fain hear from +your own lips how all things go there. And first, as the affairs of God +take precedence of those of France, how does the conversion of the +heathen prosper?" + +"We cannot complain, sire. The good fathers, both Jesuits and +Recollets, have done their best, though indeed they are both rather +ready to abandon the affairs of the next world in order to meddle with +those of this." + +"What say you to that, father?" asked Louis, glancing, with a twinkle of +the eyes, at his Jesuit confessor. + +"I say, sire, that when the affairs of this world have a bearing upon +those of the next, it is indeed the duty of a good priest, as of every +other good Catholic, to guide them right." + +"That is very true, sire," said De Frontenac, with an angry flush upon +his swarthy cheek; "but as long as your Majesty did me the honour to +intrust those affairs no my own guidance, I would brook no interference +in the performance of my duties, whether the meddler were clad in coat +or cassock." + +"Enough, sir, enough!" said Louis sharply. "I had asked you about the +missions." + +"They prosper, sire. There are Iroquois at the Sault and the mountain, +Hurons at Lorette, and Algonquins along the whole river _cotes_ from +Tadousac in the East to Sault la Marie, and even the great plains of the +Dakotas, who have all taken the cross as their token. Marquette has +passed down the river of the West to preach among the Illinois, and +Jesuits have carried the Gospel to the warriors of the Long House in +their wigwams at Onondaga." + +"I may add, your Majesty," said Pere la Chaise, "that in leaving the +truth there, they have too often left their lives with it." + +"Yes, sire, it is very true," cried De Frontenac cordially. "Your +Majesty has many brave men within your domains, but none braver than +these. They have come back up the Richelieu River from the Iroquois +villages with their nails gone, their fingers torn out, a cinder where +their eye should be, and the scars of the pine splinters as thick upon +their bodies as the _fleurs-de-lis_ on yonder curtain. Yet, with a +month of nursing from the good Ursulines, they have used their remaining +eye to guide them back to the Indian country once more, where even the +dogs have been frightened at their haggled faces and twisted limbs." + +"And you have suffered this?" cried Louis hotly. "You allow these +infamous assassins to live?" + +"I have asked for troops, sire." + +"And I have sent some." + +"One regiment." + +"The Carignan-Saliere. I have no better in my service. + +"But more is needed, sire." + +"There are the Canadians themselves. Have you not a militia? Could you +not raise force enough to punish these rascally murderers of God's +priests? I had always understood that you were a soldier." + +De Frontenac's eyes flashed, and a quick answer seemed for an instant to +tremble upon his lips, but with an effort the fiery old man restrained +himself. "Your Majesty will learn best whether I am a soldier or not," +said he, "by asking those who have seen me at Seneffe, Mulhausen, +Salzbach, and half a score of other places where I had the honour of +upholding your Majesty's cause." + +"Your services have not been forgotten." + +"It is just because I am a soldier and have seen something of war that I +know how hard it is to penetrate into a country much larger than the +Lowlands, all thick with forest and bog, with a savage lurking behind +every tree, who, if he has not learned to step in time or to form line, +can at least bring down the running caribou at two hundred paces, and +travel three leagues to your one. And then when you have at last +reached their villages, and burned their empty wigwams and a few acres +of maize fields, what the better are you then? You can but travel back +again to your own land with a cloud of unseen men lurking behind you, +and a scalp-yell for every straggler. You are a soldier yourself, sire. +I ask you if such a war is an easy task for a handful of soldiers, with +a few _censitaires_ straight from the plough, and a troop of +_coureurs-de-bois_ whose hearts are all the time are with their traps +and their beaver-skins." + +"No, no; I am sorry if I spoke too hastily," said Louis. "We shall look +into the matter at our council." + +"Then it warms my heart to hear you say so," cried the old governor. +"There will be joy down the long St. Lawrence, in white hearts and in +red, when it is known that their great father over the waters has +turned his mind towards them." + +"And yet you must not look for too much, for Canada has been a heavy +cost to us, and we have many calls in Europe." + +"Ah, sire, I would that you could see that great land. When your +Majesty has won a campaign over here, what may come of it? Glory, a few +miles of land Luxembourg, Strassburg, one more city in the kingdom; but +over there, with a tenth of the cost and a hundredth part of the force, +there is a world ready to your hand. It is so vast, sire, so rich, so +beautiful! Where are there such hills, such forests, such rivers? +And it is all for us if we will but take it. Who is there to stand in +our way? A few nations of scattered Indians and a thin strip of English +farmers and fishermen. Turn your thoughts there, sire, and in a few +years you would be able to stand upon your citadel at Quebec, and to say +there is one great empire here from the snows of the North to the warm +Southern Gulf, and from the waves of the ocean to the great plains +beyond Marquette's river, and the name of this empire is France, and her +king is Louis, and her flag is the _fleurs-de-lis_." + +Louis's cheek had flushed at this ambitious picture, and he had leaned +forward in his chair, with flashing eyes, but he sank back again as the +governor concluded. + +"On my word, count," said he, "you have caught something of this gift of +Indian eloquence of which we have heard. But about these English folk. +They are Huguenots, are they not?" + +"For the most part. Especially in the North." + +"Then it might be a service to Holy Church to send them packing. They +have a city there, I am told. New--New--How do they call it?" + +"New York, sire. They took it from the Dutch." + +"Ah, New York. And have I not heard of another? Bos--Bos--" + +"Boston, sire." + +"That is the name. The harbours might be of service to us. Tell me, +now, Frontenac," lowering his voice so that his words might be audible +only to the count, Louvois, and the royal circle, "what force would you +need to clear these people out? One regiment, two regiments, and +perhaps a frigate or two?" + +But the ex-governor shook his grizzled head. "You do not know them, +sire," said he. "They are stern folk, these. We in Canada, with all +your gracious help, have found it hard to hold our own. Yet these men +have had no help, but only hindrance, with cold and disease, and barren +lands, and Indian wars, but they have thriven and multiplied until the +woods thin away in front of them like ice in the sun, and their church +bells are heard where but yesterday the wolves were howling. They are +peaceful folk, and slow to war, but when they have set their hands to +it, though they may be slack to begin, they are slacker still to cease. +To put New England into your Majesty's hands, I would ask fifteen +thousand of your best troops and twenty ships of the line." + +Louis sprang impatiently from his chair, and caught up his cane. +"I wish," said he, "that you would imitate these people who seem to you +to be so formidable, in their excellent habit of doing things for +themselves. The matter may stand until our council. Reverend father, +it has struck the hour of chapel, and all else may wait until we have +paid out duties to heaven." Taking a missal from the hands of an +attendant, he walked as fast as his very high heels would permit him, +towards the door, the court forming a lane through which he might pass, +and then closing up behind to follow him in order of precedence. + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +THE HOLDING OF THE DOOR. + +Whilst Louis had been affording his court that which he had openly +stated to be the highest of human pleasures--the sight of the royal +face--the young officer of the guard outside had been very busy passing +on the titles of the numerous applicants for admission, and exchanging +usually a smile or a few words of greeting with them, for his frank, +handsome face was a well-known one at the court. With his merry eyes +and his brisk bearing, he looked like a man who was on good terms with +Fortune. Indeed, he had good cause to be so, for she had used him well. +Three years ago he had been an unknown subaltern bush-fighting with +Algonquins and Iroquois in the wilds of Canada. An exchange had brought +him back to France and into the regiment of Picardy, but the lucky +chance of having seized the bridle of the king's horse one winter's day +in Fontainebleau when the creature was plunging within a few yards of a +deep gravel-pit had done for him what ten campaigns might have failed to +accomplish. Now as a trusted officer of the king's guard, young, +gallant, and popular, his lot was indeed an enviable one. And yet, with +the strange perversity of human nature, he was already surfeited with +the dull if magnificent routine of the king's household, and looked back +with regret to the rougher and freer days of his early service. +Even there at the royal door his mind had turned away from the frescoed +passage and the groups of courtiers to the wild ravines and foaming +rivers of the West, when suddenly his eyes lit upon a face which he had +last seen among those very scenes. + +"Ah, Monsieur de Frontenac!" he cried. "You cannot have forgotten me." + +"What! De Catinat! Ah, it is a joy indeed to see a face from over the +water! But there is a long step between a subaltern in the Carignan and +a captain in the guards. You have risen rapidly." + +"Yes; and yet I may be none the happier for it. There are times when I +would give it all to be dancing down the Lachine Rapids in a birch +canoe, or to see the red and the yellow on those hill-sides once more at +the fall of the leaf." + +"Ay," sighed De Frontenac. "You know that my fortunes have sunk as +yours have risen. I have been recalled, and De la Barre is in my place. +But there will be a storm there which such a man as he can never stand +against. With the Iroquois all dancing the scalp-dance, and Dongan +behind them in New York to whoop them on, they will need me, and they +will find me waiting when they send. I will see the king now, and try +if I cannot rouse him to play the great monarch there as well as here. +Had I but his power in my hands, I should change the world's history." + +"Hush! No treason to the captain of the guard," cried De Catinat, +laughing, while the stern old soldier strode past him into the king's +presence. + +A gentleman very richly dressed in black and silver had come up during +this short conversation, and advanced, as the door opened, with the +assured air of a man whose rights are beyond dispute. Captain de +Catinat, however, took a quick step forward, and barred him off from the +door. + +"I am very sorry, Monsieur de Vivonne," said he, "but you are forbidden +the presence." + +"Forbidden the presence! I? You are mad!" He stepped back with gray +face and staring eyes, one shaking hand half raised in protest, + +"I assure you that it is his order." + +"But it is incredible. It is a mistake." + +"Very possibly." + +"Then you will let me past." + +"My orders leave me no discretion." + +"If I could have one word with the king." + +"Unfortunately, monsieur, it is impossible." + +"Only one word." + +"It really does not rest with me, monsieur." + +The angry nobleman stamped his foot, and stared at the door as though he +had some thoughts of forcing a passage. Then turning on his heel, he +hastened away down the corridor with the air of a man who has come to a +decision. + +"There, now," grumbled De Catinat to himself, as he pulled at his thick +dark moustache, "he is off to make some fresh mischief. I'll have his +sister here presently, as like as not, and a pleasant little choice +between breaking my orders and making an enemy of her for life. +I'd rather hold Fort Richelieu against the Iroquois than the king's door +against an angry woman. By my faith, here _is_ a lady, as I feared! +Ah, Heaven be praised! it is a friend, and not a foe. Good-morning, +Mademoiselle Nanon." + +"Good-morning, Captain de Catinat." + +The new-comer was a tall, graceful brunette, her fresh face and +sparkling black eyes the brighter in contrast with her plain dress. + +"I am on guard, you see. I cannot talk with you." + +"I cannot remember having asked monsieur to talk with me." + +"Ah, but you must not pout in that pretty way, or else I cannot help +talking to you," whispered the captain. "What is this in your hand, +then?" + +"A note from Madame de Maintenon to the king. You will hand it to him, +will you not?" + +"Certainly, mademoiselle. And how is Madame, your mistress?" + +"Oh, her director has been with her all the morning, and his talk is +very, very good; but it is also very, very sad. We are not very +cheerful when Monsieur Godet has been to see us. But I forget monsieur +is a Huguenot, and knows nothing of directors." + +"Oh, but I do not trouble about such differences. I let the Sorbonne +and Geneva fight it out between them. Yet a man must stand by his +family, you know." + +"Ah! if Monsieur could talk to Madame de Maintenon a little! She would +convert him." + +"I would rather talk to Mademoiselle Nanon, but if--" + +"Oh!" There was an exclamation, a whisk of dark skirts, and the +soubrette had disappeared down a side passage. + +Along the broad, lighted corridor was gliding a very stately and +beautiful lady, tall, graceful, and exceedingly haughty. She was richly +clad in a bodice of gold-coloured camlet and a skirt of gray silk +trimmed with gold and silver lace. A handkerchief of priceless Genoa +point half hid and half revealed her beautiful throat, and was fastened +in front by a cluster of pearls, while a rope of the same, each one +worth a bourgeois' income, was coiled in and out through her luxuriant +hair. The lady was past her first youth, it is true, but the +magnificent curves of her queenly figure, the purity of her complexion, +the brightness of her deep-lashed blue eyes and the clear regularity of +her features enabled her still to claim to be the most handsome as well +as the most sharp-tongued woman in the court of France. So beautiful +was her bearing, the carriage of her dainty head upon her proud white +neck, and the sweep of her stately walk, that the young officer's fears +were overpowered in his admiration, and he found it hard, as he raised +his hand in salute, to retain the firm countenance which his duties +demanded. + +"Ah, it is Captain de Catinat," said Madame de Montespan, with a smile +which was more embarrassing to him than any frown could have been. + +"Your humble servant, marquise." + +"I am fortunate in finding a friend here, for there has been some +ridiculous mistake this morning." + +"I am concerned to hear it." + +"It was about my brother, Monsieur de Vivonne. It is almost too +laughable to mention, but he was actually refused admission to the +_lever_." + +"It was my misfortune to have to refuse him, madame." + +"You, Captain de Catinat? And by what right?" She had drawn up her +superb figure, and her large blue eyes were blazing with indignant +astonishment. + +"The king's order, madame." + +"The king! Is it likely that the king would cast a public slight upon +my family? From whom had you this preposterous order?" + +"Direct from the king through Bontems." + +"Absurd! Do you think that the king would venture to exclude a +Mortemart through the mouth of a valet? You have been dreaming, +captain." + +"I trust that it may prove so, madame." + +"But such dreams are not very fortunate to the dreamer. Go, tell the +king that I am here, and would have a word with him." + +"Impossible, madame." + +"And why?" + +"I have been forbidden to carry a message." + +"To carry any message?" + +"Any from you, madame." + +"Come, captain, you improve. It only needed this insult to make the +thing complete. You may carry a message to the king from any +adventuress, from any decayed governess"--she laughed shrilly at her +description of her rival--"but none from Francoise de Mortemart, +Marquise de Montespan?" + +"Such are my orders, madame. It pains me deeply to be compelled to +carry them out." + +"You may spare your protestations, captain. You may yet find that you +have every reason to be deeply pained. For the last time, do you refuse +to carry my message to the king?" + +"I must, madame." + +"Then I carry it myself." + +She sprang forward at the door, but he slipped in front of her with +outstretched arms. + +"For God's sake, consider yourself, madame!" he entreated. "Other eyes +are upon you." + +"Pah! Canaille!" She glanced at the knot of Switzers, whose sergeant +had drawn them off a few paces, and who stood open-eyed, staring at the +scene. + +"I tell you that I _will_ see the king." + +"No lady has ever been at the morning _lever_." + +"Then I shall be the first." + +"You will ruin me if you pass." + +"And none the less, I shall do so." + +The matter looked serious. De Catinat was a man of resource, but for +once he was at his wits' end. Madame de Montespan's resolution, as it +was called in her presence, or effrontery, as it was termed behind her +back, was proverbial. If she attempted to force her way, would he +venture to use violence upon one who only yesterday had held the +fortunes of the whole court in the hollow of her hand, and who, with her +beauty, her wit, and her energy, might very well be in the same position +to-morrow? If she passed him, then his future was ruined with the king, +who never brooked the smallest deviation from his orders. On the other +hand, if he thrust her back, he did that which could never be forgiven, +and which would entail some deadly vengeance should she return to power. +It was an unpleasant dilemma. But a happy thought flashed into his mind +at the very moment when she, with clenched hand and flashing eyes, was +on the point of making a fresh attempt to pass him. + +"If madame would deign to wait," said he soothingly, "the king will be +on his way to the chapel in an instant." + +"It is not yet time." + +"I think the hour has just gone." + +"And why should I wait, like a lackey?" + +"It is but a moment, madame." + +"No, I shall not wait." She took a step forward towards the door. + +But the guardsman's quick ear had caught the sound of moving feet from +within, and he knew that he was master of the situation. + +"I will take Madame's message," said he. + +"Ah, you have recovered your senses! Go, tell the king that I wish to +speak with him." + +He must gain a little time yet. "Shall I say it through the lord in +waiting?" + +"No; yourself." + +"Publicly?" + +"No, no; for his private ear." + +"Shall I give a reason for your request?" + +"Oh, you madden me! Say what I have told you, and at once." + +But the young officer's dilemma was happily over. + +At that instant the double doors were swung open, and Louis appeared in +the opening, strutting forwards on his high-heeled shoes, his stick +tapping, his broad skirts flapping, and his courtiers spreading out +behind him. He stopped as he came out, and turned to the captain of the +guard. + +"You have a note for me?" + +"Yes, sire." + +The monarch slipped it into the pocket of his scarlet undervest, and was +advancing once more when his eyes fell upon Madame de Montespan standing +very stiff and erect in the middle of the passage. A dark flush of +anger shot to his brow, and he walked swiftly past her without a word; +but she turned and kept pace with him down the corridor. + +"I had not expected this honour, madame," said he. + +"Nor had I expected this insult, sire." + +"An insult, madame? You forget yourself." + +"No; it is you who have forgotten me, sire." + +"You intrude upon me." + +"I wished to hear my fate from your own lips," she whispered. "I can +bear to be struck myself, sire, even by him who has my heart. But it is +hard to hear that one's brother has been wounded through the mouths of +valets and Huguenot soldiers for no fault of his, save that his sister +has loved too fondly." + +"It is no time to speak of such things." + +"When can I see you, then, sire?" + +"In your chamber." + +"At what hour?" + +"At four." + +"Then I shall trouble your Majesty no further." She swept him one of +the graceful courtesies for which she was famous, and turned away down a +side passage with triumph shining in her eyes. Her beauty and her +spirit had never failed her yet, and now that she had the monarch's +promise of an interview she never doubted that she could do as she had +done before, and win back the heart of the man, however much against the +conscience of the king. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +THE FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE. + +Louis had walked on to his devotions in no very charitable frame of +mind, as was easily to be seen from his clouded brow and compressed +lips. He knew his late favourite well, her impulsiveness, her audacity, +her lack of all restraint when thwarted or opposed. She was capable of +making a hideous scandal, of turning against him that bitter tongue +which had so often made him laugh at the expense of others, perhaps even +of making some public exposure which would leave him the butt and gossip +of Europe. He shuddered at the thought. At all costs such a +catastrophe must be averted. And yet how could he cut the tie which +bound them? He had broken other such bonds as these; but the gentle La +Valliere had shrunk into a convent at the very first glance which had +told her of waning love. That was true affection. But this woman would +struggle hard, fight to the bitter end, before she would quit the +position which was so dear to her. She spoke of her wrongs. What were +her wrongs? In his intense selfishness, nurtured by the eternal +flattery which was the very air he breathed, he could not see that the +fifteen years of her life which he had absorbed, or the loss of the +husband whom he had supplanted, gave her any claim upon him. In his +view he had raised her to the highest position which a subject could +occupy. Now he was weary of her, and it was her duty to retire with +resignation, nay, even with gratitude for past favours. She should have +a pension, and the children should be cared for. What could a +reasonable woman ask for more? + +And then his motives for discarding her were so excellent. He turned +them over in his mind as he knelt listening to the Archbishop of Paris +reciting the Mass, and the more he thought, the more he approved. His +conception of the deity was as a larger Louis, and of heaven as a more +gorgeous Versailles. If he exacted obedience from his twenty millions, +then he must show it also to this one who had a right to demand it of +him. On the whole, his conscience acquitted him. But in this one matter +he had been lax. From the first coming of his gentle and forgiving +young wife from Spain, he had never once permitted her to be without a +rival. Now that she was dead, the matter was no better. One favourite +had succeeded another, and if De Montespan had held her own so long, it +was rather from her audacity than from his affection. But now Father La +Chaise and Bossuet were ever reminding him that he had topped the summit +of his life, and was already upon that downward path which leads to the +grave. His wild outburst over the unhappy Fontanges had represented the +last flicker of his passions. The time had come for gravity and for +calm, neither of which was to be expected in the company of Madame de +Montespan. + +But he had found out where they were to be enjoyed. From the day when +De Montespan had introduced the stately and silent widow as a governess +for his children, he had found a never-failing and ever-increasing +pleasure in her society. In the early days of her coming he had sat for +hours in the rooms of his favourite, watching the tact and sweetness of +temper with which her dependent controlled the mutinous spirits of the +petulant young Duc du Maine and the mischievous little Comte de +Toulouse. He had been there nominally for the purpose of superintending +the teaching, but he had confined himself to admiring the teacher. +And then in time he too had been drawn into the attraction of that +strong sweet nature, and had found himself consulting her upon points of +conduct, and acting upon her advice with a docility which he had never +shown before to minister or mistress. For a time he had thought that +her piety and her talk of principle might be a mere mask, for he was +accustomed to hypocrisy all round him. It was surely unlikely that a +woman who was still beautiful, with as bright an eye and as graceful a +figure as any in his court, could, after a life spent in the gayest +circles, preserve the spirit of a nun. But on this point he was soon +undeceived, for when his own language had become warmer than that of +friendship, he had been met by an iciness of manner and a brevity of +speech which had shown him that there was one woman at least in his +dominions who had a higher respect for herself than for him. And +perhaps it was better so. The placid pleasures of friendship were very +soothing after the storms of passion. To sit in her room every +afternoon, to listen to talk which was not tainted with flattery, and to +hear opinions which were not framed to please his ear, were the +occupations now of his happiest hours. And then her influence over him +was all so good! She spoke of his kingly duties, of his example to his +subjects, of his preparation for the World beyond, and of the need for +an effort to snap the guilty ties which he had formed. She was as good +as a confessor--a confessor with a lovely face and a perfect arm. + +And now he knew that the time had come when he must choose between her +and De Montespan. Their influences were antagonistic. They could not +continue together. He stood between virtue and vice, and he must +choose. Vice was very attractive too, very comely, very witty, and +holding him by that chain of custom which is so hard to shake off. +There were hours when his nature swayed strongly over to that side, and +when he was tempted to fall back into his old life. But Bossuet and +Pere la Chaise were ever at his elbows to whisper encouragement, and, +above all, there was Madame de Maintenon to remind him of what was due +to his position and to his six-and-forty years. Now at last he had +braced himself for a supreme effort. There was no safety for him while +his old favourite was at court. He knew himself too well to have any +faith in a lasting change so long as she was there ever waiting for his +moment of weakness. She must be persuaded to leave Versailles, if +without a scandal it could be done. He would be firm when he met her in +the afternoon, and make her understand once for all that her reign was +forever over. + +Such were the thoughts which ran through the king's head as he bent over +the rich crimson cushion which topped his _prie-dieu_ of carved oak. +He knelt in his own enclosure to the right of the altar, with his guards +and his immediate household around him, while the court, ladies and +cavaliers, filled the chapel. Piety was a fashion now, like dark +overcoats and lace cravats, and no courtier was so worldly-minded as not +to have had a touch of grace since the king had taken to religion. +Yet they looked very bored, these soldiers and seigneurs, yawning and +blinking over the missals, while some who seemed more intent upon their +devotions were really dipping into the latest romance of Scudery or +Calpernedi, cunningly bound up in a sombre cover. The ladies, indeed, +were more devout, and were determined that all should see it, for each +had lit a tiny taper, which she held in front of her on the plea of +lighting up her missal, but really that her face might be visible to the +king, and inform him that hers was a kindred spirit. A few there may +have been, here and there, whose prayers rose from their hearts, and who +were there of their own free will; but the policy of Louis had changed +his noblemen into courtiers and his men of the world into hypocrites, +until the whole court was like one gigantic mirror which reflected his +own likeness a hundredfold. + +It was the habit of Louis, as he walked back from the chapel, to receive +petitions or to listen to any tales of wrong which his subjects might +bring to him. His way, as he returned to his rooms, lay partly across +an open space, and here it was that the suppliants were wont to +assemble. On this particular morning there were but two or three--a +Parisian, who conceived himself injured by the provost of his guild, a +peasant whose cow had been torn by a huntsman's dog, and a farmer who +had had hard usage from his feudal lord. A few questions and then a +hurried order to his secretary disposed of each case, for if Louis was a +tyrant himself, he had at least the merit that he insisted upon being +the only one within his kingdom. He was about to resume his way again, +when an elderly man, clad in the garb of a respectable citizen, and with +a strong deep-lined face which marked him as a man of character, darted +forward, and threw himself down upon one knee in front of the monarch. + +"Justice, sire, justice!" he cried. + +"What is this, then?" asked Louis. "Who are you, and what is it that +you want?" + +"I am a citizen of Paris, and I have been cruelly wronged." + +"You seem a very worthy person. If you have indeed been wronged you +shall have redress. What have you to complain of?" + +"Twenty of the Blue Dragoons of Languedoc are quartered in my house, +with Captain Dalbert at their head. They have devoured my food, stolen +my property, and beaten my servants, yet the magistrates will give me no +redress.' + +"On my life, justice seems to be administered in a strange fashion in +our city of Paris!" exclaimed the king wrathfully. + +"It is indeed a shameful case," said Bossuet. + +"And yet there may be a very good reason for it," suggested Pere la +Chaise. "I would suggest that your Majesty should ask this man his +name, his business, and why it was that the dragoons were quartered upon +him." + +"You hear the reverend father's question." + +"My name, sire, is Catinat, by trade I am a merchant in cloth, and I am +treated in this fashion because I am of the Reformed Church." + +"I thought as much!" cried the confessor. + +"That alters matters," said Bossuet. + +The king shook his head and his brow darkened. "You have only yourself +to thank, then. The remedy is in your hands." + +"And how, sire?" + +"By embracing the only true faith." + +"I am already a member of it, sire." + +The king stamped his foot angrily. "I can see that you are a very +insolent heretic," said he. "There is but one Church in France, and +that is my Church. If you are outside that, you cannot look to me for +aid." + +"My creed is that of my father, sire, and of my grandfather." + +"If they have sinned it is no reason why you should. My own grandfather +erred also before his eyes were opened." + +"But he nobly atoned for his error," murmured the Jesuit. + +"Then you will not help me, sire?" + +"You must first help yourself." + +The old Huguenot stood up with a gesture of despair, while the king +continued on his way, the two ecclesiastics, on either side of him, +murmuring their approval into his ears. + +"You have done nobly, sire." + +"You are truly the first son of the Church." + +"You are the worthy successor of St. Louis." + +But the king bore the face of a man who was not absolutely satisfied +with his own action. + +"You do not think, then, that these people have too hard a measure?" +said he. + +"Too hard? Nay, your Majesty errs on the side of mercy." + +"I hear that they are leaving my kingdom in great numbers." + +"And surely it is better so, sire; for what blessing can come upon a +country which has such stubborn infidels within its boundaries?" + +"Those who are traitors to God can scarce be loyal to the king," +remarked Bossuet. "Your Majesty's power would be greater if there were +no temple, as they call their dens of heresy, within your dominions." + +"My grandfather promised them protection. They are shielded, as you +well know, by the edict which be gave at Nantes." + +"But it lies with your Majesty to undo the mischief that has been done." + +"And how?" + +"By recalling the edict." + +"And driving into the open arms of my enemies two millions of my best +artisans and of my bravest servants. No, no, father, I have, I trust, +every zeal for Mother-Church, but there is some truth in what De +Frontenac said this morning of the evil which comes from mixing the +affairs of this world with those of the next. How say you, Louvois?" + +"With all respect to the Church, sire, I would say that the devil has +given these men such cunning of hand and of brain that they are the best +workers and traders in your Majesty's kingdom. I know not how the state +coffers are to be filled if such tax-payers go from among us. Already +many have left the country and taken their trades with them. If all +were to go, it would be worse for us than a lost campaign." + +"But," remarked Bossuet, "if it were once known that the king's will had +been expressed, your Majesty may rest assured that even the worst of his +subjects bear him such love that they would hasten to come within the +pale of Holy Church. As long as the edict stands, it seems to them that +the king is lukewarm, and that they may abide in their error." + +The king shook his head. "They have always been stubborn folk," said +he. + +"Perhaps," remarked Louvois, glancing maliciously at Bossuet, "were the +bishops of France to make an offering to the state of the treasures of +their sees, we might then do without these Huguenot taxes." + +"All that the Church has is at the king's service," answered Bossuet +curtly. + +"The kingdom is mine and all that is in it," remarked Louis, as they +entered the _Grand Salon_, in which the court assembled after chapel, +"yet I trust that it may be long before I have to claim the wealth of +the Church." + +"We trust so, sire," echoed the ecclesiastics. + +"But we may reserve such topics for our council-chamber. Where is +Mansard? I must see his plans for the new wing at Marly." He crossed +to a side table, and was buried in an instant in his favourite pursuit, +inspecting the gigantic plans of the great architect, and inquiring +eagerly as to the progress of the work. + +"I think," said Pere la Chaise, drawing Bossuet aside, "that your Grace +has made some impression upon the king's mind." + +"With your powerful assistance, father." + +"Oh, you may rest assured that I shall lose no opportunity of pushing on +the good work." + +"If you take it in hand, it is done." + +"But there is another who has more weight than I." + +"The favourite, De Montespan?" + +"No, no; her day is gone. It is Madame de Maintenon." + +"I hear that she is very devout." + +"Very. But she has no love for my Order. She is a Sulpitian. Yet we +may all work to one end. Now if you were to speak to her, your Grace." + +"With all my heart." + +"Show her how good a service it would be could she bring about the +banishment of the Huguenots." + +"I shall do so." + +"And offer her in return that we will promote--" he bent forward and +whispered into the prelate's ear. + +"What! He would not do it!" + +"And why? The queen is dead." + +"The widow of the poet Scarron!" + +"She is of good birth. Her grandfather and his were dear friends." + +"It is impossible." + +"But I know his heart, and I say it is possible." + +"You certainly know his heart, father, if any can. But such a thought +had never entered my head." + +"Then let it enter and remain there. If she will serve the Church, the +Church will serve her. But the king beckons, and I must go." + +The thin dark figure hastened off through the throng of courtiers, and +the great Bishop of Meaux remained standing with his chin upon his +breast, sunk in reflection. + +By this time all the court was assembled in the _Grand Salon_, and the +huge room was gay from end to end with the silks, the velvets, and the +brocades of the ladies, the glitter of jewels, the flirt of painted +fans, and the sweep of plume or aigrette. The grays, blacks, and browns +of the men's coats toned down the mass of colour, for all must be dark +when the king was dark, and only the blues of the officers' uniforms, +and the pearl and gray of the musketeers of the guard, remained to call +back those early days of the reign when the men had vied with the women +in the costliness and brilliancy of their wardrobes. And if dresses had +changed, manners had done so even more. The old levity and the old +passions lay doubtless very near the surface, but grave faces and +serious talk were the fashion of the hour. It was no longer the lucky +_coup_ at the lansquenet table, the last comedy of Moliere, or the new +opera of Lully about which they gossiped, but it was on the evils of +Jansenism, on the expulsion of Arnauld from the Sorbonne, on the +insolence of Pascal, or on the comparative merits of two such popular +preachers as Bourdaloue and Massilon. So, under a radiant ceiling and +over a many-coloured floor, surrounded by immortal paintings, set +thickly in gold and ornament, there moved these nobles and ladies of +France, all moulding themselves upon the one little dark figure in their +midst, who was himself so far from being his own master that he hung +balanced even now between two rival women, who were playing a game in +which the future of France and his own destiny were the stakes. + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +CHILDREN OF BELIAL. + +The elderly Huguenot had stood silent after his repulse by the king, +with his eyes cast moodily downwards, and a face in which doubt, sorrow, +and anger contended for the mastery. He was a very large, gaunt man, +raw-boned and haggard, with a wide forehead, a large, fleshy nose, and a +powerful chin. He wore neither wig nor powder, but Nature had put her +own silvering upon his thick grizzled locks, and the thousand puckers +which clustered round the edges of his eyes, or drew at the corners of +his mouth, gave a set gravity to his face which needed no device of the +barber to increase it. Yet in spite of his mature years, the swift +anger with which he had sprung up when the king refused his plaint, and +the keen fiery glance which he had shot at the royal court as they filed +past him with many a scornful smile and whispered gibe at his expense, +all showed that he had still preserved something of the strength and of +the spirit of his youth. He was dressed as became his rank, plainly and +yet well, in a sad-coloured brown kersey coat with silver-plated +buttons, knee-breeches of the same, and white woollen stockings, ending +in broad-toed black leather shoes cut across with a great steel buckle. +In one hand he carried his low felt hat, trimmed with gold edging, and +in the other a little cylinder of paper containing a recital of his +wrongs, which he had hoped to leave in the hands of the king's +secretary. + +His doubts as to what his next step should be were soon resolved for him +in a very summary fashion. These were days when, if the Huguenot was +not absolutely forbidden in France, he was at least looked upon as a +man who existed upon sufferance, and who was unshielded by the laws +which protected his Catholic fellow-subjects. For twenty years the +stringency of the persecution had increased until there was no weapon +which bigotry could employ, short of absolute expulsion, which had not +been turned against him. He was impeded in his business, elbowed out of +all public employment, his house filled with troops, his children +encouraged to rebel against him, and all redress refused him for the +insults and assaults to which he was subjected. Every rascal who wished +to gratify his personal spite, or to gain favour with his bigoted +superiors, might do his worst upon him without fear of the law. Yet, in +spite of all, these men clung to the land which disowned them, and, full +of the love for their native soil which lies so deep in a Frenchman's +heart, preferred insult and contumely at home to the welcome which would +await them beyond the seas. Already, however, the shadow of those days +was falling upon them when the choice should no longer be theirs. + +Two of the king's big blue-coated guardsmen were on duty at that side of +the palace, and had been witnesses to his unsuccessful appeal. Now they +tramped across together to where he was standing, and broke brutally +into the current of his thoughts. + +"Now, Hymn-books," said one gruffly, "get off again about your +business." + +"You're not a very pretty ornament to the king's pathway," cried the +other, with a hideous oath. "Who are you, to turn up your nose at the +king's religion, curse you?" + +The old Huguenot shot a glance of anger and contempt at them, and was +turning to go, when one of them thrust at his ribs with the butt end of +his halberd. + +"Take that, you dog!" he cried. "Would you dare to look like that at +the king's guard?" + +"Children of Belial," cried the old man, with his hand pressed to his +side, "were I twenty years younger you would not have dared to use me +so." + +"Ha! you would still spit your venom, would you? That is enough, Andre! +He has threatened the king's guard. Let us seize him and drag him to +the guard-room." + +The two soldiers dropped their halberds and rushed upon the old man, +but, tall and strong as they were, they found it no easy matter to +secure him. With his long sinewy arms and his wiry frame, he shook +himself clear of them again and again, and it was only when his breath +had failed him that the two, torn and panting, were able to twist round +his wrists, and so secure him. They had hardly won their pitiful +victory, however, before a stern voice and a sword flashing before their +eyes, compelled them to release their prisoner once more. + +It was Captain de Catinat, who, his morning duties over, had strolled +out on to the terrace, and had come upon this sudden scene of outrage. +At the sight of the old man's face he gave a violent start, and drawing +his sword, had rushed forward with such fury that the two guardsmen not +only dropped their victim, but, staggering back from the threatening +sword-point, one of them slipped and the other rolled over him, a +revolving mass of blue coat and white kersey. + +"Villains!" roared De Catinat. "What is the meaning of this?" + +The two had stumbled on to their feet again, very shamefaced and +ruffled. + +"If you please, captain," said one, saluting, "this is a Huguenot who +abused the royal guard." + +"His petition had been rejected by the king, captain, and yet he refused +to go." + +De Catinat was white with fury. "And so, when a French citizen has come +to have a word with the great master of his country, he must be harassed +by two Swiss dogs like you?" he cried. "By my faith, we shall soon see +about that!" + +He drew a little silver whistle from his pocket, and at the shrill +summons an old sergeant and half a dozen soldiers came running from the +guard-room. + +"Your names?" asked the captain sternly. + +"Andre Meunier." + +"And yours?" + +"Nicholas Klopper." + +"Sergeant, you will arrest these men, Meunier and Klopper." + +"Certainly, captain," said the sergeant, a dark grizzled old soldier of +Conde and Turenne. + +"See that they are tried to-day." + +"And on what charge, captain?" + +"For assaulting an aged and respected citizen who had come on business +to the king." + +"He was a Huguenot on his own confession," cried the culprits together. + +"Hum!" The sergeant pulled doubtfully at his long moustache. "Shall we +put the charge in that form, captain? Just as the captain pleases." +He gave a little shrug of his epauletted shoulders to signify his doubt +whether any good could arise from it. + +"No," said De Catinat, with a sudden happy thought. "I charge them with +laying their halberds down while on duty, and with having their uniforms +dirty and disarranged." + +"That is better," answered the sergeant, with the freedom of a +privileged veteran. "Thunder of God, but you have disgraced the guards! +An hour on the wooden horse with a musket at either foot may teach you +that halberds were made for a soldier's hand, and not for the king's +grass-plot. Seize them! Attention! Right half turn! March!" + +And away went the little clump of guardsmen with the sergeant in the +rear. + +The Huguenot had stood in the background, grave and composed, without +any sign of exultation, during this sudden reversal of fortune; but when +the soldiers were gone, he and the young officer turned warmly upon each +other. + +"Amory, I had not hoped to see you!" + +"Nor I you, uncle. What, in the name of wonder, brings you to +Versailles?" + +"My wrongs, Amory. The hand of the wicked is heavy upon us, and whom +can we turn to save only the king?" + +The young officer shook his head. "The king is at heart a good man," +said he. "But he can only see the world through the glasses which are +held before him. You have nothing to hope from him." + +"He spurned me from his presence." + +"Did he ask your name?" + +"He did, and I gave it." + +The young guardsman whistled. "Let us walk to the gate," said he. +"By my faith, if my kinsmen are to come and bandy arguments with the +king, it may not be long before my company finds itself without its +captain." + +"The king would not couple us together. But indeed, nephew, it is +strange to me how you can live in this house of Baal and yet bow down to +no false gods." + +"I keep my belief in my own heart." + +The older man shook his head gravely. + +"Your ways lie along a very narrow path," said he, "with temptation and +danger ever at your feet. It is hard for you to walk with the Lord, +Amory, and yet go hand in hand with the persecutors of His people." + +"Tut, uncle!" said the young man impatiently. "I am a soldier of the +king's, and I am willing to let the black gown and the white surplice +settle these matters between them. Let me live in honour and die in my +duty, and I am content to wait to know the rest." + +"Content, too, to live in palaces, and eat from fine linen," said the +Huguenot bitterly, "when the hands of the wicked are heavy upon your +kinsfolk, and there is a breaking of phials, and a pouring forth of +tribulation, and a wailing and a weeping throughout the land." + +"What is amiss, then?" asked the young soldier, who was somewhat +mystified by the scriptural language in use among the French Calvinists +of the day. + +"Twenty men of Moab have been quartered upon me, with one Dalbert, their +captain, who has long been a scourge to Israel." + +"Captain Claude Dalbert, of the Languedoc Dragoons? I have already some +small score to settle with him." + +"Ay, and the scattered remnant has also a score against this murderous +dog and self-seeking Ziphite." + +"What has he done, then?" + +"His men are over my house like moths in a cloth bale. No place is free +from them. He sits in the room which should be mine, his great boots on +my Spanish leather chairs, his pipe in his mouth, his wine-pot at his +elbow, and his talk a hissing and an abomination. He has beaten old +Pierre of the warehouse." + +"Ha!" + +"And thrust me into the cellar." + +"Ha!" + +"Because I have dragged him back when in his drunken love he would have +thrown his arms about your cousin Adele." + +"Oh!" The young man's colour had been rising and his brows knitted at +each successive charge, but at this last his anger boiled over, and he +hurried forward with fury in his face, dragging his elderly companion by +the elbow. They had been passing through one of those winding paths, +bordered by high hedges, which thinned away every here and there to give +a glimpse of some prowling faun or weary nymph who slumbered in marble +amid the foliage. The few courtiers who met them gazed with surprise at +so ill-assorted a pair of companions. But the young soldier was too +full of his own plans to waste a thought upon their speculations. Still +hurrying on, he followed a crescent path which led past a dozen stone +dolphins shooting water out of their mouths over a group of Tritons, and +so through an avenue of great trees which looked as if they had grown +there for centuries, and yet had in truth been carried over that very +year by incredible labour from St. Germain and Fontainebleau. Beyond +this point a small gate led out of the grounds, and it was through it +that the two passed, the elder man puffing and panting with this unusual +haste. + +"How did you come, uncle?" + +"In a caleche." + +"Where is it?" + +"That is it, beyond the auberge." + +"Come, let us make for it." + +"And you, Amory, are you coming?" + +"My faith, it is time that I came, from what you tell me. There is room +for a man with a sword at his side in this establishment of yours." + +"But what would you do?" + +"I would have a word with this Captain Dalbert." + +"Then I have wronged you, nephew, when I said even now that you were not +whole-hearted towards Israel." + +"I know not about Israel," cried De Catinat impatiently. "I only know +that if my Adele chose to worship the thunder like an Abenaqui squaw, or +turned her innocent prayers to the Mitche Manitou, I should like to set +eyes upon the man who would dare to lay a hand upon her. Ha, here comes +our caleche! Whip up, driver, and five livres to you if you pass the +gate of the Invalides within the hour." + +It was no light matter to drive fast in an age of springless carriages +and deeply rutted roads, but the driver lashed at his two rough +unclipped horses, and the caleche jolted and clattered upon its way. As +they sped on, with the road-side trees dancing past the narrow windows, +and the white dust streaming behind them, the guardsman drummed his +fingers upon his knees, and fidgeted in his seat with impatience, +shooting an occasional question across at his grim companion. + +"When was all this, then?" + +"It was yesterday night." + +"And where is Adele now?" + +"She is at home." + +"And this Dalbert?" + +"Oh, he is there also!" + +"What! you have left her in his power while you came away to +Versailles?" + +"She is locked in her room." + +"Pah! what is a lock?" The young man raved with his hands in the air at +the thought of his own impotence. + +"And Pierre is there?" + +"He is useless." + +"And Amos Green." + +"Ah, that is better. He is a man, by the look of him." + +"His mother was one of our own folk from Staten Island, near Manhattan. +She was one of those scattered lambs who fled early before the wolves, +when first it was seen that the king's hand waxed heavy upon Israel. +He speaks French, and yet he is neither French to the eye, nor are his +ways like our ways." + +"He has chosen an evil time for his visit." + +"Some wise purpose may lie hid in it." + +"And you have left him in the house?" + +"Yes; he was sat with this Dalbert, smoking with him, and telling him +strange tales." + +"What guard could he be? He is a stranger in a strange land. You did +ill to leave Adele thus, uncle." + +"She is in God's hands, Amory." + +"I trust so. Oh, I am on fire to be there!" + +He thrust his head through the cloud of dust which rose from the wheels, +and craned his neck to look upon the long curving river and broad-spread +city, which was already visible before them, half hid by a thin blue +haze, through which shot the double tower of Notre Dame, with the high +spire of St. Jacques and a forest of other steeples and minarets, the +monuments of eight hundred years of devotion. Soon, as the road curved +down to the river-bank, the city wall grew nearer and nearer, until they +had passed the southern gate, and were rattling over the stony causeway, +leaving the broad Luxembourg upon their right, and Colbert's last work, +the Invalides, upon their left. A sharp turn brought them on to the +river quays, and crossing over the Pont Neuf, they skirted the stately +Louvre, and plunged into the labyrinth of narrow but important streets +which extended to the northward. The young officer had his head still +thrust out of the window, but his view was obscured by a broad gilded +carriage which lumbered heavily along in front of them. As the road +broadened, however, it swerved to one side, and he was able to catch a +glimpse of the house to which they were making. + +It was surrounded on every side by an immense crowd. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +A HOUSE OF STRIFE. + +The house of the Huguenot merchant was a tall, narrow building standing +at the corner of the Rue St. Martin and the Rue de Biron. It was four +stories in height, grim and grave like its owner, with high peaked roof, +long diamond-paned windows, a frame-work of black wood, with gray +plaster filling the interstices, and five stone steps which led up to +the narrow and sombre door. The upper story was but a warehouse in +which the trader kept his stock, but the second and third were furnished +with balconies edged with stout wooden balustrades. As the uncle and +the nephew sprang out of the caleche, they found themselves upon the +outskirts of a dense crowd of people, who were swaying and tossing with +excitement, their chins all thrown forwards and their gaze directed +upwards. Following their eyes, the young officer saw a sight which left +him standing bereft of every sensation save amazement. + +From the upper balcony there was hanging head downwards a man clad in +the bright blue coat and white breeches of one of the king's dragoons. +His hat and wig had dropped off, and his close-cropped head swung slowly +backwards and forwards a good fifty feet above the pavement. His face +was turned towards the street, and was of a deadly whiteness, while his +eyes were screwed up as though he dared not open them upon the horror +which faced them. His voice, however, resounded over the whole place +until the air was filled with his screams for mercy. + +Above him, at the corner of the balcony, there stood a young man who +leaned with a bent back over the balustrades, and who held the dangling +dragoon by either ankle. His face, however, was not directed towards +his victim, but was half turned over his shoulder to confront a group of +soldiers who were clustering at the long, open window which led out into +the balcony. His head, as he glanced at them, was poised with a proud +air of defiance, while they surged and oscillated in the opening, +uncertain whether to rush on or to retire. + +Suddenly the crowd gave a groan of excitement. The young man had +released his grip upon one of the ankles, and the dragoon hung now by +one only, his other leg flapping helplessly in the air. He grabbed +aimlessly with his hands at the wall and the wood-work behind him, still +yelling at the pitch of his lungs. + +"Pull me up, son of the devil, pull me up!" he screamed. "Would you +murder me, then? Help, good people, help!" + +"Do you want to come up, captain?" said the strong clear voice of the +young man above him, speaking excellent French, but in an accent which +fell strangely upon the ears of the crowd beneath. + +"Yes, sacred name of God, yes!" + +"Order off your men, then." + +"Away, you dolts, you imbeciles! Do you wish to see me dashed to +pieces? Away, I say! Off with you!" + +"That is better," said the youth, when the soldiers had vanished from +the window. He gave a tug at the dragoon's leg as he spoke, which +jerked him up so far that he could twist round and catch hold of the +lower edge of the balcony. "How do you find yourself now?" he asked. + +"Hold me, for heaven's sake, hold me!" + +"I have you quite secure." + +"Then pull me up!" + +"Not so fast, captain. You can talk very well where you are." + +"Let me up, sir, let me up!" + +"All in good time. I fear that it is inconvenient to you to talk with +your heels in the air." + +"Ah, you would murder me!" + +"On the contrary, I am going to pull you up." + +"Heaven bless you!" + +"But only on conditions." + +"Oh, they are granted! I am slipping!" + +"You will leave this house--you and your men. You will not trouble this +old man or this young girl any further. Do you promise?" + +"Oh yes; we shall go." + +"Word of honour?" + +"Certainly. Only pull me up!" + +"Not so fast. It may be easier to talk to you like this. I do not know +how the laws are over here. Maybe this sort of thing is not permitted. +You will promise me that I shall have no trouble over the matter." + +"None, none. Only pull me up!" + +"Very good. Come along!" + +He dragged at the dragoon's leg while the other gripped his way up the +balustrade until, amid a buzz of congratulation from the crowd, he +tumbled all in a heap over the rail on to the balcony, where he lay for +a few moments as he had fallen. Then staggering to his feet, without a +glance at his opponent, he rushed, with a bellow of rage, through the +open window. + +While this little drama had been enacted overhead, the young guardsman +had shaken off his first stupor of amazement, and had pushed his way +through the crowd with such vigour that he and his companion had nearly +reached the bottom of the steps. The uniform of the king's guard was in +itself a passport anywhere, and the face of old Catinat was so well +known in the district that everyone drew back to clear a path for him +towards his house. The door was flung open for them, and an old servant +stood wringing his hands in the dark passage. + +"Oh, master! Oh, master!" he cried. + +"Such doings, such infamy! They will murder him!" + +"Whom, then?" + +"This brave monsieur from America. Oh, my God, hark to them now!" + +As he spoke, a clatter and shouting which had burst out again upstairs +ended suddenly in a tremendous crash, with volleys of oaths and a +prolonged bumping and smashing, which shook the old house to its +foundations. The soldier and the Huguenot rushed swiftly up the first +flight of stairs, and were about to ascend the second one, from the head +of which the uproar seemed to proceed, when a great eight-day clock came +hurtling down, springing four steps at a time, and ending with a leap +across the landing and a crash against the wall, which left it a +shattered heap of metal wheels and wooden splinters. An instant +afterwards four men, so locked together that they formed but one rolling +bundle, came thudding down amid a _debris_ of splintered stair-rails, +and writhed and struggled upon the landing, staggering up, falling down, +and all breathing together like the wind in a chimney. So twisted and +twined were they that it was hard to pick one from the other, save that +the innermost was clad in black Flemish cloth, while the three who clung +to him were soldiers of the king. Yet so strong and vigorous was the +man whom they tried to hold that as often as he could find his feet he +dragged them after him from end to end of the passage, as a boar might +pull the curs which had fastened on to his haunches. An officer, who +had rushed down at the heels of the brawlers, thrust his hands in to +catch the civilian by the throat, but he whipped them back again with an +oath as the man's strong white teeth met in his left thumb. Clapping +the wound to his mouth, he flashed out his sword and was about to drive +it through the body of his unarmed opponent, when De Catinat sprang +forward and caught him by the wrist. + +"You villain, Dalbert!" he cried. + +The sudden appearance of one of the king's own bodyguard had a magic +effect upon the brawlers. Dalbert sprang back, with his thumb still in +his mouth, and his sword drooping, scowling darkly at the new-comer. +His long sallow face was distorted with anger, and his small black eyes +blazed with passion and with the hell-fire light of unsatisfied +vengeance. His troopers had released their victim, and stood panting in +a line, while the young man leaned against the wall, brushing the dust +from his black coat, and looking from his rescuer to his antagonists. + +"I had a little account to settle with you before, Dalbert," said +De Catinat, unsheathing his rapier. + +"I am on the king's errand," snarled the other. + +"No doubt. On guard, sir!" + +"I am here on duty, I tell you!" + +"Very good. Your sword, sir!" + +"I have no quarrel with you." + +"No?" De Catinat stepped forward and struck him across the face with his +open hand. "It seems to me that you have one now," said he. + +"Hell and furies!" screamed the captain. "To your arms, men! _Hola_, +there, from above! Cut down this fellow, and seize your prisoner! +_Hola_! In the king's name!" + +At his call a dozen more troopers came hurrying down the stairs, while +the three upon the landing advanced upon their former antagonist. +He slipped by them, however, and caught out of the old merchant's hand +the thick oak stick which he carried. + +"I am with you, sir," said he, taking his place beside the guardsman. + +"Call off your canaille, and fight me like a gentleman," cried +De Catinat. + +"A gentleman! Hark to the bourgeois Huguenot, whose family peddles +cloth!" + +"You coward! I will write liar on you with my sword-point!" + +He sprang forward, and sent in a thrust which might have found its way +to Dalbert's heart had the heavy sabre of a dragoon not descended from +the side and shorn his more delicate weapon short off close to the hilt. +With a shout of triumph, his enemy sprang furiously upon him with his +rapier shortened, but was met by a sharp blow from the cudgel of the +young stranger which sent his weapon tinkling on to the ground. A +trooper, however, on the stair had pulled out a pistol, and clapping it +within a foot of the guardsman's head, was about to settle the combat, +once and forever, when a little old gentleman, who had quietly ascended +from the street, and who had been looking on with an amused and +interested smile at this fiery sequence of events, took a sudden step +forward, and ordered all parties to drop their weapons with a voice so +decided, so stern, and so full of authority, that the sabre points all +clinked down together upon the parquet flooring as though it were a part +of their daily drill. + +"Upon my word, gentlemen, upon my word!" said he, looking sternly from +one to the other. He was a very small, dapper man, as thin as a +herring, with projecting teeth and a huge drooping many-curled wig, +which cut off the line of his skinny neck and the slope of his narrow +shoulders. His dress was a long overcoat of mouse-coloured velvet +slashed with gold, beneath which were high leather boots, which, with +his little gold-laced, three-cornered hat, gave a military tinge to his +appearance. In his gait and bearing he had a dainty strut and backward +cock of the head, which, taken with his sharp black eyes, his high thin +features, and his assured manner, would impress a stranger with the +feeling that this was a man of power. And, indeed, in France or out of +it there were few to whom this man's name was not familiar, for in all +France the only figure which loomed up as large as that of the king was +this very little gentleman who stood now, with gold snuff-box in one +hand, and deep-laced handkerchief in the other, upon the landing of the +Huguenot's house. For who was there who did not know the last of the +great French nobles, the bravest of French captains, the beloved Conde, +victor of Recroy and hero of the Fronde? At the sight of his pinched, +sallow face the dragoons and their leader had stood staring, while De +Catinat raised the stump of his sword in a salute. + +"Heh, heh!" cried the old soldier, peering at him. + +"You were with me on the Rhine--heh? I know your face, captain. +But the household was with Turenne." + +"I was in the regiment of Picardy, your Highness. De Catinat is my +name." + +"Yes, yes. But you, sir, who the devil are you?" + +"Captain Dalbert, your Highness, of the Languedoc Blue Dragoons." + +"Heh! I was passing in my carriage, and I saw you standing on your head +in the air. The young man let you up on conditions, as I understood." + +"He swore he would go from the house," cried the young stranger. +"Yet when I had let him up, he set his men upon me, and we all came +downstairs together." + +"My faith, you seem to have left little behind you," said Conde, +smiling, as he glanced at the litter which was strewed all over the +floor. "And so you broke your parole, Captain Dalbert?" + +"I could not hold treaty with a Huguenot and an enemy of the king," said +the dragoon sulkily. + +"You could hold treaty, it appears, but not keep it. And why did you +let him go, sir, when you had him at such a vantage?" + +"I believed his promise." + +"You must be of a trusting nature." + +"I have been used to deal with Indians." + +"Heh! And you think an Indian's word is better than that of an officer +in the king's dragoons?" + +"I did not think so an hour ago." + +"Hem!" Conde took a large pinch of snuff, and brushed the wandering +grains from his velvet coat with his handkerchief of point. + +"You are very strong, monsieur," said he, glancing keenly at the broad +shoulders and arching chest of the young stranger. "You are from +Canada, I presume?" + +"I have been there, sir. But I am from New York." + +Conde shook his head. "An island?" + +"No, sir; a town." + +"In what province?" + +"The province of New York." + +"The chief town, then?" + +"Nay; Albany is the chief town." + +"And how came you to speak French?" + +"My mother was of French blood." + +"And how long have you been in Paris?" + +"A day." + +"Heh! And you already begin to throw your mother's country-folk out of +windows!" + +"He was annoying a young maid, sir, and I asked him to stop, whereon he +whipped out his sword, and would have slain me had I not closed with +him, upon which he called upon his fellows to aid him. To keep them +off, I swore that I would drop him over if they moved a step. Yet when +I let him go, they set upon me again, and I know not what the end might +have been had this gentleman not stood my friend." + +"Hem! You did very well. You are young, but you have resource." + +"I was reared in the woods, sir." + +"If there are many of your kidney, you may give my friend De Frontenac +some work ere he found this empire of which he talks. But how is this, +Captain Dalbert? What have you to say?" + +"The king's orders, your Highness." + +"Heh! Did he order you to molest the girl? I have never yet heard that +his Majesty erred by being too _harsh_ with a woman." He gave a little +dry chuckle in his throat, and took another pinch of snuff. + +"The orders are, your Highness, to use every means which may drive these +people into the true Church." + +"On my word, you look a very fine apostle and a pretty champion for a +holy cause," said Conde, glancing sardonically out of his twinkling +black eyes at the brutal face of the dragoon. "Take your men out of +this, sir, and never venture to set your foot again across this +threshold." + +"But the king's command, your Highness." + +"I will tell the king when I see him that I left soldiers and that I +find brigands. Not a word, sir! Away! You take your shame with you, +and you leave your honour behind." He had turned in an instant from the +sneering, strutting old beau to the fierce soldier with set face and eye +of fire. Dalbert shrank back from his baleful gaze, and muttering an +order to his men, they filed off down the stair with clattering feet and +clank of sabres. + +"Your Highness," said the old Huguenot, coming forward and throwing open +one of the doors which led from the landing, "you have indeed been a +saviour of Israel and a stumbling-block to the froward this day. Will +you not deign to rest under my roof, and even to take a cup of wine ere +you go onwards?" + +Conde raised his thick eyebrows at the scriptural fashion of the +merchant's speech, but he bowed courteously to the invitation, and +entered the chamber, looking around him in surprise and admiration at +its magnificence. With its panelling of dark shining oak, its polished +floor, its stately marble chimney-piece, and its beautifully moulded +ceiling, it was indeed a room which might have graced a palace. + +"My carriage waits below," said he, "and I must not delay longer. It is +not often that I leave my castle of Chantilly to come to Paris, and it +was a fortunate chance which made me pass in time to be of service to +honest men. When a house hangs out such a sign as an officer of +dragoons with his heels in the air, it is hard to drive past without a +question. But I fear that as long as you are a Huguenot, there will be +no peace for you in France, monsieur." + +"The law is indeed heavy upon us." + +"And will be heavier if what I hear from court is correct. I wonder +that you do not fly the country." + +"My business and my duty lie here." + +"Well, every man knows his own affairs best. Would it not be wise to +bend to the storm, heh?" + +The Huguenot gave a gesture of horror. + +"Well, well, I meant no harm. And where is this fair maid who has been +the cause of the broil?" + +"Where is Adele, Pierre?" asked the merchant of the old servant, who had +carried in the silver tray with a squat flask and tinted Venetian +glasses. + +"I locked her in my room, master." + +"And where is she now?" + +"I am here, father." The young girl sprang into the room, and threw her +arms round the old merchant's neck. "Oh, I trust these wicked men have +not hurt you, love!" + +"No, no, dear child; none of us have been hurt, thanks to his Highness +the Prince of Conde here." + +Adele raised her eyes, and quickly drooped them again before the keen +questioning gaze of the old soldier. "May God reward your Highness!" +she stammered. In her confusion the blood rushed to her face, which was +perfect in feature and expression. With her sweet delicate contour, her +large gray eyes, and the sweep of the lustrous hair, setting off with +its rich tint the little shell-like ears and the alabaster whiteness of +the neck and throat, even Conde, who had seen all the beauties of three +courts and of sixty years defile before him, stood staring in admiration +at the Huguenot maiden. + +"Heh! On my word, mademoiselle, you make me wish that I could wipe forty +years from my account." He bowed, and sighed in the fashion that was in +vogue when Buckingham came to the wooing of Anne of Austria, and the +dynasty of cardinals was at its height. + +"France could ill spare those forty years, your Highness." + +"Heh, heh! So quick of tongue too? Your daughter has a courtly wit, +monsieur." + +"God forbid, your Highness! She is as pure and good--" + +"Nay, that is but a sorry compliment to the court. Surely, +mademoiselle, you would love to go out into the great world, to hear +sweet music, see all that is lovely, and wear all that is costly, rather +than look out ever upon the Rue St. Martin, and bide in this great dark +house until the roses wither upon your cheeks." + +"Where my father is, I am happy at his side," said she, putting her two +hands upon his sleeve. "I ask nothing more than I have got." + +"And I think it best that you go up to your room again," said the old +merchant shortly, for the prince, in spite of his age, bore an evil name +among women. He had come close to her as he spoke, and had even placed +one yellow hand upon her shrinking arm, while his little dark eyes +twinkled with an ominous light. + +"Tut, tut!" said he, as she hastened to obey. "You need not fear for +your little dove. This hawk, at least, is far past the stoop, however +tempting the quarry. But indeed, I can see that she is as good as she +is fair, and one could not say more than that if she were from heaven +direct. My carriage waits, gentlemen, and I wish you all a very good +day!" He inclined his be-wigged head, and strutted off in his dainty, +dandified fashion. From the window De Catinat could see him slip into +the same gilded chariot which had stood in his way as he drove from +Versailles. + +"By my faith," said he, turning to the young American, "we all owe +thanks to the prince, but it seems to me, sir, that we are your debtors +even more. You have risked your life for my cousin, and but for your +cudgel, Dalbert would have had his blade through me when he had me at a +vantage. Your hand, sir! These are things which a man cannot forget." + +"Ay, you may well thank him, Amory," broke in the old Huguenot, who had +returned after escorting his illustrious guest to the carriage. "He has +been raised up as a champion for the afflicted, and as a helper for +those who are in need. An old man's blessing upon you, Amos Green, for +my own son could not have done for me more than you, a stranger." + +But their young visitor appeared to be more embarrassed by their thanks +than by any of his preceding adventures. The blood flushed to his +weather-tanned, clear-cut face, as smooth as that of a boy, and yet +marked by a firmness of lip and a shrewdness in the keen blue eyes +which spoke of a strong and self-reliant nature. + +"I have a mother and two sisters over the water," said he diffidently. + +"And you honour women for their sake?" + +"We always honour women over there. Perhaps it is that we have so few. +Over in these old countries you have not learned what it is to be +without them. I have been away up the lakes for furs, living for months +on end the life of a savage among the wigwams of the Sacs and the Foxes, +foul livers and foul talkers, ever squatting like toads around their +fires. Then when I have come back to Albany where my folk then dwelt, +and have heard my sisters play upon the spinet and sing, and my mother +talk to us of the France of her younger days and of her childhood, and +of all that they had suffered for what they thought was right, then I +have felt what a good woman is, and how, like the sunshine, she draws +out of one's soul all that is purest and best." + +"Indeed, the ladies should be very much obliged to monsieur, who is as +eloquent as he is brave," said Adele Catinat, who, standing in the open +door, had listened to the latter part of his remarks. + +He had forgotten himself for the instant, and had spoken freely and with +energy. At the sight of the girl, however, he coloured up again, and +cast down his eyes. + +"Much of my life has been spent in the woods," said he, "and one speaks +so little there that one comes to forget how to do it. It was for this +that my father wished me to stay some time in France, for he would not +have me grow up a mere trapper and trader." + +"And how long do you stop in Paris?" asked the guardsman. + +"Until Ephraim Savage comes for me." + +"And who is he?" + +"The master of the _Golden Rod_." + +"And that is your ship?" + +"My father's ship. She has been to Bristol, is now at Rouen, and then +must go to Bristol again. When she comes back once more, Ephraim comes +to Paris for me, and it will be time for me to go." + +"And how like you Paris?" + +The young man smiled. "They told me ere I came that it was a very +lively place, and truly from the little that I have seen this morning, I +think that it is the liveliest place that I have seen." + +"By my faith," said De Catinat, "you came down those stairs in a very +lively fashion, four of you together with a Dutch clock as an +_avant-courier_, and a whole train of wood-work at your heels. And you +have not seen the city yet?" + +"Only as I journeyed through it yester-evening on my way to this house. +It is a wondrous place, but I was pent in for lack of air as I passed +through it. New York is a great city. There are said to be as many as +three thousand folk living there, and they say that they could send out +four hundred fighting-men, though I can scarce bring myself to believe +it. Yet from all parts of the city one may see something of God's +handiwork--the trees, the green of the grass, and the shine of the sun +upon the bay and the rivers. But here it is stone and wood, and wood +and stone, look where you will. In truth, you must be very hardy people +to keep your health in such a place." + +"And to us it is you who seem so hardy, with your life in the forest and +on the river," cried the young girl. "And then the wonder that you can +find your path through those great wildernesses, where there is naught +to guide you." + +"Well, there again! I marvel how you can find your way among these +thousands of houses. For myself, I trust that it will be a clear night +to-night." + +"And why?" + +"That I may see the stars." + +"But you will find no change in them." + +"That is it. If I can but see the stars, it will be easy for me to know +how to walk when I would find this house again. In the daytime I can +carry a knife and notch the door-posts as I pass, for it might be hard +to pick up one's trail again, with so many folk ever passing over it." + +De Catinat burst out laughing again. "By my faith, you will find Paris +livelier than ever," said he, "if you blaze your way through on the +door-posts as you would on the trees of a forest. But perchance it +would be as well that you should have a guide at first; so, if you have +two horses ready in your stables, uncle, our friend and I might shortly +ride back to Versailles together, for I have a spell of guard again +before many hours are over. Then for some days he might bide with me +there, if he will share a soldier's quarters, and so see more than the +Rue St. Martin can offer. How would that suit you, Monsieur Green?" + +"I should be right glad to come out with you, if we may leave all here +in safety." + +"Oh, fear not for that," said the Huguenot. "The order of the Prince of +Conde will be as a shield and a buckler to us for many a day. I will +order Pierre to saddle the horses." + +"And I must use the little time I have," said the guardsman, as he +turned away to where Adele waited for him in the window. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +THE NEW WORLD AND THE OLD. + +The young American was soon ready for the expedition, but De Catinat +lingered until the last possible minute. When at last he was able to +tear himself away, he adjusted his cravat, brushed his brilliant coat, +and looked very critically over the sombre suit of his companion. + +"Where got you those?" he asked. + +"In New York, ere I left." + +"Hem! There is naught amiss with the cloth, and indeed the sombre +colour is the mode, but the cut is strange to our eyes." + +"I only know that I wish that I had my fringed hunting tunic and +leggings on once more." + +"This hat, now. We do not wear our brims flat like that. See if I +cannot mend it." He took the beaver, and looping up one side of the +brim, he fastened it with a golden brooch taken from his own shirt +front. "There is a martial cock," said he, laughing, "and would do +credit to the King's Own Musketeers. The black broad-cloth and silk +hose will pass, but why have you not a sword at your side?" + +"I carry a gun when I ride out." + +"_Mon Dieu_, you will be laid by the heels as a bandit!" + +"I have a knife, too." + +"Worse and worse! Well, we must dispense with the sword, and with the +gun too, I pray! Let me re-tie your cravat. So! Now if you are in the +mood for a ten-mile gallop, I am at your service." + +They were indeed a singular contrast as they walked their horses +together through the narrow and crowded causeways of the Parisian +streets. De Catinat, who was the older by five years, with his delicate +small-featured face, his sharply trimmed moustache, his small but +well-set and dainty figure, and his brilliant dress, looked the very +type of the great nation to which he belonged. + +His companion, however, large-limbed and strong, turning his bold and +yet thoughtful face from side to side, and eagerly taking in all the +strange, new life amidst which he found himself, was also a type, +unfinished, it is true, but bidding fair to be the higher of the two. +His close yellow hair, blue eyes, and heavy build showed that it was the +blood of his father, rather than that of his mother, which ran in his +veins; and even the sombre coat and swordless belt, if less pleasing to +the eye, were true badges of a race which found its fiercest battles and +its most glorious victories in bending nature to its will upon the seas +and in the waste places of the earth. + +"What is yonder great building?" he asked, as they emerged into a +broader square. + +"It is the Louvre, one of the palaces of the king." + +"And is he there?" + +"Nay; he lives at Versailles." + +"What! Fancy that a man should have two such houses!" + +"Two! He has many more--St. Germain, Marly, Fontainebleau, Clugny." + +"But to what end? A man can but live at one at a time." + +"Nay; he can now come or go as the fancy takes him." + +"It is a wondrous building. I have seen the Seminary of St. Sulpice at +Montreal, and thought that it was the greatest of all houses, and yet +what is it beside this?" + +"You have been to Montreal, then? You remember the fort?" + +"Yes, and the Hotel Dieu, and the wooden houses in a row, and eastward +the great mill with the wall; but what do you know of Montreal?" + +"I have soldiered there, and at Quebec, too. Why, my friend, you are +not the only man of the woods in Paris, for I give you my word that I +have worn the caribou mocassins, the leather jacket, and the fur cap +with the eagle feather for six months at a stretch, and I care not how +soon I do it again," + +Amos Green's eyes shone with delight at finding that his companion and +he had so much in common, and he plunged into a series of questions +which lasted until they had crossed the river and reached the +south-westerly gate of the city. By the moat and walls long lines of +men were busy at their drill. + +"Who are those, then?" he asked, gazing at them with curiosity. + +"They are some of the king's soldiers." + +"But why so many of them? Do they await some enemy?" + +"Nay; we are at peace with all the world. Worse luck!" + +"At peace. Why then all these men?" + +"That they may be ready." + +The young man shook his head in bewilderment. "They might be as ready +in their own homes surely. In our country every man has his musket in +his chimney corner, and is ready enough, yet he does not waste his time +when all is at peace." + +"Our king is very great, and he has many enemies." + +"And who made the enemies?" + +"Why, the king, to be sure." + +"Then would it not be better to be without him?" + +The guardsman shrugged his epaulettes in despair. "We shall both wind +up in the Bastille or Vincennes at this rate," said he. "You must know +that it is in serving the country that he has made these enemies. It is +but five years since he made a peace at Nimeguen, by which he tore away +sixteen fortresses from the Spanish Lowlands. Then, also, he had laid +his hands upon Strassburg and upon Luxembourg, and has chastised the +Genoans, so that there are many who would fall upon him if they thought +that he was weak." + +"And why has he done all this?" + +"Because he is a great king, and for the glory of France." + +The stranger pondered over this answer for some time as they rode on +between the high, thin poplars, which threw bars across the sunlit road. + +"There was a great man in Schenectady once," said he at last. "They are +simple folk up yonder, and they all had great trust in each other. But +after this man came among them they began to miss--one a beaver-skin and +one a bag of ginseng, and one a belt of wampum, until at last old Pete +Hendricks lost his chestnut three-year-old. Then there was a search and +a fuss until they found all that had been lost in the stable of the +new-comer, so we took him, I and some others, and we hung him up on a +tree, without ever thinking what a great man he had been." + +De Catinat shot an angry glance at his companion. "Your parable, my +friend, is scarce polite," said he. "If you and I are to travel in +peace you must keep a closer guard upon your tongue." + +"I would not give you offence, and it may be that I am wrong," answered +the American, "but I speak as the matter seems to me, and it is the +right of a free man to do that." + +De Catinat's frown relaxed as the other turned his earnest blue eyes +upon him. "By my soul, where would the court be if every man did that?" +said he. "But what in the name of heaven is amiss now?" + +His companion had hurled himself off his horse, and was stooping low +over the ground, with his eyes bent upon the dust. Then, with quick, +noiseless steps, he zigzagged along the road, ran swiftly across a +grassy bank, and stood peering at the gap of a fence, with his nostrils +dilated, his eyes shining, and his whole face aglow with eagerness. + +"The fellow's brain is gone," muttered De Catinat, as he caught at the +bridle of the riderless horse. "The sight of Paris has shaken his wits. +What in the name of the devil ails you, that you should stand glaring +there?" + +"A deer has passed," whispered the other, pointing down at the grass. +"Its trail lies along there and into the wood. It could not have been +long ago, and there is no slur to the track, so that it was not going +fast. Had we but fetched my gun, we might have followed it, and brought +the old man back a side of venison." + +"For God's sake get on your horse again!" cried De Catinat distractedly. +"I fear that some evil will come upon you ere I get you safe to the Rue +St. Martin again!" + +"And what is wrong now?" asked Amos Green, swinging himself into the +saddle. + +"Why, man, these woods are the king's preserves and you speak as coolly +of slaying his deer as though you were on the shores of Michigan!" + +"Preserves! They are tame deer!" An expression of deep disgust passed +over his face, and spurring his horse, he galloped onwards at such a +pace that De Catinat, after vainly endeavouring to keep up, had to +shriek to him to stop. + +"It is not usual in this country to ride so madly along the roads," he +panted. + +"It is a very strange country," cried the stranger, in perplexity. +"Maybe it would be easier for me to remember what _is_ allowed. It was +but this morning that I took my gun to shoot a pigeon that was flying +over the roofs in yonder street, and old Pierre caught my arm with a +face as though it were the minister that I was aiming at. And then +there is that old man--why, they will not even let him say his prayers." + +De Catinat laughed. "You will come to know our ways soon," said he. +"This is a crowded land, and if all men rode and shot as they listed, +much harm would come from it. But let us talk rather of your own +country. You have lived much in the woods from what you tell me." + +"I was but ten when first I journeyed with my uncle to Sault la Marie, +where the three great lakes meet, to trade with the Chippewas and the +tribes of the west." + +"I know not what La Salle or De Frontenac would have said to that. The +trade in those parts belongs to France." + +"We were taken prisoners, and so it was that I came to see Montreal and +afterwards Quebec. In the end we were sent back because they did not +know what they could do with us." + +"It was a good journey for a first." + +"And ever since I have been trading--first, on the Kennebec with the +Abenaquis, in the great forests of Maine, and with the Micmac +fish-eaters over the Penobscot. Then later with the Iroquois, as far +west as the country of the Senecas. At Albany and Schenectady we stored +our pelts, and so on to New York, where my father shipped them over the +sea." + +"But he could ill spare you surely?" + +"Very ill. But as he was rich, he thought it best that I should learn +some things that are not to be found in the woods. And so he sent me in +the _Golden Rod_, under the care of Ephraim Savage." + +"Who is also of New York?" + +"Nay; he is the first man that ever was born at Boston." + +"I cannot remember the names of all these villages." + +"And yet there may come a day when their names shall be as well known +as that of Paris." + +De Catinat laughed heartily. "The woods may have given you much, but +not the gift of prophecy, my friend. Well, my heart is often over the +water even as yours is, and I would ask nothing better than to see the +palisades of Point Levi again, even if all the Five Nations were raving +upon the other side of them. But now, if you will look there in the gap +of the trees, you will see the king's new palace." + +The two young men pulled up their horses, and looked down at the +wide-spreading building in all the beauty of its dazzling whiteness, +and at the lovely grounds, dotted with fountain and with statue, and +barred with hedge and with walk, stretching away to the dense woods +which clustered round them. It amused De Catinat to watch the swift +play of wonder and admiration which flashed over his companion's +features. + +"Well, what do you think of it?" he asked at last. + +"I think that God's best work is in America, and man's in Europe." + +"Ay, and in all Europe there is no such palace as that, even as there is +no such king as he who dwells within it." + +"Can I see him, think you?" + +"Who, the king? No, no; I fear that you are scarce made for a court." + +"Nay, I should show him all honour." + +"How, then? What greeting would you give him?" + +"I would shake him respectfully by the hand, and ask as to his health +and that of his family." + +"On my word, I think that such a greeting might please him more than the +bent knee and the rounded back, and yet, I think, my son of the woods, +that it were best not to lead you into paths where you would be lost, as +would any of the courtiers if you dropped them in the gorge of the +Saguenay. But _hola_! what comes here? It looks like one of the +carriages of the court." + +A white cloud of dust, which had rolled towards them down the road, was +now so near that the glint of gilding and the red coat of the coachman +could be seen breaking out through it. As the two cavaliers reined +their horses aside to leave the roadway clear, the coach rumbled heavily +past them, drawn by two dapple grays, and the Horsemen caught a glimpse, +as it passed, of a beautiful but haughty face which looked out at them. +An instant afterwards a sharp cry had caused the driver to pull up his +horses, and a white hand beckoned to them through the carriage window. + +"It is Madame de Montespan, the proudest woman in France," whispered +De Catinat. "She would speak with us, so do as I do." + +He touched his horse with the spur, gave a _gambade_ which took him +across to the carriage, and then, sweeping off his hat, he bowed to his +horse's neck; a salute in which he was imitated, though in a somewhat +ungainly fashion, by his companion. + +"Ha, captain!" said the lady, with no very pleasant face, "we meet +again." + +"Fortune has ever been good to me, madame." + +"It was not so this morning." + +"You say truly. It gave me a hateful duty to perform." + +"And you performed it in a hateful fashion." + +"Nay, madame, what could I do more?" + +The lady sneered, and her beautiful face turned as bitter as it could +upon occasion. + +"You thought that I had no more power with the king. You thought that +my day was past. No doubt it seemed to you that you might reap favour +with the new by being the first to cast a slight upon the old." + +"But, madame--" + +"You may spare your protestations. I am one who judges by deeds and not +by words. Did you, then, think that my charm had so faded, that any +beauty which I ever have had is so withered?" + +"Nay, madame, I were blind to think that." + +"Blind as a noontide owl," said Amos Green with emphasis. + +Madame de Montespan arched her eyebrows and glanced at her singular +admirer. "Your friend at least speaks that which he really feels," said +she. "At four o'clock to-day we shall see whether others are of the +same mind; and if they are, then it may be ill for those who mistook +what was but a passing shadow for a lasting cloud." She cast another +vindictive glance at the young guardsman, and rattled on once more upon +her way. + +"Come on!" cried De Catinat curtly, for his companion was staring +open-mouthed after the carriage. "Have you never seen a woman before?" + +"Never such a one as that." + +"Never one with so railing a tongue, I dare swear," said De Catinat. + +"Never one with so lovely a face. And yet there is a lovely face at the +Rue St. Martin also." + +"You seem to have a nice taste in beauty, for all your woodland +training." + +"Yes, for I have been cut away from women so much that when I stand +before one I feel that she is something tender and sweet and holy." + +"You may find dames at the court who are both tender and sweet, but you +will look long, my friend, before you find the holy one. This one would +ruin me if she can, and only because I have done what it was my duty to +do. To keep oneself in this court is like coming down the La Chine +Rapids where there is a rock to right, and a rock to left, and another +perchance in front, and if you so much as graze one, where are you and +your birch canoe? But our rocks are women, and in our canoe we bear all +our worldly fortunes. Now here is another who would sway me over to her +side, and indeed I think it may prove to be the better side too." + +They had passed through the gateway of the palace, and the broad +sweeping drive lay in front of them, dotted with carriages and horsemen. +On the gravel walks were many gaily dressed ladies, who strolled among +the flower-beds or watched the fountains with the sunlight glinting upon +their high water sprays. One of these, who had kept her eyes turned +upon the gate, came hastening forward the instant that De Catinat +appeared. It was Mademoiselle Nanon, the _confidante_ of Madame de +Maintenon. + +"I am so pleased to see you, captain," she cried, "and I have waited so +patiently. Madame would speak with you. The king comes to her at +three, and we have but twenty minutes. I heard that you had gone to +Paris, and so I stationed myself here. Madame has something which she +would ask you." + +"Then I will come at once. Ah, De Brissac, it is well met!" + +A tall, burly officer was passing in the same uniform which De Catinat +wore. He turned at once, and came smiling towards his comrade. + +"Ah, Amory, you have covered a league or two from the dust on your +coat!" + +"We are fresh from Paris. But I am called on business. This is my +friend, Monsieur Amos Green. I leave him in your hands, for he is a +stranger from America, and would fain see all that you can show. +He stays with me at my quarters. And my horse, too, De Brissac. +You can give it to the groom." + +Throwing the bridle to his brother officer, and pressing the hand of +Amos Green, De Catinat sprang from his horse, and followed at the top of +his speed in the direction which the young lady had already taken. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +THE RISING SUN. + +The rooms which were inhabited by the lady who had already taken so +marked a position at the court of France were as humble as were her +fortunes at the time when they were allotted to her, but with that rare +tact and self-restraint which were the leading features in her +remarkable character, she had made no change in her living with the +increase of her prosperity, and forbore from provoking envy and jealousy +by any display of wealth or of power. In a side wing of the palace, far +from the central _salons_, and only to be reached by long corridors and +stairs, were the two or three small chambers upon which the eyes, first +of the court, then of France, and finally of the world, were destined to +be turned. In such rooms had the destitute widow of the poet Scarron +been housed when she had first been brought to court by Madame de +Montespan as the governess of the royal children, and in such rooms she +still dwelt, now that she had added to her maiden Francoise d'Aubigny +the title of Marquise de Maintenon, with the pension and estate which +the king's favour had awarded her. Here it was that every day the king +would lounge, finding in the conversation of a clever and virtuous woman +a charm and a pleasure which none of the professed wits of his sparkling +court had ever been able to give to him, and here, too, the more +sagacious of the courtiers were beginning to understand, was the point, +formerly to be found in the magnificent _salons_ of De Montespan, whence +flowed those impulses and tendencies which were so eagerly studied, and +so keenly followed up by all who wished to keep the favour of the king. +It was a simple creed, that of the court. Were the king pious, then let +all turn to their missals and their rosaries. Were he rakish, then who +so rakish as his devoted followers? But woe to the man who was rakish +when he should be praying, or who pulled a long face when the king wore +a laughing one! And thus it was that keen eyes were ever fixed upon +him, and upon every influence that came near him, so that the wary +courtier, watching the first subtle signs of a coming change, might so +order his conduct as to seem to lead rather than to follow. + +The young guardsman had scarce ever exchanged a word with this powerful +lady, for it was her taste to isolate herself, and to appear with the +court only at the hours of devotion. It was therefore with some +feelings both of nervousness and of curiosity that he followed his guide +down the gorgeous corridors, where art and wealth had been strewn with +so lavish a hand. The lady paused in front of the chamber door, and +turned to her companion. + +"Madame wishes to speak to you of what occurred this morning," said she. +"I should advise you to say nothing to madame about your creed, for it +is the only thing upon which her heart can be hard." She raised her +finger to emphasise the warning, and tapping at the door, she pushed it +open. "I have brought Captain de Catinat, madame," said she. + +"Then let the captain step in." The voice was firm, and yet sweetly +musical. + +Obeying the command, De Catinat found himself in a room which was no +larger and but little better furnished than that which was allotted to +his own use. Yet, though simple, everything in the chamber was +scrupulously neat and clean, betraying the dainty taste of a refined +woman. The stamped-leather furniture, the La Savonniere carpet, the +pictures of sacred subjects, exquisite from an artist's point of view, +the plain but tasteful curtains, all left an impression half religious +and half feminine but wholly soothing. Indeed, the soft light, the high +white statue of the Virgin in a canopied niche, with a perfumed red lamp +burning before it, and the wooden _prie-dieu_ with the red-edged +prayer-book upon the top of it, made the apartment look more like a +private chapel than a fair lady's boudoir. + +On each side of the empty fireplace was a little green-covered +arm-chair, the one for madame and the other reserved for the use of the +king. A small three-legged stool between them was heaped with her +work-basket and her tapestry. On the chair which was furthest from the +door, with her back turned to the light, madame was sitting as the young +officer entered. It was her favourite position, and yet there were few +women of her years who had so little reason to fear the sun, for a +healthy life and active habits had left her with a clear skin and +delicate bloom which any young beauty of the court might have envied. +Her figure was graceful and queenly, her gestures and pose full of a +natural dignity, and her voice, as he had already remarked, most sweet +and melodious. Her face was handsome rather than beautiful, set in a +statuesque classical mould, with broad white forehead, firm, delicately +sensitive mouth, and a pair of large serene gray eyes, earnest and +placid in repose, but capable of reflecting the whole play of her soul, +from the merry gleam of humour to the quick flash of righteous anger. +An elevating serenity was, however, the leading expression of her +features, and in that she presented the strongest contrast to her rival, +whose beautiful face was ever swept by the emotion of the moment, and +who gleamed one hour and shadowed over the next like a corn-field in the +wind. In wit and quickness of tongue it is true that De Montespan had +the advantage, but the strong common-sense and the deeper nature of the +elder woman might prove in the end to be the better weapon. De Catinat, +at the moment, without having time to notice details, was simply +conscious that he was in the presence of a very handsome woman, and that +her large pensive eyes were fixed critically upon him, and seemed to be +reading his thoughts as they had never been read before. + +"I think that I have already seen you, sir, have I not?" + +"Yes, madame, I have once or twice had the honour of attending upon you +though it may not have been my good fortune to address you." + +"My life is so quiet and retired that I fear that much of what is best +and worthiest at the court is unknown to me. It is the curse of such +places that evil flaunts itself before the eye and cannot be overlooked, +while the good retires in its modesty, so that at times we scarce dare +hope that it is there. You have served, monsieur?" + +"Yes, madame. In the Lowlands, on the Rhine, and in Canada." + +"In Canada! Ah! What nobler ambition could woman have than to be a +member of that sweet sisterhood which was founded by the holy Marie de +l'Incarnation and the sainted Jeanne le Ber at Montreal? It was but the +other day that I had an account of them from Father Godet des Marais. +What joy to be one of such a body, and to turn from the blessed work of +converting the heathen to the even more precious task of nursing back +health and strength into those of God's warriors who have been struck +down in the fight with Satan!" + +It was strange to De Catinat, who knew well the sordid and dreadful +existence led by these same sisters, threatened ever with misery, +hunger, and the scalping-knife, to hear this lady at whose feet lay all +the good things of this earth speaking enviously of their lot. + +"They are very good women," said he shortly, remembering Mademoiselle +Nanon's warning, and fearing to trench upon the dangerous subject. + +"And doubtless you have had the privilege also of seeing the holy Bishop +Laval?" + +"Yes, madame, I have seen Bishop Laval." + + "And I trust that the Sulpitians still hold their own against the +Jesuits?" + +"I have heard, madame, that the Jesuits are the stronger at Quebec, and +the others at Montreal." + +"And who is your own director, monsieur?" + +De Catinat felt that the worst had come upon him. "I have none, +madame." + +"Ah, it is too common to dispense with a director, and yet I know not +how I could guide my steps in the difficult path which I tread if it +were not for mine. Who is your confessor, then?" + +"I have none. I am of the Reformed Church, madame." + +The lady gave a gesture of horror, and a sudden hardening showed itself +in mouth and eye. "What, in the court itself," she cried, "and in the +neighbourhood of the king's own person!" + +De Catinat was lax enough in matters of faith, and held his creed rather +as a family tradition than from any strong conviction, but it hurt his +self-esteem to see himself regarded as though he had confessed to +something that was loathsome and unclean. "You will find, madame," said +he sternly, "that members of my faith have not only stood around the +throne of France, but have even seated themselves upon it." + +"God has for His own all-wise purposes permitted it, and none should +know it better than I, whose grandsire, Theodore d'Aubigny, did so much +to place a crown upon the head of the great Henry. But Henry's eyes +were opened ere his end came, and I pray--oh, from my heart I pray--that +yours may be also." + +She rose, and throwing herself down upon the _prie-dieu_ sunk her face +in her hands for some few minutes, during which the object of her +devotions stood in some perplexity in the middle of the room, hardly +knowing whether such an attention should be regarded as an insult or as +a favour. A tap at the door brought the lady back to this world again, +and her devoted attendant answered her summons to enter. + +"The king is in the Hall of Victories, madame," said she. "He will be +here in five minutes." + +"Very well. Stand outside, and let me know when he comes. Now, sir," +she continued, when they were alone once more, "you gave a note of mine +to the king this morning?" + +"I did, madame." + +"And, as I understand, Madame de Montespan was refused admittance to the +_grand lever_?" + +"She was, madame." + +"But she waited for the king in the passage?" + +"She did." + +"And wrung from him a promise that he would see her to-day?" + +"Yes, madame." + +"I would not have you tell me that which it may seem to you a breach of +your duty to tell. But I am fighting now against a terrible foe, and +for a great stake. Do you understand me?" + +De Catinat bowed. + +"Then what do I mean?" + +"I presume that what madame means is that she is fighting for the king's +favour with the lady you mentioned." + +"As heaven is my judge, I have no thought of myself. I am fighting with +the devil for the king's soul." + +"'Tis the same thing, madame." + +The lady smiled. "If the king's body were in peril, I could call on the +aid of his faithful guards, and not less so now, surely, when so much +more is at stake. Tell me, then, at what hour was the king to meet the +marquise in her room?" + +"At four, madame." + +"I thank you. You have done me a service, and I shall not forget it." + +"The king comes, madame," said Mademoiselle Nanon, again protruding her +head. + +"Then you must go, captain. Pass through the other room, and so into +the outer passage. And take this. It is Bossuet's statement of the +Catholic faith. It has softened the hearts of others, and may yours. +Now, adieu!" + +De Catinat passed out through another door, and as he did so he glanced +back. The lady had her back to him, and her hand was raised to the +mantel-piece. At the instant that he looked she moved her neck, and he +could see what she was doing. She was pushing back the long hand of the +clock. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +LE ROI S'AMUSE. + +Captain de Catinat had hardly vanished through the one door before the +other was thrown open by Mademoiselle Nanon, and the king entered the +room. Madame de Maintenon rose with a pleasant smile and curtsied +deeply, but there was no answering light upon her visitor's face, and he +threw himself down upon the vacant arm-chair with a pouting lip and a +frown upon his forehead. + +"Nay, now this is a very bad compliment," she cried, with the gaiety +which she could assume whenever it was necessary to draw the king from +his blacker humours. "My poor little dark room has already cast a +shadow over you." + +"Nay; it is Father la Chaise and the Bishop of Meaux who have been after +me all day like two hounds on a stag, with talk of my duty and my +position and my sins, with judgment and hell-fire ever at the end of +their exhortations." + +"And what would they have your Majesty do?" + +"Break the promise which I made when I came upon the throne, and which +my grandfather made before me. They wish me to recall the Edict of +Nantes, and drive the Huguenots from the kingdom." + +"Oh, but your Majesty must not trouble your mind about such matters." + +"You would not have me do it, madame?" + +"Not if it is to be a grief to your Majesty." + +"You have, perchance, some soft feeling for the religion of your youth?" + +"Nay, sire; I have nothing but hatred for heresy." + +"And yet you would not have them thrust out?" + +"Bethink you, sire, that the Almighty can Himself incline their hearts +to better things if He is so minded, even as mine was inclined. May you +not leave it in His hands?" + +"On my word," said Louis, brightening, "it is well put. I shall see if +Father la Chaise can find an answer to that. It is hard to be +threatened with eternal flames because one will not ruin one's kingdom. +Eternal torment! I have seen the face of a man who had been in the +Bastille, for fifteen years. It was like a dreadful book, with a scar +or a wrinkle to mark every hour of that death in life. But Eternity!" +He shuddered, and his eyes were filled with the horror of his thought. +The higher motives had but little power over his soul, as those about +him had long discovered, but he was ever ready to wince at the image of +the terrors to come. + +"Why should you think of such things, sire?" said the lady, in her rich, +soothing voice. "What have you to fear, you who have been the first son +of the Church?" + +"You think that I am safe, then?" + +"Surely, sire." + +"But I have erred, and erred deeply. You have yourself said as much." + +"But that is all over, sire. Who is there who is without stain? +You have turned away from temptation. Surely, then, you have earned +your forgiveness." + +"I would that the queen were living once more. She would find me a +better man." + +"I would that she were, sire." + +"And she should know that it was to you that she owed the change. +Oh, Francoise, you are surely my guardian angel, who has taken bodily +form! How can I thank you for what you have done for me?" He leaned +forward and took her hand, but at the touch a sudden fire sprang into +his eyes, and he would have passed his other arm round her had she not +risen hurriedly to avoid the embrace. + +"Sire!" said she, with a rigid face and one finger upraised. + +"You are right, you are right, Francoise. Sit down, and I will control +myself. Still at the same tapestry, then! My workers at the Gobelins +must look to their laurels." He raised one border of the glossy roll, +while she, having reseated herself, though not without a quick +questioning glance at her companion, took the other end into her lap and +continued her work. + +"Yes, sire. It is a hunting scene in your forests at Fontainebleau. +A stag of ten tines, you see, and the hounds in full cry, and a gallant +band of cavaliers and ladies. Has your Majesty ridden to-day?" + +"No. How is it, Francoise, that you have such a heart of ice?" + +"I would it were so, sire. Perhaps you have hawked, then?" + +"No. But surely no man's love has ever stirred you! And yet you have +been a wife." + +"A nurse, sire, but never a wife. See the lady in the park! It is +surely mademoiselle. I did not know that she had come up from Choisy." + +But the king was not to be distracted from his subject. + +"You did not love this Scarron, then?" he persisted. "He was old, I +have heard, and as lame as some of his verses." + +"Do not speak lightly of him, sire. I was grateful to him; I honoured +him; I liked him." + +"But you did not love him." + +"Why should you seek to read the secrets of a woman's heart?" + +"You did not love him, Francoise?" + +"At least I did my duty towards him." + +"Has that nun's heart never yet been touched by love then?" + +"Sire, do not question me." + +"Has it never--" + +"Spare me, sire, I beg of you!" + +"But I must ask, for my own peace hangs upon your answer." + +"Your words pain me to the soul." + +"Have you never, Francoise, felt in your heart some little flicker of +the love which glows in mine?" He rose with his hands outstretched, a +pleading monarch, but she, with half-turned bead, still shrank away from +him. + +"Be assured of one thing, sire," said she, "that even if I loved you as +no woman ever loved a man yet, I should rather spring from that window +on to the stone terraces beneath than ever by word or sign confess as +much to you." + +"And why, Francoise?" + +"Because, sire, it is my highest hope upon earth that I have been chosen +to lift up your mind towards loftier things--that mind the greatness and +nobility of which none know more than I." + +"And is my love so base, then?" + +"You have wasted too much of your life and of your thoughts upon woman's +love. And now, sire, the years steal on and the day is coming when even +you will be called upon to give an account of your actions, and of the +innermost thoughts of your heart. I would see you spend the time that +is left to you, sire, in building up the Church, in showing a noble +example to your subjects, and in repairing any evil which that example +may have done in the past." + +The king sank back into his chair with a groan. "Forever the same," +said he. "Why, you are worse than Father la Chaise and Bossuet." + +"Nay, nay," said she gaily, with the quick tact in which she never +failed. "I have wearied you, when you have stooped to honour my little +room with your presence. That is indeed ingratitude, and it were a just +punishment if you were to leave me in solitude to-morrow, and so cut off +all the light of my day. But tell me, sire, how go the works at Marly? +I am all on fire to know whether the great fountain will work." + +"Yes, the fountain plays well, but Mansard has thrown the right wing too +far back. I have made him a good architect, but I have still much to +teach him. I showed him his fault on the plan this morning, and he +promised to amend it." + +"And what will the change cost, sire?" + +"Some millions of livres, but then the view will be much improved from +the south side. I have taken in another mile of ground in that +direction, for there were a number of poor folk living there, and their +hovels were far from pretty." + +"And why have you not ridden to-day, sire?" + +"Pah! it brings me no pleasure. There was a time when my blood was +stirred by the blare of the horn and the rush of the hoofs, but now it +is all wearisome to me." + +"And hawking too?" + +"Yes; I shall hawk no more." + +"But, sire, you must have amusement." + +"What is so dull as an amusement which has ceased to amuse? I know not +how it is. When I was but a lad, and my mother and I were driven from +place to place, with the Fronde at war with us and Paris in revolt, with +our throne and even our lives in danger, all life seemed to be so +bright, so new, and so full of interest. Now that there is no shadow, +and that my voice is the first in France, as France's is in Europe, all +is dull and lacking in flavour. What use is it to have all pleasure +before me, when it turns to wormwood when it is tasted?" + +"True pleasure, sire, lies rather in the inward life, the serene mind, +the easy conscience. And then, as we grow older, is it not natural that +our minds should take a graver bent? We might well reproach ourselves +if it were not so, for it would show that we had not learned the lesson +of life." + +"It may be so, and yet it is sad and weary when nothing amuses. But who +is there?" + +"It is my companion knocking. What is it, mademoiselle?" + +"Monsieur Corneille, to read to the king," said the young lady, opening +the door. + +"Ah, yes, sire; I know how foolish is a woman's tongue, and so I have +brought a wiser one than mine here to charm you. Monsieur Racine was to +have come, but I hear that he has had a fall from his horse, and he +sends his friend in his place. Shall I admit him?" + +"Oh, as you like, madame, as you like," said the king listlessly. At a +sign from Mademoiselle Nanon a little peaky man with a shrewd petulant +face, and long gray hair falling back over his shoulders, entered the +room. He bowed profoundly three times, and then seated himself +nervously on the very edge of the stool, from which the lady had removed +her work-basket. She smiled and nodded to encourage the poet, while the +monarch leaned back in his chair with an air of resignation. + +"Shall it be a comedy, or a tragedy, or a burlesque pastoral?" Corneille +asked timidly. + +"Not the burlesque pastoral," said the king with decision. "Such things +may be played, but cannot be read, since they are for the eye rather +than the ear." + +The poet bowed his acquiescence. + +"And not the tragedy, monsieur," said Madame de Maintenon, glancing up +from her tapestry. "The king has enough that is serious in his graver +hours, and so I trust that you will use your talent to amuse him." + +"Ay, let it be a comedy," said Louis; "I have not had a good laugh since +poor Moliere passed away." + +"Ah, your Majesty has indeed a fine taste," cried the courtier poet. +"Had you condescended to turn your own attention to poetry, where should +we all have been then?" + +Louis smiled, for no flattery was too gross to please him. + +"Even as you have taught our generals war and our builders art, so you +would have set your poor singers a loftier strain. But Mars would +hardly deign to share the humbler laurels of Apollo." + +"I have sometimes thought that I had some such power," answered the king +complacently; "though amid my toils and the burdens of state I have had, +as you say, little time for the softer arts." + +"But you have encouraged others to do what you could so well have done +yourself, sire. You have brought out poets as the sun brings out +flowers. How many have we not seen--Moliere, Boileau, Racine, one +greater than the other? And the others, too, the smaller ones--Scarron, +so scurrilous and yet so witty--Oh, holy Virgin! what have I said?" + +Madame had laid down her tapestry, and was staring in intense +indignation at the poet, who writhed on his stool under the stern rebuke +of those cold gray eyes. + +"I think, Monsieur Corneille, that you had better go on with your +reading," said the king dryly. + +"Assuredly, sire. Shall I read my play about Darius?" + +"And who was Darius?" asked the king, whose education had been so +neglected by the crafty policy of Cardinal Mazarin that he was ignorant +of everything save what had come under his own personal observation. + +"Darius was King of Persia, sire." + +"And where is Persia?" + +"It is a kingdom of Asia." + +"Is Darius still king there?" + +"Nay, sire; he fought against Alexander the Great." + +"Ah, I have heard of Alexander. He was a famous king and general, was +he not?" + +"Like your Majesty, he both ruled wisely and led his armies +victoriously." + +"And was King of Persia, you say?" + +"No, sire; of Macedonia. It was Darius who was King of Persia." + +The king frowned, for the slightest correction was offensive to him. + +"You do not seem very clear about the matter, and I confess that it does +not interest me deeply," said he. "Pray turn to something else." + +"There is my _Pretended Astrologer_." + +"Yes, that will do." + +Corneille commenced to read his comedy, while Madame de Maintenon's +white and delicate fingers picked among the many-coloured silks which +she was weaving into her tapestry. From time to time she glanced +across, first at the clock and then at the king, who was leaning back, +with his lace handkerchief thrown over his face. It was twenty minutes +to four now, but she knew that she had put it back half an hour, and +that the true time was ten minutes past. + +"Tut! tut!" cried the king suddenly. "There is something amiss there. +The second last line has a limp in it, surely." It was one of his +foibles to pose as a critic, and the wise poet would fall in with his +corrections, however unreasonable they might be. + +"Which line, sire? It is indeed an advantage to have one's faults made +clear." + +"Read the passage again." + + "Et si, quand je lui dis le secret de mon ame, + Avec moins de rigueur elle eut traite ma flamme, + Dans ma fayon de vivre, et suivant mon humeur, + Une autre eut bientot le present de mon coeur." + +"Yes, the third line has a foot too many. Do you not remark it, +madame?" + +"No; but I fear that I should make a poor critic." + +"Your Majesty is perfectly right," said Corneille unblushingly. +"I shall mark the passage, and see that it is corrected." + +"I thought that it was wrong. If I do not write myself, you can see +that I have at least got the correct ear. A false quantity jars upon +me. It is the same in music. Although I know little of the matter, I +can tell a discord where Lully himself would miss it. I have often +shown him errors of the sort in his operas, and I have always convinced +him that I was right." + +"I can readily believe it, your Majesty." Corneille had picked up his +book again, and was about to resume his reading when there came a sharp +tap at the door. + +"It is his Highness the minister, Monsieur de Louvois," said +Mademoiselle Nanon. + +"Admit him," answered Louis. "Monsieur Corneille, I am obliged to you +for what you have read, and I regret that an affair of state will now +interrupt your comedy. Some other day perhaps I may have the pleasure +of hearing the rest of it." He smiled in the gracious fashion which +made all who came within his personal influence forget his faults and +remember him only as the impersonation of dignity and of courtesy. + +The poet, with his book under his arm, slipped out, while the famous +minister, tall, heavily wigged, eagle-nosed, and commanding, came bowing +into the little room. His manner was that of exaggerated politeness, +but his haughty face marked only too plainly his contempt for such a +chamber and for the lady who dwelt there. She was well aware of the +feeling with which he regarded her, but her perfect self-command +prevented her from ever by word or look returning his dislike. + +"My apartments are indeed honoured to-day," said she, rising with +outstretched hand. "Can monsieur condescend to a stool, since I have no +fitter seat to offer you in this little doll's house? But perhaps I am +in the way, if you wish to talk of state affairs to the king. I can +easily withdraw into my boudoir." + +"No, no, nothing of the kind, madame," cried Louis. "It is my wish that +you should remain here. What is it, Louvois?" + +"A messenger arrived from England with despatches, your Majesty," +answered the minister, his ponderous figure balanced upon the +three-legged stool. "There is very ill feeling there, and there is some +talk of a rising. The letter from Lord Sunderland wished to know +whether, in case the Dutch took the side of the malcontents, the king +might look to France for help. Of course, knowing your Majesty's mind, +I answered unhesitatingly that he might." + +"You did what?" + +"I answered, sire, that he might." + +King Louis flushed with anger, and he caught up the tongs from the grate +with a motion as though he would have struck his minister with them. +Madame sprang from her chair, and laid her hand upon his arm with a +soothing gesture. He threw down the tongs again, but his eyes still +flashed with passion as he turned them upon Louvois. + +"How dared you?" he cried. + +"But, sire--" + +"How dared you, I say? What! You venture to answer such a message +without consulting me! How often am I to tell you that I am the state-- +I alone; that all is to come from me; and that I am answerable to God +only? What are you? My instrument! my tool! And you venture to act +without my authority!" + +"I thought that I knew your wishes, sire," stammered Louvois, whose +haughty manner had quite deserted him, and whose face was as white as +the ruffles of his shirt. + +"You are not there to think about my wishes, sir. You are there to +consult them and to obey them. Why is it that I have turned away from +my old nobility, and have committed the affairs of my kingdom to men +whose names have never been heard of in the history of France, such men +as Colbert and yourself? I have been blamed for it. There was the Duc +de St. Simon, who said, the last time that he was at the court, that it +was a bourgeois government. So it is. But I wished it to be so, +because I knew that the nobles have a way of thinking for themselves, +and I ask for no thought but mine in the governing of France. But if my +bourgeois are to receive messages and give answers to embassies, then +indeed I am to be pitied. I have marked you of late, Louvois. You have +grown beyond your station. You take too much upon yourself. See to it +that I have not again to complain to you upon this matter." + +The humiliated minister sat as one crushed, with his chin sunk upon his +breast. The king muttered and frowned for a few minutes, but the cloud +cleared gradually from his face, for his fits of anger were usually as +short as they were fierce and sudden. + +"You will detain that messenger, Louvois," he said at last, in a calm +voice. + +"Yes, sire." + +"And we shall see at the council meeting to-morrow that a fitting reply +be sent to Lord Sunderland. It would be best perhaps not to be too free +with our promises in the matter. These English have ever been a thorn +in our sides. If we could leave them among their own fogs with such a +quarrel as would keep them busy for a few years, then indeed we might +crush this Dutch prince at our leisure. Their last civil war lasted ten +years, and their next may do as much. We could carry our frontier to +the Rhine long ere that. Eh, Louvois?" + +"Your armies are ready, sire, on the day that you give the word." + +"But war is a costly business. I do not wish to have to sell the court +plate, as we did the other day. How are the public funds?" + +"We are not very rich, sire. But there is one way in which money may +very readily be gained. There was some talk this morning about the +Huguenots, and whether they should dwell any longer in this Catholic +kingdom. Now, if they are driven out, and if their property were taken +by the state, then indeed your Majesty would at once become the richest +monarch in Christendom." + +"But you were against it this morning, Louvois?" + +"I had not had time to think of it, sire." + +"You mean that Father la Chaise and the bishop had not had time to get +at you," said Louis sharply. "Ah, Louvois, I have not lived with a +court round me all these years without learning how things are done. +It is a word to him, and so on to another, and so to a third, and so to +the king. When my good fathers of the Church have set themselves to +bring anything to pass, I see traces of them at every turn, as one +traces a mole by the dirt which it has thrown up. But I will not be +moved against my own reason to do wrong to those who, however mistaken +they may be, are still the subjects whom God has given me." + +"I would not have you do so, sire," cried Louvois in confusion. +The king's accusation had been so true that he had been unable at the +moment even to protest. + +"I know but one person," continued Louis, glancing across at Madame de +Maintenon, "who has no ambitions, who desires neither wealth nor +preferment, and who can therefore never be bribed to sacrifice my +interests. That is why I value that person's opinion so highly." +He smiled at the lady as he spoke, while his minister cast a glance at +her which showed the jealousy which ate into his soul. + +"It was my duty to point this out to you, sire, not as a suggestion, but +as a possibility," said he, rising. "I fear that I have already taken +up too much of your Majesty's time, and I shall now withdraw." Bowing +slightly to the lady, and profoundly to the monarch, he walked from the +room. + +"Louvois grows intolerable," said the king. "I know not where his +insolence will end. Were it not that he is an excellent servant, I +should have sent him from the court before this. He has his own +opinions upon everything. It was but the other day that he would have +it that I was wrong when I said that one of the windows in the Trianon +was smaller than any of the others. It was the same size, said he. +I brought Le Metre with his measures, and of course the window was, as I +had said, too small. But I see by your clock that it is four o'clock. +I must go." + +"My clock, sire, is half an hour slow." + +"Half an hour!" The king looked dismayed for an instant, and then began +to laugh. "Nay, in that case," said he, "I had best remain where I am, +for it is too late to go, and I can say with a clear conscience that it +was the clock's fault rather than mine." + +"I trust that it was nothing of very great importance, sire," said the +lady, with a look of demure triumph in her eyes. + +"By no means." + +"No state affair?" + +"No, no; it was only that it was the hour at which I had intended to +rebuke the conduct of a presumptuous person. But perhaps it is better +as it is. My absence will in itself convey my message, and in such a +sort that I trust I may never see that person's face more at my court. +But, ah, what is this?" + +The door had been flung open, and Madame de Montespan, beautiful and +furious, was standing before them. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +AN ECLIPSE AT VERSAILLES. + +Madame de Maintenon was a woman who was always full of self-restraint +and of cool resource. She had risen in an instant, with an air as if +she had at last seen the welcome guest for whom she had pined in vain. +With a frank smile of greeting, she advanced with outstretched hand. + +"This is indeed a pleasure," said she. + +But Madame de Montespan was very angry, so angry that she was evidently +making strong efforts to keep herself within control, and to avoid +breaking into a furious outburst. Her face was very pale, her lips +compressed, and her blue eyes had the set stare and the cold glitter of +a furious woman. So for an instant they faced each other, the one +frowning, the other smiling, two of the most beautiful and queenly women +in France. Then De Montespan, disregarding her rival's outstretched +hand, turned towards the king, who had been looking at her with a +darkening face. + +"I fear that I intrude, sire." + +"Your entrance, madame, is certainly somewhat abrupt." + +"I must crave pardon if it is so. Since this lady has been the +governess of my children I have been in the habit of coming into her +room unannounced." + +"As far as I am concerned, you are most welcome to do so," said her +rival, with perfect composure. + +"I confess that I had not even thought it necessary to ask your +permission, madame," the other answered coldly. + +"Then you shall certainly do so in the future, madame," said the king +sternly. "It is my express order to you that every possible respect is +to be shown in every way to this lady." + +"Oh, to _this_ lady!" with a wave of her hand in her direction. "Your +Majesty's commands are of course our laws. But I must remember that it +_is_ this lady, for sometimes one may get confused as to which name it +is that your Majesty has picked out for honour. To-day it is +De Maintenon; yesterday it was Fontanges; to-morrow--Ah, well, who can +say who it may be to-morrow?" + +She was superb in her pride and her fearlessness as she stood, with her +sparkling blue eyes and her heaving bosom, looking down upon her royal +lover. Angry as he was, his gaze lost something of its sternness as it +rested upon her round full throat and the delicate lines of her shapely +shoulders. There was something very becoming in her passion, in the +defiant pose of her dainty head, and the magnificent scorn with which +she glanced at her rival. + +"There is nothing to be gained, madame, by being insolent," said he. + +"Nor is it my custom, sire." + +"And yet I find your words so." + +"Truth is always mistaken for insolence, sire, at the court of France." + +"We have had enough of this." + +"A very little truth is enough." + +"You forget yourself, madame. I beg that you will leave the room." + +"I must first remind your Majesty that I was so far honoured as to have +an appointment this afternoon. At four o'clock I had your royal promise +that you would come to me. I cannot doubt that your Majesty will keep +that promise in spite of the fascinations which you may find here." + +"I should have come, madame, but the clock, as you may observe, is half +an hour slow, and the time had passed before I was aware of it." + +I beg, sire, that you will not let that distress you. I am returning to +my chamber, and five o'clock will suit me as well as four." + +"I thank you, madame, but I have not found this interview so pleasant +that I should seek another." + +"Then your Majesty will not come?" + +"I should prefer not." + +"In spite of your promise!" + +"Madame!" + +"You will break your word!" + +"Silence, madame; this is intolerable." + +"It is indeed intolerable!" cried the angry lady, throwing all +discretion to the winds. "Oh, I am not afraid of you, sire. I have +loved you, but I have never feared you. I leave you here. I leave you +with your conscience and your--your lady confessor. But one word of +truth you shall hear before I go. You have been false to your wife, and +you have been false to your mistress, but it is only now that I find +that you can be false also to your word." She swept him an indignant +courtesy, and glided, with head erect, out of the room. + +The king sprang from his chair as if he had been stung. Accustomed as +he was to his gentle little wife, and the even gentler La Valliere, such +language as this had never before intruded itself upon the royal ears. +It was like a physical blow to him. He felt stunned, humiliated, +bewildered, by so unwonted a sensation. What odour was this which +mingled for the first time with the incense amid which he lived? +And then his whole soul rose up in anger at her, at the woman who had +dared to raise her voice against him. That she should be jealous of and +insult another woman, that was excusable. It was, in fact, an indirect +compliment to himself. But that she should turn upon him, as if they +were merely man and woman, instead of monarch and subject, that was too +much. He gave an inarticulate cry of rage, and rushed to the door. + +"Sire!" Madame de Maintenon, who had watched keenly the swift play of +his emotions over his expressive face, took two quick steps forward, and +laid her hand upon his arm. + +"I will go after her." + +"And why, sire?" + +To forbid her the court." + +"But, sire--" + +"You heard her! It is infamous! I shall go." + +"But, sire, could you not write?" + +"No, no; I shall see her." He pulled open the door. + +"Oh, sire, be firm, then!" It was with an anxious face that she watched +him start off, walking rapidly, with angry gestures, down the corridor. +Then she turned back, and dropping upon her knees on the _prie-dieu_, +bowed her head in prayer for the king, for herself, and for France. + +De Catinat, the guardsman, had employed himself in showing his young +friend from over the water all the wonders of the great palace, which +the other had examined keenly, and had criticised or admired with an +independence of judgment and a native correctness of taste natural to a +man whose life had been spent in freedom amid the noblest works of +nature. Grand as were the mighty fountains and the artificial cascades, +they had no overwhelming effect on one who had travelled up from Erie to +Ontario, and had seen the Niagara River hurl itself over its precipice, +nor were the long level swards so very large to eyes which had rested +upon the great plains of the Dakotas. The building itself, however, its +extent, its height, and the beauty of its stone, filled him with +astonishment. + +"I must bring Ephraim Savage here," he kept repeating. "He Would never +believe else that there was one house in the world which would weigh +more than all Boston and New York put together." + +De Catinat had arranged that the American should remain with his friend +Major de Brissac, as the time had come round for his own second turn of +guard. He had hardly stationed himself in the corridor when he was +astonished to see the King, without escort or attendants, walking +swiftly down the passage. His delicate face was disfigured with anger, +and his mouth was set grimly, like that of a man who had taken a +momentous resolution. + +"Officer of the guard," said he shortly. + +"Yes, sire." + +"What! You again, Captain de Catinat? You have not been on duty since +morning?" + +"No, sire. It is my second guard." + +"Very good. I wish your assistance." + +"I am at your command, sire." + +"Is there a subaltern here?" + +"Lieutenant de la Tremouille is at the side guard." + +"Very well. You will place him in command." + +"Yes, sire." + +"You will yourself go to Monsieur de Vivonne. You know his apartments?" + +"Yes, sire." + +"If he is not there, you must go and seek him. Wherever he is, you must +find him within the hour." + +"Yes, sire." + +"You will give him an order from me. At six o'clock he is to be in his +carriage at the east gate of the palace. His sister, Madame de +Montespan, will await him there, and he is charged by me to drive her to +the Chateau of Petit Bourg. You will tell him that he is answerable to +me for her arrival there." + +"Yes, sire." De Catinat raised his sword in salute, and started upon his +mission. + +The king passed on down the corridor, and opened a door which led him +into a magnificent ante-room, all one blaze of mirrors and gold, +furnished to a marvel with the most delicate ebony and silver suite, on +a deep red carpet of Aleppo, as soft and yielding as the moss of a +forest. In keeping with the furniture was the sole occupant of this +stately chamber--a little negro boy in a livery of velvet picked out +with silver tinsel, who stood as motionless as a small swart statuette +against the door which faced that through which the king entered. + +"Is your mistress there?" + +"She has just returned, sire." + +"I wish to see her." + +"Pardon, sire, but she--" + +"Is everyone to thwart me to-day?" snarled the king, and taking the +little page by his velvet collar, he hurled him to the other side of the +room. Then, without knocking, he opened the door, and passed on into +the lady's boudoir. + +It was a large and lofty room, very different to that from which he had +just come. Three long windows from ceiling to floor took up one side, +and through the delicate pink-tinted blinds the evening sun cast a +subdued and dainty light. Great gold candelabra glittered between the +mirrors upon the wall, and Le Brun had expended all his wealth of +colouring upon the ceiling, where Louis himself, in the character of +Jove, hurled down his thunder-bolts upon a writhing heap of Dutch and +Palatine Titans. Pink was the prevailing tone in tapestry, carpet, and +furniture, so that the whole room seemed to shine with the sweet tints +of the inner side of a shell, and when lit up, as it was then, formed +such a chamber as some fairy hero might have built up for his princess. +At the further side, prone upon an ottoman, her face buried in the +cushion, her beautiful white arms thrown over it, the rich coils of her +brown hair hanging in disorder across the long curve of her ivory neck, +lay, like a drooping flower, the woman whom he had come to discard. + +At the sound of the closing door she had glanced up, and then, at the +sight of the king, she sprang to her feet and ran towards him, her hands +out, her blue eyes bedimmed with tears, her whole beautiful figure +softening into womanliness and humility. + +"Ah, sire," she cried, with a pretty little sunburst of joy through her +tears, "then I have wronged you! I have wronged you cruelly! You have +kept your promise. You were but trying my faith! Oh, how could I have +said such words to you--how could I pain that noble heart! But you have +come after me to tell me that you have forgiven me!" She put her arms +forward with the trusting air of a pretty child who claims an embrace as +her due, but the king stepped swiftly back from her, and warned her away +from him with an angry gesture. + +"All is over forever between us," he cried harshly. "Your brother will +await you at the east gate at six o'clock, and it is my command that you +wait there until you receive my further orders." + +She staggered back as if he had struck her. + +"Leave you!" she cried. + +"You must leave the court." + +"The court! Ay, willingly, this instant! But you! Ah, sire, you ask +what is impossible." + +"I do not ask, madame; I order. Since you have learned to abuse your +position, your presence has become intolerable. The united kings of +Europe have never dared to speak to me as you have spoken to-day. +You have insulted me in my own palace--me, Louis, the king. Such things +are not done twice, madame. Your insolence has carried you too far this +time. You thought that because I was forbearing, I was therefore weak. +It appeared to you that if you only humoured me one moment, you might +treat me as if I were your equal the next, for that this poor puppet of +a king could always be bent this way or that. You see your mistake now. +At six o'clock you leave Versailles forever." His eyes flashed, and his +small upright figure seemed to swell in the violence of his indignation, +while she leaned away from him, one hand across her eyes and one thrown +forward, as if to screen her from that angry gaze. + +"Oh, I have been wicked!" she cried. "I know it, I know it!" + +"I am glad, madame, that you have the grace to acknowledge it." + +"How could I speak to you so! How could I! Oh, that some blight may +come upon this unhappy tongue! I, who have had nothing but good from +you! I to insult you, who are the author of all my happiness! Oh, +sire, forgive me, forgive me! for pity's sake forgive me!" + +Louis was by nature a kind-hearted man. His feelings were touched, and +his pride also was flattered by the abasement of this beautiful and +haughty woman. His other favourites had been amiable to all, but this +one was so proud, so unyielding, until she felt his master-hand. +His face softened somewhat in its expression as he glanced at her, but +he shook his head, and his voice was as firm as ever as he answered. + +"It is useless, madame," said he. "I have thought this matter over for +a long time, and your madness to-day has only hurried what must in any +case have taken place. You must leave the palace." + +"I will leave the palace. Say only that you forgive me. Oh, sire, I +cannot bear your anger. It crushes me down. I am not strong enough. +It is not banishment, it is death to which you sentence me. Think of +our long years of love, sire, and say that you forgive me. I have given +up all for your sake--husband, honour, everything. Oh, will you not +give your anger up for mine? My God, he weeps! Oh, I am saved, I am +saved!" + +"No, no, madame," cried the king, dashing his hand across his eyes. +"You see the weakness of the man, but you shall also see the firmness of +the king. As to your insults to-day, I forgive them freely, if that +will make you more happy in your retirement. But I owe a duty to my +subjects also, and that duty is to set them an example. We have thought +too little of such things. But a time has come when it is necessary to +review our past life, and to prepare for that which is to come." + +"Ah, sire, you pain me. You are not yet in the prime of your years, and +you speak as though old age were upon you. In a score of years from now +it may be time for folk to say that age has made a change in your life." + +The king winced. "Who says so?" he cried angrily. + +"Oh, sire, it slipped from me unawares. Think no more of it. Nobody +says so. Nobody." + +"You are hiding something from me. Who is it who says this?" + +"Oh, do not ask me, sire." + +"You said that it was reported that I had changed my life not through +religion, but through stress of years. Who said so?" + +"Oh, sire, it was but foolish court gossip, all unworthy of your +attention. It was but the empty common talk of cavaliers who had +nothing else to say to gain a smile from their ladies." + +"The common talk?" Louis flushed crimson. + +"Have I, then, grown so aged? You have known me for nearly twenty +years. Do you see such changes in me?" + +"To me, sire, you are as pleasing and as gracious as when you first won +the heart of Mademoiselle Tonnay-Charente." + + The king smiled as he looked at the beautiful woman before him. + +"In very truth," said he, "I can say that there has been no such great +change in Mademoiselle Tonnay-Charente either. But still it is best +that we should part, Francoise." + +"If it will add aught to your happiness, sire, I shall go through it, be +it to my death." + +"Now that is the proper spirit." + +"You have but to name the place, sire--Petit Bourg, Chargny, or my own +convent of St. Joseph in the Faubourg St. Germain. What matter where +the flower withers, when once the sun has forever turned from it? +At least, the past is my own, and I shall live in the remembrance of the +days when none had come between us, and when your sweet love was all my +own. Be happy, sire, be happy, and think no more of what I said about +the foolish gossip of the court. Your life lies in the future. Mine is +in the past. Adieu, dear sire, adieu!" She threw forward her hands, +her eyes dimmed over, and she would have fallen had Louis not sprung +forward and caught her in his arms. Her beautiful head drooped upon his +shoulder, her breath was warm upon his cheek, and the subtle scent of +her hair was in his nostrils. His arm, as he held her, rose and fell +with her bosom, and he felt her heart, beneath his hand, fluttering like +a caged bird. Her broad white throat was thrown back, her eyes almost +closed, her lips just parted enough to show the line of pearly teeth, +her beautiful face not three inches from his own. And then suddenly the +eyelids quivered, and the great blue eyes looked up at him, lovingly, +appealingly, half deprecating, half challenging, her whole soul in a +glance. Did he move? or was it she? Who could tell? But their lips +had met in a long kiss, and then in another, and plans and resolutions +were streaming away from Louis like autumn leaves in the west wind. + +"Then I am not to go? You would not have the heart to send me away, +would you?" + +"No, no; but you must not annoy me, Francoise." + +"I had rather die than cause you an instant of grief. Oh, sire, I have +seen so little of you lately! And I love you so! It has maddened me. +And then that dreadful woman--" + +"Who, then?" + +"Oh, I must not speak against her. I will be civil for your sake even +to her, the widow of old Scarron." + +"Yes, yes, you must be civil. I cannot have any unpleasantness." + +"But you will stay with me, sire?" Her supple arms coiled themselves +round his neck. Then she held him for an instant at arm's length to +feast her eyes upon his face, and then drew him once more towards her. +"You will not leave me, dear sire. It is so long since you have been +here." + +The sweet face, the pink glow in the room, the hush of the evening, all +seemed to join in their sensuous influence. Louis sank down upon the +settee. + +"I will stay," said he. + +"And that carriage, dear sire, at the east door?" + +"I have been very harsh with you, Francoise. You will forgive me. +Have you paper and pencil, that I may countermand the order?" + +"They are here, sire, upon the side table. I have also a note which, if +I may leave you for an instant, I will write in the anteroom." + +She swept out with triumph in her eyes. It had been a terrible fight, +but all the greater the credit of her victory. She took a little pink +slip of paper from an inlaid desk, and dashed off a few words upon it. +They were: "Should Madame de Maintenon have any message for his Majesty, +he will be for the next few hours in the room of Madame de Montespan." +This she addressed to her rival, and it was sent on the spot, together +with the king's order, by the hands of the little black page. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +THE SUN REAPPEARS. + +For nearly a week the king was constant to his new humour. The routine +of his life remained unchanged, save that it was the room of the frail +beauty, rather than of Madame de Maintenon, which attracted him in the +afternoon. And in sympathy with this sudden relapse into his old life, +his coats lost something of their sombre hue, and fawn-colour, +buff-colour, and lilac began to replace the blacks and the blues. +A little gold lace budded out upon his hats also and at the trimmings of +his pockets, while for three days on end his _prie-dieu_ at the royal +chapel had been unoccupied. His walk was brisker, and he gave a +youthful flourish to his cane as a defiance to those who had seen in his +reformation the first symptoms of age. Madame had known her man well +when she threw out that artful insinuation. + +And as the king brightened, so all the great court brightened too. +The _salons_ began to resume their former splendour, and gay coats and +glittering embroidery which had lain in drawers for years were seen once +more in the halls of the palace. In the chapel, Bourdaloue preached in +vain to empty benches, but a ballet in the grounds was attended by the +whole court, and received with a frenzy of enthusiasm. The Montespan +ante-room was crowded every morning with men and women who had some suit +to be urged, while her rival's chambers were as deserted as they had +been before the king first turned a gracious look upon her. Faces which +had been long banished the court began to reappear in the corridors and +gardens unchecked and unrebuked, while the black cassock of the Jesuit +and the purple soutane of the bishop were less frequent colours in the +royal circle. + +But the Church party, who, if they were the champions of bigotry, were +also those of virtue, were never seriously alarmed at this relapse. +The grave eyes of priest or of prelate followed Louis in his escapade as +wary huntsmen might watch a young deer which gambols about in the meadow +under the impression that it is masterless, when every gap and path is +netted, and it is in truth as much in their hands as though it were +lying bound before them. They knew how short a time it would be before +some ache, some pain, some chance word, would bring his mortality home +to him again, and envelop him once more in those superstitious terrors +which took the place of religion in his mind. They waited, therefore, +and they silently planned how the prodigal might best be dealt with on +his return. + +To this end it was that his confessor, Pere la Chaise, and Bossuet, the +great Bishop of Meaux, waited one morning upon Madame de Maintenon in +her chamber. With a globe beside her, she was endeavouring to teach +geography to the lame Due du Maine and the mischievous little Comte de +Toulouse, who had enough of their father's disposition to make them +averse to learning, and of their mother's to cause them to hate any +discipline or restraint. Her wonderful tact, however, and her +unwearying patience had won the love and confidence even of these little +perverse princes, and it was one of Madame de Montespan's most bitter +griefs that not only her royal lover, but even her own children, turned +away from the brilliancy and riches of her salon to pass their time in +the modest apartment of her rival. + +Madame de Maintenon dismissed her two pupils, and received the +ecclesiastics with the mixture of affection and respect which was due to +those who were not only personal friends, but great lights of the +Gallican Church. She had suffered the minister Louvois to sit upon a +stool in her presence, but the two chairs were allotted to the priests +now, and she insisted upon reserving the humbler seat for herself. The +last few days had cast a pallor over her face which spiritualised and +refined the features, but she wore unimpaired the expression of sweet +serenity which was habitual to her. + +"I see, my dear daughter, that you have sorrowed," said Bossuet, +glancing at her with a kindly and yet searching eye. + +"I have indeed, your Grace. All last night I spent in prayer that this +trial may pass away from us." + +"And yet you have no need for fear, madame--none, I assure you. Others +may think that your influence has ceased; but we, who know the king's +heart, we think otherwise. A few days may pass, a few weeks at the +most, and once more it will be upon your rising fortunes that every eye +in France will turn." + +The lady's brow clouded, and she glanced at the prelate as though his +speech were not altogether to her taste. "I trust that pride does not +lead me astray," she said. "But if I can read my own soul aright, there +is no thought of myself in the grief which now tears my heart. What is +power to me? What do I desire? A little room, leisure for my +devotions, a pittance to save me from want--what more can I ask for? +Why, then, should I covet power? If I am sore at heart, it is not for +any poor loss which I have sustained. I think no more of it than of the +snapping of one of the threads on yonder tapestry frame. It is for the +king I grieve--for the noble heart, the kindly soul, which might rise so +high, and which is dragged so low, like a royal eagle with some foul +weight which ever hampers its flight. It is for him and for France that +my days are spent in sorrow and my nights upon my knees." + +"For all that, my daughter, you are ambitious." + +It was the Jesuit who had spoken. His voice was clear and cold, and his +piercing gray eyes seemed to read into the depths of her soul. + +"You may be right, father. God guard me from self-esteem. And yet I do +not think that I am. The king, in his goodness, has offered me titles-- +I have refused them; money--I have returned it. He has deigned to ask +my advice in matters of state, and I have withheld it. Where, then, is +my ambition?" + +"In your heart, my daughter. But it is not a sinful ambition. It is +not an ambition of this world. Would you not love to turn the king +towards good?" + +"I would give my life for it." + +"And there is your ambition. Ah, can I not read your noble soul? +Would you not love to see the Church reign pure and serene over all this +realm--to see the poor housed, the needy helped, the wicked turned from +their ways, and the king ever the leader in all that is noble and good? +Would you not love that, my daughter?" + +Her cheeks had flushed, and her eyes shone as she looked at the gray +face of the Jesuit, and saw the picture which his words had conjured up +before her. "Ah, that would be joy indeed!" she cried. + +"And greater joy still to know, not from the mouths of the people, but +from the voice of your own heart in the privacy of your chamber, that +you had been the cause of it, that your influence had brought this +blessing upon the king and upon the country." + +"I would die to do it." + +"We wish you to do what may be harder. We wish you to live to do it." + +"Ah!" She glanced from one to the other with questioning eyes. + +"My daughter," said Bossuet solemnly, leaning forward, with his broad +white hand outstretched and his purple pastoral ring sparkling in the +sunlight, "it is time for plain speaking. It is in the interests of the +Church that we do it. None hear, and none shall ever hear, what passes +between us now. Regard us, if you will, as two confessors, with whom +your secret is inviolable. I call it a secret, and yet it is none to +us, for it is our mission to read the human heart. You love the king." + +"Your Grace!" She started, and a warm blush, mantling up in her pale +cheeks, deepened and spread until it tinted her white forehead and her +queenly neck. + +"You love the king." + +"Your Grace--father!" She turned in confusion from one to the other. + +"There is no shame in loving, my daughter. The shame lies only in +yielding to love. I say again that you love the king." + +"At least I have never told him so," she faltered. + +"And will you never?" + +"May heaven wither my tongue first!" + +"But consider, my daughter. Such love in a soul like yours is heaven's +gift, and sent for some wise purpose. This human love is too often but +a noxious weed which blights the soil it grows in, but here it is a +gracious flower, all fragrant with humility and virtue." + +"Alas! I have tried to tear it from my heart." + +"Nay; rather hold it firmly rooted there. Did the king but meet with +some tenderness from you, some sign that his own affection met with an +answer from your heart, it might be that this ambition which you profess +would be secured, and that Louis, strengthened by the intimate +companionship of your noble nature, might live in the spirit as well as +in the forms of the Church. All this might spring from the love which +you hide away as though it bore the brand of shame." + +The lady half rose, glancing from the prelate to the priest with eyes +which had a lurking horror in their depths. + +"Can I have understood you!" she gasped. "What meaning lies behind +these words? You cannot counsel me to--" + +The Jesuit had risen, and his spare figure towered above her. + +"My daughter, we give no counsel which is unworthy of our office. +We speak for the interests of Holy Church, and those interests demand +that you should marry the king." + +"Marry the king!" The little room swam round her. "Marry the king!" + +"There lies the best hope for the future. We see in you a second Jeanne +d'Arc, who will save both France and France's king." + +Madame sat silent for a few moments. Her face had regained its +composure, and her eyes were bent vacantly upon her tapestry frame as +she turned over in her mind all that was involved in the suggestion. + +"But surely--surely this could never be," she said at last, "Why should +we plan that which can never come to pass?" + +"And why?" + +"What King of France has married a subject? See how every princess of +Europe stretches out her hand to him. The Queen of France must be of +queenly blood, even as the last was." + +"All this may be overcome." + +"And then there are the reasons of state. If the king marry, it should +be to form a powerful alliance, to cement a friendship with a neighbour +nation, or to gain some province which may be the bride's dowry. +What is my dowry? A widow's pension and a work-box." She laughed +bitterly, and yet glanced eagerly at her companions, as one who wished +to be confuted. + +"Your dowry, my daughter, would be those gifts of body and of mind with +which heaven has endowed you. The king has money enough, and the king +has provinces enough. As to the state, how can the state be better +served than by the assurance that the king will be saved in future from +such sights as are to be seen in this palace to-day?" + +"Oh, if it could be so! But think, father, think of those about him-- +the dauphin, monsieur his brother, his ministers. You know how little +this would please them, and how easy it is for them to sway his mind. +No, no; it is a dream, father, and it can never be." + +The faces of the two ecclesiastics, who had dismissed her other +objections with a smile and a wave, clouded over at this, as though she +had at last touched upon the real obstacle. + +"My daughter," said the Jesuit gravely, "that is a matter which you may +leave to the Church. It may be that we, too, have some power over the +king's mind, and that we may lead him in the right path, even though +those of his own blood would fain have it otherwise. The future only +can show with whom the power lies. But you? Love and duty both draw +you one way now, and the Church may count upon you." + +"To my last breath, father." + +"And you upon the Church. It will serve you, if you in turn will but +serve it." + +"What higher wish could I have?" + +"You will be our daughter, our queen, our champion, and you will heal +the wounds of the suffering Church." + +"Ah! if I could!" + +"But you can. While there is heresy within the land there can be no +peace or rest for the faithful. It is the speck of mould which will in +time, if it be not pared off, corrupt the whole fruit." + +"What would you have, then, father?" + +"The Huguenots must go. They must be driven forth. The goats must be +divided from the sheep. The king is already in two minds. Louvois is +our friend now. If you are with us, then all will be well." + +"But, father, think how many there are!" + +"The more reason that they should be dealt with." + +"And think, too, of their sufferings should they be driven forth." + +"Their cure lies in their own hands." + +"That is true. And yet my heart softens for them." + +Pere la Chaise and the bishop shook their heads. Nature had made them +both kind and charitable men, but the heart turns to flint when the +blessing of religion is changed to the curse of sect. + +"You would befriend God's enemies then?" + +"No, no; not if they are indeed so." + +"Can you doubt it? Is it possible that your heart still turns towards +the heresy of your youth?" + +"No, father; but it is not in nature to forget that my father and my +grandfather--" + +"Nay, they have answered for their own sins. Is it possible that the +Church has been mistaken in you? Do you then refuse the first favour +which she asks of you? You would accept her aid, and yet you would give +none in return." + +Madame de Maintenon rose with the air of one who has made her +resolution. "You are wiser than I," said she, "and to you have been +committed the interests of the Church. I will do what you advise." + +"You promise it?" + +"I do." + +Her two visitors threw up their hands together. "It is a blessed day," +they cried, "and generations yet unborn will learn to deem it so." + +She sat half stunned by the prospect which was opening out in front of +her. Ambitious she had, as the Jesuit had surmised, always been-- +ambitious for the power which would enable her to leave the world better +than she found it. And this ambition she had already to some extent +been able to satisfy, for more than once she had swayed both king and +kingdom. But to marry the king--to marry the man for whom she would +gladly lay down her life, whom in the depths of her heart she loved in +as pure and as noble a fashion as woman ever yet loved man--that was +indeed a thing above her utmost hopes. She knew her own mind, and she +knew his. Once his wife, she could hold him to good, and keep every +evil influence away from him. She was sure of it. She should be no +weak Maria Theresa, but rather, as the priest had said, a new Jeanne +d'Arc, come to lead France and France's king into better ways. And if, +to gain this aim, she had to harden her heart against the Huguenots, at +least the fault, if there were one, lay with those who made this +condition rather than with herself. The king's wife! The heart of the +woman and the soul of the enthusiast both leaped at the thought. + +But close at the heels of her joy there came a sudden revulsion to doubt +and despondency. Was not all this fine prospect a mere day-dream? and +how could these men be so sure that they held the king in the hollow of +their hand? The Jesuit read the fears which dulled the sparkle of her +eyes, and answered her thoughts before she had time to put them into +words. + +"The Church redeems its pledges swiftly," said he. "And you, my +daughter, you must be as prompt when your own turn comes." + +"I have promised, father." + +"Then it is for us to perform. You will remain in your room all +evening." + +"Yes, father." + +"The king already hesitates. I spoke with him this morning, and his +mind was full of blackness and despair. His better self turns in +disgust from his sins, and it is now when the first hot fit of +repentance is just coming upon him that he may best be moulded to our +ends. I have to see and speak with him once more, and I go from your +room to his. And when I have spoken, he will come from his room to +yours, or I have studied his heart for twenty years in vain. We leave +you now, and you will not see us, but you will see the effects of what +we do, and you will remember your pledge to us." They bowed low to her +both together, and left her to her thoughts. + +An hour passed, and then a second one, as she sat in her _fauteuil_, her +tapestry before her, but her hands listless upon her lap, waiting for +her fate. Her life's future was now being settled for her, and she was +powerless to turn it in one way or the other. Daylight turned to the +pearly light of evening, and that again to dusk, but she still sat +waiting in the shadow. Sometimes as a step passed in the corridor she +would glance expectantly towards the door, and the light of welcome +would spring up in her gray eyes, only to die away again into +disappointment. At last, however, there came a quick sharp tread, crisp +and authoritative, which brought her to her feet with flushed cheeks and +her heart beating wildly. The door opened, and she saw outlined against +the gray light of the outer passage the erect and graceful figure of the +king. + +"Sire! One instant, and mademoiselle will light the lamp." + +"Do not call her." He entered and closed the door behind him. +"Francoise, the dusk is welcome to me, because it screens me from the +reproaches which must lie in your glance, even if your tongue be too +kindly to speak them." + +"Reproaches, sire! God forbid that I should utter them!" + +"When I last left you, Francoise, it was with a good resolution in my +mind. I tried to carry it out, and I failed--I failed. I remember that +you warned me. Fool that I was not to follow your advice!" + +"We are all weak and mortal, sire. Who has not fallen? Nay, sire, it +goes to my heart to see you thus." + +He was standing by the fireplace, his face buried in his hands, and she +could tell by the catch of his breath that he was weeping. All the pity +of her woman's nature went out to that silent and repenting figure dimly +seen in the failing light. She put out her hand with a gesture of +sympathy, and it rested for an instant upon his velvet sleeve. The next +he had clasped it between his own, and she made no effort to release it. + +"I cannot do without you, Francoise," he cried. "I am the loneliest man +in all this world, like one who lives on a great mountain-peak, with +none to bear him company. Who have I for a friend? Whom can I rely +upon? Some are for the Church; some are for their families; most are +for themselves. But who of them all is single-minded? You are my +better self, Francoise; you are my guardian angel. What the good +father says is true, and the nearer I am to you the further am I from +all that is evil. Tell me, Francoise, do you love me?" + +"I have loved you for years, sire." Her voice was low but clear--the +voice of a woman to whom coquetry was abhorrent. + +"I had hoped it, Francoise, and yet it thrills me to hear you say it. +I know that wealth and title have no attraction for you, and that your +heart turns rather towards the convent than the palace. Yet I ask you +to remain in the palace, and to reign there. Will you be my wife, +Francoise?" + +And so the moment had in very truth come. She paused for an instant, +only an instant, before taking this last great step; but even that was +too long for the patience of the king. + +"Will you not, Francoise?" he cried, with a ring of fear in his voice. + +"May God make me worthy of such an honour, sire!" said she. "And here I +swear that if heaven double my life, every hour shall be spent in the +one endeavour to make you a happier man!" + +She had knelt down, and the king, still holding her hand, knelt down +beside her. + +"And I swear too," he cried, "that if my days also are doubled, you will +now and forever be the one and only woman for me." + +And so their double oath was taken, an oath which was to be tested in +the future, for each did live almost double their years, and yet neither +broke the promise made hand in hand on that evening in the shadow-girt +chamber. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +THE KING RECEIVES. + +It may have been that Mademoiselle Nanon, the faithful _confidante_ of +Madame de Maintenon, had learned something of this interview, or it may +be that Pere la Chaise, with the shrewdness for which his Order is +famous, had come to the conclusion that publicity was the best means of +holding the king to his present intention; but whatever the source, it +was known all over the court next day that the old favourite was again +in disgrace, and that there was talk of a marriage between the king and +the governess of his children. It was whispered at the _petit lever_, +confirmed at the _grand entree_, and was common gossip by the time that +the king had returned from chapel. Back into wardrobe and drawer went +the flaring silks and the feathered hats, and out once more came the +sombre coat and the matronly dress. Scudery and Calpernedi gave place +to the missal and St. Thomas a Kempis, while Bourdaloue, after preaching +for a week to empty benches, found his chapel packed to the last seat +with weary gentlemen and taper-bearing ladies. By midday there was none +in the court who had not heard the tidings, save only Madame de +Montespan, who, alarmed by her lover's absence, had remained in haughty +seclusion in her room, and knew nothing of what had passed. Many there +were who would have loved to carry her the tidings; but the king's +changes had been frequent of late, and who would dare to make a mortal +enemy of one who might, ere many weeks were past, have the lives and +fortunes of the whole court in the hollow of her hand? + +Louis, in his innate selfishness, had been so accustomed to regard every +event entirely from the side of how it would affect himself, that it had +never struck him that his long-suffering family, who had always yielded +to him the absolute obedience which he claimed as his right, would +venture to offer any opposition to his new resolution. He was +surprised, therefore, when his brother demanded a private interview that +afternoon, and entered his presence without the complaisant smile and +humble air with which he was wont to appear before him. + +Monsieur was a curious travesty of his elder brother. He was shorter, +but he wore enormously high boot-heels, which brought him to a fair +stature. In figure he had none of that grace which marked the king, nor +had he the elegant hand and foot which had been the delight of +sculptors. He was fat, waddled somewhat in his walk, and wore an +enormous black wig, which rolled down in rows and rows of curls over his +shoulders. His face was longer and darker than the king's, and his nose +more prominent, though he shared with his brother the large brown eyes +which each had inherited from Anne of Austria. He had none of the +simple and yet stately taste which marked the dress of the monarch, but +his clothes were all tagged over with fluttering ribbons, which rustled +behind him as he walked, and clustered so thickly over his feet as to +conceal them from view. Crosses, stars, jewels, and insignia were +scattered broadcast over his person, and the broad blue ribbon of the +Order of the Holy Ghost was slashed across his coat, and was gathered at +the end into a great bow, which formed the incongruous support of a +diamond-hilted sword. Such was the figure which rolled towards the +king, bearing in his right hand his many-feathered beaver, and +appearing in his person, as he was in his mind, an absurd burlesque of +the monarch. + +"Why, monsieur, you seem less gay than usual to-day," said the king, +with a smile. "Your dress, indeed, is bright, but your brow is clouded. +I trust that all is well with Madame and with the Duc de Chartres?" + +"Yes, sire, they are well; but they are sad like myself, and from the +same cause." + +"Indeed! and why?" + +"Have I ever failed in my duty as your younger brother, sire?" + +"Never, Philippe, never!" said the king, laying his hand affectionately +upon the other's shoulder. "You have set an excellent example to my +subjects." + +"Then why set a slight upon me?" + +"Philippe!" + +"Yes, sire, I say it is a slight. We are of royal blood, and our wives +are of royal blood also. You married the Princess of Spain; I married +the Princess of Bavaria. It was a condescension, but still I did it. +My first wife was the Princess of England. How can we admit into a +house which has formed such alliances as these a woman who is the widow +of a hunchback singer, a mere lampooner, a man whose name is a byword +through Europe?" + +The king had stared in amazement at his brother, but his anger now +overcame his astonishment. + +"Upon my word!" he cried; "upon my word! I have said just now that you +have been an excellent brother, but I fear that I spoke a little +prematurely. And so you take upon yourself to object to the lady whom I +select as my wife!" + +"I do, sire." + +"And by what right?" + +"By the right of the family honour, sire, which is as much mine as +yours." + +"Man," cried the king furiously, "have you not yet learned that within +this kingdom I am the fountain of honour, and that whomsoever I may +honour becomes by that very fact honourable? Were I to take a +cinder-wench out of the Rue Poissonniere, I could at my will raise her +up until the highest in France would be proud to bow down before her. +Do you not know this?" + +"No, I do not," cried his brother, with all the obstinacy of a weak man +who has at last been driven to bay. "I look upon it as a slight upon me +and a slight upon my wife." + +"Your wife! I have every respect for Charlotte Elizabeth of Bavaria, +but how is she superior to one whose grandfather was the dear friend and +comrade in arms of Henry the Great? Enough! I will not condescend to +argue such a matter with you! Begone, and do not return to my presence +until you have learned not to interfere in my affairs." + +"For all that, my wife shall not know her!" snarled monsieur; and then, +as his brother took a fiery step or two towards him, he turned and +scuttled out of the room as fast as his awkward gait and high heels +would allow him. + +But the king was to have no quiet that day. If Madame de Maintenon's +friends had rallied to her yesterday, her enemies were active to-day. +Monsieur had hardly disappeared before there rushed into the room a +youth who bore upon his rich attire every sign of having just arrived +from a dusty journey. He was pale-faced and auburn-haired, with +features which would have been strikingly like the king's if it were not +that his nose had been disfigured in his youth. The king's face had +lighted up at the sight of him, but it darkened again as he hurried +forward and threw himself down at his feet. + +"Oh, sire," he cried, "spare us this grief--spare us this humiliation! +I implore you to pause before you do what will bring dishonour upon +yourself and upon us!" + +The king started back from him, and paced angrily up and down the room. + +"This is intolerable!" he cried. "It was bad from my brother, but worse +from my son. You are in a conspiracy with him, Louis. Monsieur has +told you to act this part." + +The dauphin rose to his feet and looked steadfastly at his angry father. + +"I have not seen my uncle," he said. "I was at Meudon when I heard this +news--this dreadful news--and I sprang upon my horse, sire, and galloped +over to implore you to think again before you drag our royal house so +low." + +"You are insolent, Louis." + +"I do not mean to be so, sire. But consider, sire, that my mother was a +queen, and that it would be strange indeed if for a step-mother I had +a--" + +The king raised his hand with a gesture of authority which checked the +word upon his lips. + +"Silence!" he cried, "or you may say that which would for ever set a +gulf between us. Am I to be treated worse than my humblest subject, who +is allowed to follow his own bent in his private affairs?" + +"This is not your own private affair, sire; all that you do reflects +upon your family. The great deeds of your reign have given a new glory +to the name of Bourbon. Oh, do not mar it now, sire! I implore it of +you upon my bended knees!" + +"You talk like a fool!" cried his father roughly. "I propose to marry a +virtuous and charming lady of one of the oldest noble families of +France, and you talk as if I were doing something degrading and unheard +of. What is your objection to this lady?" + +"That she is the daughter of a man whose vices were well known, that her +brother is of the worst repute, that she has led the life of an +adventuress, is the widow of a deformed scribbler, and that she occupies +a menial position in the palace." + +The king had stamped with his foot upon the carpet more than once during +this frank address, but his anger blazed into a fury at its conclusion. + +"Do you dare," he cried, with flashing eyes, "to call the charge of my +children a menial position? I say that there is no higher in the +kingdom. Go back to Meudon, sir, this instant, and never dare to open +your mouth again on the subject. Away, I say! When, in God's good +time, you are king of this country, you may claim your own way, but +until then do not venture to cross the plans of one who is both your +parent and your monarch." + +The young man bowed low, and walked with dignity from the chamber; but +he turned with his hand upon the door. + +"The Abbe Fenelon came with me, sire. Is it your pleasure to see him?" + +"Away! away!" cried the king furiously, still striding up and down the +room with angry face and flashing eyes. The dauphin left the cabinet, +and was instantly succeeded by a tall thin priest, some forty years of +age, strikingly handsome, with a pale refined face, large well-marked +features, and the easy deferential bearing of one who has had a long +training in courts. The king turned sharply upon him, and looked hard +at him with a distrustful eye. + +"Good-day, Abbe Fenelon," said he. "May I ask what the object of this +interview is?" + +"You have had the condescension, sire, on more than one occasion, to ask +my humble advice, and even to express yourself afterwards as being +pleased that you had acted upon it." + +"Well? Well? Well?" growled the monarch. + +"If rumour says truly, sire, you are now at a crisis when a word of +impartial counsel might be of value to you. Need I say that it +would--" + +"Tut! tut! Why all these words?" cried the king. "You have been sent +here by others to try and influence me against Madame de Maintenon." + +"Sire, I have had nothing but kindness from that lady. I esteem and +honour her more than any lady in France." + +"In that case, abbe, you will, I am sure, be glad to hear that I am +about to marry her. Good-day, abbe. I regret that I have not longer +time to devote to this very interesting conversation." + +"But, sire--" + +"When my mind is in doubt, abbe, I value your advice very highly. +On this occasion my mind is happily _not_ in doubt. I have the honour +to wish you a very good-day." + +The king's first hot anger had died away by now, and had left behind it +a cold, bitter spirit which was even more formidable to his antagonists. +The abbe, glib of tongue and fertile of resource as he was, felt himself +to be silenced and overmatched. He walked backwards, with three long +bows, as was the custom of the court, and departed. + +But the king had little breathing space. His assailants knew that with +persistence they had bent his will before, and they trusted that they +might do so again. It was Louvois, the minister, now who entered the +room, with his majestic port, his lofty bearing, his huge wig, and his +aristocratic face, which, however, showed some signs of trepidation as +it met the baleful eye of the king. + +"Well, Louvois, what now?" he asked impatiently. "Has some new state +matter arisen?" + +"There is but one new state matter which has arisen, sire, but it is of +such importance as to banish all others from our mind." + +"What then?" + +"Your marriage, sire." + +"You disapprove of it?" + +"Oh, sire, can I help it?" + +"Out of my room, sir! Am I to be tormented to death by your +importunities? What! You dare to linger when I order you to go!" +The king advanced angrily upon the minister, but Louvois suddenly +flashed out his rapier. Louis sprang back with alarm and amazement upon +his face, but it was the hilt and not the point which was presented to +him. + +"Pass it through my heart, sire!" the minister cried, falling upon his +knees, his whole great frame in a quiver with emotion. "I will not live +to see your glory fade!" + +"Great heaven!" shrieked Louis, throwing the sword down upon the ground, +and raising his hands to his temples, "I believe that this is a +conspiracy to drive me mad. Was ever a man so tormented in his life? +This will be a private marriage, man, and it will not affect the state +in the least degree. Do you hear me? Have you understood me? What more +do you want?" + +Louvois gathered himself up, and shot his rapier back into its sheath. + +"Your Majesty is determined?" he asked. + +"Absolutely." + +"Then I say no more. I have done my duty." He bowed his head as one in +deep dejection when he departed, but in truth his heart was lightened +within him, for he had the king's assurance that the woman whom he hated +would, even though his wife, not sit on the throne of the Queens of +France. + +These repeated attacks, if they had not shaken the king's resolution, +had at least irritated and exasperated him to the utmost. Such a blast +of opposition was a new thing to a man whose will had been the one law +of the land. It left him ruffled and disturbed, and without regretting +his resolution, he still, with unreasoning petulance, felt inclined to +visit the inconvenience to which he had been put upon those whose advice +he had followed. He wore accordingly no very cordial face when the +usher in attendance admitted the venerable figure of Father la Chaise, +his confessor. + +"I wish you all happiness, sire," said the Jesuit, "and I congratulate +you from my heart that you have taken the great step which must lead to +content both in this world and the next." + +"I have had neither happiness nor contentment yet, father," answered the +king peevishly. "I have never been so pestered in my life. The whole +court has been on its knees to me to entreat me to change my intention." + +The Jesuit looked at him anxiously out of his keen gray eyes. + +"Fortunately, your Majesty is a man of strong will," said he, "and not +to be so easily swayed as they think." + +"No, no, I did not give an inch. But still, it must be confessed that +it is very unpleasant to have so many against one. I think that most +men would have been shaken." + +"Now is the time to stand firm, sire; Satan rages to see you passing out +of his power, and he stirs up all his friends and sends all his +emissaries to endeavour to detain you." + +But the king was not in a humour to be easily consoled. + +"Upon my word, father," said he, "you do not seem to have much respect +for my family. My brother and my son, with the Abbe Fenelon and the +Minister of War, are the emissaries to whom you allude." + +"Then there is the more credit to your Majesty for having resisted them. +You have done nobly, sire. You have earned the praise and blessing of +Holy Church." + +"I trust that what I have done is right, father," said the king gravely. +"I should be glad to see you again later in the evening, but at present +I desire a little leisure for solitary thought." + +Father la Chaise left the cabinet with a deep distrust of the king's +intentions. It was obvious that the powerful appeals which had been +made to him had shaken if they had failed to alter his resolution. +What would be the result if more were made? And more would be made; +that was as certain as that darkness follows light. Some master-card +must be played now which would bring the matter to a crisis at once, for +every day of delay was in favour of their opponents. To hesitate was to +lose. All must be staked upon one final throw. + +The Bishop of Meaux was waiting in the ante-room, and Father la Chaise +in a few brief words let him see the danger of the situation and the +means by which they should meet it. Together they sought Madame de +Maintenon in her room. She had discarded the sombre widow's dress which +she had chosen since her first coming to court, and wore now, as more in +keeping with her lofty prospects, a rich yet simple costume of white +satin with bows of silver serge. A single diamond sparkled in the thick +coils of her dark tresses. The change had taken years from a face and +figure which had always looked much younger than her age, and as the two +plotters looked upon her perfect complexion, her regular features, so +calm and yet so full of refinement, and the exquisite grace of her +figure and bearing, they could not but feel that if they failed in their +ends, it was not for want of having a perfect tool at their command. + +She had risen at their entrance, and her expression showed that she had +read upon their faces something of the anxiety which filled their minds. + +"You have evil news!" she cried. + +"No, no, my daughter." It was the bishop who spoke. "But we must be on +our guard against our enemies, who would turn the king away from you if +they could." + +Her face shone at the mention of her lover. + +"Ah, you do not know!" she cried. "He has made a vow. I would trust +him as I would trust myself. I know that he will be true." + +But the Jesuit's intellect was arrayed against the intuition of the +woman. + +"Our opponents are many and strong," said he shaking his head. +"Even if the king remain firm, he will be annoyed at every turn, so that +he will feel his life is darker instead of lighter, save, of course, +madame, for that brightness which you cannot fail to bring with you. +We must bring the matter to an end." + +"And how, father?" + +"The marriage must be at once!" + +"At once!" + +"Yes. This very night, if possible." + +"Oh, father, you ask too much. The king would never consent to such a +proposal." + +"It is he that will propose it." + +"And why?" + +"Because we shall force him to. It is only thus that all the opposition +can be stopped. When it is done, the court will accept it. Until it is +done, they will resist it." + +"What would you have me do, then, father?" + +"Resign the king." + +"Resign him!" She turned as pale as a lily, and looked at him in +bewilderment. + +"It is the best course, madame." + +"Ah, father, I might have done it last month, last week, even yesterday +morning. But now--oh, it would break my heart!" + +"Fear not, madame. We advise you for the best. Go to the king now, at +once. Say to him that you have heard that he has been subjected to much +annoyance upon your account, that you cannot bear to think that you +should be a cause of dissension in his own family, and therefore you +will release him from his promise, and will withdraw yourself from the +court forever." + +"Go now? At once?" + +"Yes, without loss of an instant." + +She cast a light mantle about her shoulders. + +"I follow your advice," she said. "I believe that you are wiser than I. +But, oh, if he should take me at my word!" + +"He will not take you at your word." + +"It is a terrible risk." + +"But such an end as this cannot be gained without risks. Go, my child, +and may heaven's blessing go with you!" + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +THE KING HAS IDEAS. + +The king had remained alone in his cabinet, wrapped in somewhat gloomy +thoughts, and pondering over the means by which he might carry out his +purpose and yet smooth away the opposition which seemed to be so +strenuous and so universal. Suddenly there came a gentle tap at the +door, and there was the woman who was in his thoughts, standing in the +twilight before him. He sprang to his feet and held out his hands with +a smile which would have reassured her had she doubted his constancy. + +"Francoise! You here! Then I have at last a welcome visitor, and it is +the first one to-day." + +"Sire, I fear that you have been troubled." + +"I have indeed, Francoise." + +"But I have a remedy for it." + +"And what is that?" + +"I shall leave the court, sire, and you shall think no more of what has +passed between us. I have brought discord where I meant to bring peace. +Let me retire to St. Cyr, or to the Abbey of Fontevrault, and you will +no longer be called upon to make such sacrifices for my sake." + +The king turned deathly pale, and clutched at her shawl with a trembling +hand, as though he feared that she was about to put her resolution into +effect that very instant. For years his mind had accustomed itself to +lean upon hers. He had turned to her whenever he needed support, and +even when, as in the last week, he had broken away from her for a time, +it was still all-important to him to know that she was there, the +faithful friend, ever forgiving, ever soothing, waiting for him with her +ready counsel and sympathy. But that she should leave him now, leave +him altogether, such a thought had never occurred to him, and it struck +him with a chill of surprised alarm. + +"You cannot mean it, Francoise," he cried, in a trembling voice. +"No, no, it is impossible that you are in earnest." + +"It would break my heart to leave you, sire, but it breaks it also to +think that for my sake you are estranged from your own family and +ministers." + +"Tut! Am I not the king? Shall I not take my own course without heed +to them? No, no, Francoise, you must not leave me! You must stay with +me and be my wife." He could hardly speak for agitation, and he still +grasped at her dress to detain her. She had been precious to him +before, but was far more so now that there seemed to be a possibility of +his losing her. She felt the strength of her position, and used it to +the utmost. + +"Some time must elapse before our wedding, sire. Yet during all that +interval you will be exposed to these annoyances. How can I be happy +when I feel that I have brought upon you so long a period of +discomfort?" + +"And why should it be so long, Francoise?" + +"A day would be too long, sire, for you to be unhappy through my fault. +It is a misery to me to think of it. Believe me, it would be better +that I should leave you." + +"Never! You shall not! Why should we even wait a day, Francoise? I am +ready. You are ready. Why should we not be married now?" + +"At once! Oh, sire!" + +"We shall. It is my wish. It is my order. That is my answer to those +who would drive me. They shall know nothing of it until it is done, and +then let us see which of them will dare to treat my wife with anything +but respect. Let it be done secretly, Francoise. I will send in a +trusty messenger this very night for the Archbishop of Paris, and I +swear that, if all France stand in the way, he shall make us man and +wife before he departs." + +"Is it your will, sire?" + +"It is; and ah, I can see by your eyes that it is yours also! We shall +not lose a moment, Francoise. What a blessed thought of mine, which +will silence their tongues forever! When it is ready they may know, but +not before. To your room, then, dearest of friends and truest of women! +When we meet again, it will be to form a bond which all this court and +all this kingdom shall not be able to loose." + +The king was all on fire with the excitement of this new resolution. +He had lost his air of doubt and discontent, and he paced swiftly about +the room with a smiling face and shining eyes. Then he touched a small +gold bell, which summoned Bontems, his private body-servant. + +"What o'clock is it, Bontems?" + +"It is nearly six, sire." + +"Hum!" The king considered for some moments. "Do you know where Captain +de Catinat is, Bontems?" + +"He was in the grounds, sire, but I heard that he would ride back to +Paris to-night." + +"Does he ride alone?" + +"He has one friend with him." + +"Who is this friend? An officer of the guards?" + +"No, sire; it is a stranger from over the seas, from America, as I +understand, who has stayed with him of late, and to whom Monsieur de +Catinat has been showing the wonders of your Majesty's palace." + +"A stranger! So much the better. Go, Bontems, and bring them both to +me." + +"I trust that they have not started, sire. I will see." He hurried +off, and was back in ten minutes in the cabinet once more. + +"Well?" + +"I have been fortunate, sire. Their horses had been led out and their +feet were in the stirrups when I reached them." + +"Where are they, then?" + +"They await your Majesty's orders in the ante-room." + +"Show them in, Bontems, and give admission to none, not even to the +minister, until they have left me." + +To De Catinat an audience with the monarch was a common incident of his +duties, but it was with profound astonishment that he learned from +Bontems that his friend and companion was included in the order. He was +eagerly endeavouring to whisper into the young American's ear some +precepts and warnings as to what to do and what to avoid, when Bontems +reappeared and ushered them into the presence. + +It was with a feeling of curiosity, not unmixed with awe, that Amos +Green, to whom Governor Dongan, of New York, had been the highest +embodiment of human power, entered the private chamber of the greatest +monarch in Christendom. The magnificence of the ante-chamber in which +he had waited, the velvets, the paintings, the gildings, with the throng +of gaily dressed officials and of magnificent guardsmen, had all +impressed his imagination, and had prepared him for some wondrous figure +robed and crowned, a fit centre for such a scene. As his eyes fell upon +a quietly dressed, bright-eyed man, half a head shorter than himself, +with a trim dapper figure, and an erect carriage, he could not help +glancing round the room to see if this were indeed the monarch, or if it +were some other of those endless officials who interposed themselves +between him and the other world. The reverent salute of his companion, +however, showed him that this must indeed be the king, so he bowed and +then drew himself erect with the simple dignity of a man who has been +trained in Nature's school. + +"Good-evening, Captain de Catinat," said the king, with a pleasant +smile. "Your friend, as I understand, is a stranger to this country. +I trust, sir, that you have found something here to interest and to +amuse you?" + +"Yes, your Majesty. I have seen your great city, and it is a wonderful +one. And my friend has shown me this palace, with its woods and its +grounds. When I go back to my own country I will have much to say of +what I have seen in your beautiful land." + +"You speak French, and yet you are not a Canadian." + +"No, sire; I am from the English provinces." + +The king looked with interest at the powerful figure, the bold features, +and the free bearing of the young foreigner, and his mind flashed back +to the dangers which the Comte de Frontenac had foretold from these same +colonies. If this were indeed a type of his race, they must in truth be +a people whom it would be better to have as friends than as enemies. +His mind, however, ran at present on other things than statecraft, and +he hastened to give De Catinat his orders for the night. + +"You will ride into Paris on my service. Your friend can go with you. +Two are safer than one when they bear a message of state. I wish you, +however, to wait until nightfall before you start." + +"Yes, sire." + +"Let none know your errand, and see that none follow you. You know the +house of Archbishop Harlay, prelate of Paris?" + +"Yes, sire." + +"You will bid him drive out hither and be at the north-west side postern +by midnight. Let nothing hold him back. Storm or fine, he must he here +to-night. It is of the first importance." + +"He shall have your order, sire." + +"Very good. Adieu, captain. Adieu, monsieur. I trust that your stay +in France may be a pleasant one." He waved his hand, smiling with the +fascinating grace which had won so many hearts, and so dismissed the two +friends to their new mission. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +THE LAST CARD. + +Madame de Montespan still kept to her rooms, uneasy in mind at the +king's disappearance, but unwilling to show her anxiety to the court by +appearing among them or by making any inquiry as to what had occurred. +While she thus remained in ignorance of the sudden and complete collapse +of her fortunes, she had one active and energetic agent who had lost no +incident of what had occurred, and who watched her interests with as +much zeal as if they were his own. And indeed they were his own; for +her brother, Monsieur de Vivonne, had gained everything for which he +yearned, money, lands, and preferment, through his sister's notoriety, +and he well knew that the fall of her fortunes must be very rapidly +followed by that of his own. By nature bold, unscrupulous, and +resourceful, he was not a man to lose the game without playing it out to +the very end with all the energy and cunning of which he was capable. +Keenly alert to all that passed, he had, from the time that he first +heard the rumour of the king's intention, haunted the antechamber and +drawn his own conclusions from what he had seen. Nothing had escaped +him--the disconsolate faces of monsieur and of the dauphin, the visit of +Pere la Chaise and Bossuet to the lady's room, her return, the triumph +which shone in her eyes as she came away from the interview. He had +seen Bontems hurry off and summon the guardsman and his friend. He had +heard them order their horses to be brought out in a couple of hours' +time, and finally, from a spy whom he employed among the servants, he +learned that an unwonted bustle was going forward in Madame de +Maintenon's room, that Mademoiselle Nanon was half wild with excitement, +and that two court milliners had been hastily summoned to madame's +apartment. It was only, however, when he heard from the same servant +that a chamber was to be prepared for the reception that night of the +Archbishop of Paris that he understood how urgent was the danger. + +Madame de Montespan had spent the evening stretched upon a sofa, in the +worst possible humour with everyone around her. She had read, but had +tossed aside the book. She had written, but had torn up the paper. +A thousand fears and suspicions chased each other through her head. +What had become of the king, then? He had seemed cold yesterday, and +his eyes had been for ever sliding round to the clock. And to-day he +had not come at all. Was it his gout, perhaps? Or was it possible that +she was again losing her hold upon him? Surely it could not be that! +She turned upon her couch and faced the mirror which flanked the door. +The candles had just been lit in her chamber, two score of them, each +with silver backs which reflected their light until the room was as +bright as day. There in the mirror was the brilliant chamber, the deep +red ottoman, and the single figure in its gauzy dress of white and +silver. She leaned upon her elbow, admiring the deep tint of her own +eyes with their long dark lashes, the white curve of her throat, and the +perfect oval of her face. She examined it all carefully, keenly, as +though it were her rival that lay before her, but nowhere could she see +a scratch of Time's malicious nails. She still had her beauty, then. +And if it had once won the king, why should it not suffice to hold him? +Of course it would do so. She reproached herself for her fears. +Doubtless he was indisposed, or perhaps he would come still. Ha! there +was the sound of an opening door and of a quick step in her ante-room. +Was it he, or at least his messenger with a note from him? + +But no, it was her brother, with the haggard eyes and drawn face of a +man who is weighed down with his own evil tidings. He turned as he +entered, fastened the door, and then striding across the room, locked +the other one which led to her boudoir. + +"We are safe from interruption," he panted. "I have hastened here, for +every second may be invaluable. Have you heard anything from the king?" + +"Nothing." She had sprung to her feet, and was gazing at him with a +face which was as pale as his own. + +"The hour has come for action, Francoise. It is the hour at which the +Mortemarts have always shown at their best. Do not yield to the blow, +then, but gather yourself to meet it." + +"What is it?" She tried to speak in her natural tone, but only a +whisper came to her dry lips. + +"The king is about to marry Madame de Maintenon." + +"The _gouvernante_! The widow Scarron! It is impossible!" + +"It is certain." + +"To marry? Did you say to marry?" + +"Yes, he will marry her." + +The woman flung out her hands in a gesture of contempt, and laughed loud +and bitterly. + +"You are easily frightened, brother," said she. "Ah, you do not know +your little sister. Perchance if you were not my brother you might rate +my powers more highly. Give me a day, only one little day, and you will +see Louis, the proud Louis, down at the hem of my dress to ask my pardon +for this slight. I tell you that he cannot break the bonds that hold +him. One day is all I ask to bring him back." + +"But you cannot have it." + +"What?" + +"The marriage is to-night." + +"You are mad, Charles." + +"I am certain of it." In a few broken sentences he shot out all that he +had seen and heard. She listened with a grim face, and hands which +closed ever tighter and tighter as he proceeded. But he had said the +truth about the Mortemarts. They came of a contentious blood, and were +ever at their best at a moment of action. Hate rather than dismay +filled her heart as she listened, and the whole energy of her nature +gathered and quickened to meet the crisis. + +"I shall go and see him," she cried, sweeping towards the door. + +"No, no, Francoise. Believe me, you will ruin everything if you do. +Strict orders have been given to the guard to admit no one to the king." + +"But I shall insist upon passing them." + +"Believe me, sister, it is worse than useless. I have spoken with the +officer of the guard, and the command is a stringent one." + +"Ah, I shall manage." + +"No, you shall not." He put his back against the door. "I know that it +is useless, and I will not have my sister make herself the +laughing-stock of the court, trying to force her way into the room of a +man who repulses her." + +His sister's cheeks flushed at the words, and she paused irresolute. + +"Had I only a day, Charles, I am sure that I could bring him back to me. +There has been some other influence here, that meddlesome Jesuit or the +pompous Bossuet, perhaps. Only one day to counteract their wiles! +Can I not see them waving hell-fire before his foolish eyes, as one +swings a torch before a bull to turn it? Oh, if I could but baulk them +to-night! That woman! that cursed woman! The foul viper which I nursed +in my bosom! Oh, I had rather see Louis in his grave than married to +her! Charles, Charles, it must be stopped; I say it must be stopped! +I will give anything, everything, to prevent it!" + +"What will you give, my sister?" + +She looked at him aghast. "What! you do not wish me to buy you?" she +said. + +"No; but I wish to buy others." + +"Ha! You see a chance, then?" + +"One, and one only. But time presses. I want money." + +"How much?" + +"I cannot have too much. All that you can spare." + +With hands which trembled with eagerness she unlocked a secret cupboard +in the wall in which she concealed her valuables. A blaze of jewellery +met her brother's eyes as he peered over her shoulder. Great rubies, +costly emeralds, deep ruddy beryls, glimmering diamonds, were scattered +there in one brilliant shimmering many-coloured heap, the harvest which +she had reaped from the king's generosity during more than fifteen +years. At one side were three drawers, the one over the other. +She drew out the lowest one. It was full to the brim of glittering +_louis d'ors_. + +"Take what you will!" she said. "And now your plan! Quick!" + +He stuffed the money in handfuls into the side pockets of his coat. +Coins slipped between his fingers and tinkled and wheeled over the +floor, but neither cast a glance at them. + +"Your plan?" she repeated. + +"We must prevent the Archbishop from arriving here. Then the marriage +would be postponed until to-morrow night, and you would have time to +act." + +"But how prevent it?" + +"There are a dozen good rapiers about the court which are to be bought +for less than I carry in one pocket. There is De la Touche, young +Turberville, old Major Despard, Raymond de Carnac, and the four Latours. +I will gather them together, and wait on the road." + +"And waylay the archbishop?" + +"No; the messengers." + +"Oh, excellent! You are a prince of brothers! If no message reaches +Paris, we are saved. Go; go; do not lose a moment, my dear Charles." + +"It is very well, Francoise; but what are we to do with them when we get +them? We may lose our heads over the matter, it seems to me. After +all, they are the king's messengers, and we can scarce pass our swords +through them." + +"No?" + +"There would be no forgiveness for that." + +"But consider that before the matter is looked into I shall have +regained my influence with the king." + +"All very fine, my little sister, but how long is your influence to +last? A pleasant life for us if at every change of favour we have to +fly the country! No, no, Francoise; the most that we can do is to +detain the messengers." + +"Where can you detain them?" + +"I have an idea. There is the castle of the Marquis de Montespan at +Portillac." + +"Of my husband!" + +"Precisely." + +"Of my most bitter enemy! Oh, Charles, you are not serious." + +"On the contrary, I was never more so. The marquis was away in Paris +yesterday, and has not yet returned. Where is the ring with his arms?" + +She hunted among her jewels and picked out a gold ring with a broad +engraved face. + +"This will be our key. When good Marceau, the steward, sees it, every +dungeon in the castle will be at our disposal. It is that or nothing. +There is no other place where we can hold them safe." + +"But when my husband returns?" + +"Ah, he may be a little puzzled as to his captives. And the complaisant +Marceau may have an evil quarter of an hour. But that may not be for a +week, and by that time, my little sister, I have confidence enough in +you to think that you really may have finished the campaign. Not +another word, for every moment is of value. Adieu, Francoise! We shall +not be conquered without a struggle. I will send a message to you +to-night to let you know how fortune uses us." He took her fondly in +his arms, kissed her, and then hurried from the room. + +For hours after his departure she paced up and down with noiseless steps +upon the deep soft carpet, her hand still clenched, her eyes flaming, +her whole soul wrapped and consumed with jealousy and hatred of her +rival. Ten struck, and eleven, and midnight, but still she waited, +fierce and eager, straining her ears for every foot-fall which might be +the herald of news. At last it came. She heard the quick step in the +passage, the tap at the ante-room door, and the whispering of her black +page. Quivering with impatience, she rushed in and took the note +herself from the dusty cavalier who had brought it. It was but six +words scrawled roughly upon a wisp of dirty paper, but it brought the +colour back to her cheeks and the smile to her lips. It was her +brother's writing, and it ran: "The archbishop will not come to-night." + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +THE MIDNIGHT MISSION. + +De Catinat in the meanwhile was perfectly aware of the importance of the +mission which had been assigned to him. The secrecy which had been +enjoined by the king, his evident excitement, and the nature of his +orders, all confirmed the rumours which were already beginning to buzz +round the court. He knew enough of the intrigues and antagonisms with +which the court was full to understand that every precaution was +necessary in carrying out his instructions. He waited, therefore, until +night had fallen before ordering his soldier-servant to bring round the +two horses to one of the less public gates of the grounds. As he and +his friend walked together to the spot, he gave the young American a +rapid sketch of the situation at the court, and of the chance that this +nocturnal ride might be an event which would affect the future history +of France. + +"I like your king," said Amos Green, "and I am glad to ride in his +service. He is a slip of a man to be the head of a great nation, but he +has the eye of a chief. If one met him alone in a Maine forest, one +would know him as a man who was different to his fellows. Well, I am +glad that he is going to marry again, though it's a great house for any +woman to have to look after." + +De Catinat smiled at his comrade's idea of a queen's duties. + +"Are you armed?" he asked. "You have no sword or pistols?" + +"No; if I may not carry my gun, I had rather not be troubled by tools +that I have never learned to use. I have my knife. But why do you +ask?" + +"Because there may be danger." + +"And how?" + +"Many have an interest in stopping this marriage. All the first men of +the kingdom are bitterly against it. If they could stop _us_, they +would stop _it_, for to-night at least." + +"But I thought it was a secret?" + +"There is no such thing at a court. There is the dauphin, or the king's +brother, either of them, or any of their friends, would be right glad +that we should be in the Seine before we reach the archbishop's house +this night. But who is this?" + +A burly figure had loomed up through the gloom on the path upon which +they were going. As it approached, a coloured lamp dangling from one of +the trees shone upon the blue and silver of an officer of the guards. +It was Major de Brissac, of De Catinat's own regiment. + +"Hullo! Whither away?" he asked. + +"To Paris, major." + +"I go there myself within an hour. Will you not wait, that we may go +together?" + +"I am sorry, but I ride on a matter of urgency. I must not lose a +minute." + +"Very good. Good-night, and a pleasant ride." + +"Is he a trusty man, our friend the major?" asked Amos Green, glancing +back. + +"True as steel." + +"Then I would have a word with him." The American hurried back along +the way they had come, while De Catinat stood chafing at this +unnecessary delay. It was a full five minutes before his companion +joined him, and the fiery blood of the French soldier was hot with +impatience and anger. + +"I think that perhaps you had best ride into Paris at your leisure, my +friend," said he. "If I go upon the king's service I cannot be delayed +whenever the whim takes you." + +"I am sorry," answered the other quietly. "I had something to say to +your major, and I thought that maybe I might not see him again." + +"Well, here are the horses," said the guardsman as he pushed open the +postern-gate. "Have you fed an watered them, Jacques?" + +"Yes, my captain," answered the man who stood at their head. + +"Boot and saddle, then, friend Green, and we shall not draw rein again +until we see the lights of Paris in front of us." + +The soldier-groom peered through the darkness after them with a sardonic +smile upon his face. "You won't draw rein, won't you?" he muttered as +he turned away. "Well, we shall see about that, my captain; we shall +see about that." + +For a mile or more the comrades galloped along, neck to neck and knee to +knee. A wind had sprung up from the westward, and the heavens were +covered with heavy gray clouds, which drifted swiftly across, a crescent +moon peeping fitfully from time to time between the rifts. Even during +these moments of brightness the road, shadowed as it was by heavy trees, +was very dark, but when the light was shut off it was hard, but for the +loom upon either side, to tell where it lay. De Catinat at least found +it so, and he peered anxiously over his horse's ears, and stooped his +face to the mane in his efforts to see his way. + +"What do you make of the road?" he asked at last. + +"It looks as if a good many carriage wheels had passed over it to-day." + +"What! _Mon Dieu!_ Do you mean to say that you can see carriage wheels +there?" + +"Certainly. Why not?" + +"Why, man, I cannot see the road at all." + +Amos Green laughed heartily. "When you have travelled in the woods by +night as often as I have," said he, "when to show a light may mean to +lose your hair, one comes to learn to use one's eyes." + +"Then you had best ride on, and I shall keep just behind you. +So! _Hola!_ What is the matter now?" + +There had been the sudden sharp snap of something breaking, and the +American had reeled for an instant in the saddle. + +"It's one of my stirrup leathers. It has fallen." + +"Can you find it?" + +"Yes; but I can ride as well without it. Let us push on." + +"Very good. I can just see you now." + +They had galloped for about five minutes in this fashion, De Catinat's +horse's head within a few feet of the other's tail, when there was a +second snap, and the guardsman rolled out of the saddle on to the +ground. He kept his grip of the reins, however, and was up in an +instant at his horse's head, sputtering out oaths as only an angry +Frenchman can. + +"A thousand thunders of heaven!" he cried. "What was it that happened +then?" + +"Your leather has gone too." + +"Two stirrup leathers in five minutes? It is not possible." + +"It is not possible that it should be chance," said the American +gravely, swinging himself off his horse. "Why, what is this? My other +leather is cut, and hangs only by a thread." + +"And so does mine. I can feel it when I pass my hand along. Have you a +tinder-box? Let us strike a light." + +"No, no; the man who is in the dark is in safety. I let the other folk +strike lights. We can see all that is needful to us." + +"My rein is cut also." + +"And so is mine." + +"And the girth of my saddle." + +"It is a wonder that we came so far with whole bones. Now, who has +played us this little trick?" + +"Who could it be but that rogue Jacques! He has had the horses in his +charge. By my faith, he shall know what the strappado means when I see +Versailles again." + +"But why should he do it?" + +"Ah, he has been set on to it. He has been a tool in the hands of those +who wished to hinder our journey." + +"Very like. But they must have had some reason behind. They knew well +that to cut our straps would not prevent us from reaching Paris, since +we could ride bareback, or, for that matter, could run it if need be." + +"They hoped to break our necks." + +"One neck they might break, but scarce those of two, since the fate of +the one would warn the other." + +"Well, then, what do you think that they meant?" cried De Catinat +impatiently. "For heaven's sake, let us come to some conclusion, for +every minute is of importance." + +But the other was not to be hurried out of his cool, methodical fashion +of speech and of thought. + +"They could not have thought to stop us," said he. + +"What did they mean, then? They could only have meant to delay us. +And why should they wish to delay us? What could it matter to them if +we gave our message an hour or two sooner or an hour or two later? +It could not matter." + +"For heaven's sake--" broke in De Catinat impetuously. + +But Amos Green went on hammering the matter slowly out. + +"Why should they wish to delay us, then? There's only one reason that I +can see. In order to give other folk time to get in front of us and +stop us. That is it, captain. I'd lay you a beaver-skin to a +rabbit-pelt that I'm on the track. There's been a party of a dozen +horsemen along this ground since the dew began to fall. If they were +delayed, they would have time to form their plans before we came." + +"By my faith, you may be right," said De Catinat thoughtfully. "What +would you propose?" + +"That we ride back, and go by some less direct way." + +"It is impossible. We should have to ride back to Meudon cross-roads, +and then it would add ten miles to our journey." + +"It is better to get there an hour later than not to get there at all." + +"Pshaw! we are surely not to be turned from our path by a mere guess. +There is the St. Germain cross-road about a mile below. When we reach +it we can strike to the right along the south side of the river, and so +change our course." + +"But we may not reach it." + +"If anyone bars our way we shall know how to treat with them." + +"You would fight, then?" + +"Yes." + +"What! with a dozen of them?" + +"A hundred, if we are on the king's errand." + +Amos Green shrugged his shoulders. + +"You are surely not afraid?" + +"Yes, I am, mighty afraid. Fighting's good enough when there's no help +for it. But I call it a fool's plan to ride straight into a trap when +you might go round it." + +"You may do what you like," said De Catinat angrily. + +"My father was a gentleman, the owner of a thousand arpents of land, and +his son is not going to flinch in the king's service." + +"My father," answered Amos Green, "was a merchant, the owner of a +thousand skunk-skins, and his son knows a fool when he sees one." + +"You are insolent, sir," cried the guardsman. "We can settle this +matter at some more fitting opportunity. At present I continue my +mission, and you are very welcome to turn back to Versailles if you are +so inclined." He raised his hat with punctilious politeness, sprang on +to his horse, and rode on down the road. + +Amos Green hesitated a little, and then mounting, he soon overtook his +companion. The latter, however, was still in no very sweet temper, and +rode with a rigid neck, without a glance or a word for his comrade. +Suddenly his eyes caught something in the gloom which brought a smile +back to his face. Away in front of them, between two dark tree clumps, +lay a vast number of shimmering, glittering yellow points, as thick as +flowers in a garden. They were the lights of Paris. + +"See!" he cried, pointing. "There is the city, and close here must be +the St. Germain road. We shall take it, so as to avoid any danger." + +"Very good! But you should not ride too fast, when your girth may break +at any moment." + +"Nay, come on; we are close to our journey's end. The St. Germain road +opens just round this corner, and then we shall see our way, for the +lights will guide us." + +He cut his horse with his whip, and they galloped together round the +curve. Next instant they were both down in one wild heap of tossing +heads and struggling hoofs, De Catinat partly covered by his horse, and +his comrade hurled twenty paces, where he lay silent and motionless in +the centre of the road. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +"WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES." + +Monsieur de Vivonne had laid his ambuscade with discretion. With a +closed carriage and a band of chosen ruffians he had left the palace a +good half-hour before the king's messengers, and by the aid of his +sister's gold he had managed that their journey should not be a very +rapid one. On reaching the branch road he had ordered the coachman to +drive some little distance along it, and had tethered all the horses to +a fence under his charge. He had then stationed one of the band as a +sentinel some distance up the main highway to flash a light when the two +courtiers were approaching. A stout cord had been fastened eighteen +inches from the ground to the trunk of a wayside sapling, and on +receiving the signal the other end was tied to a gate-post upon the +further side. The two cavaliers could not possibly see it, coming as it +did at the very curve of the road, and as a consequence their horses +fell heavily to the ground, and brought them down with them. In an +instant the dozen ruffians who had lurked in the shadow of the trees +sprang out upon them, sword in hand; but there was no movement from +either of their victims. De Catinat lay breathing heavily, one leg +under his horse's neck, and the blood trickling in a thin stream down +his pale face, and falling, drop by drop, on to his silver +shoulder-straps. Amos Green was unwounded, but his injured girth had +given way in the fall, and he had been hurled from his horse on to the +hard road with a violence which had driven every particle of breath from +his body. + +Monsieur de Vivonne lit a lantern, and flashed it upon the faces of the +two unconscious men. "This is a bad business, Major Despard," said he +to the man next him. "I believe that they are both gone." + +"Tut! tut! By my soul, men did not die like that when I was young!" +answered the other, leaning forward his fierce grizzled face into the +light of the lantern. "I've been cast from my horse as often as there +are tags to my doublet, but, save for the snap of a bone or two, I never +had any harm from it. Pass your rapier under the third rib of the +horses, De la Touche; they will never be fit to set hoof to ground +again." Two sobbing gasps and the thud of their straining necks falling +back to earth told that the two steeds had come to the end of their +troubles. + +"Where is Latour?" asked Monsieur de Vivonne. "Achille Latour has +studied medicine at Montpellier. Where is he?" + +"Here I am, your excellency. It is not for me to boast, but I am as +handy a man with a lancet as with a rapier, and it was an evil day for +some sick folk when I first took to buff and bandolier. Which would you +have me look to?" + +"This one in the road." + +The trooper bent over Amos Green. "He is not long for this world," said +he. "I can tell it by the catch of his breath." + +"And what is his injury?" + +"A subluxation of the epigastrium. Ah, the words of learning will still +come to my tongue, but it is hard to put into common terms. Methinks +that it were well for me to pass my dagger through his throat, for his +end is very near." + +"Not for your life!" cried the leader. "If he die without wound, they +cannot lay it to our charge. Turn now to the other." + +The man bent over De Catinat, and placed his hand upon his heart. As he +did so the soldier heaved a long sigh, opened his eyes, and gazed about +him with the face of one who knows neither where he is nor how he came +there. De Vivonne, who had drawn his hat down over his eyes, and +muffled the lower part of his face in his mantle, took out his flask, +and poured a little of the contents down the injured man's throat. +In an instant a dash of colour had come back into the guardsman's +bloodless cheeks, and the light of memory into his eyes. He struggled +up on to his feet, and strove furiously to push away those who held him. +But his head still swam, and he could scarce hold himself erect. + +"I must to Paris!" he gasped; "I must to Paris! It is the king's +mission. You stop me at your peril!" + +"He has no hurt save a scratch," said the ex-doctor. + +"Then hold him fast. And first carry the dying man to the carriage." + +The lantern threw but a small ring of yellow light, so that when it had +been carried over to De Catinat, Amos Green was left lying in the +shadow. Now they brought the light back to where the young man lay. +But there was no sign of him. He was gone. + +For a moment the little group of ruffians stood staring, the light of +their lantern streaming up upon their plumed hats, their fierce eyes, +and savage faces. Then a burst of oaths broke from them, and De Vivonne +caught the false doctor by the throat, and hurling him down, would have +choked him upon the spot, had the others not dragged them apart. + +"You lying dog!" he cried. "Is this your skill? The man has fled, and +we are ruined!" + +"He has done it in his death-struggle," gasped the other hoarsely, +sitting up and rubbing his throat. "I tell you that he was +_in extremis_. He cannot be far off." + +"That is true. He cannot be far off," cried De Vivonne. "He has +neither horse nor arms. You, Despard and Raymond de Carnac, guard the +other, that he play us no trick. Do you, Latour, and you, Turberville, +ride down the road, and wait by the south gate. If he enter Paris at +all, he must come in that way. If you get him, tie him before you on +your horse, and bring him to the rendezvous. In any case, it matters +little, for he is a stranger, this fellow, and only here by chance. Now +lead the other to the carriage, and we shall get away before an alarm is +given." + +The two horsemen rode off in pursuit of the fugitive, and De Catinat, +still struggling desperately to escape, was dragged down the St. Germain +road and thrust into the carriage, which had waited at some distance +while these incidents were being enacted. Three of the horsemen rode +ahead, the coachman was curtly ordered to follow them, and De Vivonne, +having despatched one of the band with a note to his sister, followed +after the coach with the remainder of his desperadoes. + +The unfortunate guardsman had now entirely recovered his senses, and +found himself with a strap round his ankles, and another round his +wrists, a captive inside a moving prison which lumbered heavily along +the country road. He had been stunned by the shock of his fall, and his +leg was badly bruised by the weight of his horse; but the cut on his +forehead was a mere trifle, and the bleeding had already ceased. +His mind, however, pained him more than his body. He sank his head into +his pinioned hands, and stamped madly with his feet, rocking himself to +and fro in his despair. What a fool, a treble fool, he had been! +He, an old soldier, who had seen something of war, to walk with open +eyes into such a trap! The king had chosen him of all men, as a trusty +messenger, and yet he had failed him--and failed him so ignominiously, +without shot fired or sword drawn. He was warned, too, warned by a +young man who knew nothing of court intrigue, and who was guided only by +the wits which Nature had given him. De Catinat dashed himself down +upon the leather cushion in the agony of his thoughts. + +But then came a return of that common-sense which lies so very closely +beneath the impetuosity of the Celt. The matter was done now, and he +must see if it could not be mended. Amos Green had escaped. That was +one grand point in his favour. And Amos Green had heard the king's +message, and realised its importance. It was true that he knew nothing +of Paris, but surely a man who could pick his way at night through the +forests of Maine would not be baulked in finding so well-known a house +as that of the Archbishop of Paris. But then there came a sudden +thought which turned De Catinat's heart to lead. The city gates were +locked at eight o'clock in the evening. It was now nearly nine. It +would have been easy for him, whose uniform was a voucher for his +message, to gain his way through. But how could Amos Green, a foreigner +and a civilian, hope to pass? It was impossible, clearly impossible. +And yet, somehow, in spite of the impossibility, he still clung to a +vague hope that a man so full of energy and resource might find some way +out of the difficulty. + +And then the thought of escape occurred to his mind. Might he not even +now be in time, perhaps, to carry his own message? Who were these men +who had seized him? They had said nothing to give him a hint as to +whose tools they were. Monsieur and the dauphin occurred to his mind. +Probably one or the other. He had only recognised one of them, old +Major Despard, a man who frequented the low wine-shops of Versailles, +and whose sword was ever at the disposal of the longest purse. +And where were these people taking him to? It might be to his death. +But if they wished to do away with him, why should they have brought him +back to consciousness? and why this carriage and drive? Full of +curiosity, he peered out of the windows. + +A horseman was riding close up on either side; but there was glass in +front of the carriage, and through this he could gain some idea as to +his whereabouts. The clouds had cleared now, and the moon was shining +brightly, bathing the whole wide landscape in its shimmering light. +To the right lay the open country, broad plains with clumps of woodland, +and the towers of castles pricking out from above the groves. A heavy +bell was ringing in some monastery, and its dull booming came and went +with the breeze. On the left, but far away, lay the glimmer of Paris. +They were leaving it rapidly behind. Whatever his destination, it was +neither the capital nor Versailles. Then he began to count the chances +of escape. His sword had been removed, and his pistols were still in the +holsters beside his unfortunate horse. He was unarmed, then, even if he +could free himself, and his captors were at least a dozen in number. +There were three on ahead, riding abreast along the white, moonlit road. +Then there was one on each side, and he should judge by the clatter of +hoofs that there could not be fewer than half a dozen behind. That would +make exactly twelve, including the coachman, too many, surely, for an +unarmed man to hope to baffle. At the thought of the coachman he had +glanced through the glass front at the broad back of the man, and he had +suddenly, in the glimmer of the carriage lamp, observed something which +struck him with horror. + +The man was evidently desperately wounded. It was strange indeed that +he could still sit there and flick his whip with so terrible an injury. +In the back of his great red coat, just under the left shoulder-blade, +was a gash in the cloth, where some weapon had passed, and all round was +a wide patch of dark scarlet which told its own tale. Nor was this all. +As he raised his whip, the moonlight shone upon his hand, and De Catinat +saw with a shudder that it also was splashed and clogged with blood. +The guardsman craned his neck to catch a glimpse of the man's face; but +his broad-brimmed hat was drawn low, and the high collar of his +driving-coat was raised, so that his features were in the shadow. +This silent man in front of him, with the horrible marks upon his +person, sent a chill to De Catinat's valiant heart, and he muttered over +one of Marot's Huguenot psalms; for who but the foul fiend himself would +drive a coach with those crimsoned hands and with a sword driven through +his body? + +And now they had come to a spot where the main road ran onwards, but a +smaller side track wound away down the steep slope of a hill, and so in +the direction of the Seine. The advance-guard had kept to the main +road, and the two horsemen on either side were trotting in the same +direction, when, to De Catinat's amazement, the carriage suddenly +swerved to one side, and in an instant plunged down the steep incline, +the two stout horses galloping at their topmost speed, the coachman +standing up and lashing furiously at them, and the clumsy old vehicle +bounding along in a way which threw him backwards and forwards from one +seat to the other. Behind him he could hear a shout of consternation +from the escort, and then the rush of galloping hoofs. Away they flew, +the roadside poplars dancing past at either window, the horses +thundering along with their stomachs to the earth, and that demon driver +still waving those horrible red hands in the moonlight and screaming out +to the maddened steeds. Sometimes the carriage jolted one way, +sometimes another, swaying furiously, and running on two side wheels as +though it must every instant go over. And yet, fast as they went, their +pursuers went faster still. The rattle of their hoofs was at their very +backs, and suddenly at one of the windows there came into view the red, +distended nostrils of a horse. Slowly it drew forward, the muzzle, the +eye, the ears, the mane, coming into sight as the rider still gained +upon them, and then above them the fierce face of Despard and the gleam +of a brass pistol barrel. + +"At the horse, Despard, at the horse!" cried an authoritative voice from +behind. + +The pistol flashed, and the coach lurched over as one of the horses gave +a convulsive spring. But the driver still shrieked and lashed with his +whip, while the carriage bounded onwards. + +But now the road turned a sudden curve, and there, right in front of +them, not a hundred paces away, was the Seine, running cold and still in +the moonshine. The bank on either side of the highway ran straight down +without any break to the water's edge. There was no sign of a bridge, +and a black shadow in the centre of the stream showed where the +ferry-boat was returning after conveying some belated travellers across. +The driver never hesitated, but gathering up the reins, he urged the +frightened creatures into the river. They hesitated, however, when they +first felt the cold water about their hocks, and even as they did so one +of them, with a low moan, fell over upon her side. Despard's bullet had +found its mark. Like a flash the coachman hurled himself from the box +and plunged into the stream; but the pursuing horsemen were all round +him before this, and half-a-dozen hands had seized him ere he could +reach deep water, and had dragged him to the bank. His broad hat had +been struck off in the struggle, and De Catinat saw his face in the +moonshine. Great heavens! It was Amos Green. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +THE DUNGEON OF PORTILLAC. + +The desperadoes were as much astonished as was De Catinat when they +found that they had recaptured in this extraordinary manner the +messenger whom they had given up for lost. A volley of oaths and +exclamations broke from them, as, on tearing off the huge red coat of +the coachman, they disclosed the sombre dress of the young American. + +"A thousand thunders!" cried one. "And this is the man whom that +devil's brat Latour would make out to be dead!" + +"And how came he here?" + +"And where is Etienne Arnaud?" + +"He has stabbed Etienne. See the great cut in the coat!" + +"Ay; and see the colour of his hand! He has stabbed him, and taken his +coat and hat." + +"What! while we were all within stone's cast!" + +"Ay; there is no other way out of it." + +"By my soul!" cried old Despard, "I had never much love for old Etienne, +but I have emptied a cup of wine with him before now, and I shall see +that he has justice. Let us cast these reins round the fellow's neck +and hang him upon this tree." + +Several pairs of hands were already unbuckling the harness of the dead +horse, when De Vivonne pushed his way into the little group, and with a +few curt words checked their intended violence. + +"It is as much as your lives are worth to touch him," said he. + +"But he has slain Etienne Arnaud." + +"That score may be settled afterwards. To-night he is the king's +messenger. Is the other all safe?" + +"Yes, he is here." + +"Tie this man, and put him in beside him. Unbuckle the traces of the +dead horse. So! Now, De Carnac, put your own into the harness. +You can mount the box and drive, for we have not very far to go." + +The changes were rapidly made; Amos Green was thrust in beside De +Catinat, and the carriage was soon toiling up the steep incline which it +had come down so precipitately. The American had said not a word since +his capture, and had remained absolutely stolid, with his hands crossed +over his chest whilst his fate was under discussion. Now that he was +alone once more with his comrade, however, he frowned and muttered like +a man who feels that fortune has used him badly. + +"Those infernal horses!" he grumbled. "Why, an American horse would +have taken to the water like a duck. Many a time have I swum my old +stallion Sagamore across the Hudson. Once over the river, we should +have had a clear lead to Paris." + +"My dear friend," cried De Catinat, laying his manacled hands upon those +of his comrade, "can you forgive me for speaking as I did upon the way +from Versailles?" + +"Tut, man! I never gave it a thought." + +"You were right a thousand times, and I was, as you said, a fool--a +blind, obstinate fool. How nobly you have stood by me! But how came +you there? Never in my life have I been so astonished as when I saw +your face." + +Amos Green chuckled to himself. "I thought that maybe it would be a +surprise to you if you knew who was driving you," said he. "When I was +thrown from my horse I lay quiet, partly because I wanted to get a grip +of my breath, and partly because it seemed to me to be more healthy to +lie than to stand with all those swords clinking in my ears. Then they +all got round you, and I rolled into the ditch, crept along it, got on +the cross-road in the shadow of the trees, and was beside the carriage +before ever they knew that I was gone. I saw in a flash that there was +only one way by which I could be of use to you. The coachman was +leaning round with his head turned to see what was going on behind him. +I out with my knife, sprang up on the front wheel, and stopped his +tongue forever." + +"What! without a sound!" + +"I have not lived among the Indians for nothing." + +"And then?" + +"I pulled him down into the ditch, and I got into his coat and his hat. +I did not scalp him." + +"Scalp him? Great heavens! Such things are only done among savages." + +"Ah! I thought that maybe it was not the custom of the country. I am +glad now that I did not do it. I had hardly got the reins before they +were all back and bundled you into the coach. I was not afraid of their +seeing me, but I was scared lest I should not know which road to take, +and so set them on the trail. But they made it easy to me by sending +some of their riders in front, so I did well until I saw that by-track +and made a run for it. We'd have got away, too, if that rogue hadn't +shot the horse, and if the beasts had faced the water." + +The guardsman again pressed his comrade's hands. "You have been as true +to me as hilt to blade," said he. "It was a bold thought and a bold +deed." + +"And what now?" asked the American. + +"I do not know who these men are, and I do not know whither they are +taking us." + +"To their villages, likely, to burn us." + +De Catinat laughed in spite of his anxiety. "You will have it that we +are back in America again," said he. "They don't do things in that way +in France." + +"They seem free enough with hanging in France. I tell you, I felt like +a smoked-out 'coon when that trace was round my neck." + +"I fancy that they are taking us to some place where they can shut us up +until this business blows over." + +"Well, they'll need to be smart about it." + +"Why?" + +"Else maybe they won't find us when they want us." + +"What do you mean?" + +For answer, the American, with a twist and a wriggle, drew his two hands +apart, and held them in front of his comrade's face. + +"Bless you, it is the first thing they teach the papooses in an Indian +wigwam. I've got out of a Huron's thongs of raw hide before now, and it +ain't very likely that a stiff stirrup leather will hold me. Put your +hands out." With a few dexterous twists he loosened De Catinat's bonds, +until he also was able to slip his hands free. "Now for your feet, if +you'll put them up. They'll find that we are easier to catch than to +hold." + +But at that moment the carriage began to slow down, and the clank of the +hoofs of the riders in front of them died suddenly away. Peeping +through the windows, the prisoners saw a huge dark building stretching +in front of them, so high and so broad that the night shrouded it in +upon every side. A great archway hung above them, and the lamps shone +on the rude wooden gate, studded with ponderous clamps and nails. In +the upper part of the door was a small square iron grating, and through +this they could catch a glimpse of the gleam of a lantern and of a +bearded face which looked out at them. De Vivonne, standing in his +stirrups, craned his neck up towards the grating, so that the two men +most interested could hear little of the conversation which followed. +They saw only that the horseman held a gold ring up in the air, and that +the face above, which had begun by shaking and frowning, was now nodding +and smiling. An instant later the head disappeared, the door swung open +upon screaming hinges, and the carriage drove on into the courtyard +beyond, leaving the escort, with the exception of De Vivonne, outside. +As the horses pulled up, a knot of rough fellows clustered round, and +the two prisoners were dragged roughly out. In the light of the torches +which flared around them they could see that they were hemmed in by high +turreted walls upon every side. A bulky man with a bearded face, the +same whom they had seen at the grating, was standing in the centre of +the group of armed men issuing his orders. + +"To the upper dungeon, Simon!" he cried. "And see that they have two +bundles of straw and a loaf of bread until we learn our master's will." + +"I know not who your master may be," said De Catinat, "but I would ask +you by what warrant he dares to stop two messengers of the king while +travelling in his service?" + +"By St. Denis, if my master play the king a trick, it will be but tie +and tie," the stout man answered, with a grin. "But no more talk! +Away with them, Simon, and you answer to me for their safe-keeping." + +It was in vain that De Catinat raved and threatened, invoking the most +terrible menaces upon all who were concerned in detaining him. Two +stout knaves thrusting him from behind and one dragging in front forced +him through a narrow gate and along a stone-flagged passage, a small man +in black buckram with a bunch of keys in one hand and a swinging lantern +in the other leading the way. Their ankles had been so tied that they +could but take steps of a foot in length. Shuffling along, they made +their way down three successive corridors and through three doors, each +of which was locked and barred behind them. Then they ascended a +winding stone stair, hollowed out in the centre by the feet of +generations of prisoners and of jailers, and finally they were thrust +into a small square dungeon, and two trusses of straw were thrown in +after them. An instant later a heavy key turned in the lock, and they +were left to their own meditations. + +Very grim and dark those meditations were in the case of De Catinat. +A stroke of good luck had made him at court, and now this other of ill +fortune had destroyed him. It would be in vain that he should plead his +own powerlessness. He knew his royal master well. He was a man who was +munificent when his orders were obeyed, and inexorable when they +miscarried. No excuse availed with him. An unlucky man was as +abhorrent to him as a negligent one. In this great crisis the king had +trusted him with an all-important message, and that message had not been +delivered. What could save him now from disgrace and from ruin? +He cared nothing for the dim dungeon in which he found himself, nor for +the uncertain fate which hung over his head, but his heart turned to +lead when he thought of his blasted career, and of the triumph of those +whose jealousy had been aroused by his rapid promotion. There were his +people in Paris, too--his sweet Adele, his old uncle, who had been as +good as a father to him. What protector would they have in their +troubles now that he had lost the power that might have shielded them? +How long would it be before they were exposed once more to the +brutalities of Dalbert and his dragoons? He clenched his teeth at the +thought, and threw himself down with a groan upon the litter of straw +dimly visible in the faint light which streamed through the single +window. + +But his energetic comrade had yielded to no feeling of despondency. +The instant that the clang of the prison door had assured him that he +was safe from interruption he had slipped off the bonds which held him +and had felt all round the walls and flooring to see what manner of +place this might be. His search had ended in the discovery of a small +fireplace at one corner, and of two great clumsy billets of wood, which +seemed to have been left there to serve as pillows for the prisoners. +Having satisfied himself that the chimney was so small that it was +utterly impossible to pass even his head up it, he drew the two blocks +of wood over to the window, and was able, by placing one above the other +and standing on tiptoe on the highest, to reach the bars which guarded +it. Drawing himself up, and fixing one toe in an inequality of the +wall, he managed to look out on to the courtyard which they had just +quitted. The carriage and De Vivonne were passing out through the gate +as he looked, and he heard a moment later the slam of the heavy door and +the clatter of hoofs from the troop of horsemen outside. The seneschal +and his retainers had disappeared; the torches, too, were gone, and, +save for the measured tread of a pair of sentinels in the yard twenty +feet beneath him, all was silent throughout the great castle. + +And a very great castle it was. Even as he hung there with straining +hands his eyes were running in admiration and amazement over the huge +wall in front of him, with its fringe of turrets and pinnacles and +battlements all lying so still and cold in the moonlight. Strange +thoughts will slip into a man's head at the most unlikely moments. He +remembered suddenly a bright summer day over the water when first he had +come down from Albany, and how his father had met him on the wharf by +the Hudson, and had taken him through the water-gate to see Peter +Stuyvesant's house, as a sign of how great this city was which had +passed from the Dutch to the English. Why, Peter Stuyvesant's house and +Peter Stuyvesant's Bowery villa put together would not make one wing of +this huge pile, which was itself a mere dog-kennel beside the mighty +palace at Versailles. He would that his father were here now; and +then, on second thoughts, he would not, for it came back to him that he +was a prisoner in a far land, and that his sight-seeing was being done +through the bars of a dungeon window. + +The window was large enough to pass his body through if it were not for +those bars. He shook them and hung his weight upon them, but they were +as thick as his thumb and firmly welded. Then, getting some strong hold +for his other foot, he supported himself by one hand while he picked +with his knife at the setting of the iron. It was cement, as smooth as +glass and as hard as marble. His knife turned when he tried to loosen +it. But there was still the stone. It was sandstone, not so very hard. +If he could cut grooves in it, he might be able to draw out bars, +cement, and all. He sprang down to the floor again, and was thinking +how he should best set to work, when a groan drew his attention to his +companion. + +"You seem sick, friend," said he. + +"Sick in mind," moaned the other. "Oh, the cursed fool that I have +been! It maddens me!" + +"Something on your mind?" said Amos Green, sitting down upon his billets +of wood. "What was it, then?" + +The guardsman made a movement of impatience. "What was it? How can you +ask me, when you know as well as I do the wretched failure of my +mission. It was the king's wish that the archbishop should marry them. +The king's wish is the law. It must be the archbishop or none. +He should have been at the palace by now. Ah, my God! I can see the +king's cabinet, I can see him waiting, I can see madame waiting, I can +hear them speak of the unhappy De Catinat--" He buried his face in his +hands once more. + +"I see all that," said the American stolidly, "and I see something +more." + +"What then?" + +"I see the archbishop tying them up together." + +"The archbishop! You are raving." + +"Maybe. But I see him." + +"He could not be at the palace." + +"On the contrary, he reached the palace about half an hour ago." + +De Catinat sprang to his feet. "At the palace!" he screamed. "Then who +gave him the message?" + +"I did," said Amos Green. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +A NIGHT OF SURPRISES. + +If the American had expected to surprise or delight his companion by +this curt announcement he was woefully disappointed, for De Catinat +approached him with a face which was full of sympathy and trouble, and +laid his hand caressingly upon his shoulder. + +"My dear friend," said he, "I have been selfish and thoughtless. I have +made too much of my own little troubles and too little of what you have +gone through for me. That fall from your horse has shaken you more than +you think. Lie down upon this straw, and see if a little sleep may +not--" + +"I tell you that the bishop is there!" cried Amos Green impatiently. + +"Quite so. There is water in this jug, and if I dip my scarf into it +and tie it round your brow--" + +"Man alive! Don't you hear me! The bishop is there." + +"He is, he is," said De Catinat soothingly. "He is most certainly +there. I trust that you have no pain?" + +The American waved in the air with his knotted fists. "You think that I +am crazed," he cried, "and, by the eternal, you are enough to make me +so! When I say that I sent the bishop, I mean that I saw to the job. +You remember when I stepped back to your friend the major?" + +It was the soldier's turn to grow excited now. "Well?" he cried, +gripping the other's arm. + +"Well, when we send a scout into the woods, if the matter is worth it, +we send a second one at another hour, and so one or other comes back +with his hair on. That's the Iroquois fashion, and a good fashion too." + +"My God! I believe that you have saved me!" + +"You needn't grip on to my arm like a fish-eagle on a trout! I went +back to the major, then, and I asked him when he was in Paris to pass by +the archbishop's door." + +"Well? Well?" + +"I showed him this lump of chalk. 'If we've been there,' said I, +'you'll see a great cross on the left side of the door-post. If there's +no cross, then pull the latch and ask the bishop if he'll come up to the +palace as quick as his horses can bring him.' The major started an hour +after us; he would be in Paris by half-past ten; the bishop would be in +his carriage by eleven, and he would reach Versailles half an hour ago, +that is to say, about half-past twelve. By the Lord, I think I've +driven him off his head!" + +It was no wonder that the young woodsman was alarmed at the effect of +his own announcement. His slow and steady nature was incapable of the +quick, violent variations of the fiery Frenchman. De Catinat, who had +thrown off his bonds before he had lain down, spun round the cell now, +waving his arms and his legs, with his shadow capering up the wall +behind him, all distorted in the moonlight. Finally he threw himself +into his comrade's arms with a torrent of thanks and ejaculations and +praises and promises, patting him with his hands and hugging him to his +breast. + +"Oh, if I could but do something for you!" he exclaimed. "If I could do +something for you!" + +"You can, then. Lie down on that straw and go to sleep." + +"And to think that I sneered at you! I! Oh, you have had your +revenge!" + +"For the Lord's sake, lie down and go to sleep!" By persuasions and a +little pushing he got his delighted companion on to his couch again, and +heaped the straw over him to serve as a blanket. De Catinat was wearied +out by the excitements of the day, and this last great reaction seemed +to have absorbed all his remaining strength. His lids drooped heavily +over his eyes, his head sank deeper into the soft straw, and his last +remembrance was that the tireless American was seated cross-legged in +the moonlight, working furiously with his long knife upon one of the +billets of wood. + +So weary was the young guardsman that it was long past noon, and the sun +was shining out of a cloudless blue sky, before he awoke. For a moment, +enveloped as he was in straw, and with the rude arch of the dungeon +meeting in four rough-hewn groinings above his head, he stared about him +in bewilderment. Then in an instant the doings of the day before, his +mission, the ambuscade, his imprisonment, all flashed back to him, and +he sprang to his feet. His comrade, who had been dozing in the corner, +jumped up also at the first movement, with his hand on his knife, and a +sinister glance directed towards the door. + +"Oh, it's you, is it?" said he, "I thought it was the man." + +"Has some one been in, then?" + +"Yes; they brought those two loaves and a jug of water, just about dawn, +when I was settling down for a rest." + +"And did he say anything?" + +"No; it was the little black one." + +"Simon, they called him." + +"The same. He laid the things down and was gone. I thought that maybe +if he came again we might get him to stop." + +"How, then?" + +"Maybe if we got these stirrup leathers round his ankles he would not +get them off quite as easy as we have done." + +"And what then?" + +"Well, he would tell us where we are, and what is to be done with us." + +"Pshaw! what does it matter since our mission is done?" + +"It may not matter to you--there's no accounting for tastes--but it +matters a good deal to me. I'm not used to sitting in a hole, like a +bear in a trap, waiting for what other folks choose to do with me. +It's new to me. I found Paris a pretty close sort of place, but it's a +prairie compared to this. It don't suit a man of my habits, and I am +going to come out of it." + +"There's no help but patience, my friend." + +"I don't know that. I'd get more help out of a bar and a few pegs." +He opened his coat, and took out a short piece of rusted iron, and three +small thick pieces of wood, sharpened at one end. + +"Where did you get those, then?" + +"These are my night's work. The bar is the top one of the grate. I had +a job to loosen it, but there it is. The pegs I whittled out of that +log." + +"And what are they for?" + +"Well, you see, peg number one goes in here, where I have picked a hole +between the stones. Then I've made this other log into a mallet, and +with two cracks there it is firm fixed, so that you can put your weight +on it. Now these two go in the same way into the holes above here. +So! Now, you see, you can stand up there and look out of that window +without asking too much of your toe joint. Try it." + +De Catinat sprang up and looked eagerly out between the bars. + +"I do not know the place," said he, shaking his head. + +"It may be any one of thirty castles which lie upon the south side of +Paris, and within six or seven leagues of it. Which can it be? And who +has any interest in treating us so? I would that I could see a coat of +arms, which might help us. Ah! there is one yonder in the centre of the +mullion of the window. But I can scarce read it at the distance. +I warrant that your eyes are better than mine, Amos, and that you can +read what is on yonder escutcheon." + +"On what?" + +"On the stone slab in the centre window." + +"Yes, I see it plain enough. It looks to me like three turkey-buzzards +sitting on a barrel of molasses." + +"Three allurions in chief over a tower proper, maybe. Those are the +arms of the Provence De Hautevilles. But it cannot be that. They have +no chateau within a hundred leagues. No, I cannot tell where we are." + +He was dropping back to the floor, and put his weight upon the bar. +To his amazement, it came away in his hand. + +"Look, Amos, look!" he cried. + +"Ah, you've found it out! Well, I did that during the night." + +"And how? With your knife?" + +"No; I could make no way with my knife; but when I got the bar out of +the grate, I managed faster. I'll put this one back now, or some of +those folks down below may notice that we have got it loose." + +"Are they all loose?" + +"Only the one at present, but we'll get the other two out during the +night. You can take that bar out and work with it, while I use my own +picker at the other. You see, the stone is soft, and by grinding it you +soon make a groove along which you can slip the bar. It will be mighty +queer if we can't clear a road for ourselves before morning." + +"Well, but even if we could get out into the courtyard, where could we +turn to then?" + +"One thing at a time, friend. You might as well stick at the Kennebec +because you could not see how you would cross the Penobscot. Anyway, +there is more air in the yard than in here, and when the window is clear +we shall soon plan out the rest." + +The two comrades did not dare to do any work during the day, for fear +they should be surprised by the jailer, or observed from without. +No one came near them, but they ate their loaves and drank their water +with the appetite of men who had often known what it was to be without +even such simple food as that. The instant that night fell they were +both up upon the pegs, grinding away at the hard stone and tugging at +the bars. It was a rainy night, and there was a sharp thunder-storm, +but they could see very well, while the shadow of the arched window +prevented their being seen. Before midnight they had loosened one bar, +and the other was just beginning to give, when some slight noise made +them turn their heads, and there was their jailer standing, open-mouthed +in the middle of the cell, staring up at them. + +It was De Catinat who observed him first, and he sprang down at him in +an instant with his bar; but at his movement the man rushed for the +door, and drew it after him just as the American's tool whizzed past his +ear and down the passage. As the door slammed, the two comrades looked +at each other. The guardsman shrugged his shoulders and the other +whistled. + +"It is scarce worth while to go on," said De Catinat. + +"We may as well be doing that as anything else. If my picker had been +an inch lower I'd have had him. Well, maybe he'll get a stroke, or +break his neck down those stairs. I've nothing to work with now, but a +few rubs with your bar will finish the job. Ah, dear! You are right, +and we are fairly treed!" + +A great bell had begun to ring in the chateau, and there was a loud buzz +of voices and a clatter of feet upon the stones. Hoarse orders were +shouted, and there was the sound of turning keys. All this coming +suddenly in the midst of the stillness of the night showed only too +certainly that the alarm had been given. Amos Green threw himself down +in the straw, with his hands in his pockets, and De Catinat leaned +sulkily against the wall, waiting for whatever might come to him. +Five minutes passed, however, and yet another five minutes, without +anyone appearing. The hubbub in the courtyard continued, but there was +no sound in the corridor which led to their cell. + +"Well, I'll have that bar out, after all," said the American at last, +rising and stepping over to the window. "Anyhow, we'll see what all +this caterwauling is about." He climbed up on his pegs as he spoke, and +peeped out. + +"Come up!" he cried excitedly to his comrade. "They've got some other +game going on here, and they are all a deal too busy to bother their +heads about us." + +De Catinat clambered up beside him, and the two stood staring down into +the courtyard. A brazier had been lit at each corner, and the place was +thronged with men, many of whom carried torches. The yellow glare +played fitfully over the grim gray walls, flickering up sometimes until +the highest turrets shone golden against the black sky, and then, as the +wind caught them, dying away until they scarce threw a glow upon the +cheek of their bearer. The main gate was open, and a carriage, which +had apparently just driven in, was standing at a small door immediately +in front of their window. The wheels and sides were brown with mud, and +the two horses were reeking and heavy-headed, as though their journey +had been both swift and long. A man wearing a plumed hat and enveloped +in a riding-coat had stepped from the carriage, and then, turning round, +had dragged a second person out after him. There was a scuffle, a cry, +a push, and the two figures had vanished through the door. As it +closed, the carriage drove away, the torches and braziers were +extinguished, the main gate was closed once more, and all was as quiet +as before this sudden interruption. + +"Well!" gasped De Catinat. "Is this another king's messenger they've +got?" + +"There will be lodgings for two more here in a short time," said Amos +Green. "If they only leave us alone, this cell won't hold us long." + +"I wonder where that jailer has gone?" + +"He may go where he likes, as long as he keeps away from here. Give me +your bar again. This thing is giving. It won't take us long to have it +out." He set to work furiously, trying to deepen the groove in the +stone, through which he hoped to drag the staple. Suddenly he ceased, +and strained his ears. + +"By thunder!" said he, "there's some one working on the other side." + +They both stood listening. There were the thud of hammers, the rasping +of a saw, and the clatter of wood from the other side of the wall. + +"What can they be doing?" + +"I can't think." + +"Can you see them?" + +"They are too near the wall." + +"I think I can manage," said De Catinat. "I am slighter than you." He +pushed his head and neck and half of one shoulder through the gap +between the bars, and there he remained until his friend thought that +perhaps he had stuck, and pulled at his legs to extricate him. +He writhed back, however, without any difficulty. + +"They are building something," he whispered. + +"Building!" + +"Yes; there are four of them, with a lantern." + +"What can they be building, then?" + +"It's a shed, I think. I can see four sockets in the ground, and they +are fixing four uprights into them." + +"Well, we can't get away as long as there are four men just under our +window." + +"Impossible." + +"But we may as well finish our work, for all that." The gentle +scrapings of his iron were drowned amid the noise which swelled ever +louder from without. The bar loosened at the end, and he drew it slowly +towards him. At that instant, however, just as he was disengaging it, a +round head appeared between him and the moonlight, a head with a great +shock of tangled hair and a woollen cap upon the top of it. +So astonished was Amos Green at the sudden apparition that he let go his +grip upon the bar, which, falling outwards, toppled over the edge of the +window-sill. + +"You great fool!" shrieked a voice from below, "are your fingers ever to +be thumbs, then, that you should fumble your tools so? A thousand +thunders of heaven! You have broken my shoulder." + +"What is it, then?" cried the other. "My faith, Pierre, if your fingers +went as fast as your tongue, you would be the first joiner in France." + +"What is it, you ape! You have dropped your tool upon me." + +"I! I have dropped nothing." + +"Idiot! Would you have me believe that iron falls from the sky? I say +that you have struck me, you foolish, clumsy-fingered lout." + +"I have not struck you yet," cried the other, "but, by the Virgin, if I +have more of this I will come down the ladder to you!" + +"Silence, you good-for-naughts!" said a third voice sternly. "If the +work be not done by daybreak, there will be a heavy reckoning for +somebody." + +And again the steady hammering and sawing went forward. The head still +passed and repassed, its owner walking apparently upon some platform +which they had constructed beneath their window, but never giving a +glance or a thought to the black square opening beside him. It was +early morning, and the first cold light was beginning to steal over the +courtyard, before the work was at last finished and the workmen had +left. Then at last the prisoners dared to climb up and to see what it +was which had been constructed during the night. It gave them a catch +of the breath as they looked at it. It was a scaffold. + +There it lay, the ill-omened platform of dark greasy boards newly +fastened together, but evidently used often before for the same purpose. +It was buttressed up against their wall, and extended a clear twenty +feet out, with a broad wooden stair leading down from the further side. +In the centre stood a headsman's block, all haggled at the top, and +smeared with rust-coloured stains. + +"I think it is time that we left," said Amos Green. + +"Our work is all in vain, Amos," said De Catinat sadly. + +"Whatever our fate may be--and this looks ill enough--we can but submit +to it like brave men." + +"Tut, man; the window is clear! Let us make a rush for it." + +"It is useless. I can see a line of armed men along the further side +of the yard." + +"A line! At this hour!" + +"Yes; and here come more. See, at the centre gate! Now what in the +name of heaven is this?" + +As he spoke the door which faced them opened and a singular procession +filed out. First came two dozen footmen, walking in pairs, all carrying +halberds, and clad in the same maroon-coloured liveries. After them a +huge bearded man, with his tunic off, and the sleeves of his coarse +shirt rolled up over his elbows, strode along with a great axe over his +left shoulder. Behind him, a priest with an open missal pattered forth +prayers, and in his shadow was a woman, clad in black, her neck bared, +and a black shawl cast over her head and drooping in front of her bowed +face. Within grip of her walked a tall, thin, fierce-faced man, with +harsh red features, and a great jutting nose. He wore a flat velvet cap +with a single eagle feather fastened into it by a diamond clasp, which +gleamed in the morning light. But bright as was his gem, his dark eyes +were brighter still, and sparkled from under his bushy brows with a mad +brilliancy which bore with it something of menace and of terror. +His limbs jerked as he walked, his features twisted, and he carried +himself like a man who strives hard to hold himself in when his whole +soul is aflame with exultation. Behind him again twelve more +maroon-clad retainers brought up the rear of this singular procession. + +The woman had faltered at the foot of the scaffold, but the man behind +her had thrust her forward with such force that she stumbled over the +lower step, and would have fallen had she not clutched at the arm of the +priest. At the top of the ladder her eyes met the dreadful block, and +she burst into a scream, and shrunk backwards. But again the man thrust +her on, and two of the followers caught her by either wrist and dragged +her forwards. + +"Oh, Maurice! Maurice!" she screamed. "I am not fit to die! +Oh, forgive me, Maurice, as you hope for forgiveness yourself! Maurice! +Maurice!" She strove to get towards him, to clutch at his wrist, at his +sleeve, but he stood with his hand on his sword, gazing at her with a +face which was all wreathed and contorted with merriment. At the sight +of that dreadful mocking face the prayers froze upon her lips. As well +pray for mercy to the dropping stone or to the rushing stream. She +turned away, and threw back the mantle which had shrouded her features. + +"Ah, sire!" she cried. "Sire! If you could see me now!" + +And at the cry and at the sight of that fair pale face, De Catinat, +looking down from the window, was stricken as though by a dagger; for +there, standing beside the headsman's block, was she who had been the +most powerful, as well as the wittiest and the fairest, of the women of +France--none other than Francoise de Montespan, so lately the favourite +of the king. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +IN THE KING'S CABINET. + +On the night upon which such strange chances had befallen his +messengers, the king sat alone in his cabinet. Over his head a perfumed +lamp, held up by four little flying Cupids of crystal, who dangled by +golden chains from the painted ceiling, cast a brilliant light upon the +chamber, which was flashed back twenty-fold by the mirrors upon the +wall. The ebony and silver furniture, the dainty carpet of La +Savonniere, the silks of Tours, the tapestries of the Gobelins, the +gold-work and the delicate chinaware of Sevres--the best of all that +France could produce was centred between these four walls. Nothing had +ever passed through that door which was not a masterpiece of its kind. +And amid all this brilliance the master of it sat, his chin resting upon +his hands, his elbows upon the table, with eyes which stared vacantly at +the wall, a moody and a solemn man. + +But though his dark eyes were fixed upon the wall, they saw nothing of +it. They looked rather down the long vista of his own life, away to +those early years when what we dream and what we do shade so mistily +into one another. Was it a dream or was it a fact, those two men who +used to stoop over his baby crib, the one with the dark coat and the +star upon his breast, whom he had been taught to call father, and the +other one with the long red gown and the little twinkling eyes? +Even now, after more than forty years, that wicked, astute, powerful +face flashed up, and he saw once more old Richelieu, the great +unanointed king of France. And then the other cardinal, the long lean +one who had taken his pocket-money, and had grudged him his food, and +had dressed him in old clothes. How well he could recall the day when +Mazarin had rouged himself for the last time, and how the court had +danced with joy at the news that he was no more! And his mother, too, +how beautiful she was, and how masterful! Could he not remember how +bravely she had borne herself during that war in which the power of the +great nobles had been broken, and how she had at last lain down to die, +imploring the priests not to stain her cap-strings with their holy oils! +And then he thought of what he had done himself, how he had shorn down +his great subjects until, instead of being like a tree among saplings, +he had been alone, far above all others, with his shadow covering the +whole land. Then there were his wars and his laws and his treaties. +Under his care France had overflowed her frontiers both on the north and +on the east, and yet had been so welded together internally that she had +but one voice, with which she spoke through him. And then there was +that line of beautiful faces which wavered up in front of him. There +was Olympe de Mancini, whose Italian eyes had first taught him that +there is a power which can rule over a king; her sister, too, Marie de +Mancini; his wife, with her dark little sun-browned face; Henrietta of +England, whose death had first shown him the horrors which lie in life; +La Valliere, Montespan, Fontanges. Some were dead; some were in +convents. Some who had been wicked and beautiful were now only wicked. +And what had been the outcome of all this troubled, striving life of +his? He was already at the outer verge of his middle years; he had lost +his taste for the pleasures of his youth; gout and vertigo were ever at +his foot and at his head to remind him that between them lay a kingdom +which he could not hope to govern. And after all these years he had not +won a single true friend, not one, in his family, in his court, in his +country, save only this woman whom he was to wed that night. And she, +how patient she was, how good, how lofty! With her he might hope to +wipe off by the true glory of his remaining years all the sin and the +folly of the past. Would that the archbishop might come, that he might +feel that she was indeed his, that he held her with hooks of steel which +would bind them as long as life should last! + +There came a tap at the door. He sprang up eagerly, thinking that the +ecclesiastic might have arrived. It was, however, only his personal +attendant, to say that Louvois would crave an interview. Close at his +heels came the minister himself, high-nosed and heavy-chinned. +Two leather bags were dangling from his hand. + +"Sire," said he, when Bontems had retired, "I trust that I do not +intrude upon you." + +"No, no, Louvois. My thoughts were in truth beginning to be very +indifferent company, and I am glad to be rid of them." + +"Your Majesty's thoughts can never, I am sure, be anything but +pleasant," said the courtier. "But I have brought you here something +which I trust may make them even more so." + +"Ah! What is that?" + +"When so many of our young nobles went into Germany and Hungary, you +were pleased in your wisdom to say that you would like well to see what +reports they sent home to their friends; also what news was sent out +from the court to them." + +"Yes." + +"I have them here--all that the courier has brought in, and all that are +gathered to go out, each in its own bag. The wax has been softened in +spirit, the fastenings have been steamed, and they are now open." + +The king took out a handful of the letters and glanced at the addresses. + +"I should indeed like to read the hearts of these people," said he. +"Thus only can I tell the true thoughts of those who bow and simper +before my face. I suppose," with a sudden flash of suspicion from his +eyes, "that you have not yourself looked into these?" + +"Oh, sire, I had rather die!" + +"You swear it?" + +"As I hope for salvation!" + +"Hum! There is one among these which I see is from your own son." + +Louvois changed colour, and stammered as he looked at the envelope. +"Your Majesty will find that he is as loyal out of your presence as in +it, else he is no son of mine," said he. + +"Then we shall begin with his. Ha! it is but ten lines long. 'Dearest +Achille, how I long for you to come back! The court is as dull as a +cloister now that you are gone. My ridiculous father still struts about +like a turkey-cock, as if all his medals and crosses could cover the +fact that he is but a head lackey, with no more real power than I have. +He wheedles a good deal out of the king, but what he does with it I +cannot imagine, for little comes my way. I still owe those ten thousand +livres to the man in the Rue Orfevre. Unless I have some luck at +lansquenet, I shall have to come out soon and join you.' Hem! I did +you an injustice, Louvois. I see that you have _not_ looked over these +letters." + +The minister had sat with a face which was the colour of beetroot, and +eyes which projected from his head, while this epistle was being read. +It was with relief that he came to the end of it, for at least there was +nothing which compromised him seriously with the king; but every nerve +in his great body tingled with rage as he thought of the way in which +his young scape-grace had alluded to him. "The viper!" he cried. +"Oh, the foul snake in the grass! I will make him curse the day that he +was born." + +"Tut, tut, Louvois!" said the king. "You are a man who has seen much of +life, and you should be a philosopher. Hot-headed youth says ever more +than it means. Think no more of the matter. But what have we here? +A letter from my dearest girl to her husband, the Prince de Conti. +I would pick her writing out of a thousand. Ah, dear soul, she little +thought that my eyes would see her artless prattle! Why should I read +it, since I already know every thought of her innocent heart?" He +unfolded the sheet of pink scented paper with a fond smile upon his +face, but it faded away as his eyes glanced down the page, and he sprang +to his feet with a snarl of anger, his hand over his heart and his eyes +still glued to the paper. "Minx!" he cried, in a choking voice. +"Impertinent, heartless minx! Louvois, you know what I have done for the +princess. You know she has been the apple of my eye. What have I ever +grudged her? What have I ever denied her?" + +"You have been goodness itself, sire," said Louvois, whose own wounds +smarted less now that he saw his master writhing. + +"Hear what she says of me: 'Old Father Grumpy is much as usual, save +that he gives a little at the knees. You remember how we used to laugh +at his airs and graces! Well, he has given up all that, and though he +still struts about on great high heels, like a Landes peasant on his +stilts, he has no brightness at all in his clothes. Of course, all the +court follow his example, so you can imagine what a nightmare place this +is. Then this woman still keeps in favour, and her frocks are as dismal +as Grumpy's coats; so when you come back we shall go into the country +together, and you shall dress in red velvet, and I shall wear blue silk, +and we shall have a little coloured court of our own in spite of my +majestic papa.'" + +Louis sank his face in his hands. + +"You hear how she speaks of me, Louvois." + +"It is infamous, sire; infamous!" + +"She calls me names--_me_, Louvois!" + +"Atrocious, sire." + +"And my knees! one would think that I was an old man!" + +"Scandalous. But, sire, I would beg to say that it is a case in which +your Majesty's philosophy may well soften your anger. Youth is ever +hot-headed, and says more than it means. Think no more of the matter." + +"You speak like a fool, Louvois. The child that I have loved turns upon +me, and you ask me to think no more of it. Ah, it is one more lesson +that a king can trust least of all those who have his own blood in their +veins. What writing is this? It is the good Cardinal de Bouillon. +One may not have faith in one's own kin, but this sainted man loves me, +not only because I have placed him where he is, but because it is his +nature to look up to and love those whom God has placed above him. +I will read you his letter, Louvois, to show you that there is still +such a thing as loyalty and gratitude in France. 'My dear Prince de la +Roche-sur-Yon.' Ah, it is to him he writes. 'I promised when you left +that I would let you know from time to time how things were going at +court, as you consulted me about bringing your daughter up from Anjou, +in the hope that she might catch the king's fancy.' What! What! +Louvois! What villainy is this? 'The sultan goes from bad to worse. +The Fontanges was at least the prettiest woman in France, though between +ourselves there was just a shade too much of the red in her hair--an +excellent colour in a cardinal's gown, my dear duke, but nothing +brighter than chestnut is permissible in a lady. The Montespan, too, +was a fine woman in her day, but fancy his picking up now with a widow +who is older than himself, a woman, too, who does not even try to make +herself attractive, but kneels at her _prie-dieu_ or works at her +tapestry from morning to night. They say that December and May make a +bad match, but my own opinion is that two Novembers make an even worse +one.' Louvois! Louvois! I can read no more! Have you a _lettre de +cachet_?" + +"There is one here, sire." + +"For the Bastille?" + +"No; for Vincennes." + +"That will do very well. Fill it up, Louvois! Put this villain's name +in it! Let him be arrested to-night, and taken there in his own +caleche. The shameless, ungrateful, foul-mouthed villain! Why did you +bring me these letters, Louvois? Oh, why did you yield to my foolish +whim? My God, is there no truth, or honour, or loyalty in the world?" +He stamped his feet, and shook his clenched hands in the air in the +frenzy of his anger and disappointment. + +"Shall I, then, put back the others?" asked Louvois eagerly. He had +been on thorns since the king had begun to read them, not knowing what +disclosures might come next. + +"Put them back, but keep the bag." + +"Both bags?" + +"Ah! I had forgot the other one. Perhaps if I have hypocrites around +me, I have at least some honest subjects at a distance. Let us take one +haphazard. Who is this from? Ah! it is from the Duc de la +Rochefoucauld. He has ever seemed to be a modest and dutiful young man. +What has he to say? The Danube--Belgrade--the grand vizier--Ah!" +He gave a cry as if he had been stabbed. + +"What, then, sire?" The minister had taken a step forward, for he was +frightened by the expression upon the king's face. + +"Take them away, Louvois! Take them away!" he cried, pushing the pile +of papers away from him. "I would that I had never seen them! I will +look at them no more! He gibes even at my courage, I who was in the +trenches when he was in his cradle! 'This war would not suit the king,' +he says. 'For there are battles, and none of the nice little safe +sieges which are so dear to him.' By God, he shall pay to me with his +head for that jest! Ay, Louvois, it will be a dear gibe to him. +But take them away. I have seen as much as I can bear." + +The minister was thrusting them back into the bag when suddenly his eye +caught the bold, clear writing of Madame de Maintenon upon one of the +letters. Some demon whispered to him that here was a weapon which had +been placed in his hands, with which he might strike one whose very name +filled him with jealousy and hatred. Had she been guilty of some +indiscretion in this note, then he might even now, at this last hour, +turn the king's heart against her. He was an astute man, and in an +instant he had seen his chance and grasped it. + +"Ha!" said he, "it was hardly necessary to open this one." + +"Which, Louvois? Whose is it?" + +The minister pushed forward the letter, and Louis started as his eyes +fell upon it. + +"Madame's writing!" he gasped. + +"Yes; it is to her nephew in Germany." + +Louis took it in his hand. Then, with a sudden motion, he threw it down +among the others, and then yet again his hand stole towards it. +His face was gray and haggard, and beads of moisture had broken out upon +his brow. If this too were to prove to be as the others! He was shaken +to the soul at the very thought. Twice he tried to pluck it out, and +twice his trembling fingers fumbled with the paper. Then he tossed it +over to Louvois. "Read it to me," said he. + +The minister opened the letter out and flattened it upon the table, with +a malicious light dancing in his eyes, which might have cost him his +position had the king but read it aright. + +"'My dear nephew,'" he read, "'what you ask me in your last is +absolutely impossible. I have never abused the king's favour so far as +to ask for any profit for myself, and I should be equally sorry to +solicit any advance for my relatives. No one would rejoice more than I +to see you rise to be major in your regiment, but your valour and your +loyalty must be the cause, and you must not hope to do it through any +word of mine. To serve such a man as the king is its own reward, and I +am sure that whether you remain a cornet or rise to some higher rank, +you will be equally zealous in his cause. He is surrounded, unhappily, +by many base parasites. Some of these are mere fools, like Lauzun; +others are knaves, like the late Fouquet; and some seem to be both fools +and knaves, like Louvois, the minister of war.'" Here the reader choked +with rage, and sat gurgling and drumming his fingers upon the table. + +"Go on, Louvois, go on," said Louis, smiling up at the ceiling. + +"'These are the clouds which surround the sun, my dear nephew; but the +sun is, believe me, shining brightly behind them. For years I have +known that noble nature as few others can know it, and I can tell you +that his virtues are his own, but that if ever his glory is for an +instant dimmed over, it is because his kindness of heart has allowed him +to be swayed by those who are about him. We hope soon to see you back +at Versailles, staggering under the weight of your laurels. Meanwhile +accept my love and every wish for your speedy promotion, although it +cannot be obtained in the way which you suggest.'" + +"Ah," cried the king, his love shining in his eyes, "how could I for an +instant doubt her! And yet I had been so shaken by the others! +Francoise is as true as steel. Was it not a beautiful letter, Louvois?" + +"Madame is a very clever woman," said the minister evasively. + +"And such a reader of hearts! Has she not seen my character aright?" + +"At least she has not read mine, sire." + +There was a tap at the door, and Bontems peeped in. "The archbishop has +arrived, sire." + +"Very well, Bontems. Ask madame to be so good as to step this way. +And order the witnesses to assemble in the ante-room." + +As the valet hastened away, Louis turned to his minister: "I wish you to +be one of the witnesses, Louvois." + +"To what, sire?" + +"To my marriage." + +The minister started. "What, sire! Already?" + +"Now, Louvois; within five minutes." + +"Very good, sire." The unhappy courtier strove hard to assume a more +festive manner; but the night had been full of vexation to him, and to +be condemned to assist in making this woman the king's wife was the most +bitter drop of all. + +"Put these letters away, Louvois. The last one has made up for all the +rest. But these rascals shall smart for it, all the same. By-the-way, +there is that young nephew to whom madame wrote. Gerard d'Aubigny is +his name, is it not?" + +"Yes, sire." + +"Make him out a colonel's commission, and give him the next vacancy, +Louvois." + +"A colonel, sire! Why, he is not yet twenty." + +"Ay, Louvois. Pray, am I the chief of the army, or are you? Take care, +Louvois! I have warned you once before. I tell you, man, that if I +choose to promote one of my jack-boots to be the head of a brigade, you +shall not hesitate to make out the papers. Now go into the ante-room, +and wait with the other witnesses until you are wanted." + +There had meanwhile been busy goings-on in the small room where the red +lamp burned in front of the Virgin. Francoise de Maintenon stood in the +centre, a little flush of excitement on her cheeks, and an unwonted +light in her placid gray eyes. She was clad in a dress of shining white +brocade, trimmed and slashed with silver serge, and fringed at the +throat and arms with costly point lace. Three women, grouped around +her, rose and stooped and swayed, putting a touch here and a touch +there, gathering in, looping up, and altering until all was to their +taste. + +"There!" said the head dressmaker, giving a final pat to a rosette of +gray silk; "I think that will do, your Majes--that is to say, madame." + +The lady smiled at the adroit slip of the courtier dressmaker. + +"My tastes lean little towards dress," said she, "yet I would fain look +as he would wish me to look." + +"Ah, it is easy to dress madame. Madame has a figure. Madame has a +carriage. What costume would not look well with such a neck and waist +and arm to set it off? But, ah, madame, what are we to do when we have +to make the figure as well as the dress? There was the Princess +Charlotte Elizabeth. It was but yesterday that we cut her gown. She +was short, madame, but thick. Oh, it is incredible how thick she was! +She uses more cloth than madame, though she is two hand-breadths +shorter. Ah, I am sure that the good God never meant people to be as +thick as that. But then, of course, she is Bavarian and not French." + +But madame was paying little heed to the gossip of the dressmaker. +Her eyes were fixed upon the statue in the corner, and her lips were +moving in prayer--prayer that she might be worthy of this great destiny +which had come so suddenly upon her, a poor governess; that she might +walk straight among the pitfalls which surrounded her upon every side; +that this night's work might bring a blessing upon France and upon the +man whom she loved. There came a discreet tap at the door to break in +upon her prayer. + +"It is Bontems, madame," said Mademoiselle Nanon. "He says that the +king is ready." + +"Then we shall not keep him waiting. Come, mademoiselle, and may God +shed His blessing upon what we are about to do!" + +The little party assembled in the king's ante-room, and started from +there to the private chapel. In front walked the portly bishop, clad in +a green vestment, puffed out with the importance of the function, his +missal in his hand, and his fingers between the pages at the service +_de matrimoniis_. Beside him strode his almoner, and two little +servitors of the court in crimson cassocks bearing lighted torches. +The king and Madame de Maintenon walked side by side, she quiet and +composed, with gentle bearing and downcast eyes, he with a flush on his +dark cheeks, and a nervous, furtive look in his eyes, like a man who +knows that he is in the midst of one of the great crises of his life. +Behind them, in solemn silence, followed a little group of chosen +witnesses, the lean, silent Pere la Chaise, Louvois, scowling heavily at +the bride, the Marquis de Charmarante, Bontems, and Mademoiselle Nanon. + +The torches shed a strong yellow light upon this small band as they +advanced slowly through the corridors and _salons_ which led to the +chapel, and they threw a garish glare upon the painted walls and +ceilings, flashing back from gold-work and from mirror, but leaving long +trailing shadows in the corners. The king glanced nervously at these +black recesses, and at the portraits of his ancestors and relations +which lined the walls. As he passed that of his late queen, Maria +Theresa, he started and gasped with horror. + +"My God!" he whispered; "she frowned and spat at me!" + +Madame laid her cool hand upon his wrist. "It is nothing, sire," she +murmured, in her soothing voice. "It was but the light flickering over +the picture." + +Her words had their usual effect upon him. The startled look died away +from his eyes, and taking her hand in his he walked resolutely forwards. +A minute later they were before the altar, and the words were being read +which should bind them forever together. As they turned away again, her +new ring blazing upon her finger, there was a buzz of congratulation +around her. The king only said nothing, but he looked at her, and she +had no wish that he should say more. She was still calm and pale, but +the blood throbbed in her temples. "You are Queen of France now," it +seemed to be humming--"queen, queen, queen!" + +But a sudden shadow had fallen across her, and a low voice was in her +ear. "Remember your promise to the Church," it whispered. She started, +and turned to see the pale, eager face of the Jesuit beside her. + +"Your hand has turned cold, Francoise," said Louis. "Let us go, +dearest. We have been too long in this dismal church." + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +THE TWO FRANCOISES. + +Madame de Montespan had retired to rest, easy in her mind, after +receiving the message from her brother. She knew Louis as few others +knew him, and she was well aware of that obstinacy in trifles which was +one of his characteristics. If he had said that he would be married by +the archbishop, then the archbishop it must be; to-night, at least, +there should be no marriage. To-morrow was a new day, and if it did not +shake the king's plans, then indeed she must have lost her wit as well +as her beauty. + +She dressed herself with care in the morning, putting on her powder, her +little touch of rouge, her one patch near the dimple of her cheek, her +loose robe of violet velvet, and her casconet of pearls with all the +solicitude of a warrior, who is bracing on his arms for a life and death +contest. No news had come to her of the great event of the previous +night, although the court already rang with it, for her haughtiness and +her bitter tongue had left her without a friend or intimate. She rose, +therefore, in the best of spirits, with her mind set on the one question +as to how best she could gain an audience with the king. + +She was still in her boudoir putting the last touches to her toilet when +her page announced to her that the king was waiting in her _salon_. +Madame de Montespan could hardly believe in such good fortune. She had +racked her brain all morning as to how she should win her way to him, +and here he was waiting for her. With a last glance at the mirror, she +hastened to meet him. + +He was standing with his back turned, looking up at one of Snyders's +paintings, when she entered; but as she closed the door, he turned and +took two steps towards her. She had run forward with a pretty little +cry of joy, her white arms outstretched, and love shining on her face; +but he put out his hand, gently and yet with decision, with a gesture +which checked her approach. Her hands dropped to her side, her lip +trembled, and she stood looking at him with her grief and her fears all +speaking loudly from her eyes. There was a look upon his features which +she had never seen before, and already something was whispering at the +back of her soul that to-day at least his spirit was stronger than her +own. + +"You are angry with me again," she cried. + +He had come with every intention of beginning the interview by telling +her bluntly of his marriage; but now, as he looked upon her beauty and +her love, he felt that it would have been less brutal to strike her down +at his feet. Let some one else tell her, then. She would know soon +enough. Besides, there would be less chance then of a scene, which was +a thing abhorrent to his soul. His task was, in any case, quite +difficult enough. All this ran swiftly through his mind, and she as +swiftly read it off in the brown eyes which gazed at her. + +"You have something you came to say, and now you have not the heart to +say it. God bless the kindly heart which checks the cruel tongue." + +"No, no, madame," said Louis; "I would not be cruel. I cannot forget +that my life has been brightened and my court made brilliant during all +these years by your wit and your beauty. But times change, madame, and +I owe a duty to the world which overrides my own personal inclinations. +For every reason I think that it is best that we should arrange in the +way which we discussed the other day, and that you should withdraw +yourself from the court." + +"Withdraw, sire! For how long?" + +"It must be a permanent withdrawal, madame." + +She stood with clenched hands and a pale face staring at him. + +"I need not say that I shall make your retirement a happy one as far as +in me lies. Your allowance shall be fixed by yourself; a palace shall +be erected for you in whatever part of France you may prefer, provided +that it is twenty miles from Paris. An estate also--" + +"Oh, sire, how can you think that such things as these would compensate +me for the loss of your love?" Her heart had turned to lead within her +breast. Had he spoken hotly and angrily she might have hoped to turn +him as she had done before; but this gentle and yet firm bearing was new +to him, and she felt that all her arts were vain against it. His +coolness enraged her, and yet she strove to choke down her passion and +to preserve the humble attitude which was least natural to her haughty +and vehement spirit; but soon the effort became too much for her. + +"Madame," said he, "I have thought well over this matter, and it must be +as I say. There is no other way at all. Since we must part, the +parting had best be short and sharp. Believe me, it is no pleasant +matter for me either. I have ordered your brother to have his carriage +at the postern at nine o'clock, for I thought that perhaps you would +wish to retire after nightfall." + +"To hide my shame from a laughing court! It was thoughtful of you, +sire. And yet, perhaps, this too was a duty, since we hear so much of +duties nowadays, for who was it but you--" + +"I know, madame, I know. I confess it. I have wronged you deeply. +Believe me that every atonement which is in my power shall be made. +Nay, do not look so angrily at me, I beg. Let our last sight of each +other be one which may leave a pleasant memory behind it." + +"A pleasant memory!" All the gentleness and humility had fallen from +her now, and her voice had the hard ring of contempt and of anger. +"A pleasant memory! It may well be pleasant to you, who are released +from the woman whom you ruined, who can turn now to another without any +pale face to be seen within the _salons_ of your court to remind you of +your perfidy. But to me, pining in some lonely country house, spurned +by my husband, despised by my family, the scorn and jest of France, far +from all which gave a charm to life, far from the man for whose love I +have sacrificed everything--this will be a very pleasant memory to me, +you may be sure!" + +The king's eyes had caught the angry gleam which shot from hers, and yet +he strove hard to set a curb upon his temper. When such a matter had to +be discussed between the proudest man and the haughtiest woman in all +France, one or the other must yield a point. He felt that it was for +him to do so, and yet it did not come kindly to his imperious nature. + +"There is nothing to be gained, madame," said he, "by using words which +are neither seemly for your tongue nor for my ears. You will do me the +justice to confess that where I might command I am now entreating, and +that instead of ordering you as my subject, I am persuading you as my +friend." + +"Oh, you show too much consideration, sire! Our relations of twenty +years or so can scarce suffice to explain such forbearance from you. +I should indeed be grateful that you have not set your archers of the +guard upon me, or marched me from the palace between a file of your +musketeers. Sire, how can I thank you for this forbearance?" +She curtsied low, with her face set in a mocking smile. + +"Your words are bitter, madame." + +"My heart is bitter, sire." + +"Nay, Francoise, be reasonable, I implore you. We have both left our +youth behind." + +"The allusion to my years comes gratefully from your lips." + +"Ah, you distort my words. Then I shall say no more. You may not see +me again, madame. Is there no question which you would wish to ask me +before I go?" + +"Good God!" she cried; "is this a man? Has it a heart? Are these the +lips which have told me so often that he loved me? Are these the eyes +which have looked so fondly into mine? Can you then thrust away a woman +whose life has been yours as you put away the St. Germain palace when a +more showy one was ready for you? And this is the end of all those +vows, those sweet whispers, those persuasions, those promises--This!" + +"Nay, madame, this is painful to both of us." + +"Pain! Where is the pain in your face? I see anger in it because I +have dared to speak truth; I see joy in it because you feel that your +vile task is done. But where is the pain? Ah, when I am gone all will +be so easy to you--will it not? You can go back then to your +governess--" + +"Madame!" + +"Yes, yes, you cannot frighten me! What do I care for all that you can +do! But I know all. Do not think that I am blind. And so you would +even have married her! You, the descendant of St. Louis, and she the +Scarron widow, the poor drudge whom in charity I took into my household! +Ah, how your courtiers will smile! how the little poets will scribble! +how the wits will whisper! You do not hear of these things, of course, +but they are a little painful for your friends." + +"My patience can bear no more," cried the king furiously. "I leave you, +madame, and forever." + +But her fury had swept all fear and discretion from her mind. +She stepped between the door and him, her face flushed, her eyes +blazing, her face thrust a little forward, one small white satin slipper +tapping upon the carpet. + +"You are in haste, sire! She is waiting for you, doubtless." + +"Let me pass, madame." + +"But it was a disappointment last night, was it not, my poor sire? +Ah, and for the governess, what a blow! Great heaven, what a blow! +No archbishop! No marriage! All the pretty plan gone wrong! Was it +not cruel?" + +Louis gazed at the beautiful furious face in bewilderment, and it +flashed across his mind that perhaps her grief had turned her brain. +What else could be the meaning of this wild talk of the archbishop and +the disappointment? It would be unworthy of him to speak harshly to one +who was so afflicted. He must soothe her, and, above all, he must get +away from her. + +"You have had the keeping of a good many of my family jewels," said he. +"I beg that you will still retain them as a small sign of my regard." + +He had hoped to please her and to calm her, but in an instant she was +over at her treasure-cupboard hurling double handfuls of precious stones +down at his feet. They clinked and rattled, the little pellets of red +and yellow and green, rolling, glinting over the floor and rapping up +against the oak panels at the base of the walls. + +"They will do for the governess if the archbishop comes at last," she +cried. + +He was more convinced than ever that she had lost her wits. A thought +struck him by which he might appeal to all that was softer and more +gentle in her nature. He stepped swiftly to the door, pushed it half +open, and gave a whispered order. A youth with long golden hair waving +down over his black velvet doublet entered the room. It was her +youngest son, the Count of Toulouse. + +"I thought that you would wish to bid him farewell," said Louis. + +She stood staring as though unable to realise the significance of his +words. Then it was borne suddenly in upon her that her children as well +as her lover were to be taken from her, that this other woman should see +them and speak with them and win their love while she was far away. +All that was evil and bitter in the woman flashed suddenly up in her, +until for the instant she was what the king had thought her. If her son +was not for her, then he should be for none. A jewelled knife lay among +her treasures, ready to her hand. She caught it up and rushed at the +cowering lad. Louis screamed and ran forward to stop her; but another +had been swifter than he. A woman had darted through the open door, and +had caught the upraised wrist. There was a moment's struggle, two +queenly figures swayed and strained, and the knife dropped between their +feet. The frightened Louis caught it up, and seizing his little son by +the wrist, he rushed from the apartment. Francoise de Montespan +staggered back against the ottoman to find herself confronted by the +steady eyes and set face of that other Francoise, the woman whose +presence fell like a shadow at every turn of her life. + +"I have saved you, madame, from doing that which you would have been the +first to bewail." + +"Saved me! It is you who have driven me to this!" + +The fallen favourite leaned against the high back of the ottoman, her +hands resting behind her upon the curve of the velvet. Her lids were +half closed on her flashing eyes, and her lips just parted to show a +gleam of her white teeth. Here was the true Francoise de Montespan, a +feline creature crouching for a spring, very far from that humble and +soft-spoken Francoise who had won the king back by her gentle words. +Madame de Maintenon's hand had been cut in the struggle, and the blood +was dripping down from the end of her fingers, but neither woman had +time to spare a thought upon that. Her firm gray eyes were fixed upon +her former rival as one fixes them upon some weak and treacherous +creature who may be dominated by a stronger will. + +"Yes, it is you who have driven me to this--you, whom I picked up when +you were hard pressed for a crust of bread or a cup of sour wine. +What had you? You had nothing--nothing except a name which was a +laughing-stock. And what did I give you? I gave you everything. +You know that I gave you everything. Money, position, the entrance to +the court. You had them all from me. And now you mock me!" + +"Madame, I do not mock you. I pity you from the bottom of my heart." + +"Pity? Ha! ha! A Mortemart is pitied by the widow Scarron! +Your pity may go where your gratitude is, and where your character is. +We shall be troubled with it no longer then." + +"Your words do not pain me." + +"I can believe that you are not sensitive." + +"Not when my conscience is at ease." + +"Ah! it has not troubled you, then?" + +"Not upon this point, madame." + +"My God! How terrible must those other points have been!" + +"I have never had an evil thought towards you." + +"None towards me? Oh, woman, woman!" + +"What have I done, then? The king came to my room to see the children +taught. He stayed. He talked. He asked my opinion on this and that. +Could I be silent? or could I say other than what I thought?" + +"You turned him against me!" + +"I should be proud indeed if I thought that I had turned him to virtue." + +"The word comes well from your lips." + +"I would that I heard it upon yours." + +"And so, by your own confession, you stole the king's love from me, most +virtuous of widows!" + +"I had all gratitude and kindly thought for you. You have, as you have +so often reminded me, been my benefactress. It was not necessary for +you to say it, for I had never for an instant forgotten it. Yet if the +king has asked me what I thought, I will not deny to you that I have +said that sin is sin, and that he would be a worthier man if he shook +off the guilty bonds which held him." + +"Or exchanged them for others." + +"For those of duty." + +"Pah! Your hypocrisy sickens me! If you pretend to be a nun, why are +you not where the nuns are? You would have the best of two worlds-- +would you not?--have all that the court can give, and yet ape the +manners of the cloister. But you need not do it with me! I know you as +your inmost heart knows you. I was honest, and what I did, I did before +the world. You, behind your priests and your directors and your +_prie-dieus_ and your missals--do you think that you deceive me, as you +deceive others?" + +Her antagonist's gray eyes sparkled for the first time, and she took a +quick step forward, with one white hand half lifted in rebuke. + +"You may speak as you will of me," said she. "To me it is no more than +the foolish paroquet that chatters in your ante-room. But do not touch +upon things which are sacred. Ah, if you would but raise your own +thoughts to such things--if you would but turn them inwards, and see, +before it is too late, how vile and foul is this life which you have +led! What might you not have done? His soul was in your hands like +clay for the potter. If you had raised him up, if you had led him on +the higher path, if you had brought out all that was noble and good +within him, how your name would have been loved and blessed, from the +chateau to the cottage! But no; you dragged him down; you wasted his +youth; you drew him from his wife; you marred his manhood. A crime in +one so high begets a thousand others in those who look to him for an +example; and all, all are upon your soul. Take heed, madame, for God's +sake take heed ere it be too late! For all your beauty, there can be +for you, as for me, a few short years of life. Then, when that brown +hair is white, when that white cheek is sunken, when that bright eye is +dimmed--ah, then God pity the sin-stained soul of Francoise de +Montespan!" + +Her rival had sunk her head for the moment before the solemn words and +the beautiful eyes. For an instant she stood silent, cowed for the +first time in all her life; but then the mocking, defiant spirit came +back to her, and she glanced up with a curling lip. + +"I am already provided with a spiritual director, thank you," said she. +"Oh, madame, you must not think to throw dust in my eyes! I know you, +and know you well!" + +"On the contrary, you seem to know less than I had expected. If you +know me so well, pray what am I?" + +All her rival's bitterness and hatred rang in the tones of her answer. +"You are," said she, "the governess of my children, and the secret +mistress of the king." + +"You are mistaken," answered Madame de Maintenon serenely. "I am the +governess of your children, and I am the king's wife." + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +THE MAN IN THE CALECHE. + +Often had De Montespan feigned a faint in the days when she wished to +disarm the anger of the king. So she had drawn his arms round her, and +won the pity which is the twin sister of love. But now she knew what it +was to have the senses struck out of her by a word. She could not doubt +the truth of what she heard. There was that in her rival's face, in her +steady eye, in her quiet voice, which carried absolute conviction with +it. She stood stunned for an instant, panting, her outstretched hands +feeling at the air, her defiant eyes dulling and glazing. Then, with a +short sharp cry, the wail of one who has fought hard and yet knows that +she can fight no more, her proud head drooped, and she fell forward +senseless at the feet of her rival. Madame de Maintenon stooped and +raised her up in her strong white arms. There was true grief and pity +in her eyes as she looked down at the snow-pale face which lay against +her bosom, all the bitterness and pride gone out of it, and nothing left +save the tear which sparkled under the dark lashes, and the petulant +droop of the lip, like that of a child which had wept itself to sleep. +She laid her on the ottoman and placed a silken cushion under her head. +Then she gathered together and put back into the open cupboard all the +jewels which were scattered about the carpet. Having locked it, and +placed the key on the table where its owner's eye would readily fall +upon it, she struck a gong, which summoned the little black page. + +"Your mistress is indisposed," said she. "Go and bring her maids to +her." And so, having done all that lay with her to do, she turned away +from the great silent room, where, amid the velvet and the gilding, her +beautiful rival lay like a crushed flower, helpless and hopeless. + +Helpless enough, for what could she do? and hopeless too, for how could +fortune aid her? The instant that her senses had come back to her she +had sent away her waiting women, and lay with clasped hands and a drawn +face planning out her own weary future. She must go; that was certain. +Not merely because it was the king's order, but because only misery and +mockery remained for her now in the palace where she had reigned +supreme. It was true that she had held her position against the queen +before, but all her hatred could not blind her to the fact that her +rival was a very different woman to poor meek little Maria Theresa. +No; her spirit was broken at last. She must accept defeat, and she must +go. + +She rose from the couch, feeling that she had aged ten years in an hour. +There was much to be done, and little time in which to do it. She had +cast down her jewels when the king had spoken as though they would atone +for the loss of his love; but now that the love was gone there was no +reason why the jewels should be lost too. If she had ceased to be the +most powerful, she might still be the richest woman in France. There +was her pension, of course. That would be a munificent one, for Louis +was always generous. And then there was all the spoil which she had +collected during these long years--the jewels the pearls, the gold, the +vases, the pictures, the crucifixes, the watches, the trinkets--together +they represented many millions of livres. With her own hands she packed +away the more precious and portable of them, while she arranged with her +brother for the safe-keeping of the others. All day she was at work in +a mood of feverish energy, doing anything and everything which might +distract her thoughts from her own defeat and her rival's victory. +By evening all was ready, and she had arranged that her property should +be sent after her to Petit Bourg, to which castle she intended to +retire. + +It wanted half an hour of the time fixed for her departure, when a young +cavalier, whose face was strange to her, was ushered into the room. + +He came with a message from her brother. + +"Monsieur de Vivonne regrets, madame, that the rumour of your departure +has got abroad among the court." + +"What do I care for that, monsieur?" she retorted, with all her old +spirit. + +"He says, madame, that the courtiers may assemble at the west gate to +see you go; that Madame de Neuilly will be there, and the Duchesse de +Chambord, and Mademoiselle de Rohan, and--" + +The lady shrank with horror at the thought of such an ordeal. To drive +away from the palace, where she had been more than queen, under the +scornful eyes and bitter gibes of so many personal enemies! After all +the humiliations of the day, that would be the crowning cup of sorrow. +Her nerve was broken. She could not face it. + +"Tell my brother, monsieur, that I should be much obliged if he would +make fresh arrangements, by which my departure might be private." + +"He bade me say that he had done so, madame." + +"Ah! at what hour then?" + +"Now. As soon as possible." + +"I am ready. At the west gate then?" + +"No; at the east. The carriage waits." + +"And where is my brother?" + +"We are to pick him up at the park gate." + +"And why that?" + +"Because he is watched; and were he seen beside the carriage, all would +be known." + +"Very good. Then, monsieur, if you will take my cloak and this casket +we may start at once." + +They made their way by a circuitous route through the less-used +corridors, she hurrying on like a guilty creature, a hood drawn over her +face, and her heart in a flutter at every stray footfall. But fortune +stood her friend. She met no one, and soon found herself at the eastern +postern gate. A couple of phlegmatic Swiss guardsmen leaned upon their +muskets upon either side, and the lamp above shone upon the carriage +which awaited her. The door was open, and a tall cavalier swathed in a +black cloak handed her into it. He then took the seat opposite to her, +slammed the door, and the caleche rattled away down the main drive. + +It had not surprised her that this man should join her inside the coach, +for it was usual to have a guard there, and he was doubtless taking the +place which her brother would afterwards occupy. That was all natural +enough. But when ten minutes passed by, and he had neither moved nor +spoken, she peered at him through the gloom with some curiosity. In the +glance which she had of him, as he handed her in, she had seen that he +was dressed like a gentleman, and there was that in his bow and wave as +he did it which told her experienced senses that he was a man of courtly +manners. But courtiers, as she had known them, were gallant and +garrulous, and this man was so very quiet and still. Again she strained +her eyes through the gloom. His hat was pulled down and his cloak was +still drawn across his mouth, but from out of the shadow she seemed to +get a glimpse of two eyes which peered at her even as she did at him. + +At last the silence impressed her with a vague uneasiness. It was time +to bring it to an end. + +"Surely, monsieur, we have passed the park gate where we were to pick up +my brother." + +Her companion neither answered nor moved. She thought that perhaps the +rumble of the heavy caleche had drowned her voice. + +"I say, monsieur," she repeated, leaning forwards, "that we have passed +the place where we were to meet Monsieur de Vivonne." + +He took no notice. + +"Monsieur," she cried, "I again remark that we have passed the gates." + +There was no answer. + +A thrill ran through her nerves. Who or what could he be, this silent +man? Then suddenly it struck her that he might be dumb. + +"Perhaps monsieur is afflicted," she said. "Perhaps monsieur cannot +speak. If that be the cause of your silence, will you raise your hand, +and I shall understand." He sat rigid and silent. + +Then a sudden mad fear came upon her, shut up in the dark with this +dreadful voiceless thing. She screamed in her terror, and strove to +pull down the window and open the door. But a grip of steel closed +suddenly round her wrist and forced her back into her seat. And yet the +man's body had not moved, and there was no sound save the lurching and +rasping of the carriage and the clatter of the flying horses. They were +already out on the country roads far beyond Versailles. It was darker +than before, heavy clouds had banked over the heavens, and the rumbling +of thunder was heard low down on the horizon. + +The lady lay back panting upon the leather cushions of the carriage. +She was a brave woman, and yet this sudden strange horror coming upon +her at the moment when she was weakest had shaken her to the soul. +She crouched in the corner, staring across with eyes which were dilated +with terror at the figure on the other side. If he would but say +something! Any revelation, any menace, was better than this silence. +It was so dark now that she could hardly see his vague outline, and +every instant, as the storm gathered, it became still darker. The wind +was blowing in little short angry puffs, and still there was that +far-off rattle and rumble. Again the strain of the silence was +unbearable. She must break it at any cost. + +"Sir," said she, "there is some mistake here. I do not know by what +right you prevent me from pulling down the window and giving my +directions to the coachman." + +He said nothing. + +"I repeat, sir, that there is some mistake. This is the carriage of my +brother, Monsieur de Vivonne, and he is not a man who will allow his +sister to be treated uncourteously." + +A few heavy drops of rain splashed against one window. The clouds were +lower and denser. She had quite lost sight of that motionless figure, +but it was all the more terrible to her now that it was unseen. +She screamed with sheer terror, but her scream availed no more than her +words. + +"Sir," she cried, clutching forward with her hands and grasping his +sleeve, "you frighten me. You terrify me. I have never harmed you. +Why should you wish to hurt an unfortunate woman? Oh, speak to me; for +God's sake, speak!" + +Still the patter of rain upon the window, and no other sound save her +own sharp breathing. + +"Perhaps you do not know who I am!" she continued, endeavouring to +assume her usual tone of command, and talking now to an absolute and +impenetrable darkness. "You may learn when it is too late that you have +chosen the wrong person for this pleasantry. I am the Marquise de +Montespan, and I am not one who forgets a slight. If you know anything +of the court, you must know that my word has some weight with the king. +You may carry me away in this carriage, but I am not a person who can +disappear without speedy inquiry, and speedy vengeance if I have been +wronged. If you would--Oh, Jesus! Have mercy!" + +A livid flash of lightning had burst from the heart of the cloud, and, +for an instant, the whole country-side and the interior of the caleche +were as light as day. The man's face was within a hand's breadth of her +own, his mouth wide open, his eyes mere shining slits, convulsed with +silent merriment. Every detail flashed out clear in that vivid light-- +his red quivering tongue, the lighter pink beneath it, the broad white +teeth, the short brown beard cut into a peak and bristling forward. + +But it was not the sudden flash, it was not the laughing, cruel face, +which shot an ice-cold shudder through Francoise de Montespan. It was +that, of all men upon earth, this was he whom she most dreaded, and whom +she had least thought to see. + +"Maurice!" she screamed. "Maurice! it is you!" + +"Yes, little wifie, it is I. We are restored to each other's arms, you +see, after this interval." + +"Oh, Maurice, how you have frightened me! How could you be so cruel? +Why would you not speak to me?" + +"Because it was so sweet to sit in silence and to think that I really +had you to myself after all these years, with none to come between. +Ah, little wifie, I have often longed for this hour." + +"I have wronged you, Maurice; I have wronged you! Forgive me!" + +"We do not forgive in our family, my darling Francoise. Is it not like +old days to find ourselves driving together? And in this carriage, too. +It is the very one which bore us back from the cathedral where you made +your vows so prettily. I sat as I sit now, and you sat there, and I +took your hand like this, and I pressed it, and--" + +"Oh, villain, you have twisted my wrist! You have broken my arm!" + +"Oh, surely not, my little wifie! And then you remember that, as you +told me how truly you would love me, I leaned forward to your lips, +and--" + +"Oh, help! Brute, you have cut my mouth! You have struck me with your +ring." + +"Struck you! Now who would have thought that spring day when we planned +out our future, that this also was in the future waiting for me and you? +And this! and this!" + +He struck savagely at her face in the darkness. She threw herself down, +her head pressed against the cushions. With the strength and fury of a +maniac he showered his blows above her, thudding upon the leather or +crashing upon the woodwork, heedless of his own splintered hands. + +"So I have silenced you," said he at last. "I have stopped your words +with my kisses before now. But the world goes on, Francoise, and times +change, and women grow false, and men grow stern." + +"You may kill me if you will," she moaned. + +"I will," he said simply. + +Still the carriage flew along, jolting and staggering in the +deeply-rutted country roads. The storm had passed, but the growl of the +thunder and the far-off glint of a lightning-flash were to be heard and +seen on the other side of the heavens. The moon shone out with its +clear cold light, silvering the broad, hedgeless, poplar-fringed plains, +and shining through the window of the carriage upon the crouching figure +and her terrible companion. He leaned back now, his arms folded upon +his chest, his eyes gloating upon the abject misery of the woman who had +wronged him. + +"Where are you taking me?" she asked at last. + +"To Portillac, my little wifie." + +"And why there? What would you do to me?" + +"I would silence that little lying tongue forever. It shall deceive no +more men." + +"You would murder me?" + +"If you call it that." + +"You have a stone for a heart." + +"My other was given to a woman." + +"Oh, my sins are indeed punished." + +"Rest assured that they will be." + +"Can I do nothing to atone?" + +"I will see that you atone." + +"You have a sword by your side, Maurice. Why do you not kill me, then, +if you are so bitter against me? Why do you not pass it through my +heart?" + +"Rest assured that I would have done so had I not an excellent reason." + +"Why, then?" + +"I will tell you. At Portillac I have the right of the high justice, +the middle, and the low. I am seigneur there, and can try, condemn, and +execute. It is my lawful privilege. This pitiful king will not even +know how to avenge you, for the right is mine, and he cannot gainsay it +without making an enemy of every seigneur in France." + +He opened his mouth again and laughed at his own device, while she, +shivering in every limb, turned away from his cruel face and glowing +eyes, and buried her face in her hands. Once more she prayed God to +forgive her for her poor sinful life. So they whirled through the night +behind the clattering horses, the husband and the wife, saying nothing, +but with hatred and fear raging in their hearts, until a brazier fire +shone down upon them from the angle of a keep, and the shadow of the +huge pile loomed vaguely up in front of them in the darkness. It was +the Castle of Portillac. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +THE SCAFFOLD OF PORTILLAC. + +And thus it was that Amory de Catinat and Amos Green saw from their +dungeon window the midnight carriage which discharged its prisoner +before their eyes. Hence, too, came that ominous planking and that +strange procession in the early morning. And thus it also happened that +they found themselves looking down upon Francoise de Montespan as she +was led to her death, and that they heard that last piteous cry for aid +at the instant when the heavy hand of the ruffian with the axe fell upon +her shoulder, and she was forced down upon her knees beside the block. +She shrank screaming from the dreadful, red-stained, greasy billet of +wood, but the butcher heaved up his weapon, and the seigneur had taken a +step forward with hand outstretched to seize the long auburn hair and to +drag the dainty head down with it when suddenly he was struck motionless +with astonishment, and stood with his foot advanced and his hand still +out, his mouth half open, and his eyes fixed in front of him. + +And, indeed, what he had seen was enough to fill any man with amazement. +Out of the small square window which faced him a man had suddenly shot +head-foremost, pitching on to his outstretched hands and then bounding +to his feet. Within a foot of his heels came the head of a second one, +who fell more heavily than the first, and yet recovered himself as +quickly. The one wore the blue coat with silver facings of the king's +guard; the second had the dark coat and clean-shaven face of a man of +peace; but each carried a short rusty iron bar in his hand. Not a word +did either of them say, but the soldier took two quick steps forward and +struck at the headsman while he was still poising himself for a blow at +the victim. There was a thud, with a crackle like a breaking egg, and +the bar flew into pieces. The heads-man gave a dreadful cry, and +dropped his axe, clapped his two hands to his head, and running zigzag +across the scaffold, fell over, a dead man, into the courtyard beneath. + +Quick as a flash De Catinat had caught up the axe, and faced De +Montespan with the heavy weapon slung over his shoulder and a challenge +in his eyes. + +"Now!" said he. + +The seigneur had for the instant been too astounded to speak. Now he +understood at least that these strangers had come between him and his +prey. + +"Seize these men!" he shrieked, turning to his followers. + +"One moment!" cried De Catinat, with a voice and manner which commanded +attention. "You see by my coat what I am. I am the body-servant of the +king. Who touches me touches him. Have a care for yourselves. It is a +dangerous game!" + +"On, you cowards!" roared De Montespan. + +But the men-at-arms hesitated, for the fear of the king was as a great +shadow which hung over all France. De Catinat saw their indecision, and +he followed up his advantage. + +"This woman," he cried, "is the king's own favourite, and if any harm +come to a lock of her hair, I tell you that there is not a living soul +within this portcullis who will not die a death of torture. Fools, will +you gasp out your lives upon the rack, or writhe in boiling oil, at the +bidding of this madman?" + +"Who are these men, Marceau?" cried the seigneur furiously. + +"They are prisoners, your excellency." + +"Prisoners! Whose prisoners?" + +"Yours, your excellency." + +"Who ordered you to detain them?" + +"You did. The escort brought your signet-ring." + +"I never saw the men. There is devilry in this. But they shall not +beard me in my own castle, nor stand between me and my own wife. +No, _par dieu!_ they shall not and live! You men, Marceau, Etienne, +Gilbert, Jean, Pierre, all you who have eaten my bread, on to them, I +say!" + +He glanced round with furious eyes, but they fell only upon hung heads +and averted faces. With a hideous curse he flashed out his sword and +rushed at his wife, who knelt half insensible beside the block. +De Catinat sprang between them to protect her; but Marceau, the bearded +seneschal, had already seized his master round the waist. With the +strength of a maniac, his teeth clenched and the foam churning from the +corners of his lips, De Montespan writhed round in the man's grasp, and +shortening his sword, he thrust it through the brown beard and deep into +the throat behind it. Marceau fell back with a choking cry, the blood +bubbling from his mouth and his wound; but before his murderer could +disengage his weapon, De Catinat and the American, aided by a dozen of +the retainers, had dragged him down on to the scaffold, and Amos Green +had pinioned him so securely that he could but move his eyes and his +lips, with which he lay glaring and spitting at them. So savage were +his own followers against him--for Marceau was well loved amongst them-- +that, with axe and block so ready, justice might very swiftly have had +her way, had not a long clear bugle-call, rising and falling in a +thousand little twirls and flourishes, clanged out suddenly in the still +morning air. De Catinat pricked up his ears at the sound of it like a +hound at the huntsman's call. + +"Did you hear, Amos?" + +"It was a trumpet." + +"It was the guards' bugle-call. You, there, hasten to the gate! +Throw up the portcullis and drop the drawbridge! Stir yourselves, or +even now you may suffer for your master's sins! It has been a narrow +escape, Amos!" + +"You may say so, friend. I saw him put out his hand to her hair, even +as you sprang from the window. Another instant and he would have had +her scalped. But she is a fair woman, the fairest that ever my eyes +rested upon, and it is not fit that she should kneel here upon these +boards." He dragged her husband's long black cloak from him, and made a +pillow for the senseless woman with a tenderness and delicacy which came +strangely from a man of his build and bearing. + +He was still stooping over her when there came the clang of the falling +bridge, and an instant later the clatter of the hoofs of a troop of +cavalry, who swept with wave of plumes, toss of manes, and jingle of +steel into the courtyard. At the head was a tall horseman in the full +dress of the guards, with a curling feather in his hat, high buff +gloves, and his sword gleaming in the sunlight. He cantered forward +towards the scaffold, his keen dark eyes taking in every detail of the +group which awaited him there. De Catinat's face brightened at the +sight of him, and he was down in an instant beside his stirrup. + +"De Brissac!" + +"De Catinat! Now where in the name of wonder did you come from?" + +"I have been a prisoner. Tell me, De Brissac, did you leave the message +in Paris?" + +"Certainly I did." + +"And the archbishop came?" + +"He did." + +"And the marriage?" + +"Took place as arranged. That is why this poor woman whom I see yonder +has had to leave the palace." + +"I thought as much." + +"I trust that no harm has come to her?" + +"My friend and I were just in time to save her. Her husband lies there. +He is a fiend, De Brissac." + +"Very likely; but an angel might have grown bitter had he had the same +treatment." + +"We have him pinioned here. He has slain a man, and I have slain +another." + +"On my word, you have been busy." + +"How did you know that we were here?" + +"Nay, that is an unexpected pleasure." + +"You did not come for us, then?" + +"No; we came for the lady." + +"And how did this fellow get hold of her?" + +"Her brother was to have taken her in his carriage. Her husband learned +it, and by a lying message he coaxed her into his own, which was at +another door. When De Vivonne found that she did not come, and that her +rooms were empty, he made inquiries, and soon learned how she had gone. +De Montespan's arms had been seen on the panel, and so the king sent me +here with my troop as fast as we could gallop." + +"Ah, and you would have come too late had a strange chance not brought +us here. I know not who it was who waylaid us, for this man seemed to +know nothing of the matter. However, all that will be clearer +afterwards. What is to be done now?" + +"I have my own orders. Madame is to be sent to Petit Bourg, and any who +are concerned in offering her violence are to be kept until the king's +pleasure is known. The castle, too, must be held for the king. +But you, De Catinat, you have nothing to do now?" + +"Nothing, save that I would like well to ride into Paris to see that all +is right with my uncle and his daughter." + +"Ah, that sweet little cousin of thine! By my soul, I do not wonder +that the folk know you well in the Rue St. Martin. Well, I have carried +a message for you once, and you shall do as much for me now." + +"With all my heart. And whither?" + +"To Versailles. The king will be on fire to know how we have fared. +You have the best right to tell him, since without you and your friend +yonder it would have been but a sorry tale." + +"I will be there in two hours." + +"Have you horses?" + +"Ours were slain." + +"You will find some in the stables here. Pick the best, since you have +lost your own in the king's service." + +The advice was too good to be overlooked. De Catinat, beckoning to Amos +Green, hurried away with him to the stables, while De Brissac, with a +few short sharp orders, disarmed the retainers, stationed his guardsmen +all over the castle, and arranged for the removal of the lady, and for +the custody of her husband. An hour later the two friends were riding +swiftly down the country road, inhaling the sweet air, which seemed the +fresher for their late experience of the dank, foul vapours of their +dungeon. Far behind them a little dark pinnacle jutting over a grove of +trees marked the chateau which they had left, while on the extreme +horizon to the west there came a quick shimmer and sparkle where the +level rays of the early sun gleamed upon the magnificent palace which +was their goal. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +THE FALL OF THE CATINATS. + +Two days after Madame de Maintenon's marriage to the king there was held +within the humble walls of her little room a meeting which was destined +to cause untold misery to many hundreds of thousands of people, and yet, +in the wisdom of Providence, to be an instrument in carrying French arts +and French ingenuity and French sprightliness among those heavier +Teutonic peoples who have been the stronger and the better ever since +for the leaven which they then received. For in history great evils +have sometimes arisen from a virtue, and most beneficent results have +often followed hard upon a crime. + +The time had come when the Church was to claim her promise from madame, +and her pale cheek and sad eyes showed how vain it had been for her to +try and drown the pleadings of her tender heart by the arguments of the +bigots around her. She knew the Huguenots of France. Who could know +them better, seeing that she was herself from their stock, and had been +brought up in their faith? She knew their patience, their nobility, +their independence, their tenacity. What chance was there that they +would conform to the king's wish? A few great nobles might, but the +others would laugh at the galleys, the jail, or even the gallows when +the faith of their fathers was at stake. If their creed were no longer +tolerated, then, and if they remained true to it, they must either fly +from the country or spend a living death tugging at an oar or working in +a chain-gang upon the roads. It was a dreadful alternative to present +to a people who were so numerous that they made a small nation in +themselves. And most dreadful of all, that she who was of their own +blood should cast her voice against them. And yet her promise had been +given, and now the time had come when it must be redeemed. + +The eloquent Bishop Bossuet was there, with Louvois, the minister of +war, and the famous Jesuit, Father la Chaise, each piling argument upon +argument to overcome the reluctance of the king. Beside them stood +another priest, so thin and so pale that he might have risen from his +bed of death, but with a fierce light burning in his large dark eyes, +and with a terrible resolution in his drawn brows and in the set of his +grim, lanky jaw. Madame bent over her tapestry and weaved her coloured +silks in silence, while the king leaned upon his hand and listened with +the face of a man who knows that he is driven, and yet can hardly turn +against the goads. On the low table lay a paper, with pen and ink +beside it. It was the order for the revocation, and it only needed the +king's signature to make it the law of the land. + +"And so, father, you are of opinion that if I stamp out heresy in this +fashion I shall assure my own salvation in the next world?" he asked. + +"You will have merited a reward." + +"And you think so too, Monsieur Bishop?" + +"Assuredly, sire." + +"And you. Abbe du Chayla?" + +The emaciated priest spoke for the first time, a tinge of colour +creeping into his corpse-like cheeks, and a more lurid light in his +deep-set eyes. + +"I know not about assuring your salvation, sire. I think it would take +very much more to do that. But there cannot be a doubt as to your +damnation if you do not do it." + +The king started angrily, and frowned at the speaker. + +"Your words are somewhat more curt than I am accustomed to," he +remarked. + +"In such a matter it were cruel indeed to leave you in doubt. I say +again that your soul's fate hangs upon the balance. Heresy is a mortal +sin. Thousands of heretics would turn to the Church if you did but give +the word. Therefore these thousands of mortal sins are all upon your +soul. What hope for it then, if you do not amend?" + +"My father and my grandfather tolerated them." + +"Then, without some special extension of the grace of God, your father +and your grandfather are burning in hell." + +"Insolent!" The king sprang from his seat. + +"Sire, I will say what I hold to be the truth were you fifty times a +king. What care I for any man when I know that I speak for the King of +kings? See; are these the limbs of one who would shrink from testifying +to truth?" With a sudden movement he threw back the long sleeves of his +gown and shot out his white fleshless arms. The bones were all knotted +and bent and screwed into the most fantastic shapes. Even Louvois, the +hardened man of the court, and his two brother priests, shuddered at the +sight of those dreadful limbs. He raised them above his head and turned +his burning eyes upwards. + +"Heaven has chosen me to testify for the faith before now," said he. +"I heard that blood was wanted to nourish the young Church of Siam, and +so to Siam I journeyed. They tore me open; they crucified me; they +wrenched and split my bones. I was left as a dead man, yet God has +breathed the breath of life back into me that I may help in this great +work of the regeneration of France." + +"Your sufferings, father," said Louis, resuming his seat, "give you +every claim, both upon the Church and upon me, who am its special +champion and protector. What would you counsel, then, father, in the +case of those Huguenots who refuse to change?" + +"They would change," cried Du Chayla, with a drawn smile upon his +ghastly face. "They must bend or they must break. What matter if they +be ground to powder, if we can but build up a complete Church in the +land?" His deep-set eyes glowed with ferocity, and be shook one bony +hand in savage wrath above his head. + +"The cruelty with which you have been used, then, has not taught you to +be more tender to others." + +"Tender! To heretics! No, sire, my own pains have taught me that the +world and the flesh are as nothing, and that the truest charity to +another is to capture his soul at all risks to his vile body. I should +have these Huguenot souls, sire, though I turned France into a shambles +to gain them." + +Louis was evidently deeply impressed by the fearless words and the wild +earnestness of the speaker. He leaned his head upon his hand for a +little time, and remained sunk in the deepest thought. + +"Besides, sire," said Pere la Chaise softly, "there would be little need +for these stronger measures of which the good abbe speaks. As I have +already remarked to you, you are so beloved in your kingdom that the +mere assurance that you had expressed your will upon the subject would +be enough to turn them all to the true faith." + +"I wish that I could think so, father; I wish that I could think so. +But what is this?" + +It was his valet who had half opened the door. + +"Captain de Catinat is here, who desires to see you at once, sire." + +"Ask the captain to enter. Ah!" A happy thought seemed to have struck +him. "We shall see what love for me will do in such a matter, for if it +is anywhere to be found it must be among my own body-servants." + +The guardsman had arrived that instant from his long ride, and leaving +Amos Green with the horses, he had come on at once, all dusty and +travel-stained, to carry his message to the king. He entered now, and +stood with the quiet ease of a man who is used to such scenes, his hand +raised in a salute. + +"What news, captain?" + +"Major de Brissac bade me tell you, sire, that he held the Castle of +Portillac, that the lady is safe, and that her husband is a prisoner." + +Louis and his wife exchanged a quick glance of relief. + +"That is well," said he. "By the way, captain, you have served me in +many ways of late, and always with success. I hear, Louvois, that De la +Salle is dead of the small-pox." + +"He died yesterday, sire." + +"Then I desire that you make out the vacant commission of major to +Monsieur de Catinat. Let me be the first to congratulate you, major, +upon your promotion, though you will need to exchange the blue coat for +the pearl and gray of the mousquetaires. We cannot spare you from the +household, you see." + +De Catinat kissed the hand which the monarch held out to him. + +"May I be worthy of your kindness, sire!" + +"You would do what you could to serve me, would you not?" + +"My life is yours, sire." + +"Very good. Then I shall put your fidelity to the proof." + +"I am ready for any proof." + +"It is not a very severe one. You see this paper upon the table. It is +an order that all the Huguenots in my dominions shall give up their +errors, under pain of banishment or captivity. Now I have hopes that +there are many of my faithful subjects who are at fault in this matter, +but who will abjure it when they learn that it is my clearly expressed +wish that they should do so. It would be a great joy to me to find that +it was so, for it would be a pain to me to use force against any man who +bears the name of Frenchman. Do you follow me?" + +"Yes, sire." The young man had turned deadly pale, and he shifted his +feet, and opened and clasped his hands. He had faced death a dozen +times and under many different forms, but never had he felt such a +sinking of the heart as came over him now. + +"You are yourself a Huguenot, I understand. I would gladly have you, +then, as the first-fruit of this great measure. Let us hear from your +own lips that you, for one, are ready to follow the lead of your king in +this as in other things." + +The young guardsman still hesitated, though his doubts were rather as to +how he should frame his reply than as to what its substance should be. +He felt that in an instant Fortune had wiped out all the good turns +which she had done him during his past life, and that now, far from +being in her debt, he held a heavy score against her. The king arched +his eyebrows and drummed his fingers impatiently as he glanced at the +downcast face and dejected bearing. + +"Why all this thought?" he cried. "You are a man whom I have raised and +whom I will raise. He who has a major's epaulettes at thirty may carry +a marshal's baton at fifty. Your past is mine, and your future shall be +no less so. What other hopes have you?" + +"I have none, sire, outside your service." + +"Why this silence, then? Why do you not give the assurance which I +demand?" + +"I cannot do it, sire." + +"You cannot do it!" + +"It is impossible. I should have no more peace in my mind, or respect +for myself, if I knew that for the sake of position or wealth I had +given up the faith of my fathers." + +"Man, you are surely mad! There is all that a man could covet upon one +side, and what is there upon the other?" + +"There is my honour." + +"And is it, then, a dishonour to embrace my religion?" + +"It would be a dishonour to me to embrace it for the sake of gain +without believing in it." + +"Then believe it." + +"Alas, sire, a man cannot force himself to believe. Belief is a thing +which must come to him, not he to it." + +"On my word, father," said Louis, glancing with a bitter smile at his +Jesuit confessor, "I shall have to pick the cadets of the household from +your seminary, since my officers have turned casuists and theologians. +So, for the last time, you refuse to obey my request?" + +"Oh, sire--" De Catinat took a step forward with outstretched hands and +tears in his eyes. + +But the king checked him with a gesture. "I desire no protestations," +said he. "I judge a man by his acts. Do you abjure or not?" + +"I cannot, sire." + +"You see," said Louis, turning again to the Jesuit, "it will not be as +easy as you think." + +"This man is obstinate, it is true, but many others will be more +yielding." + +The king shook his head. "I would that I knew what to do," said he. +"Madame, I know that you, at least, will ever give me the best advice. +You have heard all that has been said. What do you recommend?" + +She kept her eyes still fixed upon her tapestry, but her voice was firm +and clear as she answered:-- + +"You have yourself said that you are the eldest son of the Church. +If the eldest son desert her, then who will do her bidding? And there +is truth, too, in what the holy abbe has said. You may imperil your own +soul by condoning this sin of heresy. It grows and flourishes, and if +it be not rooted out now, it may choke the truth as weeds and briers +choke the wheat." + +"There are districts in France now," said Bossuet, "where a church is +not to be seen in a day's journey, and where all the folk, from the +nobles to the peasants, are of the same accursed faith. So it is in the +Cevennes, where the people are as fierce and rugged as their own +mountains. Heaven guard the priests who have to bring them back from +their errors." + +"Whom should I send on so perilous a task?" asked Louis. + +The Abbe du Chayla was down in a instant upon his knees with his gaunt +hands outstretched. "Send me, sire! Me!" he cried. "I have never asked +a favour of you, and never will again. But I am the man who could +break this people. Send me with your message to the people of the +Cevennes." + +"God help the people of the Cevennes!" muttered Louis, as he looked with +mingled respect and loathing at the emaciated face and fiery eyes of the +fanatic. "Very well, abbe," he added aloud; "you shall go to the +Cevennes." + +Perhaps for an instant there came upon the stern priest some premonition +of that dreadful morning when, as he crouched in a corner of 'his +burning home, fifty daggers were to rasp against each other in his body. +He sunk his face in his hands, and a shudder passed over his gaunt +frame. Then he rose, and folding his arms, he resumed his impassive +attitude. Louis took up the pen from the table, and drew the paper +towards him. + +"I have the same counsel, then, from all of you," said he,--"from you, +bishop; from you, father; from you, madame; from you, abbe; and from +you, Louvois. Well, if ill come from it, may it not be visited upon me! +But what is this?" + +De Catinat had taken a step forward with his hand outstretched. +His ardent, impetuous nature had suddenly broken down all the barriers +of caution, and he seemed for the instant to see that countless throng +of men, women, and children of his own faith, all unable to say a word +for themselves, and all looking to him as their champion and spokesman. +He had thought little of such matters when all was well, but now, when +danger threatened, the deeper side of his nature was moved, and he felt +how light a thing is life and fortune when weighed against a great +abiding cause and principle. + +"Do not sign it, sire," he cried. "You will live to wish that your hand +had withered ere it grasped that pen. I know it, sire. I am sure of +it. Consider all these helpless folk--the little children, the young +girls, the old and the feeble. Their creed is themselves. As well ask +the leaves to change the twigs on which they grow. They could not +change. At most you could but hope to turn them from honest folk into +hypocrites. And why should you do it? They honour you. They love you. +They harm none. They are proud to serve in your armies, to fight for +you, to work for you, to build up the greatness of your kingdom. +I implore you, sire, to think again before you sign an order which will +bring misery and desolation to so many." + +For a moment the king had hesitated as he listened to the short abrupt +sentences in which the soldier pleaded for his fellows, but his face +hardened again as he remembered how even his own personal entreaty had +been unable to prevail with this young dandy of the court. + +"France's religion should be that of France's king," said he, "and if my +own guardsmen thwart me in such a matter, I must find others who will be +more faithful. That major's commission in the mousquetaires must go to +Captain de Belmont, Louvois." + +"Very good, sire." + +"And De Catinat's commission may be transferred to Lieutenant +Labadoyere." + +"Very good, sire." + +"And I am to serve you no longer?" + +"You are too dainty for my service." + +De Catinat's arms fell listlessly to his side, and his head sunk forward +upon his breast. Then, as he realised the ruin of all the hopes of his +life, and the cruel injustice with which he had been treated, he broke +into a cry of despair, and rushed from the room with the hot tears of +impotent anger running down his face. So, sobbing, gesticulating, with +coat unbuttoned and hat awry, he burst into the stable where placid Amos +Green was smoking his pipe and watching with critical eyes the grooming +of the horses. + +"What in thunder is the matter now?" he asked, holding his pipe by the +bowl, while the blue wreaths curled up from his lips. + +"This sword," cried the Frenchman--"I have no right to wear it! I shall +break it!" + +"Well, and I'll break my knife too if it will hearten you up." + +"And these," cried De Catinat, tugging at his silver shoulder-straps, +"they must go." + +"Ah, you draw ahead of me there, for I never had any. But come, friend, +let me know the trouble, that I may see if it may not be mended." + +"To Paris! to Paris!" shouted the guardsman frantically. "If I am +ruined, I may yet be in time to save them. The horses, quick!" + +It was clear to the American that some sudden calamity had befallen, so +he aided his comrade and the grooms to saddle and bridle. + +Five minutes later they were flying on their way, and in little more +than an hour their steeds, all reeking and foam-flecked, were pulled up +outside the high house in the Rue St. Martin. De Catinat sprang from +his saddle and rushed upstairs, while Amos followed in his own leisurely +fashion. + +The old Huguenot and his beautiful daughter were seated at one side of +the great fireplace, her hand in his, and they sprang up together, she +to throw herself with a glad cry into the arms of her lover, and he to +grasp the hand which his nephew held out to him. + +At the other side of the fireplace, with a very long pipe in his mouth +and a cup of wine upon a settle beside him, sat a strange-looking man, +with grizzled hair and beard, a fleshy red projecting nose, and two +little gray eyes, which twinkled out from under huge brindled brows. +His long thin face was laced and seamed with wrinkles, crossing and +recrossing everywhere, but fanning out in hundreds from the corners of +his eyes. It was set in an unchanging expression, and as it was of the +same colour all over, as dark as the darkest walnut, it might have been +some quaint figure-head cut out of a coarse-grained wood. He was clad +in a blue serge jacket, a pair of red breeches smeared at the knees with +tar, clean gray worsted stockings, large steel buckles over his coarse +square-toed shoes, and beside him, balanced upon the top of a thick +oaken cudgel, was a weather-stained silver-laced hat. His gray-shot +hair was gathered up behind into a short stiff tail, and a seaman's +hanger, with a brass handle, was girded to his waist by a tarnished +leather belt. + +De Catinat had been too occupied to take notice of this singular +individual, but Amos Green gave a shout of delight at the sight of him, +and ran forward to greet him. The other's wooden face relaxed so far as +to show two tobacco-stained fangs, and, without rising, he held out a +great red hand, of the size and shape of a moderate spade. + +"Why, Captain Ephraim," cried Amos in English, "who ever would have +thought of finding you here? De Catinat, this is my old friend Ephraim +Savage, under whose charge I came here." + +"Anchor's apeak, lad, and the hatches down," said the stranger, in the +peculiar drawling voice which the New Englanders had retained from their +ancestors, the English Puritans. + +"And when do you sail?" + +"As soon as your foot is on her deck, if Providence serve us with wind +and tide. And how has all gone with thee, Amos?" + +"Right well. I have much to tell you of." + +"I trust that you have held yourself apart from all their popish +devilry." + +"Yes, yes, Ephraim." + +"And have had no truck with the scarlet woman." + +"No, no; but what is it now?" + +The grizzled hair was bristling with rage, and the little gray eyes were +gleaming from under the heavy tufts. Amos, following their gaze, saw +that De Catinat was seated with his arm round Adele, while her head +rested upon his shoulder. + +"Ah, if I but knew their snip-snap, lippetty-chippetty lingo! Saw one +ever such a sight! Amos, lad, what is the French for 'a shameless +hussy'?" + +"Nay, nay, Ephraim. Surely one may see such a sight, and think no harm +of it, on our side of the water. + +"Never, Amos. In no godly country." + +"Tut! I have seen folks courting in New York." + +"Ah, New York! I said in no godly country. I cannot answer for New York +or Virginia. South of Cape Cod, or of New Haven at the furthest, there +is no saying what folk will do. Very sure I am that in Boston or Salem +or Plymouth she would see the bridewell and he the stocks for half as +much. Ah!" He shook his head and bent his brows at the guilty couple. + +But they and their old relative were far too engrossed with their own +affairs to give a thought to the Puritan seaman. De Catinat had told +his tale in a few short, bitter sentences, the injustice that had been +done to him, his dismissal from the king's service, and the ruin which +had come upon the Huguenots of France. Adele, as is the angel instinct +of woman, thought only of her lover and his misfortunes as she listened +to his story, but the old merchant tottered to his feet when he heard of +the revocation of the Edict, and stood with shaking limbs, staring about +him in bewilderment. + +"What am I to do?" he cried. "What am I to do? I am too old to begin +my life again." + +"Never fear, uncle," said De Catinat heartily. "There are other lands +beyond France." + +"But not for me. No, no; I am too old. Lord, but Thy hand is heavy +upon Thy servants. Now is the vial opened, and the carved work of the +sanctuary thrown down. Ah, what shall I do, and whither shall I turn?" +He wrung his hands in his perplexity. + +"What is amiss with him, then, Amos?" asked the seaman. "Though I know +nothing of what he says, yet I can see that he flies a distress signal." + +"He and his must leave the country, Ephraim." + +"And why?" + +"Because they are Protestants, and the king will not abide their creed." + +Ephraim Savage was across the room in an instant, and had enclosed the +old merchant's thin hand in his own great knotted fist. There was a +brotherly sympathy in his strong grip and rugged weather-stained face +which held up the other's courage as no words could have done. + +"What is the French for 'the scarlet woman,' Amos?" he asked, glancing +over his shoulder. "Tell this man that we shall see him through. +Tell him that we've got a country where he'll just fit in like a bung in +a barrel. Tell him that religion is free to all there, and not a papist +nearer than Baltimore or the Capuchins of the Penobscot. Tell him that +if he wants to come, the _Golden Rod_ is waiting with her anchor apeak +and her cargo aboard. Tell him what you like, so long as you make him +come." + +"Then we must come at once," said De Catinat, as he listened to the +cordial message which was conveyed to his uncle. "To-night the orders +will be out, and to-morrow it may be too late." + +"But my business!" cried the merchant. + +"Take what valuables you can, and leave the rest. Better that than lose +all, and liberty into the bargain." + +And so at last it was arranged. That very night, within five minutes of +the closing of the gates, there passed out of Paris a small party of +five, three upon horseback, and two in a closed carriage which bore +several weighty boxes upon the top. They were the first leaves flying +before the hurricane, the earliest of that great multitude who were +within the next few months to stream along every road which led from +France, finding their journey's end too often in galley, dungeon and +torture chamber, and yet flooding over the frontiers in numbers +sufficient to change the industries and modify the characters of all the +neighbouring peoples. Like the Israelites of old, they had been driven +from their homes at the bidding of an angry king, who, even while he +exiled them, threw every difficulty in the way of their departure. Like +them, too, there were none of them who could hope to reach their +promised land without grievous wanderings, penniless, friendless, and +destitute. What passages befell these pilgrims in their travels, what +dangers they met, and overcame in the land of the Swiss, on the Rhine, +among the Walloons, in England, in Ireland, in Berlin, and even in +far-off Russia, has still to be written. This one little group, +however, whom we know, we may follow in their venturesome journey, and +see the chances which befell them upon that great continent which had +lain fallow for so long, sown only with the weeds of humanity, but which +was now at last about to quicken into such glorious life. + + + +PART II. + + +IN THE NEW WORLD. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +THE START OF THE "GOLDEN ROD." + +Thanks to the early tidings which the guardsman had brought with him, +his little party was now ahead of the news. As they passed through the +village of Louvier in the early morning they caught a glimpse of a naked +corpse upon a dunghill, and were told by a grinning watchman that it was +that of a Huguenot who had died impenitent, but that was a common enough +occurrence already, and did not mean that there had been any change in +the law. At Rouen all was quiet, and Captain Ephraim Savage before +evening had brought both them and such property as they had saved aboard +of his brigantine, the Golden Rod. It was but a little craft, some +seventy tons burden, but at a time when so many were putting out to sea +in open boats, preferring the wrath of Nature to that of the king, it +was a refuge indeed. The same night the seaman drew up his anchor and +began to slowly make his way down the winding river. + +And very slow work it was. There was half a moon shining and a breeze +from the east, but the stream writhed and twisted and turned until +sometimes they seemed to be sailing up rather than down. In the long +reaches they set the yard square and ran, but often they had to lower +their two boats and warp her painfully along, Tomlinson of Salem, the +mate, and six grave, tobacco-chewing, New England seamen with their +broad palmetto hats, tugging and straining at the oars. Amos Green, De +Catinat, and even the old merchant had to take their spell ere morning, +when the sailors were needed aboard for the handling of the canvas. +At last, however, with the early dawn the river broadened out and each +bank trended away, leaving a long funnel-shaped estuary between. +Ephraim Savage snuffed the air and paced the deck briskly with a twinkle +in his keen gray eyes. The wind had fallen away, but there was still +enough to drive them slowly upon their course. + +"Where's the gal?" he asked. + +"She is in my cabin," said Amos Green. "I thought that maybe she could +manage there until we got across." + +"Where will you sleep yourself, then?" + +"Tut, a litter of spruce boughs and a sheet of birch bark over me have +been enough all these years. What would I ask better than this deck of +soft white pine and my blanket?" + +"Very good. The old man and his nephew, him with the blue coat, can +have the two empty bunks. But you must speak to that man, Amos. I'll +have no philandering aboard my ship, lad--no whispering or cuddling or +any such foolishness. Tell him that this ship is just a bit broke off +from Boston, and he'll have to put up with Boston ways until he gets off +her. They've been good enough for better men than him. You give me the +French for 'no philandering,' and I'll bring him up with a round turn +when he drifts." + +"It's a pity we left so quick or they might have been married before we +started. She's a good girl, Ephraim, and he is a fine man, for all that +their ways are not the same as ours. They don't seem to take life so +hard as we, and maybe they get more pleasure out of it." + +"I never heard tell that we were put here to get pleasure out of it," +said the old Puritan, shaking his head. "The valley of the shadow of +death don't seem to me to be the kind o' name one would give to a +play-ground. It is a trial and a chastening, that's what it is, the +gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. We're bad from the +beginning, like a stream that runs from a tamarack swamp, and we've +enough to do to get ourselves to rights without any fool's talk about +pleasure." + +"It seems to me to be all mixed up," said Amos. "like the fat and the +lean in a bag of pemmican. Look at that sun just pushing its edge over +the trees, and see the pink flush on the clouds and the river like a +rosy ribbon behind us. It's mighty pretty to our eyes, and very +pleasing to us, and it wouldn't be so to my mind if the Creator hadn't +wanted it to be. Many a time when I have lain in the woods in the fall +and smoked my pipe, and felt how good the tobacco was, and how bright +the yellow maples were, and the purple ash, and the red tupelo blazing +among the bushwood, I've felt that the real fool's talk was with the man +who could doubt that all this was meant to make the world happier for +us." + +"You've been thinking too much in them woods," said Ephraim Savage, +gazing at him uneasily. "Don't let your sail be too great for your +boat, lad, nor trust to your own wisdom. Your father was from the Bay, +and you were raised from a stock that cast the dust of England from +their feet rather than bow down to Baal. Keep a grip on the word and +don't think beyond it. But what is the matter with the old man? +He don't seem easy in his mind." + +The old merchant had been leaning over the bulwarks, looking back with a +drawn face and weary eyes at the red curving track behind them which +marked the path to Paris. Adele had come up now, with not a thought to +spare upon the dangers and troubles which lay in front of her as she +chafed the old man's thin cold hands, and whispered words of love and +comfort into his ears. But they had come to the point where the gentle +still-flowing river began for the first time to throb to the beat of the +sea. The old man gazed forward with horror at the bowsprit as he saw it +rise slowly upwards into the air, and clung frantically at the rail as +it seemed to slip away from beneath him. + +"We are always in the hollow of God's hand," he whispered, "but oh, +Adele, it is a dreadful thing to feel His fingers moving under us." + +"Come with me, uncle," said De Catinat, passing his arm under that of +the old man. "It is long since you have rested. And you, Adele, I pray +that you will go and sleep, my poor darling, for it has been a weary +journey. Go now, to please me, and when you wake, both France and your +troubles will lie behind you." + +When father and daughter had left the deck, De Catinat made his way aft +again to where Amos Green and the captain were standing. + +"I am glad to get them below, Amos," said he, "for I fear that we may +have trouble yet." + +"And how?" + +"You see the white road which runs by the southern bank of the river. +Twice within the last half-hour I have seen horsemen spurring for dear +life along it. Where the spires and smoke are yonder is Honfleur, and +thither it was that these men went. I know not who could ride so madly +at such an hour unless they were the messengers of the king. Oh, see, +there is a third one!" + +On the white band which wound among the green meadows a black dot could +be seen which moved along with great rapidity, vanished behind a clump +of trees, and then reappeared again, making for the distant city. +Captain Savage drew out his glass and gazed at the rider. + +"Ay, ay," said he, as he snapped it up again. "It is a soldier, sure +enough. I can see the glint of the scabbard which he carries on his +larboard side. I think we shall have more wind soon. With a breeze we +can show our heels to anything in French waters, but a galley or an +armed boat would overhaul us now." + +De Catinat, who, though he could speak little English, had learned in +America to understand it pretty well, looked anxiously at Amos Green. +"I fear that we shall bring trouble on this good captain," said he, +"and that the loss of his cargo and ship may be his reward for having +befriended us. Ask him whether he would not prefer to land us on the +north bank. With our money we might make our way into the Lowlands." + +Ephraim Savage looked at his passenger with eyes which had lost +something of their sternness. "Young man," said he, "I see that you can +understand something of my talk." + +De Catinat nodded. + +"I tell you then that I am a bad man to beat. Any man that was ever +shipmates with me would tell you as much. I just jam my helm and keep +my course as long as God will let me. D'ye see?" + +De Catinat again nodded, though in truth the seaman's metaphors left him +with but a very general sense of his meaning. + +"We're comin' abreast of that there town, and in ten minutes we shall +know if there is any trouble waiting for us. But I'll tell you a story +as we go that'll show you what kind o' man you've shipped with. It was +ten years ago that I speak of, when I was in the _Speedwell_, sixty-ton +brig, tradin' betwixt Boston and Jamestown, goin' south with lumber and +skins and fixin's, d'ye see, and north again with tobacco and molasses. +One night, blowin' half a gale from the south'ard, we ran on a reef two +miles to the east of Cape May, and down we went with a hole in our +bottom like as if she'd been spitted on the steeple o' one o' them +Honfleur churches. Well, in the morning there I was washin' about, nigh +out of sight of land, clingin' on to half the foreyard, without a sign +either of my mates or of wreckage. I wasn't so cold, for it was early +fall, and I could get three parts of my body on to the spar, but I was +hungry and thirsty and bruised, so I just took in two holes of my +waist-belt, and put up a hymn, and had a look round for what I could +see. Well, I saw more than I cared for. Within five paces of me there +was a great fish, as long pretty nigh as the spar that I was grippin'. +It's a mighty pleasant thing to have your legs in the water and a beast +like that all ready for a nibble at your toes." + +"_Mon Dieu!_" cried the French soldier. "And he have not eat you?" + +Ephraim Savage's little eyes twinkled at the reminiscence. + +"I ate him," said he. + +"What!" cried Amos. + +"It's a mortal fact. I'd a jack-knife in my pocket, Same as this one, +and I kicked my legs to keep the brute off, and I whittled away at the +spar until I'd got a good jagged bit off, sharp at each end, same as a +nigger told me once down Delaware way. Then I waited for him, and +stopped kicking, so he came at me like a hawk on a chick-a-dee. When he +turned up his belly I jammed my left hand with the wood right into his +great grinnin' mouth, and I let him have it with my knife between the +gills. He tried to break away then, but I held on, d'ye see, though he +took me so deep I thought I'd never come up again. I was nigh gone when +we got to the surface, but he was floatin' with the white up, and twenty +holes in his shirt front. Then I got back to my spar, for we'd gone a +long fifty fathoms under water, and when I reached it I fainted dead +away." + +"And then?" + +"Well, when I came to, it was calm, and there was the dead shark +floatin' beside me. I paddled my spar over to him and I got loose a few +yards of halliard that were hangin' from one end of it. I made a +clove-hitch round his tail, d'ye see, and got the end of it slung over +the spar and fastened, so as I couldn't lose him. Then I set to work +and I ate him in a week right up to his back fin, and I drank the rain +that fell on my coat, and when I was picked up by the _Gracie_ of +Gloucester, I was that fat that I could scarce climb aboard. +That's what Ephraim Savage means, my lad, when he says that he is a +baddish man to beat." + +Whilst the Puritan seaman had been detailing his reminiscence, his eyes +had kept wandering from the clouds to the flapping sails and back. +Such wind as there was came in little short puffs, and the canvas either +drew full or was absolutely slack. The fleecy shreds of cloud above, +however, travelled swiftly across the blue sky. It was on these that +the captain fixed his gaze, and he watched them like a man who is +working out a problem in his mind. They were abreast of Honfleur now, +and about half a mile out from it. Several sloops and brigs were lying +there in a cluster, and a whole fleet of brown-sailed fishing-boats were +tacking slowly in. Yet all was quiet on the curving quay and on the +half-moon fort over which floated the white flag with the golden +_fleur-de-lis_. The port lay on their quarter now and they were drawing +away more quickly as the breeze freshened. De Catinat glancing back had +almost made up his mind that their fears were quite groundless when they +were brought back in an instant and more urgently than ever. + +Round the corner of the mole a great dark boat had dashed into view, +ringed round with foam from her flying prow, and from the ten pairs of +oars which swung from either side of her. A dainty white ensign drooped +over her stern, and in her bows the sun's light was caught by a heavy +brass carronade. She was packed with men, and the gleam which twinkled +every now and again from amongst them told that they were armed to the +teeth. The captain brought his glass to bear upon them and whistled. +Then he glanced up at the clouds once more. + +"Thirty men," said he, "and they go three paces to our two. You, sir, +take your blue coat off this deck or you'll bring trouble upon us. +The Lord will look after His own if they'll only keep from foolishness. +Get these hatches off, Tomlinson. So! Where's Jim Sturt and Hiram +Jefferson? Let them stand by to clap them on again when I whistle. +Starboard! Starboard! Keep her as full as she'll draw. Now, Amos, and +you, Tomlinson, come here until I have a word with you." + +The three stood in consultation upon the poop, glancing back at their +pursuers. There could be no doubt that the wind was freshening; it blew +briskly in their faces as they looked back, but it was not steady yet, +and the boat was rapidly overhauling them. Already they could see the +faces of the marines who sat in the stern, and the gleam of the lighted +linstock which the gunner held in his hand. + +"_Hola!_" cried an officer in excellent English. "Lay her to or we +fire" + +"Who are you, and what do you want?" shouted Ephraim Savage, in a voice +that might have been heard from the bank. + +"We come in the king's name, and we want a party of Huguenots from Paris +who came on board of your vessel at Rouen." + +"Brace back the foreyard and lay her to," shouted the captain. "Drop a +ladder over the side there and look smart! So! Now we are ready for +them." + +The yard was swung round and the vessel lay quietly rising and falling +on the waves. The boat dashed alongside, her brass cannon trained upon +the brigantine, and her squad of marines with their fingers upon their +triggers ready to open fire. They grinned and shrugged their shoulders +when they saw that their sole opponents were three unarmed men upon the +poop. The officer, a young active fellow with a bristling moustache, +like the whiskers of a cat, was on deck in an instant with his drawn +sword in his hand. + +"Come up, two of you!" he cried. "You stand here at the head of the +ladder, sergeant. Throw up a rope and you can fix it to this stanchion. +Keep awake down there and be all ready to fire! You come with me, +Corporal Lemoine. Who is captain of this ship?" + +"I am, sir," said Ephraim Savage submissively. + +"You have three Huguenots aboard?" + +"Tut! tut! Huguenots, are they? I thought they were very anxious to +get away, but as long as they paid their passage it was no business of +mine. An old man, his daughter, and a young fellow about your age in +some sort of livery." + +"In uniform, sir! The uniform of the king's guard. Those are the folk I +have come for." + +"And you wish to take them back?" + +"Most certainly." + +"Poor folk! I am sorry for them." + +"And so am I, but orders are orders and must be done." + +"Quite so. Well, the old man is in his bunk asleep. The maid is in a +cabin below. And the other is sleeping down the hold there where we +had to put him, for there is no room elsewhere." + +"Sleeping, you say? We had best surprise him." + +"But think you that you dare do it alone! He has no arms, it is true, +but he is a well-grown young fellow. Will you not have twenty men up +from the boat?" + +Some such thought had passed through the officer's head, but the +captain's remark put him upon his mettle. + +"Come with me, corporal," said he. "Down this ladder, you say?" + +"Yes, down the ladder and straight on. He lies between those two cloth +bales." Ephraim Savage looked up with a smile playing about the corners +of his grim mouth. The wind was whistling now in the rigging, and the +stays of the mast were humming like two harp strings. Amos Green +lounged beside the French sergeant who guarded the end of the rope +ladder, while Tomlinson, the mate, stood with a bucket of water in his +hand exchanging remarks in very bad French with the crew of the boat +beneath him. + +The officer made his way slowly down the ladder which led into the hold, +and the corporal followed him, and had his chest level with the deck +when the other had reached the bottom. It may have been something in +Ephraim Savage's face, or it may have been the gloom around him which +startled the young Frenchman, but a sudden suspicion flashed into his +mind. + +"Up again, corporal!" he shouted, "I think that you are best at the +top." + +"And I think that you are best down below, my friend," said the Puritan, +who gathered the officer's meaning from his gesture. Putting the sole +of his boot against the man's chest he gave a shove which sent both him +and the ladder crashing down on to the officer beneath him. As he did +so he blew his whistle, and in a moment the hatch was back in its place +and clamped down on each side with iron bars. + +The sergeant had swung round at the sound of the crash, but Amos Green, +who had waited for the movement, threw his arms about him and hurled him +overboard into the sea. At the same instant the connecting rope was +severed, the foreyard creaked back into position again, and the +bucketful of salt water soused down over the gunner and his gun, putting +out his linstock and wetting his priming. A shower of balls from the +marines piped through the air or rapped up against the planks, but the +boat was tossing and jerking in the short choppy waves and to aim was +impossible. In vain the men tugged and strained at their oars while the +gunner worked like a maniac to relight his linstock and to replace his +priming. The boat had lost its weigh, while the brigantine was flying +along now with every sail bulging and swelling to bursting-point. +Crack! went the carronade at last, and five little slits in the mainsail +showed that her charge of grape had flown high. Her second shot left no +trace behind it, and at the third she was at the limit of her range. +Half an hour afterwards a little dark dot upon the horizon with a golden +speck at one end of it was all that could be seen of the Honfleur +guard-boat. Wider and wider grew the low-lying shores, broader and +broader was the vast spread of blue waters ahead, the smoke of Havre lay +like a little cloud upon the northern horizon, and Captain Ephraim +Savage paced his deck with his face as grim as ever, but with a dancing +light in his gray eyes. + +"I knew that the Lord would look after His own," said he complacently. +"We've got her beak straight now, and there's not as much as a dab of +mud betwixt this and the three hills of Boston. You've had too much of +these French wines of late, Amos, lad. Come down and try a real Boston +brewing with a double stroke of malt in the mash tub." + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +A BOAT OF THE DEAD. + +For two days the _Golden Rod_ lay becalmed close to the Cape La Hague, +with the Breton coast extending along the whole of the southern horizon. +On the third morning, however, came a sharp breeze, and they drew +rapidly away from land, until it was but a vague dim line which blended +with the cloud banks. Out there on the wide free ocean, with the wind +on their cheeks and the salt spray pringling upon their lips, these +hunted folk might well throw off their sorrows and believe that they had +left for ever behind them all tokens of those strenuous men whose +earnest piety had done more harm than frivolity and wickedness could +have accomplished. And yet even now they could not shake off their +traces, for the sin of the cottage is bounded by the cottage door, but +that of the palace spreads its evil over land and sea. + +"I am frightened about my father, Amory," said Adele, as they stood +together by the shrouds and looked back at the dim cloud upon the +horizon which marked the position of that France which they were never +to see again. + +"But he is out of danger now." + +"Out of danger from cruel laws, but I fear that he will never see the +promised land." + +"What do you mean, Adele? My uncle is hale and hearty." + +"Ah, Amory, his very heart-roots were fastened in the Rue St. Martin, +and when they were torn his life was torn also. Paris and his business, +they were the world to him." + +"But he will accustom himself to this new life." + +"If it only could be so! But I fear, I fear, that he is over old for +such a change. He says not a word of complaint. But I read upon his +face that he is stricken to the heart. For hours together he will gaze +back at France, with the tears running silently down his cheeks. +And his hair has turned from gray to white within the week." + +De Catinat also had noticed that the gaunt old Huguenot had grown +gaunter, that the lines upon his stern face were deeper, and that his +head fell forward upon his breast as he walked. He was about, however, +to suggest that the voyage might restore the merchant's health, when +Adele gave a cry of surprise and pointed out over the port quarter. +So beautiful was she at the instant with her raven hair blown back by +the wind, a glow of colour struck into her pale cheeks by the driving +spray, her lips parted in her excitement, and one white hand shading her +eyes, that he stood beside her with all his thoughts bent upon her grace +and her sweetness. + +"Look!" she cried. "There is something floating upon the sea. I saw it +upon the crest of a wave." + +He looked in the direction in which she pointed, but at first he saw +nothing. The wind was still behind them, and a brisk sea was running of +a deep rich green colour, with long creamy curling caps to the larger +waves. The breeze would catch these foam-crests from time to time, and +then there would be a sharp spatter upon the decks, with a salt smack +upon the lips, and a pringling in the eyes. Suddenly as he gazed, +however, something black was tilted up upon the sharp summit of one of +the seas, and swooped out of view again upon the further side. It was +so far from him that he could make nothing of it, but sharper eyes than +his had caught a glance of it. Amos Green had seen the girl point and +observed what it was which had attracted her attention. + +"Captain Ephraim," cried he, "there's a boat on the starboard quarter." + +The New England seaman whipped up his glass and steadied it upon the +bulwark. + +"Ay, it's a boat," said he, "but an empty one. Maybe it's been washed +off from some ship, or gone adrift from shore. Put her hard down, Mr. +Tomlinson, for it just so happens that I am in need of a boat at +present." + +Half a minute later the _Golden Rod_ had swung round and was running +swiftly down towards the black spot which still bobbed and danced upon +the waves. As they neared her they could see that something was +projecting over her side. + +"It's a man's head!" cried Amos Green. + +But Ephraim Savage's grim face grew grimmer. "It's a man's foot," said +he. "I think that you had best take the gal below to the cabin." + +Amid a solemn hush they ran alongside this lonely craft which hung out +so sinister a signal. Within ten yards of her the foreyard was hauled +aback and they gazed down upon her terrible crew. + +She was a little thirteen-foot cockle-shell, very broad for her length +and so flat in the bottom that she had been meant evidently for river or +lake work. Huddled together beneath the seats were three folk, a man in +the dress of a respectable artisan, a woman of the same class, and a +little child about a year old. The boat was half full of water and the +woman and child were stretched with their faces downwards, the fair +curls of the infant and the dark locks of the mother washing to and fro +like water-weeds upon the surface. The man lay with a slate-coloured +face, his chin cocking up towards the sky, his eyes turned upwards to +the whites, and his mouth wide open showing a leathern crinkled tongue +like a rotting leaf. In the bows, all huddled in a heap, and with a +single paddle still grasped in his hand, there crouched a very small man +clad in black, an open book lying across his face, and one stiff leg +jutting upwards with the heel of the foot resting between the rowlocks. +So this strange company swooped and tossed upon the long green Atlantic +rollers. + +A boat had been lowered by the _Golden Rod_, and the unfortunates were +soon conveyed upon deck. No particle of either food or drink was to be +found, nor anything save the single paddle and the open Bible which lay +across the small man's face. Man, woman, and child had all been dead a +day at the least, and so with the short prayers used upon the seas they +were buried from the vessel's side. The small man had at first seemed +also to be lifeless, but Amos had detected some slight flutter of his +heart, and the faintest haze was left upon the watch glass which was +held before his mouth. Wrapped in a dry blanket he was laid beside the +mast, and the mate forced a few drops of rum every few minutes between +his lips until the little spark of life which still lingered in him +might be fanned to a flame. Meanwhile Ephraim Savage had ordered up the +two prisoners whom he had entrapped at Honfleur. Very foolish they +looked as they stood blinking and winking in the daylight from which +they had been so long cut off. + +"Very sorry, captain," said the seaman, "but either you had to come with +us, d'ye see, or we had to stay with you. They're waiting for me over +at Boston, and in truth I really couldn't tarry." + +The French soldier shrugged his shoulders and looked around him with a +lengthening face. He and his corporal were limp with sea-sickness, and +as miserable as a Frenchman is when first he finds that France has +vanished from his view. + +"Which would you prefer, to go on with us to America, or go back to +France?" + +"Back to France, if I can find my way. Oh, I must get to France again +if only to have a word with that fool of a gunner." + +"Well, we emptied a bucket of water over his linstock and priming, d'ye +see, so maybe he did all he could. But there's France, where that +thickening is over yonder." + +"I see it! I see it! Ah, if my feet were only upon it once more." + +"There is a boat beside us, and you may take it." + +"My God, what happiness! Corporal Lemoine, the boat! Let us push off at +once." + +"But you need a few things first. Good Lord, who ever heard of a man +pushing off like that! Mr. Tomlinson, just sling a keg of water and a +barrel of meat and of biscuit into this boat. Hiram Jefferson, bring +two oars aft. It's a long pull with the wind in your teeth, but you'll +be there by to-morrow night, and the weather is set fair." + +The two Frenchmen were soon provided with all that they were likely to +require, and pushed off with a waving of hats and a shouting of _bon +voyage_. The foreyard was swung round again and the _Golden Rod_ turned +her bowsprit for the west. For hours a glimpse could be caught of the +boat, dwindling away on the wave-tops, until at last it vanished into +the haze, and with it vanished the very last link which connected them +with the great world which they were leaving behind them. + +But whilst these things had been done, the senseless man beneath the +mast had twitched his eyelids, had drawn a little gasping breath, and +then finally had opened his eyes. His skin was like gray parchment +drawn tightly over his bones, and the limbs which thrust out from his +clothes were those of a sickly child. Yet, weak as he was, the large +black eyes with which he looked about him were full of dignity and +power. Old Catinat had come upon deck, and at the sight of the man and +of his dress he had run forward, and had raised his head reverently and +rested it in his own arms. + +"He is one of the faithful," he cried, "he is one of our pastors. Ah, +now indeed a blessing will be upon our journey!" + +But the man smiled gently and shook his head. "I fear that I may not +come this journey with you," said he, "for the Lord has called me upon +a further journey of my own. I have had my summons and I am ready. +I am indeed the pastor of the temple at Isigny, and when we heard the +orders of the wicked king, I and two of the faithful with their little +one put forth in the hope that we might come to England. But on the +first day there came a wave which swept away one of our oars and all +that was in the boat, our bread, our keg, and we were left with no hope +save in Him. And then He began to call us to Him one at a time, first +the child, and then the woman, and then the man, until I only am left, +though I feel that my own time is not long. But since ye are also of +the faithful, may I not serve you in any way before I go?" + +The merchant shook his head, and then suddenly a thought flashed upon +him, and he ran with joy upon his face and whispered eagerly to Amos +Green. Amos laughed, and strode across to the captain. + +"It's time," said Ephraim Savage grimly. + +Then the whisperers went to De Catinat. He sprang in the air and his +eyes shone with delight. And then they went down to Adele in her cabin, +and she started and blushed, and turned her sweet face away, and patted +her hair with her hands as woman will when a sudden call is made upon +her. And so, since haste was needful, and since even there upon the +lonely sea there was one coming who might at any moment snap their +purpose, they found themselves in a few minutes, this gallant man and +this pure woman, kneeling hand in hand before the dying pastor, who +raised his thin arm feebly in benediction as he muttered the words which +should make them forever one. + +Adele had often pictured her wedding to herself, as what young girl has +not? Often in her dreams she had knelt before the altar with Amory in +the temple of the Rue St. Martin. Or sometimes her fancy had taken her +to some of those smaller churches in the provinces, those little refuges +where a handful of believers gathered together, and it was there that +her thoughts had placed the crowning act of a woman's life. But when +had she thought of such a marriage as this, with the white deck swaying +beneath them, the ropes humming above, their only choristers the gulls +which screamed around them, and their wedding hymn the world-old anthem +which is struck from the waves by the wind? And when could she forget +the scene? The yellow masts and the bellying sails, the gray drawn face +and the cracked lips of the castaway, her father's gaunt earnest +features as he knelt to support the dying minister, De Catinat in his +blue coat, already faded and weather-stained. Captain Savage with his +wooden face turned towards the clouds, and Amos Green with his hands in +his pockets and a quiet twinkle in his blue eyes! Then behind all the +lanky mate and the little group of New England seamen with their +palmetto hats and their serious faces! + +And so it was done amid kindly words in a harsh foreign tongue, and the +shaking of rude hands hardened by the rope and the oar. De Catinat and +his wife leaned together by the shrouds when all was over and watched +the black side as it rose and fell, and the green water which raced past +them. + +"It is all so strange and so new," she said. "Our future seems as vague +and dark as yonder cloud-banks which gather in front of us." + +"If it rest with me," he answered, "your future will be as merry and +bright as the sunlight that glints on the crest of these waves. +The country that drove us forth lies far behind us, but out there is +another and a fairer country, and every breath of wind wafts us nearer +to it. Freedom awaits us there, and we bear with us youth and love, and +what could man or woman ask for more?" + +So they stood and talked while the shadows deepened into twilight and +the first faint gleam of the stars broke out in the darkening heavens +above them. But ere those stars had waned again one more toiler had +found rest aboard the _Golden Rod_, and the scattered flock from Isigny +had found their little pastor once more. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +THE LAST PORT. + +For three weeks the wind kept at east or north-east, always at a brisk +breeze and freshening sometimes into half a gale. The _Golden Rod_ sped +merrily upon her way with every sail drawing, alow and aloft, so that by +the end of the third week Amos and Ephraim Savage were reckoning out the +hours before they would look upon their native land once more. To the +old seaman who was used to meeting and to parting it was a small matter, +but Amos, who had never been away before, was on fire with impatience, +and would sit smoking for hours with his legs astride the shank of the +bowsprit, staring ahead at the skyline, in the hope that his friend's +reckoning had been wrong, and that at any moment he might see the +beloved coast line looming up in front of him. + +"It's no use, lad," said Captain Ephraim, laying his great red hand upon +his shoulder. "They that go down to the sea in ships need a power of +patience, and there's no good eatin' your heart out for what you can't +get." + +"There's a feel of home about the air, though," Amos answered. +"It seems to whistle through your teeth with a bite to it that I never +felt over yonder. Ah, it will take three months of the Mohawk Valley +before I feel myself to rights." + +"Well," said his friend, thrusting a plug of Trinidado tobacco into the +corner of his cheek, "I've been on the sea since I had hair to my face, +mostly in the coast trade, d'ye see, but over the water as well, as far +as those navigation laws would let me. Except the two years that I came +ashore for the King Philip business, when every man that could carry a +gun was needed on the border, I've never been three casts of a biscuit +from salt water, and I tell you that I never knew a better crossing than +the one we have just made." + +"Ay, we have come along like a buck before a forest fire. But it is +strange to me how you find your way so clearly out here with never track +nor trail to guide you. It would puzzle me, Ephraim, to find America, +to say nought of the Narrows of New York." + +"I am somewhat too far to the north, Amos. We have been on or about the +fiftieth since we sighted Cape La Hague. To-morrow we should make land, +by my reckonin'." + +"Ah, to-morrow! And what will it be? Mount Desert? Cape Cod? +Long Island?" + +"Nay, lad, we are in the latitude of the St. Lawrence, and are more like +to see the Arcadia coast. Then with this wind a day should carry us +south, or two at the most. A few more such voyages and I shall buy +myself a fair brick house in Green Lane of North Boston, where I can +look down on the bay, or on the Charles or the Mystic, and see the ships +comin' and goin'. So I would end my life in peace and quiet." + +All day Amos Green, in spite of his friend's assurance, strained his +eyes in the fruitless search for land, and when at last the darkness +fell he went below and laid out his fringed hunting tunic, his leather +gaiters, and his raccoon-skin cap, which were very much more to his +taste than the broadcloth coat in which the Dutch mercer of New York had +clad him. De Catinat had also put on the dark coat of civil life, and +he and Adele were busy preparing all things for the old man, who had +fallen so weak that there was little which he could do for himself. +A fiddle was screaming in the forecastle, and half the night through +hoarse bursts of homely song mingled with the dash of the waves and the +whistle of the wind, as the New England men in their own grave and +stolid fashion made merry over their home-coming. + +The mate's watch that night was from twelve to four, and the moon was +shining brightly for the first hour of it. In the early morning, +however, it clouded over, and the _Golden Rod_ plunged into one of those +dim clammy mists which lie on all that tract of ocean. So thick was it +that from the poop one could just make out the loom of the foresail, but +could see nothing of the fore-topmast-stay sail or the jib. The wind +was north-east with a very keen edge to it, and the dainty brigantine +lay over, scudding along with her lee rails within hand's touch of the +water. It had suddenly turned very cold--so cold that the mate stamped +up and down the poop, and his four seamen shivered together under the +shelter of the bulwarks. And then in a moment one of them was up, +thrusting with his forefinger into the air and screaming, while a huge +white wall sprang out of the darkness at the very end of the bowsprit, +and the ship struck with a force which snapped her two masts like dried +reeds in a wind, and changed her in an instant to a crushed and +shapeless heap of spars and wreckage. + +The mate had shot the length of the poop at the shock, and had narrowly +escaped from the falling mast, while of his four men two had been hurled +through the huge gap which yawned in the bows, while a third had dashed +his head to pieces against the stock of the anchor. Tomlinson staggered +forwards to find the whole front part of the vessel driven inwards, and +a single seaman sitting dazed amid splintered spars, flapping sails, and +writhing, lashing cordage. It was still as dark as pitch, and save the +white crest of a leaping wave nothing was to be seen beyond the side of +the vessel. The mate was peering round him in despair at the ruin which +had come so suddenly upon them when he found Captain Ephraim at his +elbow, half clad, but as wooden and as serene as ever. + +"An iceberg," said he, sniffing at the chill air. "Did you not smell +it, friend Tomlinson?" + +"Truly I found it cold, Captain Savage, but I set it down to the mist." + +"There is a mist ever set around them, though the Lord in His wisdom +knows best why, for it is a sore trial to poor sailor men. She makes +water fast, Mr. Tomlinson. She is down by the bows already." + +The other watch had swarmed upon deck and one of them was measuring the +well. "There is three feet of water," he cried, "and the pumps sucked +dry yesterday at sundown." + +"Hiram Jefferson and John Moreton to the pumps!" cried the captain. +"Mr. Tomlinson, clear away the long-boat and let us see if we may set +her right, though I fear that she is past mending." + +"The long-boat has stove two planks," cried a seaman. + +"The jolly-boat, then?" + +"She is in three pieces." + +The mate tore his hair, but Ephraim Savage smiled like a man who is +gently tickled by some coincidence. + +"Where is Amos Green?" + +"Here, Captain Ephraim. What can I do?" + +"And I?" asked De Catinat eagerly. Adele and her father had been +wrapped in mantles and placed for shelter in the lee of the round house. + +"Tell him he can take his spell at the pumps," said the Captain to Amos. +"And you, Amos, you are a handy man with a tool. Get into yonder +long-boat with a lantern and see if you cannot patch her up." + +For half an hour Amos Green hammered and trimmed and caulked, while the +sharp measured clanking of the pumps sounded above the dash of the seas. +Slowly, very slowly, the bows of the brigantine were settling down, and +her stern cocking up. + +"You've not much time, Amos, lad," said the captain quietly. + +"She'll float now, though she's not quite water-tight." + +"Very good. Lower away! Keep up the pump in there! Mr. Tomlinson, see +that provisions and water are ready, as much as she will hold. Come +with me, Hiram Jefferson." + +The seaman and the captain swung themselves down into the tossing boat, +the latter with a lantern strapped to his waist. Together they made +their way until they were under her mangled bows. The captain shook his +head when he saw the extent of the damage. + +"Cut away the foresail and pass it over," said he. + +Tomlinson and Amos Green cut away the lashings with their knives and +lowered the corner of the sail. Captain Ephraim and the seaman seized +it, and dragged it across the mouth of the huge gaping leak. As he +stooped to do it, however, the ship heaved up upon a swell, and the +captain saw in the yellow light of his lantern sinuous black cracks +which radiated away backwards from the central hole. + +"How much in the well?" he asked. + +"Five and a half feet." + +"Then the ship is lost. I could put my finger between her planks as far +as I can see back. Keep the pumps going there! Have you the food and +water, Mr. Tomlinson?" + +"Here, sir." + +"Lower them over the bows. This boat cannot live more than an hour or +two. Can you see anything of the berg?" + +"The fog is lifting on the starboard quarter," cried one of the men. +"Yes, there is the berg, quarter of a mile to leeward!" + +The mist had thinned away suddenly, and the moon glimmered through once +more upon the great lonely sea and the stricken ship. There, like a +huge sail, was the monster piece of ice upon which they had shattered +themselves, rocking slowly to and fro with the wash of the waves. + +"You must make for her," said Captain Ephraim. "There is no other +chance. Lower the gal over the bows! Well, then, her father first, if +she likes it better. Tell them to sit still, Amos, and that the Lord +will bear us up if we keep clear of foolishness. So! You're a brave +lass for all your niminy-piminy lingo. Now the keg and the barrel, and +all the wraps and cloaks you can find. Now the other man, the +Frenchman. Ay, ay, passengers first, and you have got to come. +Now, Amos! Now the seamen, and you last, friend Tomlinson." + +It was well that they had not very far to go, for the boat was weighed +down almost to the edge, and it took the baling of two men to keep in +check the water which leaked in between the shattered planks. When all +were safely in their places. Captain Ephraim Savage swung himself +aboard again, which was but too easy now that every minute brought the +bows nearer to the water. He came back with a bundle of clothing which +he threw into the boat. + +"Push off!" he cried. + +"Jump in, then." + +"Ephraim Savage goes down with his ship," said he quietly. "Friend +Tomlinson, it is not my way to give my orders more than once. Push off, +I say!" + +The mate thrust her out with a boat-hook. Amos and De Catinat gave a +cry of dismay, but the stolid New Englanders settled down to their oars +and pulled off for the iceberg. + +"Amos! Amos! Will you suffer it?" cried the guardsman in French. +"My honour will not permit me to leave him thus. I should feel it a +stain for ever." + +"Tomlinson, you would not leave him! Go on board and force him to +come." + +"The man is not living who could force him to do what he had no mind +for." + +"He may change his purpose." + +"He never changes his purpose." + +"But you cannot leave him, man! You must at least lie by and pick him +up." + +"The boat leaks like a sieve," said the mate. "I will take her to the +berg, leave you all there, if we can find footing, and go back for the +captain. Put your heart into it, my lads, for the sooner we are there +the sooner we shall get back." + +But they had not taken fifty strokes before Adele gave a sudden scream. + +"My God!" she cried, "the ship is going down!" + +She had settled lower and lower in the water, and suddenly with a sound +of rending planks she thrust down her bows like a diving water-fowl, her +stern flew up into the air, and with a long sucking noise she shot down +swifter and swifter until the leaping waves closed over her high poop +lantern. With one impulse the boat swept round again and made backwards +as fast as willing arms could pull it. But all was quiet at the scene +of the disaster. Not even a fragment of wreckage was left upon the +surface to show where the _Golden Rod_ had found her last harbour. +For a long quarter of an hour they pulled round and round in the +moonlight, but not a glimpse could they see of the Puritan seaman, and +at last, when in spite of the balers the water was washing round their +ankles, they put her head about once more, and made their way in silence +and with heavy hearts to their dreary island of refuge. + +Desolate as it was, it was their only hope now, for the leak was +increasing and it was evident that the boat could not be kept afloat +long. As they drew nearer they saw with dismay that the side which +faced them was a solid wall of ice sixty feet high without a flaw or +crevice in its whole extent. The berg was a large one, fifty paces at +least each way, and there was a hope that the other side might be more +favourable. Baling hard, they paddled round the corner, but only to +find themselves faced by another gloomy ice-crag. Again they went +round, and again they found that the berg increased rather than +diminished in height. There remained only one other side, and they +knew as they rowed round to it that their lives hung upon the result, +for the boat was almost settling down beneath them. They shot out from +the shadow into the full moonlight and looked upon a sight which none of +them would forget until their dying day. + +The cliff which faced them was as precipitous as any of the others, and +it glimmered and sparkled all over where the silver light fell upon the +thousand facets of ice. Right in the centre, however, on a level with +the water's edge, there was what appeared to be a huge hollowed-out cave +which marked the spot where the Golden Rod had, in shattering herself, +dislodged a huge boulder, and so amid her own ruin prepared a refuge for +those who had trusted themselves to her. This cavern was of the richest +emerald green, light and clear at the edges, but toning away into the +deepest purples and blues at the back. But it was not the beauty of +this grotto, nor was it the assurance of rescue which brought a cry of +joy and of wonder from every lip, but it was that, seated upon an ice +boulder and placidly smoking a long corn-cob pipe, there was perched in +front of them no less a person than Captain Ephraim Savage of Boston. +For a moment the castaways could almost have believed that it was his +wraith, were wraiths ever seen in so homely an attitude, but the tones +of his voice very soon showed that it was indeed he, and in no very +Christian temper either. + +"Friend Tomlinson," said he, "when I tell you to row for an iceberg I +mean you to row right away there, d'ye see, and not to go philandering +about over the ocean. It's not your fault that I'm not froze, and so I +would have been if I hadn't some dry tobacco and my tinder-box to keep +myself warm." + +Without stopping to answer his commander's reproaches, the mate headed +for the ledge, which had been cut into a slope by the bows of the +brigantine, so that the boat was run up easily on to the ice. Captain +Savage seized his dry clothes and vanished into the back of the cave, to +return presently warmer in body, and more contented in mind. The +long-boat had been turned upside down for a seat, the gratings and +thwarts taken out and covered with wraps to make a couch for the lady, +and the head knocked out of the keg of biscuits. + +"We were frightened for you, Ephraim," said Amos Green. "I had a heavy +heart this night when I thought that I should never see you more." + +"Tut, Amos, you should have known me better." + +"But how came you here, captain?" asked Tomlinson. "I thought that +maybe you had been taken down by the suck of the ship." + +"And so I was. It is the third ship in which I have gone down, but they +have never kept me down yet. I went deeper to-night than when the +_Speedwell_ sank, but not so deep as in the _Governor Winthrop_. When I +came up I swam to the berg, found this nook, and crawled in. Glad I was +to see you, for I feared that you had foundered." + +"We put back to pick you up and we passed you in the darkness. And what +should we do now?" + +"Rig up that boat-sail and make quarters for the gal. Then get our +supper and such rest as we can, for there is nothing to be done +to-night, and there may be much in the morning." + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +A DWINDLING ISLAND. + +Amos Green was aroused in the morning by a hand upon his shoulder, and +springing to his feet, found De Catinat standing beside him. +The survivors of the crew were grouped about the upturned boat, +slumbering heavily after their labours of the night. The red rim of the +sun had just pushed itself above the water-line, and sky and sea were +one blaze of scarlet and orange from the dazzling gold of the horizon to +the lightest pink at the zenith. The first rays flashed directly into +their cave, sparkling and glimmering upon the ice crystals and tingeing +the whole grotto with a rich warm light. Never was a fairy's palace +more lovely than this floating refuge which Nature had provided for +them. + +But neither the American nor the Frenchman had time now to give a +thought to the novelty and beauty of their situation. The latter's face +was grave, and his friend read danger in his eyes. + +"What is it, then?" + +"The berg. It is coming to pieces." + +"Tut, man, it is as solid as an island." + +"I have been watching it. You see that crack which extends backwards +from the end of our grotto. Two hours ago I could scarce put my hand +into it. Now I can slip through it with ease. I tell you that she is +splitting across." + +Amos Green walked to the end of the funnel-shaped recess and found, as +his friend had said, that a green sinuous crack extended away backwards +into the iceberg, caused either by the tossing of the waves, or by the +terrific impact of their vessel. He roused Captain Ephraim and pointed +out the danger to him. + +"Well, if she springs a leak we are gone," said he. "She's been thawing +pretty fast as it is." + +They could see now that what had seemed in the moonlight to be smooth +walls of ice were really furrowed and wrinkled like an old man's face by +the streams of melted water which were continually running down them. +The whole huge mass was brittle and honeycombed and rotten. Already +they could hear all round them the ominous drip, drip, and the splash +and tinkle of the little rivulets as they fell into the ocean. + +"Hullo!" cried Amos Green, "what's that?" + +"What then?" + +"Did you hear nothing?" + +"No." + +"I could have sworn that I heard a voice." + +"Impossible. We are all here." + +"It must have been my fancy then." + +Captain Ephraim walked to the seaward face of the cave and swept the +ocean with his eyes. The wind had quite fallen away now, and the sea +stretched away to the eastward, smooth and unbroken save for a single +great black spar which floated near the spot where the _Golden Rod_ had +foundered. + +"We should lie in the track of some ships," said the captain +thoughtfully. "There's the codders and the herring-busses. We're over +far south for them, I reckon. But we can't be more'n two hundred mile +from Port Royal in Arcadia, and we're in the line of the St. Lawrence +trade. If I had three white mountain pines, Amos, and a hundred yards +of stout canvas I'd get up on the top of this thing, d'ye see, and I'd +rig such a jury-mast as would send her humming into Boston Bay. Then +I'd break her up and sell her for what she was worth, and turn a few +pieces over the business. But she's a heavy old craft, and that's a +fact, though even now she might do a knot or two an hour if she had a +hurricane behind her. But what is it, Amos?" + +The young hunter was standing with his ear slanting, his head bent +forwards, and his eyes glancing sideways like a man who listens +intently. He was about to answer when De Catinat gave a cry and pointed +to the back of the cave. + +"Look at the crack now." + +It had widened by a foot since they had noticed it last, until it was +now no longer a crack. It was a pass. + +"Let us go through," said the captain. + +"It can but come out on the other side." + +"Then let us see the other side." + +He led the way and the other two followed him. It was very dark as they +advanced, with high dripping ice walls on either side and one little +zigzagging slit of blue sky above their heads. Tripping and groping +their way, they stumbled along until suddenly the passage grew wider and +opened out into a large square of flat ice. The berg was level in the +centre and sloped upwards from that point to the high cliffs which +bounded it on each side. In three directions this slope was very steep, +but in one it slanted up quite gradually, and the constant thawing had +grooved the surface with a thousand irregularities by which an active +man could ascend. With one impulse they began all three to clamber up +until a minute later they were standing not far from the edge of the +summit, seventy feet above the sea, with a view which took in a good +fifty miles of water. In all that fifty miles there was no sign of +life, nothing but the endless glint of the sun upon the waves. + +Captain Ephraim whistled. "We are out of luck," said he. + +Amos Green looked about him with startled eyes. "I cannot understand +it," said he. "I could have sworn--By the eternal, listen to that!" The +clear call of a military bugle rang out in the morning air. With a cry +of amazement they all three craned forward and peered over the edge. + +A large ship was lying under the very shadow of the iceberg. They +looked straight down upon her snow-white decks, fringed with shining +brass cannon, and dotted with seamen. A little clump of soldiers stood +upon the poop going through the manual exercise, and it was from them +that the call had come which had sounded so unexpectedly in the ears of +the castaways. Standing back from the edge, they had not only looked +over the top-masts of this welcome neighbour, but they had themselves +been invisible from her decks. Now the discovery was mutual, as was +shown by a chorus of shouts and cries from beneath them. + +But the three did not wait an instant. Sliding and scrambling down the +wet, slippery incline, they rushed shouting through the crack and into +the cave where their comrades had just been startled by the bugle-call +while in the middle of their cheerless breakfast. A few hurried words +and the leaky long-boat had been launched, their possessions had been +bundled in, and they were afloat once more. Pulling round a promontory +of the berg, they found themselves under the stern of a fine corvette, +the sides of which were lined with friendly faces, while from the peak +there drooped a huge white banner mottled over with the golden lilies of +France. In a very few minutes their boat had been hauled up and they +found themselves on board the _St. Christophe_ man-of-war, conveying +Marquis de Denonville, the new Governor-General of Canada, to take over +his duties. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +IN THE POOL OF QUEBEC. + +A singular colony it was of which the shipwrecked party found themselves +now to be members. The _St. Christophe_ had left Rochelle three weeks +before with four small consorts conveying five hundred soldiers to help +the struggling colony on the St. Lawrence. The squadron had become +separated, however, and the governor was pursuing his way alone in the +hope of picking up the others in the river. Aboard he had a company of +the regiment of Quercy, the staff of his own household, Saint Vallier, +the new Bishop of Canada, with several of his attendants, three Recollet +friars, and five Jesuits bound for the fatal Iroquois mission, +half-a-dozen ladies on their way out to join their husbands, two +Ursuline nuns, ten or twelve gallants whom love of adventure and the +hope of bettering their fortunes had drawn across the seas, and lastly +some twenty peasant maidens of Anjou who were secure of finding husbands +waiting for them upon the beach, if only for the sake of the sheets, the +pot, the tin plates and the kettle which the king would provide for each +of his humble wards. + +To add a handful of New England Independents, a Puritan of Boston, and +three Huguenots to such a gathering, was indeed to bring fire-brand and +powder-barrel together. And yet all aboard were so busy with their own +concerns that the castaways were left very much to themselves. Thirty +of the soldiers were down with fever and scurvy, and both priests and +nuns were fully taken up in nursing them. Denonville, the governor, a +pious-minded dragoon, walked the deck all day reading the Psalms of +David, and sat up half the night with maps and charts laid out before +him, planning out the destruction of the Iroquois who were ravaging his +dominions. The gallants and the ladies flirted, the maidens of Anjou +made eyes at the soldiers of Quercy, and the bishop Saint Vallier read +his offices and lectured his clergy. Ephraim Savage used to stand all +day glaring at the good man as he paced the deck with his red-edged +missal in his hand, and muttering about the "abomination of desolation," +but his little ways were put down to his exposure upon the iceberg, and +to the fixed idea in the French mind that men of the Anglo-Saxon stock +are not to be held accountable for their actions. + +There was peace between England and France at present, though feeling +ran high between Canada and New York, the French believing, and with +some justice, that the English colonists were whooping on the demons who +attacked them. Ephraim and his men were therefore received hospitably +on board, though the ship was so crowded that they had to sleep wherever +they could find cover and space for their bodies. The Catinats, too, +had been treated in an even more kindly fashion, the weak old man and +the beauty of his daughter arousing the interest of the governor +himself. De Catinat had, during the voyage, exchanged his uniform for a +plain sombre suit, so that, except for his military bearing, there was +nothing to show that he was a fugitive from the army. Old Catinat was +now so weak that he was past the answering of questions, his daughter +was forever at his side, and the soldier was diplomatist enough, after a +training at Versailles, to say much without saying anything, and so +their secret was still preserved. De Catinat had known what it was to +be a Huguenot in Canada before the law was altered. He had no wish to +try it after. + +On the day after the rescue they sighted Cape Breton in the south, and +soon running swiftly before an easterly wind, saw the loom of the east +end of Anticosti. Then they sailed up the mighty river, though from +mid-channel the banks upon either side were hardly to be seen. As the +shores narrowed in, they saw the wild gorge of the Saguenay River upon +the right, with the smoke from the little fishing and trading station of +Tadousac streaming up above the pine trees. Naked Indians with their +faces daubed with red clay, Algonquins and Abenakis, clustered round the +ship in their birchen canoes with fruit and vegetables from the land, +which brought fresh life to the scurvy-stricken soldiers. Thence the +ship tacked on up the river past Mal Bay, the Ravine of the Eboulements +and the Bay of St. Paul with its broad valley and wooded mountains all +in a blaze with their beautiful autumn dress, their scarlets, their +purples, and their golds, from the maple, the ash, the young oak, and +the saplings of the birch. Amos Green, leaning on the bulwarks, stared +with longing eyes at these vast expanses of virgin woodland, hardly +traversed save by an occasional wandering savage or hardy +_coureur-de-bois_. Then the bold outline of Cape Tourmente loomed up +in front of them; they passed the rich placid meadows of Laval's +seigneury of Beaupre, and, skirting the settlements of the Island of +Orleans, they saw the broad pool stretch out in front of them, the falls +of Montmorenci, the high palisades of Cape Levi, the cluster of vessels, +and upon the right that wonderful rock with its diadem of towers and its +township huddled round its base, the centre and stronghold of French +power in America. Cannon thundered from the bastions above, and were +echoed back by the warship, while ensigns dipped, hats waved, and a +swarm of boats and canoes shot out to welcome the new governor, and to +convey the soldiers and passengers to shore. + +The old merchant had pined away since he had left French soil, like a +plant which has been plucked from its roots. The shock of the shipwreck +and the night spent in their bleak refuge upon the iceberg had been too +much for his years and strength. Since they had been picked up he had +lain amid the scurvy-stricken soldiers with hardly a sign of life save +for his thin breathing and the twitching of his scraggy throat. Now, +however, at the sound of the cannon and the shouting he opened his eyes, +and raised himself slowly and painfully upon his pillow. "What is it, +father? What can we do for you?" cried Adele. "We are in America, and +here is Amory and here am I, your children." + +But the old man shook his head. "The Lord has brought me to the +promised land, but He has not willed that I should enter into it," said +he. "May His will be done, and blessed be His name forever! But at +least I should wish, like Moses, to gaze upon it, if I cannot set foot +upon it. Think you, Amory, that you could lend me your arm and lead me +on to the deck?" + +"If I have another to help me," said De Catinat, and ascending to the +deck, he brought Amos Green back with him. "Now, father, if you will +lay a hand upon the shoulder of each, you need scarce put your feet to +the boards." + +A minute later the old merchant was on the deck, and the two young men +had seated him upon a coil of rope with his back against the mast, where +he should be away from the crush. The soldiers were already crowding +down into the boats, and all were so busy over their own affairs that +they paid no heed to the little group of refugees who gathered round the +stricken man. He turned his head painfully from side to side, but his +eyes brightened as they fell upon the broad blue stretch of water, the +flash of the distant falls, the high castle, and the long line of purple +mountains away to the north-west. + +"It is not like France," said he. "It is not green and peaceful and +smiling, but it is grand and strong and stern like Him who made it. +As I have weakened, Adele, my soul has been less clogged by my body, and +I have seen clearly much that has been dim to me. And it has seemed to +me, my children, that all this country of America, not Canada alone, but +the land where you were born also, Amos Green, and all that stretches +away towards yonder setting sun, will be the best gift of God to man. +For this has He held it concealed through all the ages, that now His own +high purpose may be wrought upon it. For here is a land which is +innocent, which has no past guilt to atone for, no feud, nor ill custom, +nor evil of any kind. And as the years roll on all the weary and +homeless ones, all who are stricken and landless and wronged, will turn +their faces to it, even as we have done. And hence will come a nation +which will surely take all that is good and leave all that is bad, +moulding and fashioning itself into the highest. Do I not see such a +mighty people, a people who will care more to raise their lowest than to +exalt their richest--who will understand that there is more bravery in +peace than in war, who will see that all men are brothers, and whose +hearts will not narrow themselves down to their own frontiers, but will +warm in sympathy with every noble cause the whole world through? +That is what I see, Adele, as I lie here beside a shore upon which I +shall never set my feet, and I say to you that if you and Amory go to +the building of such a nation then indeed your lives are not misspent. +It will come, and when it comes, may God guard it, may God watch over it +and direct it!" His head had sunk gradually lower upon his breast and +his lids had fallen slowly over his eyes which had been looking away out +past Point Levi at the rolling woods and the far-off mountains. Adele +gave a quick cry of despair and threw her arms round the old man's neck. + +"He is dying, Amory, he is dying!" she cried. + +A stern Franciscan friar, who had been telling his beads within a few +paces of them, heard the cry and was beside them in an instant. + +"He is indeed dying," he said, as he gazed down at the ashen face. +"Has the old man had the sacraments of the Church?" + +"I do not think that he needs them," answered De Catinat evasively. + +"Which of us do not need them, young man!" said the friar sternly. "And +how can a man hope for salvation without them? I shall myself +administer them without delay." + +But the old Huguenot had opened his eyes, and with a last flicker of +strength he pushed away the gray-hooded figure which bent over him. + +"I left all that I love rather than yield to you," he cried, "and think +you that you can overcome me now?" + +The Franciscan started back at the words, and his hard suspicious eyes +shot from De Catinat to the weeping girl. + +"So!" said he. "You are Huguenots, then!" + +"Hush! Do not wrangle before a man who is dying!" cried De Catinat in a +voice as fierce as his own. + +"Before a man who is dead," said Amos Green solemnly. + +As he spoke the old man's face had relaxed, his thousand wrinkles had +been smoothed suddenly out, as though an invisible hand had passed over +them, and his head fell back against the mast. Adele remained +motionless with her arms still clasped round his neck and her cheek +pressed against his shoulder. She had fainted. + +De Catinat raised his wife and bore her down to the cabin of one of the +ladies who had already shown them some kindness. Deaths were no new +thing aboard the ship, for they had lost ten soldiers upon the outward +passage, so that amid the joy and bustle of the disembarking there were +few who had a thought to spare upon the dead pilgrim, and the less so +when it was whispered abroad that he had been a Huguenot. A brief order +was given that he should be buried in the river that very night, and +then, save for a sailmaker who fastened the canvas round him, mankind +had done its last for Theophile Catinat. With the survivors, however, +it was different, and when the troops were all disembarked, they were +mustered in a little group upon the deck, and an officer of the +governor's suite decided upon what should be done with them. He was a +portly, good-humoured, ruddy-cheeked man, but De Catinat saw with +apprehension that the friar walked by his side as he advanced along the +deck, and exchanged a few whispered remarks with him. There was a +bitter smile upon the monk's dark face which boded little good for the +heretics. + +"It shall be seen to, good father, it shall be seen to," said the +officer impatiently, in answer to one of these whispered injunctions. +"I am as zealous a servant of Holy Church as you are." + +"I trust that you are, Monsieur de Bonneville. With so devout a +governor as Monsieur de Denonville, it might be an ill thing even in +this world for the officers of his household to be lax." + +The soldier glanced angrily at his companion, for he saw the threat +which lurked under the words. + +"I would have you remember, father," said he, "that if faith is a +virtue, charity is no less so." Then, speaking in English: "Which is +Captain Savage?" + +"Ephraim Savage of Boston." + +"And Master Amos Green?" + +"Amos Green of New York." + +"And Master Tomlinson?" + +"John Tomlinson of Salem." + +"And master mariners Hiram Jefferson, Joseph Cooper, Seek-grace Spalding, +and Paul Cushing, all of Massachusetts Bay?" + +"We are all here." + +"It is the governor's order that all whom I have named shall be conveyed +at once to the trading brig _Hope_, which is yonder ship with the white +paint line. She sails within the hour for the English provinces." + +A buzz of joy broke from the castaway mariners at the prospect of being +so speedily restored to their homes, and they hurried away to gather +together the few possessions which they had saved from the wreck. +The officer put his list in his pocket and stepped across to where De +Catinat leaned moodily against the bulwarks. + +"Surely you remember me," he said. "I could not forget your face, even +though you have exchanged a blue coat for a black one." + +De Catinat grasped the hand which was held out to him. + +"I remember you well, De Bonneville, and the journey that we made +together to Fort Frontenac, but it was not for me to claim your +friendship, now that things have gone amiss with me." + +"Tut, man; once my friend always my friend." + +"I feared, too, that my acquaintance would do you little good with +yonder dark-cowled friar who is glowering behind you." + +"Well, well, you know how it is with us here. Frontenac could keep them +in their place, but De la Barre was as clay in their hands, and this new +one promises to follow in his steps. What with the Sulpitians at +Montreal and the Jesuits here, we poor devils are between the upper and +the nether stones. But I am grieved from my heart to give such a +welcome as this to an old comrade, and still more to his wife." + +"What is to be done, then?" + +"You are to be confined to the ship until she sails, which will be in a +week at the furthest." + +"And then?" + +"You are to be carried home in her and handed over to the Governor of +Rochelle to be sent back to Paris. Those are Monsieur de Denonville's +orders, and if they be not carried out to the letter, then we shall have +the whole hornet's nest about our ears." + +De Catinat groaned as he listened. After all their strivings and trials +and efforts, to return to Paris, the scorn of his enemies, and an object +of pity to his friends, was too deep a humiliation. He flushed with +shame at the very thought. To be led back like the home-sick peasant +who has deserted from his regiment! Better one spring into the broad +blue river beneath him, were it not for little pale-faced Adele who had +none but him to look to. It was so tame! So ignominious! And yet in +this floating prison, with a woman whose fate was linked with his own, +what hope was there of escape? + +De Bonneville had left him, with a few blunt words of sympathy, but the +friar still paced the deck with a furtive glance at him from time to +time, and two soldiers who were stationed upon the poop passed and +repassed within a few yards of him. They had orders evidently to mark +his movements. Heart-sick he leaned over the side watching the Indians +in their paint and feathers shooting backwards and forwards in their +canoes, and staring across at the town where the gaunt gable ends of +houses and charred walls marked the effect of the terrible fire which a +few years before had completely destroyed the lower part. + +As he stood gazing, his attention was drawn away by the swish of oars, +and a large boat full of men passed immediately underneath where he +stood. + +It held the New Englanders, who were being conveyed to the ship which +was to take them home. There were the four seamen huddled together, and +there in the sheets were Captain Ephraim Savage and Amos Green, +conversing together and pointing to the shipping. The grizzled face of +the old Puritan and the bold features of the woodsman were turned more +than once in his direction, but no word of farewell and no kindly wave +of the hand came back to the lonely exile. They were so full of their +own future and their own happiness, that they had not a thought to spare +upon his misery. He could have borne anything from his enemies, but +this sudden neglect from his friends came too heavily after his other +troubles. He stooped his face to his arms and burst in an instant into +a passion of sobs. Before he raised his eyes again the brig had hoisted +her anchor, and was tacking under full canvas out of the Quebec basin. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +THE VOICE AT THE PORT-HOLE. + +That night old Theophile Catinat was buried from the ship's side, his +sole mourners the two who bore his own blood in their veins. The next +day De Catinat spent upon deck, amid the bustle and confusion of the +unlading, endeavouring to cheer Adele by light chatter which came from a +heavy heart. He pointed out to her the places which he had known so +well, the citadel where he had been quartered, the college of the +Jesuits, the cathedral of Bishop Laval, the magazine of the old company, +dismantled by the great fire, and the house of Aubert de la Chesnaye, +the only private one which had remained standing in the lower part. +From where they lay they could see not only the places of interest, but +something also of that motley population which made the town so +different to all others save only its younger sister, Montreal. Passing +and repassing along the steep path with the picket fence which connected +the two quarters, they saw the whole panorama of Canadian life moving +before their eyes, the soldiers with their slouched hats, their plumes, +and their bandoleers, habitants from the river _cotes_ in their rude +peasant dresses, little changed from their forefathers of Brittany or +Normandy, and young rufflers from France or from the seigneuries, who +cocked their hats and swaggered in what they thought to be the true +Versailles fashion. There, too, might be seen little knots of the men +of the woods, _coureurs-de-bois_ or _voyageurs_, with leathern hunting +tunics, fringed leggings, and fur cap with eagle feather, who came back +once a year to the cities, leaving their Indian wives and children in +some up-country wigwam. Redskins, too, were there, leather-faced +Algonquin fishers and hunters, wild Micmacs from the east, and savage +Abenakis from the south, while everywhere were the dark habits of the +Franciscans, and the black cassocks and broad hats of the Recollets, and +Jesuits, the moving spirits of the whole. + +Such were the folk who crowded the streets of the capital of this +strange offshoot of France which had been planted along the line of the +great river, a thousand leagues from the parent country. And it was a +singular settlement, the most singular perhaps that has ever been made. +For a long twelve hundred miles it extended, from Tadousac in the east, +away to the trading stations upon the borders of the great lakes, +limiting itself for the most part to narrow cultivated strips upon the +margins of the river, banked in behind by wild forests and unexplored +mountains, which forever tempted the peasant from his hoe and his plough +to the freer life of the paddle and the musket. Thin scattered +clearings, alternating with little palisaded clumps of log-hewn houses, +marked the line where civilisation was forcing itself in upon the huge +continent, and barely holding its own against the rigour of a northern +climate and the ferocity of merciless enemies. The whole white +population of this mighty district, including soldiers, priests, and +woodmen, with all women and children, was very far short of twenty +thousand souls, and yet so great was their energy, and such the +advantage of the central government under which they lived, that they +had left their trace upon the whole continent. When the prosperous +English settlers were content to live upon their acres, and when no axe +had rung upon the further side of the Alleghanies, the French had pushed +their daring pioneers, some in the black robe of the missionary, and +some in the fringed tunic of the hunter, to the uttermost ends of the +continent. They had mapped out the lakes and had bartered with the +fierce Sioux on the great plains where the wooden wigwam gave place to +the hide tee-pee. Marquette had followed the Illinois down to the +Mississippi, and had traced the course of the great river until, first +of all white men, he looked upon the turbid flood of the rushing +Missouri. La Salle had ventured even further, and had passed the Ohio, +and had made his way to the Mexican Gulf, raising the French arms where +the city of New Orleans was afterwards to stand. Others had pushed on +to the Rocky Mountains, and to the huge wilderness of the north-west, +preaching, bartering, cheating, baptising, swayed by many motives and +holding only in common a courage which never faltered and a fertility of +resource which took them in safety past every danger. Frenchmen were to +the north of the British settlements, Frenchmen were to the west of +them, and Frenchmen were to the south of them, and if all the continent +is not now French, the fault assuredly did not rest with that iron race +of early Canadians. + +All this De Catinat explained to Adele during the autumn day, trying to +draw her thoughts away from the troubles of the past, and from the long +dreary voyage which lay before her. She, fresh from the staid life of +the Parisian street and from the tame scenery of the Seine, gazed with +amazement at the river, the woods and the mountains, and clutched her +husband's arm in horror when a canoeful of wild skin-clad Algonquins, +their faces striped with white and red paint, came flying past with +the foam dashing from their paddles. Again the river turned from blue +to pink, again the old citadel was bathed in the evening glow, and again +the two exiles descended to their cabins with cheering words for each +other and heavy thoughts in their own hearts. + +De Catinat's bunk was next to a port-hole, and it was his custom to keep +this open, as the caboose was close to him in which the cooking was done +for the crew, and the air was hot and heavy. That night he found it +impossible to sleep, and he lay tossing under his blanket, thinking over +every possible means by which they might be able to get away from this +cursed ship. But even if they got away, where could they go to then? +All Canada was sealed to them. The woods to the south were full of +ferocious Indians. The English settlements would, it was true, grant +them freedom to use their own religion, but what would his wife and he +do, without a friend, strangers among folk who spoke another tongue? +Had Amos Green remained true to them, then, indeed, all would have been +well. But he had deserted them. Of course there was no reason why he +should not. He was no blood relation of theirs. He had already +benefited them many times. His own people and the life that he loved +were waiting for him at home. Why should he linger here for the sake of +folk whom he had known but a few months? It was not to be expected, and +yet De Catinat could not realise it, could not understand it. + +But what was that? Above the gentle lapping of the river he had +suddenly heard a sharp clear "Hist!" Perhaps it was some passing +boatman or Indian. Then it came again, that eager, urgent summons. +He sat up and stared about him. It certainly must have come from the +open port-hole. He looked out, but only to see the broad basin, with +the loom of the shipping, and the distant twinkle from the lights on +Point Levi. As his head dropped back upon the pillow something fell +upon his chest with a little tap, and rolling off, rattled along the +boards. He sprang up, caught a lantern from a hook, and flashed it upon +the floor. There was the missile which had struck him--a little golden +brooch. As he lifted it up and looked closer at it, a thrill passed +through him. It had been his own, and he had given it to Amos Green +upon the second day that he had met him, when they were starting +together for Versailles. + +This was a signal then, and Amos Green had not deserted them after all. +He dressed himself, all in a tremble with excitement, and went upon +deck. It was pitch dark, and he could see no one, but the sound of +regular footfalls somewhere in the fore part of the ship showed that the +sentinels were still there. The guardsman walked over to the side and +peered down into the darkness. He could see the loom of a boat. + +"Who is there?" he whispered. + +"Is that you, De Catinat? + +"Yes." + +"We have come for you." + +"God bless you, Amos." + +"Is your wife there?" + +"No, but I can rouse her." + +"Good! But first catch this cord. Now pull up the ladder!" + +De Catinat gripped the line which was thrown to him, and on drawing it +up found that it was attached to a rope ladder furnished at the top with +two steel hooks to catch on to the bulwarks. He placed them in +position, and then made his way very softly to the cabin amidships in +the ladies' quarters which had been allotted to his wife. She was the +only woman aboard the ship now, so that he was able to tap at her door +in safety, and to explain in a few words the need for haste and for +secrecy. In ten minutes Adele had dressed, and with her valuables in a +little bundle, had slipped out from her cabin. Together they made their +way upon deck once more, and crept aft under the shadow of the bulwarks. +They were almost there when De Catinat stopped suddenly and ground out +an oath through his clenched teeth. Between them and the rope ladder +there was standing in a dim patch of murky light the grim figure of a +Franciscan friar. He was peering through the darkness, his heavy cowl +shadowing his face, and he advanced slowly as if he had caught a glimpse +of them. A lantern hung from the mizzen shrouds above him. +He unfastened it and held it up to cast its light upon them. + +But De Catinat was not a man with whom it was safe to trifle. His life +had been one of quick resolve and prompt action. Was this vindictive +friar at the last moment to stand between him and freedom? It was a +dangerous position to take. The guardsman pulled Adele into the shadow +of the mast, and then, as the monk advanced, he sprang out upon him and +seized him by the gown. As he did so the other's cowl was pushed back, +and instead of the harsh features of the ecclesiastic, De Catinat saw +with amazement in the glimmer of the lantern the shrewd gray eyes and +strong tern face of Ephraim Savage. At the same instant another figure +appeared over the side, and the warm-hearted Frenchman threw himself +into the arms of Amos Green. + +"It's all right," said the young hunter, disengaging himself with some +embarrassment from the other's embrace. + +"We've got him in the boat with a buckskin glove jammed into his +gullet!" + +"Who then?" + +"The man whose cloak Captain Ephraim there has put round him. He came +on us when you were away rousing your lady, but we got him to be quiet +between us. Is the lady there?" + +"Here she is." + +"As quick as you can, then, for some one may come along." + +Adele was helped over the side, and seated in the stern of a birch-bark +canoe. The three men unhooked the ladder, and swung themselves down by +a rope, while two Indians, who held the paddles, pushed silently off +from the ship's side, and shot swiftly up the stream. A minute later a +dim loom behind them, and the glimmer of two yellow lights, was all that +they could see of the _St. Christophe_. + +"Take a paddle, Amos, and I'll take one," said Captain Savage, stripping +off his monk's gown. "I felt safer in this on the deck of yon ship, but +it don't help in a boat. I believe we might have fastened the hatches +and taken her, brass guns and all, had we been so minded." + +"And been hanged as pirates at the yard-arm next morning," said Amos. +"I think we have done better to take the honey and leave the tree. +I hope, madame, that all is well with you." + +"Nay, I can hardly understand what has happened, or where we are." + +"Nor can I, Amos." + +"Did you not expect us to come back for you, then?" + +"I did not know what to expect." + +"Well, now, but surely you could not think that we would leave you +without a word." + +"I confess that I was cut to the heart by it." + +"I feared that you were when I looked at you with the tail of my eye, +and saw you staring so blackly over the bulwarks at us. But if we had +been seen talking or planning they would have been upon our trail at +once. As it was they had not a thought of suspicion, save only this +fellow whom we have in the bottom of the boat here." + +"And what did you do?" + +"We left the brig last night, got ashore on the Beaupre side, arranged +for this canoe, and lay dark all day. Then to-night we got alongside +and I roused you easily, for I knew where you slept. The friar nearly +spoiled all when you were below, but we gagged him and passed him over +the side. Ephraim popped on his gown so that he might go forward to +help you without danger, for we were scared at the delay." + +"Ah! it is glorious to be free once more. What do I not owe you, Amos?" + +"Well, you looked after me when I was in your country, and I am going to +look after you now." + +"And where are we going?" + +"Ah! there you have me. It is this way or none, for we can't get down +to the sea. We must make our way over land as best we can, and we must +leave a good stretch between Quebec citadel and us before the day +breaks, for from what I hear they would rather have a Huguenot prisoner +than an Iroquois sagamore. By the eternal, I cannot see why they should +make such a fuss over how a man chooses to save his own soul, though +here is old Ephraim just as fierce upon the other side, so all the folly +is not one way." + +"What are you saying about me?" asked the seaman, pricking up his ears +at the mention of his own name. + +"Only that you are a good stiff old Protestant." + +"Yes, thank God. My motto is freedom to conscience, d'ye see, except +just for Quakers, and Papists, and--and I wouldn't stand Anne +Hutchinsons and women testifying, and suchlike foolishness." + +Amos Green laughed. "The Almighty seems to pass it over, so why should +you take it to heart?" said he. + +"Ah, you're young and callow yet. You'll live to know better. Why, I +shall hear you saying a good word soon even for such unclean spawn as +this," prodding the prostrate friar with the handle of his paddle. + +"I daresay he's a good man, accordin' to his lights." + +"And I daresay a shark is a good fish accordin' to its lights. No, lad, +you won't mix up light and dark for me in that sort of fashion. You may +talk until you unship your jaw, d'ye see, but you will never talk a foul +wind into a fair one. Pass over the pouch and the tinder-box, and maybe +our friend here will take a turn at my paddle." + +All night they toiled up the great river, straining every nerve to place +themselves beyond the reach of pursuit. By keeping well into the +southern bank, and so avoiding the force of the current, they sped +swiftly along, for both Amos and De Catinat were practised hands with +the paddle, and the two Indians worked as though they were wire and +whipcord instead of flesh and blood. An utter silence reigned over all +the broad stream, broken only by the lap-lap of the water against their +curving bow, the whirring of the night hawk above them, and the sharp +high barking of foxes away in the woods. When at last morning broke, +and the black shaded imperceptibly into gray, they were far out of sight +of the citadel and of all trace of man's handiwork. Virgin woods in +their wonderful many-coloured autumn dress flowed right down to the +river edge on either side, and in the centre was a little island with a +rim of yellow sand and an out-flame of scarlet tupelo and sumach in one +bright tangle of colour in the centre. + +"I've passed here before," said De Catinat. "I remember marking that +great maple with the blaze on its trunk, when last I went with the +governor to Montreal. That was in Frontenac's day, when the king was +first and the bishop second." + +The Redskins, who had sat like terra-cotta figures, without a trace of +expression upon their set hard faces, pricked up their ears at the sound +of that name. + +"My brother has spoken of the great Onontio," said one of them, glancing +round. "We have listened to the whistling of evil birds who tell us +that he will never come back to his children across the seas." + +"He is with the great white father," answered De Catinat. "I have +myself seen him in his council, and he will assuredly come across the +great water if his people have need of him." + +The Indian shook his shaven head. + +"The rutting month is past, my brother," said he, speaking in broken +French, "but ere the month of the bird-laying has come there will be no +white man upon this river save only behind stone walls." + +"What, then? We have heard little! Have the Iroquois broken out so +fiercely?" + +"My brother, they said they would eat up the Hurons, and where are the +Hurons now? They turned their faces upon the Eries, and where are the +Eries now? They went westward against the Illinois, and who can find an +Illinois village? They raised the hatchet against the Andastes, and +their name is blotted from the earth. And now they have danced a dance +and sung a song which will bring little good to my white brothers." + +"Where are they, then?" + +The Indian waved his hand along the whole southern and western horizon. + +"Where are they not? The woods are rustling with them. They are like a +fire among dry grass, so swift and so terrible!" + +"On my life," said De Catinat, "if these devils are indeed unchained, +they will need old Frontenac back if they are not to be swept into the +river." + +"Ay," said Amos, "I saw him once, when I was brought before him with the +others for trading on what he called French ground. His mouth set like +a skunk trap and he looked at us as if he would have liked our scalps +for his leggings. But I could see that he was a chief and a brave man." + +"He was an enemy of the Church, and the right hand of the foul fiend in +this country," said a voice from the bottom of the canoe. + +It was the friar who had succeeded in getting rid of the buckskin glove +and belt with which the two Americans had gagged him. He was lying +huddled up now glaring savagely at the party with his fiery dark eyes. + +"His jaw-tackle has come adrift," said the seaman. "Let me brace it up +again." + +"Nay, why should we take him farther?" asked Amos. "He is but weight +for us to carry, and I cannot see that we profit by his company. Let us +put him out." + +"Ay, sink or swim," cried old Ephraim with enthusiasm. + +"Nay, upon the bank." + +"And have him maybe in front of us warning the black jackets." + +"On that island, then." + +"Very good. He can hail the first of his folk who pass." + +They shot over to the island and landed the friar, who said nothing, but +cursed them with his eye. They left with him a small supply of biscuit +and of flour to last him until he should be picked up. Then, having +passed a bend in the river, they ran their canoe ashore in a little cove +where the whortleberry and cranberry bushes grew right down to the +water's edge, and the sward was bright with the white euphorbia, the +blue gentian, and the purple balm. There they laid out their small +stock of provisions, and ate a hearty breakfast while discussing what +their plans should be for the future. + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +THE INLAND WATERS. + +They were not badly provided for their journey. The captain of the +Gloucester brig in which the Americans had started from Quebec knew +Ephraim Savage well, as who did not upon the New England coast? He had +accepted his bill therefore at three months' date, at as high a rate of +interest as he could screw out of him, and he had let him have in return +three excellent guns, a good supply of ammunition, and enough money to +provide for all his wants. In this way he had hired the canoe and the +Indians, and had fitted her with meat and biscuit to last them for ten +days at the least. + +"It's like the breath of life to me to feel the heft of a gun and to +smell the trees round me," said Amos. "Why, it cannot be more than a +hundred leagues from here to Albany or Schenectady, right through the +forest." + +"Ay, lad, but how is the gal to walk a hundred leagues through a forest? +No, no, let us keep water under our keel, and lean on the Lord." + +"Then there is only one way for it. We must make the Richelieu River, +and keep right along to Lake Champlain and Lake St. Sacrament. There we +should be close by the headwaters of the Hudson." + +"It is a dangerous road," said De Catinat, who understood the +conversation of his companions, even when he was unable to join in it. +"We should need to skirt the country of the Mohawks." + +"It's the only way, I guess. It's that or nothing." + +"And I have a friend upon the Richelieu River who, I am sure, would help +us on our way," said De Catinat with a smile. "Adele, you have heard me +talk of Charles de la Noue, seigneur de Sainte Marie?" + +"He whom you used to call the Canadian duke, Amory?" + +"Precisely. His seigneury lies on the Richelieu, a little south of Fort +St. Louis, and I am sure that he would speed us upon our way." + +"Good!" cried Amos. "If we have a friend there we shall do well. +That clenches it then, and we shall hold fast by the river. Let's get +to our paddles then, for that friar will make mischief for us if he +can." + +And so for a long week the little party toiled up the great waterway, +keeping ever to the southern bank, where there were fewer clearings. +On both sides of the stream the woods were thick, but every here and +there they would curve away, and a narrow strip of cultivated land would +skirt the bank, with the yellow stubble to mark where the wheat had +grown. Adele looked with interest at the wooden houses with their +jutting stories and quaint gable-ends, at the solid, stone-built +manor-houses of the seigneurs, and at the mills in every hamlet, which +served the double purpose of grinding flour and of a loop-holed place of +retreat in case of attack. Horrible experience had taught the Canadians +what the English settlers had yet to learn, that in a land of savages it +is a folly to place isolated farmhouses in the centre of their own +fields. The clearings then radiated out from the villages, and every +cottage was built with an eye to the military necessities of the whole, +so that the defence might make a stand at all points, and might finally +centre upon the stone manor-house and the mill. Now at every bluff and +hill near the villages might be seen the gleam of the muskets of the +watchers, for it was known that the scalping parties of the Five Nations +were out, and none could tell where the blow would fall, save that it +must come where they were least prepared to meet it. + +Indeed, at every step in this country, whether the traveller were on the +St. Lawrence, or west upon the lakes, or down upon the banks of the +Mississippi, or south in the country of the Cherokees and of the Creeks, +he would still find the inhabitants in the same state of dreadful +expectancy, and from the same cause. The Iroquois, as they were named +by the French, or the Five Nations as they called themselves, hung like +a cloud over the whole great continent. Their confederation was a +natural one, for they were of the same stock and spoke the same +language, and all attempts to separate them had been in vain. Mohawks, +Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Senecas were each proud of their own +totems and their own chiefs, but in war they were Iroquois, and the +enemy of one was the enemy of all. Their numbers were small, for they +were never able to put two thousand warriors in the field, and their +country was limited, for their villages were scattered over the tract +which lies between Lake Champlain and Lake Ontario. But they were +united, they were cunning, they were desperately brave, and they were +fiercely aggressive and energetic. Holding a central position, they +struck out upon each side in turn, never content with simply defeating +an adversary, but absolutely annihilating and destroying him, while +holding all the others in check by their diplomacy. War was their +business, and cruelty their amusement. One by one they had turned their +arms against the various nations, until, for a space of over a thousand +square miles, none existed save by sufferance. They had swept away +Hurons and Huron missions in one fearful massacre. They had destroyed +the tribes of the north-west, until even the distant Sacs and Foxes +trembled at their name. They had scoured the whole country to westward +until their scalping parties had come into touch with their kinsmen the +Sioux, who were lords of the great plains, even as they were of the +great forests. The New England Indians in the east, and the Shawnees +and Delawares farther south, paid tribute to them, and the terror of +their arms had extended over the borders of Maryland and Virginia. +Never, perhaps, in the world's history has so small a body of men +dominated so large a district and for so long a time. + +For half a century these tribes had nursed a grudge wards the French +since Champlain and some of his followers had taken part with their +enemies against them. During all these years they had brooded in their +forest villages, flashing out now and again in some border outrage, but +waiting for the most part until their chance should come. And now it +seemed to them that it had come. They had destroyed all the tribes who +might have allied themselves with the white men. They had isolated +them. They had supplied themselves with good guns and plenty of +ammunition from the Dutch and English of New York. The long thin line +of French settlements lay naked before them. They were gathered in the +woods, like hounds in leash, waiting for the orders of their chiefs, +which should precipitate them with torch and with tomahawk upon the belt +of villages. + +Such was the situation as the little party of refugees paddled along the +bank of the river, seeking the only path which could lead them to peace +and to freedom. Yet it was, as they well knew, a dangerous road to +follow. All down the Richelieu River were the outposts and blockhouses +of the French, for when the feudal system was grafted upon Canada the +various seigneurs or native _noblesse_ were assigned their estates in +the positions which would be of most benefit to the settlement. Each +seigneur with his tenants under him, trained as they were in the use of +arms, formed a military force exactly as they had done in the middle +ages, the farmer holding his fief upon condition that he mustered when +called upon to do so. Hence the old officers of the regiment of +Carignan, and the more hardy of the settlers, had been placed along the +line of the Richelieu, which runs at right angles to the St. Lawrence +towards the Mohawk country. The blockhouses themselves might hold their +own, but to the little party who had to travel down from one to the +other the situation was full of deadly peril. It was true that the +Iroquois were not at war with the English, but they would discriminate +little when on the warpath, and the Americans, even had they wished to +do so, could not separate their fate from that of their two French +companions. + +As they ascended the St. Lawrence they met many canoes coming down. +Sometimes it was an officer or an official on his way to the capital +from Three Rivers or Montreal, sometimes it was a load of skins, with +Indians or _coureurs-de-bois_ conveying them down to be shipped to +Europe, and sometimes it was a small canoe which bore a sunburned +grizzly-haired man, with rusty weather-stained black cassock, who +zigzagged from bank to bank, stopping at every Indian hut upon his way. +If aught were amiss with the Church in Canada the fault lay not with men +like these village priests, who toiled and worked and spent their very +lives in bearing comfort and hope, and a little touch of refinement too, +through all those wilds. More than once these wayfarers wished to have +speech with the fugitives, but they pushed onwards, disregarding their +signs and hails. From below nothing overtook them, for they paddled +from early morning until late at night, drawing up the canoe when they +halted, and building a fire of dry wood, for already the nip of the +coming winter was in the air. + +It was not only the people and their dwellings which were stretched out +before the wondering eyes of the French girl as she sat day after day in +the stern of the canoe. Her husband and Amos Green taught her also to +take notice of the sights of the woodlands, and as they skirted the +bank, they pointed out a thousand things which her own senses would +never have discerned. Sometimes it was the furry face of a raccoon +peeping out from some tree-cleft, or an otter swimming under the +overhanging brushwood with the gleam of a white fish in its mouth. +Or, perhaps, it was the wild cat crouching along a branch with its +wicked yellow eyes fixed upon the squirrels which played at the farther +end, or else with a scuttle and rush the Canadian porcupine would thrust +its way among the yellow blossoms of the resin weed and the tangle of +the whortleberry bushes. She learned, too, to recognise the pert sharp +cry of the tiny chick-a-dee, the call of the blue-bird, and the flash of +its wings amid the foliage, the sweet chirpy note of the black and white +bobolink, and the long-drawn mewing of the cat-bird. On the breast of +the broad blue river, with Nature's sweet concert ever sounding from the +bank, and with every colour that artist could devise spread out before +her eyes on the foliage of the dying woods, the smile came back to her +lips, and her cheeks took a glow of health which France had never been +able to give. De Catinat saw the change in her, but her presence +weighed him down with fear, for he knew that while Nature had made these +woods a heaven, man had changed it into a hell, and that a nameless +horror lurked behind all the beauty of the fading leaves and of the +woodland flowers. Often as he lay at night beside the smouldering fire +upon his couch of spruce, and looked at the little figure muffled in the +blanket and slumbering peacefully by his side, he felt that he had no +right to expose her to such peril, and that in the morning they should +turn the canoe eastward again and take what fate might bring them at +Quebec. But ever with the daybreak there came the thought of the +humiliation, the dreary homeward voyage, the separation which would +await them in galley and dungeon, to turn him from his purpose. + +On the seventh day they rested at a point but a few miles from the mouth +of the Richelieu River, where a large blockhouse, Fort Richelieu, had +been built by M. de Saurel. Once past this they had no great distance +to go to reach the seigneury of De Catinat's friend of the _noblesse_ +who would help them upon their way. They had spent the night upon a +little island in midstream, and at early dawn they were about to thrust +the canoe out again from the sand-lined cove in which she lay, when +Ephraim Savage growled in his throat and pointed Out across the water. + +A large canoe was coming up the river, flying along as quick as a dozen +arms could drive it. In the stern sat a dark figure which bent forward +with every swing of the paddles, as though consumed by eagerness to push +onwards. Even at that distance there was no mistaking it. It was the +fanatical monk whom they had left behind them. + +Concealed among the brushwood, they watched their pursuers fly past and +vanish round a curve in the stream. Then they looked at one another in +perplexity. + +"We'd have done better either to put him overboard or to take him as +ballast," said Ephraim. "He's hull down in front of us now, and drawing +full." + +"Well, we can't take the back track anyhow," remarked Amos. + +"And yet how can we go on?" said De Catinat despondently. "This +vindictive devil will give word at the fort and at every other point +along the river. He has been back to Quebec. It is one of the +governor's own canoes, and goes three paces to our two." + +"Let me cipher it out." Amos Green sat on a fallen maple with his head +sunk upon his hands. "Well," said he presently, "if it's no good going +on, and no good going back, there's only one way, and that is to go to +one side. That's so, Ephraim, is it not?" + +"Ay, ay, lad, if you can't run you must tack, but it seems shoal water +on either bow." + +"We can't go to the north, so it follows that we must go to the south." + +"Leave the canoe?" + +"It's our only chance. We can cut through the woods and come out near +this friendly house on the Richelieu. The friar will lose our trail +then, and we'll have no more trouble with him, if he stays on the St. +Lawrence." + +"There's nothing else for it," said Captain Ephraim ruefully. "It's not +my way to go by land if I can get by water, and I have not been a fathom +deep in a wood since King Philip came down on the province, so you must +lay the course and keep her straight, Amos." + +"It is not far, and it will not take us long. Let us get over to the +southern bank and we shall make a start. If madame tires, De Catinat, +we shall take turns to carry her." + +"Ah, monsieur, you cannot think what a good walker I am. In this +splendid air one might go on forever." + +"We will cross then." + +In a very few minutes they were at the other side and had landed at the +edge of the forest. There the guns and ammunition were allotted to each +man, and his share of the provisions and of the scanty baggage. Then +having paid the Indians, and having instructed them to say nothing of +their movements, they turned their backs upon the river and plunged into +the silent woods. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + +THE HAIRLESS MAN. + +All day they pushed on through the woodlands, walking in single file, +Amos Green first, then the seaman, then the lady, and De Catinat +bringing up the rear. The young woodsman advanced cautiously, seeing +and hearing much that was lost to his companions, stopping continually +and examining the signs of leaf and moss and twig. Their route lay for +the most part through open glades amid a huge pine forest, with a green +sward beneath their feet, made beautiful by the white euphorbia, the +golden rod, and the purple aster. Sometimes, however, the great trunks +closed in upon them, and they had to grope their way in a dim twilight, +or push a path through the tangled brushwood of green sassafras or +scarlet sumach. And then again the woods would shred suddenly away in +front of them, and they would skirt marshes, overgrown with wild rice +and dotted with little dark clumps of alder bushes, or make their way +past silent woodland lakes, all streaked and barred with the tree +shadows which threw their crimsons and clarets and bronzes upon the +fringe of the deep blue sheet of water. There were streams, too, some +clear and rippling where the trout flashed and the king-fisher gleamed, +others dark and poisonous from the tamarack swamps, where the wanderers +had to wade over their knees and carry Adele in their arms. So all day +they journeyed 'mid the great forests, with never a hint or token of +their fellow-man. + +But if man were absent, there was at least no want of life. It buzzed +and chirped and chattered all round them from marsh and stream and +brushwood. Sometimes it was the dun coat of a deer which glanced +between the distant trunks, sometimes the badger which scuttled for its +hole at their approach. Once the long in-toed track of a bear lay +marked in the soft earth before them, and once Amos picked a great horn +from amid the bushes which some moose had shed the month before. +Little red squirrels danced and clattered above their heads, and every +oak was a choir with a hundred tiny voices piping from the shadow of its +foliage. As they passed the lakes the heavy gray stork flapped up in +front of them, and they saw the wild duck whirring off in a long V +against the blue sky, or heard the quavering cry of the loon from amid +the reeds. + +That night they slept in the woods, Amos Green lighting a dry wood fire +in a thick copse where at a dozen paces it was invisible. A few drops +of rain had fallen, so with the quick skill of the practised woodsman he +made two little sheds of elm and basswood bark, one to shelter the two +refugees, and the other for Ephraim and himself. He had shot a wild +goose, and this, with the remains of their biscuit, served them both for +supper and for breakfast. Next day at noon they passed a little +clearing, in the centre of which were the charred embers of a fire. +Amos spent half an hour in reading all that sticks and ground could tell +him. Then, as they resumed their way, he explained to his companions +that the fire had been lit three weeks before, that a white man and two +Indians had camped there, that they had been journeying from west to +east, and that one of the Indians had been a squaw. No other traces of +their fellow-mortals did they come across, until late in the afternoon +Amos halted suddenly in the heart of a thick grove, and raised his hand +to his ear. + +"Listen!" he cried. + +"I hear nothing," said Ephraim. + +"Nor I," added De Catinat. + +"Ah, but I do!" cried Adele gleefully. "It is a bell--and at the very +time of day when the bells all sound in Paris!" + +"You are right, madame. It is what they call the Angelus bell." + +"Ah, yes, I hear it now!" cried De Catinat. "It was drowned by the +chirping of the birds. But whence comes a bell in the heart of a +Canadian forest?" + +"We are near the settlements on the Richelieu. It must be the bell of +the chapel at the fort." + +"Fort St. Louis! Ah, then, we are no great way from my friend's +seigneury." + +"Then we may sleep there to-night, if you think that he is indeed to be +trusted." + +"Yes. He is a strange man, with ways of his own, but I would trust him +with my life." + +"Very good. We shall keep to the south of the fort and make for his +house. But something is putting up the birds over yonder. Ah, I hear +the sound of steps! Crouch down here among the sumach, until we see who +it is who walks so boldly through the woods." + +They stooped all four among the brushwood, peeping out between the tree +trunks at a little glade towards which Amos was looking. For a long +time the sound which the quick ears of the woodsman had detected was +inaudible to the others, but at last they too heard the sharp snapping +of twigs as some one forced his passage through the undergrowth. +A moment later a man pushed his way into the open, whose appearance was +so strange and so ill-suited to the spot, that even Amos gazed upon him +with amazement. + +He was a very small man, so dark and weather-stained that he might have +passed for an Indian were it not that he walked and was clad as no +Indian had ever been. He wore a broad-brimmed hat, frayed at the edges, +and so discoloured that it was hard to say what its original tint had +been. His dress was of skins, rudely cut and dangling loosely from his +body, and he wore the high boots of a dragoon, as tattered and stained +as the rest of his raiment. On his back he bore a huge bundle of canvas +with two long sticks projecting from it, and under each arm he carried +what appeared to be a large square painting. + +"He's no Injun," whispered Amos, "and he's no Woodsman either. +Blessed if I ever saw the match of him!" + +"He's neither _voyageur_, nor soldier, nor _coureur-de-bois_," said De +Catinat. + +"'Pears to me to have a jurymast rigged upon his back, and fore and main +staysails set under each of his arms," said Captain Ephraim. + +"Well, he seems to have no consorts, so we may hail him without fear." + +They rose from their ambush, and as they did so the stranger caught +sight of them. Instead of showing the uneasiness which any man might be +expected to feel at suddenly finding himself in the presence of +strangers in such a country, he promptly altered his course and came +towards them. As he crossed the glade, however, the sounds of the +distant bell fell upon his ears, and he instantly whipped off his hat +and sunk his head in prayer. A cry of horror rose, not only from Adele +but from everyone of the party, at the sight which met their eyes. + +The top of the man's head was gone. Not a vestige of hair or of white +skin remained, but in place of it was a dreadful crinkled discoloured +surface with a sharp red line running across his brow and round over his +ears. + +"By the eternal!" cried Amos, "the man has lost his scalp!" + +"My God!" said De Catinat. "Look at his hands!" + +He had raised them in prayer. Two or three little stumps projecting +upwards showed where the fingers had been. + +"I've seen some queer figure-heads in my life, but never one like that," +said Captain Ephraim. + +It was indeed a most extraordinary face which confronted them as they +advanced. It was that of a man who might have been of any age and of +any nation, for the features were so distorted that nothing could be +learned from them. One eyelid was drooping with a puckering and +flatness which showed that the ball was gone. The other, however, shot +as bright and merry and kindly a glance as ever came from a chosen +favourite of fortune. His face was flecked over with peculiar brown +spots which had a most hideous appearance, and his nose had been burst +and shattered by some terrific blow. And yet, in spite of this dreadful +appearance, there was something so noble in the carriage of the man, in +the pose of his head and in the expression which still hung, like the +scent from a crushed flower, round his distorted features, that even the +blunt Puritan seaman was awed by it. + +"Good-evening, my children," said the stranger, picking up his pictures +again and advancing towards them. "I presume that you are from the +fort, though I may be permitted to observe that the woods are not very +safe for ladies at present." + +"We are going to the manor-house of Charles de la Noue at Sainte Marie," +said De Catinat, "and we hope soon to be in a place of safety. But I +grieve, sir, to see how terribly you have been mishandled." + +"Ah, you have observed my little injuries, then! They know no better, +poor souls. They are but mischievous children--merry-hearted but +mischievous. Tut, tut, it is laughable indeed that a man's vile body +should ever clog his spirit, and yet here am I full of the will to push +forward, and yet I must even seat myself on this log and rest myself, +for the rogues have blown the calves of my legs off." + +"My God! Blown them off! The devils!" + +"Ah, but they are not to be blamed. No, no, it would be uncharitable to +blame them. They are ignorant poor folk, and the prince of darkness is +behind them to urge them on. They sank little charges of powder into my +legs and then they exploded them, which makes me a slower walker than +ever, though I was never very brisk. 'The Snail' was what I was called +at school in Tours, yes, and afterwards at the seminary I was always +'the Snail.'" + +"Who are you then, sir, and who is it who has used you so shamefully?" +asked De Catinat. + +"Oh, I am a very humble person. I am Ignatius Morat, of the Society of +Jesus, and as to the people who have used me a little roughly, why, if +you are sent upon the Iroquois mission, of course you know what to +expect. I have nothing at all to complain of. Why, they have used me +very much better than they did Father Jogues, Father Breboeuf, and a +good many others whom I could mention. There were times, it is true, +when I was quite hopeful of martyrdom, especially when they thought my +tonsure was too small, which was their merry way of putting it. But I +suppose I was not worthy of it; indeed I know that I was not, so it only +ended in just a little roughness." + +"Where are you going then?" asked Amos, who had listened in amazement to +the man's words. + +"I am going to Quebec. You see I am such a useless person that, until I +have seen the bishop, I can really do no good at all." + +"You mean that you will resign your mission into the bishop's hands?" +said De Catinat. + +"Oh, no. That would be quite the sort of thing which I should do if I +were left to myself, for it is incredible how cowardly I am. You would +not think it possible that a priest of God could be so frightened as I +am sometimes. The mere sight of a fire makes me shrink all into myself +ever since I went through the ordeal of the lighted pine splinters, +which have left all these ugly stains upon my face. But then, of +course, there is the Order to be thought of, and members of the Order do +not leave their posts for trifling causes. But it is against the rules +of Holy Church that a maimed man should perform the rites, and so, until +I have seen the bishop and had his dispensation, I shall be even more +useless than ever." + +"And what will you do then?" + +"Oh, then, of course, I will go back to my flock." + +"To the Iroquois!" + +"That is where I am stationed." + +"Amos," said De Catinat, "I have spent my life among brave men, but I +think that this is the bravest man that I have ever met!" + +"On my word," said Amos, "I have seen some good men, too, but never one +that I thought was better than this. You are weary, father. Have some +of our cold goose, and there is still a drop of cognac in my flask." + +"Tut, tut, my son, if I take anything but the very simplest living it +makes me so lazy that I become a snail indeed." + +"But you have no gun and no food. How do you live?" + +"Oh, the good God has placed plenty of food in these forests for a +traveller who dare not eat very much. I have had wild plums, and wild +grapes, and nuts and cranberries, and a nice little dish of +_tripe-de-mere_ from the rocks." + +The woodsman made a wry face at the mention of this delicacy. + +"I had as soon eat a pot of glue," said he. "But what is this which you +carry on your back?" + +"It is my church. Ah, I have everything here, tent, altar, surplice, +everything. I cannot venture to celebrate service myself without the +dispensation, but surely this venerable man is himself in orders and +will solemnise the most blessed function." + +Amos, with a sly twinkle of the eyes, translated the proposal to +Ephraim, who stood with his huge red hands clenched, mumbling about the +saltless pottage of papacy. De Catinat replied briefly, however, that +they were all of the laity, and that if they were to reach their +destination before nightfall, it was necessary that they should push on. + +"You are right, my son," said the little Jesuit. "These poor people +have already left their villages, and in a few days the woods will be +full of them, though I do not think that any have crossed the Richelieu +yet. There is one thing, however, which I would have you do for me." + +"And what is that?" + +"It is but to remember that I have left with Father Lamberville at +Onondaga the dictionary which I have made of the Iroquois and French +languages. There also is my account of the copper mines of the Great +Lakes which I visited two years ago, and also an orrery which I have +made to show the northern heavens with the stars of each month as they +are seen from this meridian. If aught were to go amiss with Father +Lamberville or with me, and we do not live very long on the Iroquois +mission, it would be well that some one else should profit from my +work." + +"I will tell my friend to-night. But what are these great pictures, +father, and why do you bear them through the wood?" He turned them over +as he spoke, and the whole party gathered round them, staring in +amazement. + +They were very rough daubs, crudely coloured and gaudy. In the first, a +red man was reposing serenely upon what appeared to be a range of +mountains, with a musical instrument in his hand, a crown upon his head, +and a smile upon his face. In the second, a similar man was screaming +at the pitch of his lungs, while half-a-dozen black creatures were +battering him with poles and prodding him with lances. + +"It is a damned soul and a saved soul," said Father Ignatius Morat, +looking at his pictures with some satisfaction. "These are clouds upon +which the blessed spirit reclines, basking in all the joys of paradise. +It is well done this picture, but it has had no good effect, because +there are no beaver in it, and they have not painted in a tobacco-pipe. +You see they have little reason, these poor folk, and so we have to +teach them as best we can through their eyes and their foolish senses. +This other is better. It has converted several squaws and more than one +Indian. I shall not bring back the saved soul when I come in the +spring, but I shall bring five damned souls, which will be one for each +nation. We must fight Satan with such weapons as we can get, you see. +And now, my children, if you must go, let me first call down a blessing +upon you!" + +And then occurred a strange thing, for the beauty of this man's soul +shone through all the wretched clouds of sect, and, as he raised his +hand to bless them, down went those Protestant knees to earth, and even +old Ephraim found himself with a softened heart and a bent head +listening to the half-understood words of this crippled, half-blinded, +little stranger. + +"Farewell, then," said he, when they had risen. "May the sunshine of +Saint Eulalie be upon you, and may Saint Anne of Beaupre shield you at +the moment of your danger." + +And so they left him, a grotesque and yet heroic figure, staggering +along through the woods with his tent, his pictures, and his mutilation. +If the Church of Rome should ever be wrecked it may come from her +weakness in high places, where all Churches are at their weakest, or it +may be because with what is very narrow she tries to explain that which +is very broad, but assuredly it will never be through the fault of her +rank and file, for never upon earth have men and women spent +themselves more lavishly and more splendidly than in her service. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + +THE LORD OF SAINTE MARIE. + +Leaving Fort St. Louis, whence the bells had sounded, upon their right, +they pushed onwards as swiftly as they could, for the sun was so low in +the heavens that the bushes in the clearings threw shadows like trees. +Then suddenly, as they peered in front of them between the trunks, the +green of the sward turned to the blue of the water, and they saw a broad +river running swiftly before them. In France it would have seemed a +mighty stream, but, coming fresh from the vastness of the St. Lawrence, +their eyes were used to great sheets of water. But Amos and De Catinat +had both been upon the bosom of the Richelieu before, and their hearts +bounded as they looked upon it, for they knew that this was the straight +path which led them, the one to home, and the other to peace and +freedom. A few days' journeying down there, a few more along the lovely +island-studded lakes of Champlain and Saint Sacrament, under the shadow +of the tree-clad Adirondacks, and they would be at the headquarters of +the Hudson, and their toils and their dangers be but a thing of gossip +for the winter evenings. + +Across the river was the terrible Iroquois country, and at two points +they could see the smoke of fires curling up into the evening air. +They had the Jesuit's word for it that none of the war-parties had +crossed yet, so they followed the track which led down the eastern bank. +As they pushed onwards, however, a stern military challenge suddenly +brought them to a stand, and they saw the gleam of two musket barrels +which covered them from a thicket overlooking the path. + +"We are friends," cried De Catinat. + +"Whence come you, then?" asked an invisible sentinel. + +"From Quebec." + +"And whither are you going?" + +"To visit Monsieur Charles de la Noue, seigneur of Sainte Marie." + +"Very good. It is quite safe, Du Lhut. They have a lady with them, +too. I greet you, madame, in the name of my father." + +Two men had emerged from the bushes, one of whom might have passed as a +full-blooded Indian, had it not been for these courteous words which he +uttered in excellent French. He was a tall slight young man, very dark, +with piercing black eyes, and a grim square relentless mouth which could +only have come with Indian descent. His coarse flowing hair was +gathered up into a scalp-lock, and the eagle feather which he wore in it +was his only headgear. A rude suit of fringed hide with caribou-skin +mocassins might have been the fellow to the one which Amos Green was +wearing, but the gleam of a gold chain from his belt, the sparkle of a +costly ring upon his finger, and the delicate richly-inlaid musket which +he carried, all gave a touch of grace to his equipment. A broad band of +yellow ochre across his forehead and a tomahawk at his belt added to the +strange inconsistency of his appearance. + +The other was undoubtedly a pure Frenchman, elderly, dark and wiry, with +a bristling black beard and a fierce eager face. He, too, was clad in +hunter's dress, but he wore a gaudy striped sash round his waist, into +which a brace of long pistols had been thrust. His buckskin tunic had +been ornamented over the front with dyed porcupine quills and Indian +bead-work, while his leggings were scarlet with a fringe of raccoon +tails hanging down from them. Leaning upon his long brown gun he stood +watching the party, while his companion advanced towards them. + +"You will excuse our precautions," said he. "We never know what device +these rascals may adopt to entrap us. I fear, madame, that you have had +a long and very tiring journey." + +Poor Adele, who had been famed for neatness even among housekeepers of +the Rue St. Martin, hardly dared to look down at her own stained and +tattered dress. Fatigue and danger she had endured with a smiling face, +but her patience almost gave way at the thought of facing strangers in +this attire. + +"My mother will be very glad to welcome you, and to see to every want," +said he quickly, as though he had read her thoughts. "But you, sir, I +have surely seen you before." + +"And I you," cried the guardsman. "My name is Amory de Catinat, once of +the regiment of Picardy. Surely you are Achille de la Noue de Sainte +Marie, whom I remember when you came with your father to the government +_levees_ at Quebec." + +"Yes, it is I," the young man answered, holding out his hand and smiling +in a somewhat constrained fashion. "I do not wonder that you should +hesitate, for when you saw me last I was in a very different dress to +this." + +De Catinat did indeed remember him as one of the band of the young +_noblesse_ who used to come up to the capital once a year, where they +inquired about the latest modes, chatted over the year-old gossip of +Versailles, and for a few weeks at least lived a life which was in +keeping with the traditions of their order. Very different was he now, +with scalp-lock and war-paint, under the shadow of the great oaks, his +musket in his hand and his tomahawk at his belt. + +"We have one life for the forest and one for the cities," said he, +"though indeed my good father will not have it so, and carries +Versailles with him wherever he goes. You know him of old, monsieur, +and I need not explain my words. But it is time for our relief, and so +we may guide you home." + +Two men in the rude dress of Canadian _censitaires_ or farmers, but +carrying their muskets in a fashion which told De Catinat's trained +senses that they were disciplined soldiers, had suddenly appeared upon +the scene. Young De la Noue gave them a few curt injunctions, and then +accompanied the refugees along the path. + +"You may not know my friend here," said he, pointing to the other +sentinel, "but I am quite sure that his name is not unfamiliar to you. +This is Greysolon du Lhut." + +Both Amos and De Catinat looked with the deepest curiosity and interest +at the famous leader of _coureurs-de-bois_, a man whose whole life had +been spent in pushing westward, ever westward, saying little, writing +nothing, but always the first wherever there was danger to meet or +difficulty to overcome. It was not religion and it was not hope of gain +which led him away into those western wildernesses, but pure love of +nature and of adventure, with so little ambition that he had never cared +to describe his own travels, and none knew where he had been or where he +had stopped. For years he would vanish from the settlements away into +the vast plains of the Dacotah, or into the huge wilderness of the +north-west, and then at last some day would walk back into Sault La +Marie, or any other outpost of civilisation, a little leaner, a little +browner, and as taciturn as ever. Indians from the furthest corners of +the continent knew him as they knew their own sachem. He could raise +tribes and bring a thousand painted cannibals to the help of the French +who spoke a tongue which none knew, and came from the shores of rivers +which no one else had visited. The most daring French explorers, when, +after a thousand dangers, they had reached some country which they +believed to be new, were as likely as not to find Du Lhut sitting by his +camp fire there, some new squaw by his side, and his pipe between his +teeth. Or again, when in doubt and danger, with no friends within a +thousand miles, the traveller might suddenly meet this silent man, with +one or two tattered wanderers of his own kidney, who would help him from +his peril, and then vanish as unexpectedly as he came. Such was the man +who now walked by their sides along the bank of the Richelieu, and both +Amos and De Catinat knew that his presence there had a sinister meaning, +and that the place which Greysolon du Lhut had chosen was the place +where the danger threatened. + +"What do you think of those fires over yonder, Du Lhut?" asked young De +la Noue. + +The adventurer was stuffing his pipe with rank Indian tobacco, which he +pared from a plug with a scalping knife. He glanced over at the two +little plumes of smoke which stood straight up against the red evening +sky. + +"I don't like them," said he. + +"They are Iroquois then?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, at least it proves that they are on the other side of the river." + +"It proves that they are on this side." + +"What!" + +Du Lhut lit his pipe from a tinder paper. "The Iroquois are on this +side," said he. "They crossed to the south of us." + +"And you never told us. How do you know that they crossed, and why +did you not tell us?" + +"I did not know until I saw the fires over yonder." + +"And how did they tell you?" + +"Tut, an Indian papoose could have told," said Du Lhut impatiently. +"Iroquois on the trail do nothing without an object. They have an +object then in showing that smoke. If their war-parties were over +yonder there would be no object. Therefore their braves must have +crossed the river. And they could not get over to the north without +being seen from the fort. They have got over on the south then." + +Amos nodded with intense appreciation. "That's it!" said he, "that's +Injun ways. I'll lay that he is right." + +"Then they may be in the woods round us. We may be in danger," cried De +la Noue. + +Du Lhut nodded and sucked at his pipe. + +De Catinat cast a glance round him at the grand tree trunks, the fading +foliage, the smooth sward underneath with the long evening shadows +barred across it. How difficult it was to realise that behind all this +beauty there lurked a danger so deadly and horrible that a man alone +might well shrink from it, far less one who had the woman whom he loved +walking within hand's touch of him. It was with a long heart-felt sigh +of relief that he saw a wall of stockade in the midst of a large +clearing in front of him, with the stone manor house rising above it. +In a line from the stockade were a dozen cottages with cedar-shingled +roofs turned up in the Norman fashion, in which dwelt the habitants +under the protection of the seigneur's chateau--a strange little graft +of the feudal system in the heart of an American forest. Above the main +gate as they approached was a huge shield of wood with a coat of arms +painted upon it, a silver ground with a chevron ermine between three +coronets gules. At either corner a small brass cannon peeped through an +embrasure. As they passed the gate the guard inside closed it and +placed the huge wooden bars into position. A little crowd of men, +women, and children were gathered round the door of the chateau, and a +man appeared to be seated on a high-backed chair upon the threshold. + +"You know my father," said the young man with a shrug of his shoulders. +"He will have it that he has never left his Norman castle, and that he +is still the Seigneur de la Noue, the greatest man within a day's ride +of Rouen, and of the richest blood of Normandy. He is now taking his +dues and his yearly oaths from his tenants, and he would not think it +becoming, if the governor himself were to visit him, to pause in the +middle of so august a ceremony. But if it would interest you, you may +step this way and wait until he has finished. You, madame, I will take +at once to my mother, if you will be so kind as to follow me." + +The sight was, to the Americans at least, a novel one. A triple row of +men, women, and children were standing round in a semicircle, the men +rough and sunburned, the women homely and clean, with white caps upon +their heads, the children open-mouthed and round-eyed, awed into an +unusual quiet by the reverent bearing of their elders. In the centre, +on his high-backed carved chair, there sat an elderly man very stiff and +erect, with an exceedingly solemn face. He was a fine figure of a man, +tall and broad, with large strong features, clean-shaven and +deeply-lined, a huge beak of a nose, and strong shaggy eyebrows which +arched right up to the great wig, which he wore full and long as it had +been worn in France in his youth. On his wig was placed a white hat +cocked jauntily at one side with a red feather streaming round it, and +he wore a coat of cinnamon-coloured cloth with silver at the neck and +pockets, which was still very handsome, though it bore signs of having +been frayed and mended more than once. This, with black velvet +knee-breeches and high well-polished boots, made a costume such as De +Catinat had never before seen in the wilds of Canada. + +As they watched, a rude husbandman walked forwards from the crowd, and +kneeling down upon a square of carpet placed his hands between those of +the seigneur. + +"Monsieur de Sainte Marie, Monsieur de Sainte Marie, Monsieur de Sainte +Marie," said he three times, "I bring you the faith and homage which I +am bound to bring you on account of my fief Herbert, which I hold as a +man of faith of your seigneury." + +"Be true, my son. Be valiant and true!" said the old nobleman solemnly, +and then with a sudden change of tone: "What in the name of the devil +has your daughter got there?" + +A girl had advanced from the crowd with a large strip of bark in front +of her on which was heaped a pile of dead fish. + +"It is your eleventh fish which I am bound by my oath to render to you," +said the _censitaire_. "There are seventy-three in the heap, and I have +caught eight hundred in the month." + +"_Peste!_" cried the nobleman. "Do you think, Andre Dubois, that I will +disorder my health by eating three-and-seventy fish in this fashion? +Do you think that I and my body-servants and my personal retainers and +the other members of my household have nothing to do but to eat your +fish? In future, you will pay your tribute not more than five at a +time. Where is the major-domo? Theuriet, remove the fish to our +central store-house, and be careful that the smell does not penetrate to +the blue tapestry chamber or to my lady's suite." + +A man in very shabby black livery, all stained and faded, advanced with +a large tin platter and carried off the pile of white fish. Then, as +each of the tenants stepped forward to pay their old-world homage, they +all left some share of their industry for their lord's maintenance. +With some it was a bundle of wheat, with some a barrel of potatoes, +while others had brought skins of deer or of beaver. All these were +carried off by the major-domo, until each had paid his tribute, and the +singular ceremony was brought to a conclusion. As the seigneur rose, +his son, who had returned, took De Catinat by the sleeve and led him +through the throng. + +"Father," said he, "this is Monsieur de Catinat, whom you may remember +some years ago at Quebec." + +The seigneur bowed with much condescension, and shook the guardsman by +the hand. + +"You are extremely welcome to my estates, both you and your +body-servants--" + +"They are my friends, monsieur. This is Monsieur Amos Green and Captain +Ephraim Savage. My wife is travelling with me, but your courteous son +has kindly taken her to your lady." + +"I am honoured--honoured indeed!" cried the old man, with a bow and a +flourish. "I remember you very well, sir, for it is not so common to +meet men of quality in this country. I remember your father also, for +he served with me at Rocroy, though he was in the Foot, and I in the Red +Dragoons of Grissot. Your arms are a martlet in fess upon a field +azure, and now that I think of it, the second daughter of your +great-grand-father married the son of one of the La Noues of Andelys, +which is one of our cadet branches. Kinsman, you are welcome!" +He threw his arms suddenly round De Catinat and slapped him three times +on the back. + +The young guardsman was only too delighted to find himself admitted to +such an intimacy. + +"I will not intrude long upon your hospitality," said he. "We are +journeying down to Lake Champlain, and we hope in a day or two to be +ready to go on." + +"A suite of rooms shall be laid at your disposal as long as you do me +the honour to remain here. _Peste!_ It is not every day that I can open +my gates to a man with good blood in his veins! Ah, sir, that is what I +feel most in my exile, for who is there with whom I can talk as equal to +equal? There is the governor, the intendant, perhaps, one or two +priests, three or four officers, but how many of the _noblesse_? +Scarcely one. They buy their titles over here as they buy their pelts, +and it is better to have a canoe-load of beaver skins than a pedigree +from Roland. But I forget my duties. You are weary and hungry, you and +your friends. Come up with me to the tapestried _salon_, and we shall +see if my stewards can find anything for your refreshment. You play +piquet, if I remember right? Ah, my skill is leaving me, and I should +be glad to try a hand with you." + +The manor-house was high and strong, built of gray stone in a framework +of wood. The large iron-clamped door through which they entered was +pierced for musketry fire, and led into a succession of cellars and +store-houses in which the beets, carrots, potatoes, cabbages, cured +meat, dried eels, and other winter supplies were placed. A winding +stone staircase led them through a huge kitchen, flagged and lofty, from +which branched the rooms of the servants or retainers as the old +nobleman preferred to call them. Above this again was the principal +suite, centering in the dining-hall with its huge fireplace and rude +home-made furniture. Rich rugs formed of bear or deer-skin were +littered thickly over the brown-stained floor, and antlered heads +bristled out from among the rows of muskets which were arranged along +the wall. A broad rough-hewn maple table ran down the centre of this +apartment, and on this there was soon set a venison pie, a side of +calvered salmon, and a huge cranberry tart, to which the hungry +travellers did full justice. The seigneur explained that he had already +supped, but having allowed himself to be persuaded into joining them, he +ended by eating more than Ephraim Savage, drinking more than Du Lhut, +and finally by singing a very amorous little French _chanson_ with a +tra-le-ra chorus, the words of which, fortunately for the peace of the +company, were entirely unintelligible to the Bostonian. + +"Madame is taking her refection in my lady's boudoir," he remarked, when +the dishes had been removed. "You may bring up a bottle of Frontiniac +from bin thirteen, Theuriet. Oh, you will see, gentlemen, that even in +the wilds we have a little, a very little, which is perhaps not +altogether bad. And so you come from Versailles, De Catinat? It was +built since my day, but how I remember the old life of the court at St. +Germain, before Louis turned serious! Ah, what innocent happy days they +were when Madame de Nevailles had to bar the windows of the maids of +honour to keep out the king, and we all turned out eight deep on to the +grass plot for our morning duel! By Saint Denis, I have not quite +forgotten the trick of the wrist yet, and, old as I am, I should be none +the worse for a little breather." He strutted in his stately fashion +over to where a rapier and dagger hung upon the wall, and began to make +passes at the door, darting in and out, warding off imaginary blows with +his poniard, and stamping his feet with little cries of "Punto! reverso! +stoccata! dritta! mandritta!" and all the jargon of the fencing schools. +Finally he rejoined them, breathing heavily and with his wig awry. + +"That was our old exercise," said he. "Doubtless you young bloods have +improved upon it, and yet it was good enough for the Spaniards at Rocroy +and at one or two other places which I could mention. But they still +see life at the court, I understand. There are still love passages and +blood lettings. How has Lauzun prospered in his wooing of Mademoiselle +de Montpensier? Was it proved that Madame de Clermont had bought a +phial from Le Vie, the poison woman, two days before the soup disagreed +so violently with monsieur? What did the Due de Biron do when his +nephew ran away with the duchess? Is it true that he raised his +allowance to fifty thousand livres for having done it?" Such were the +two-year-old questions which had not been answered yet upon the banks of +the Richelieu River. Long into the hours of the night, when his +comrades were already snoring under their blankets, De Catinat, blinking +and yawning, was still engaged in trying to satisfy the curiosity of the +old courtier, and to bring him up to date in all the most minute gossip +of Versailles. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + +THE SLAYING OF BROWN MOOSE. + +Two days were spent by the travellers at the seigneury of Sainte Marie, +and they would very willingly have spent longer, for the quarters were +comfortable and the welcome warm, but already the reds of autumn were +turning to brown, and they knew how suddenly the ice and snow come in +those northern lands, and how impossible it would be to finish their +journey if winter were once fairly upon them. The old nobleman had sent +his scouts by land and by water, but there were no signs of the Iroquois +upon the eastern banks, so that it was clear that De Lhut had been +mistaken. Over on the other side, however, the high gray plumes of +smoke still streamed up above the trees as a sign that their enemies +were not very far off. All day from the manor-house windows and from +the stockade they could see those danger signals which reminded them +that a horrible death lurked ever at their elbow. + +The refugees were rested now and refreshed, and of one mind about +pushing on. + +"If the snow comes, it will be a thousand times more dangerous," said +Amos, "for we shall leave a track then that a papoose could follow." + +"And why should we fear?" urged old Ephraim. + +"Truly this is a desert of salt, even though it lead to the vale of +Hinnom, but we shall be borne up against these sons of Jeroboam. +Steer a straight course, lad, and jam your helm, for the pilot will see +you safe." + +"And I am not frightened, Amory, and I am quite rested now," said Adele. +"We shall be so much more happy when we are in the English Provinces, +for even now, how do we know that that dreadful monk may not come with +orders to drag us back to Quebec and Paris?" + +It was indeed very possible that the vindictive Franciscan, when +satisfied that they had not ascended to Montreal, or remained at Three +Rivers, might seek them on the banks of the Richelieu. When De Catinat +thought of how he passed them in his great canoe that morning, his eager +face protruded, and his dark body swinging in time to the paddles, he +felt that the danger which his wife suggested was not only possible but +imminent. The seigneur was his friend, but the seigneur could not +disobey the governor's orders. A great hand, stretching all the way +from Versailles, seemed to hang over them, even here in the heart of the +virgin forest, ready to snatch them up and carry them back into +degradation and misery. Better all the perils of the woods than that! + +But the seigneur and his son, who knew nothing of their pressing reasons +for haste, were strenuous in urging De Catinat the other way, and in +this they were supported by the silent Du Lhut, whose few muttered words +were always more weighty than the longest speech, for he never spoke +save about that of which he was a master. + +"You have seen my little place," said the old nobleman, with a wave of +his beruffled ring-covered hand. "It is not what I should wish it, but +such as it is, it is most heartily yours for the winter, if you and your +comrades would honour me by remaining. As to madame, I doubt not that +my own dame and she will find plenty to amuse and occupy them, which +reminds me, De Catinat, that you have not yet been presented. Theuriet, +go to your mistress and inform her that I request her to be so good as +to come to us in the hall of the dais." + +De Catinat was too seasoned to be easily startled, but he was somewhat +taken aback when the lady, to whom the old nobleman always referred in +terms of exaggerated respect, proved to be as like a full-blooded Indian +squaw as the hall of the dais was to a French barn. She was dressed, it +was true, in a bodice of scarlet taffeta with a black skirt, +silver-buckled shoes, and a scented pomander ball dangling by a silver +chain from her girdle, but her face was of the colour of the bark of the +Scotch fir, while her strong nose and harsh mouth, with the two plaits +of coarse black hair which dangled down her back, left no possible doubt +as to her origin. + +"Allow me to present you, Monsieur de Catinat," said the Seigneur de +Sainte Marie solemnly, "to my wife, Onega de la Noue de Sainte Marie, +chatelaine by right of marriage to this seigneury, and also to the +Chateau d'Andelys in Normandy, and to the estate of Varennes in +Provence, while retaining in her own right the hereditary chieftainship +on the distaff side of the nation of the Onondagas. My angel, I have +been endeavouring to persuade our friends to remain with us at Sainte +Marie instead of journeying on to Lake Champlain." + +"At least leave your White Lily at Sainte Marie," said the dusky +princess, speaking in excellent French, and clasping with her ruddy +fingers the ivory hand of Adele. "We will hold her safe for you until +the ice softens, and the leaves and the partridge berries come once +more. I know my people, monsieur, and I tell you that the woods are +full of murder, and that it is not for nothing that the leaves are the +colour of blood, for death lurks behind every tree." + +De Catinat was more moved by the impressive manner of his hostess than +by any of the other warnings which he had received. Surely she, if +anyone, must be able to read the signs of the times. + +"I know not what to do!" he cried in despair. "I must go on, and yet +how can I expose her to these perils? I would fain stay the winter, but +you must take my word for it, sir, that it is not possible." + +"Du Lhut, you know how things should be ordered," said the seigneur. +"What should you advise my friend to do, since he is so set upon getting +to the English Provinces before the winter comes?" + +The dark silent pioneer stroked his beard with his hand as he pondered +over the question. + +"There is but one way," said he at last, "though even in it there is +danger. The woods are safer than the river, for the reeds are full of +_cached_ canoes. Five leagues from here is the blockhouse of Poitou, +and fifteen miles beyond, that of Auvergne. We will go to-morrow to +Poitou through the woods and see if all be safe. I will go with you, +and I give you my word that if the Iroquois are there, Greysolon du Lhut +will know it. The lady we shall leave here, and if we find that all is +safe we shall come back for her. Then in the same fashion we shall +advance to Auvergne, and there you must wait until you hear where their +war-parties are. It is in my mind that it will not be very long before +we know." + +"What! You would part us!" cried Adele aghast. + +"It is best, my sister," said Onega, passing her arm caressingly round +her. "You cannot know the danger, but we know it, and we will not let +our White Lily run into it. You will stay here to gladden us, while the +great chief Du Lhut, and the French soldier, your husband, and the old +warrior who seems so wary, and the other chief with limbs like the wild +deer, go forward through the woods and see that all is well before you +venture." + +And so it was at last agreed, and Adele, still protesting, was consigned +to the care of the lady of Sainte Marie, while De Catinat swore that +without a pause he would return from Poitou to fetch her. The old +nobleman and his son would fain have joined them in their adventure, but +they had their own charge to watch and the lives of many in their +keeping, while a small party were safer in the woods than a larger one +would be. The seigneur provided them with a letter for De Lannes, the +governor of the Poitou blockhouse, and so in the early dawn the four of +them crept like shadows from the stockade-gate, amid the muttered good +wishes of the guard within, and were lost in an instant in the blackness +of the vast forest. + +From La Noue to Poitou was but twelve miles down the river, but by the +woodland route where creeks were to be crossed, reed-girt lakes to be +avoided, and paths to be picked among swamps where the wild rice grew +higher than their heads, and the alder bushes lay in dense clumps before +them, the distance was more than doubled. They walked in single file, +Du Lhut leading, with the swift silent tread of some wild creature, his +body bent forward, his gun ready in the bend of his arm, and his keen +dark eyes shooting little glances to right and left, observing +everything from the tiniest mark upon the ground or tree trunk to the +motion of every beast and bird of the brushwood. De Catinat walked +behind, then Ephraim Savage, and then Amos, all with their weapons ready +and with every sense upon the alert. By midday they were more than +half-way, and halted in a thicket for a scanty meal of bread and cheese, +for De Lhut would not permit them to light a fire. + +"They have not come as far as this," he whispered, "and yet I am sure +that they have crossed the river. Ah, Governor de la Barre did not know +what he did when he stirred these men up, and this good dragoon whom the +king has sent us now knows even less." + +"I have seen them in peace," remarked Amos. "I have traded to Onondaga +and to the country of the Senecas. I know them as fine hunters and +brave men." + +"They are fine hunters, but the game that they hunt best are their +fellow-men. I have myself led their scalping parties, and I have fought +against them, and I tell you that when a general comes out from France +who hardly knows enough to get the sun behind him in a fight, he will +find that there is little credit to be gained from them. They talk of +burning their villages! It would be as wise to kick over the wasps' +nest, and think that you have done with the wasps. You are from New +England, monsieur?" + +"My comrade is from New England; I am from New York." + +"Ah, yes. I could see from your step and your eye that the woods were +as a home to you. The New England man goes on the waters and he slays +the cod with more pleasure than the caribou. Perhaps that is why his +face is so sad. I have been on the great water, and I remember that my +face was sad also. There is little wind, and so I think that we may +light our pipes without danger. With a good breeze I have known a +burning pipe fetch up a scalping party from two miles' distance, but the +trees stop scent, and the Iroquois noses are less keen than the Sioux +and the Dacotah. God help you, monsieur, if you should ever have an +Indian war. It is bad for us, but it would be a thousand times worse +for you." + +"And why?" + +"Because we have fought the Indians from the first, and we have them +always in our mind when we build. You see how along this river every +house and every hamlet supports its neighbour? But you, by Saint Anne +of Beaupre, it made my scalp tingle when I came on your frontiers and +saw the lonely farm-houses and little clearings out in the woods with no +help for twenty leagues around. An Indian war is a purgatory for +Canada, but it would be a hell for the English Provinces!" + +"We are good friends with the Indians," said Amos. "We do not wish to +conquer." + +"Your people have a way of conquering although they say that they do not +wish to do it," remarked Du Lhut. "Now, with us, we bang our drums, and +wave our flags, and make a stir, but no very big thing has come of it +yet. We have never had but two great men in Canada. One was Monsieur +de la Salle, who was shot last year by his own men down the great river, +and the other, old Frontenac, will have to come back again if New France +is not to be turned into a desert by the Five Nations. It would +surprise me little if by this time two years the white and gold flag +flew only over the rock of Quebec. But I see that you look at me +impatiently, Monsieur de Catinat, and I know that you count the hours +until we are back at Sainte Marie again. Forward, then, and may the +second part of our journey be as peaceful as the first." + +For an hour or more they picked their way through the woods, following +in the steps of the old French pioneer. It was a lovely day with hardly +a cloud in the heavens, and the sun streaming down through the thick +foliage covered the shaded sward with a delicate network of gold. +Sometimes where the woods opened they came out into the pure sunlight, +but only to pass into thick glades beyond, where a single ray, here and +there, was all that could break its way through the vast leafy covering. +It would have been beautiful, these sudden transitions from light to +shade, but with the feeling of impending danger, and of a horror ever +lurking in these shadows, the mind was tinged with awe rather than +admiration. Silently, lightly, the four men picked their steps among +the great tree trunks. + +Suddenly Du Lhut dropped upon his knees and stooped his ear to the +ground. He rose, shook his head, and walked on with a grave face, +casting quick little glances into the shadows in every direction. + +"Did you hear something?" whispered Amos. + +Du Lhut put his finger to his lips, and then in an instant was down +again upon his face with his ear fixed to the ground. He sprang up with +the look of a man who has heard what he expected to hear. + +"Walk on," said he quietly, "and behave exactly as you have done all +day." + +"What is it, then?" + +"Indians." + +"In front of us?" + +"No, behind us." + +"What are they doing?" + +"They are following us." + +"How many of them?" + +"Two, I think." + +The friends glanced back involuntarily over their shoulders into the +dense blackness of the forest. At one point a single broad shaft of +light slid down between two pines and cast a golden blotch upon their +track. Save for this one vivid spot all was sombre and silent. + +"Do not look round," whispered Du Lhut sharply. "Walk on as before." + +"Are they enemies?" + +"They are Iroquois." + +"And pursuing us?" + +"No, we are now pursuing them." + +"Shall we turn, then?" + +"No, they would vanish like shadows," + +"How far off are they?" + +"About two hundred paces, I think." + +"They cannot see us, then?" + +"I think not, but I cannot be sure. They are following our trail, I +think." + +"What shall we do, then?" + +"Let us make a circle and get behind them." + +Turning sharp to the left he led them in a long curve through the woods, +hurrying swiftly and yet silently under the darkest shadows of the +trees. Then he turned again, and presently halted. + +"This is our own track," said he. + +"Ay, and two Redskins have passed over it," cried Amos, bending down, +and pointing to marks which were entirely invisible to Ephraim Savage or +De Catinat. + +"A full-grown warrior and a lad on his first warpath," said Du Lhut. +"They were moving fast, you see, for you can hardly see the heel marks +of their moccasins. They walked one behind the other. Now let us +follow them as they followed us, and see if we have better luck." + +He sped swiftly along the trail with his musket cocked in his hand, the +others following hard upon his heels, but there was no sound, and no +sign of life from the shadowy woods in front of them. Suddenly Du Lhut +stopped and grounded his weapon. + +"They are still behind us," he said. + +"Still behind us?" + +"Yes. This is the point where we branched off. They have hesitated a +moment, as you can see by their footmarks, and then they have followed +on." + +"If we go round again and quicken our pace we may overtake them." + +"No, they are on their guard now. They must know that it could only be +on their account that we went back on our tracks. Lie here behind the +fallen log and we shall see if we can catch a glimpse of them." + +A great rotten trunk, all green with mould and blotched with pink and +purple fungi, lay to one side of where they stood. Behind this the +Frenchman crouched, and his three companions followed his example, +peering through the brushwood screen in front of them. Still the one +broad sheet of sunshine poured down between the two pines, but all else +was as dim and as silent as a vast cathedral with pillars of wood and +roof of leaf. Not a branch that creaked, nor a twig that snapped, nor +any sound at all save the sharp barking of a fox somewhere in the heart +of the forest. A thrill of excitement ran through the nerves of De +Catinat. It was like one of those games of hide-and-seek which the +court used to play, when Louis was in a sportive mood, among the oaks +and yew hedges of Versailles. But the forfeit there was a carved fan, +or a box of bonbons, and here it was death. + +Ten minutes passed and there was no sign of any living thing behind +them. + +"They are over in yonder thicket," whispered Du Lhut, nodding his head +towards a dense clump of brushwood, two hundred paces away. + +"Have you seen them?" + +"No." + +"How do you know, then?" + +"I saw a squirrel come from his hole in the great white beech-tree +yonder. He scuttled back again as if something had scared him. +From his hole he can see down into that brushwood." + +"Do you think that they know that we are here?" + +"They cannot see us. But they are suspicious. They fear a trap." + +"Shall we rush for the brushwood?" + +"They would pick two of us off, and be gone like shadows through the +woods. No, we had best go on our way." + +"But they will follow us." + +"I hardly think that they will. We are four and they are only two, and +they know now that we are on our guard and that we can pick up a trail +as quickly as they can themselves. Get behind these trunks where they +cannot see us. So! Now stoop until you are past the belt of alder +bushes. We must push on fast now, for where there are two Iroquois +there are likely to be two hundred not very far off." + +"Thank God that I did not bring Adele!" cried De Catinat. + +"Yes, monsieur, it is well for a man to make a comrade of his wife, but +not on the borders of the Iroquois country, nor of any other Indian +country either." + +"You do not take your own wife with you when you travel, then?" asked +the soldier. + +"Yes, but I do not let her travel from village to village. She remains +in the wigwam." + +"Then you leave her behind?" + +"On the contrary, she is always there to welcome me. By Saint Anne, I +should be heavy-hearted if I came to any village between this and the +Bluffs of the Illinois, and did not find my wife waiting to greet me." + +"Then she must travel before you." + +Du Lhut laughed heartily, without, however, emitting a sound. + +"A fresh village, a fresh wife," said he. "But I never have more than +one in each, for it is a shame for a Frenchman to set an evil example +when the good fathers are spending their lives so freely in preaching +virtue to them. Ah, here is the Ajidaumo Creek, where the Indians set +the sturgeon nets. It is still seven miles to Poitou." + +"We shall be there before nightfall, then?" + +"I think that we had best wait for nightfall before we make our way in. +Since the Iroquois scouts are out as far as this, it is likely that they +lie thick round Poitou, and we may find the last step the worst unless +we have a care, the more so if these two get in front of us to warn the +others." He paused a moment with slanting head and sidelong ear. +"By Saint Anne," he muttered, "we have not shaken them off. They are +still upon our trail!" + +"You hear them?" + +"Yes, they are no great way from us. They will find that they have +followed us once too often this time. Now, I will show you a little bit +of woodcraft which may be new to you. Slip off your moccasins, +monsieur." + +De Catinat pulled off his shoes as directed, and Du Lhut did the same. + +"Put them on as if they were gloves," said the pioneer, and an instant +later Ephraim Savage and Amos had their comrades' shoes upon their +hands. + +"You can sling your muskets over your back. So! Now down on all fours, +bending yourselves double, with your hands pressing hard upon the earth. +That is excellent. Two men can leave the trail of four! Now come with +me, monsieur." + +He flitted from tree to tree on a line which was parallel to, but a few +yards distant from, that of their comrades. Then suddenly he crouched +behind a bush and pulled De Catinat down beside him. + +"They must pass us in a few minutes," he whispered. "Do not fire if you +can help it." Something gleamed in Du Lhut's hand, and his comrade, +glancing down, saw that he had drawn a keen little tomahawk from his +belt. Again the mad wild thrill ran through the soldier's blood, as he +peered through the tangled branches and waited for whatever might come +out of the dim silent aisles of tree-boles. + +And suddenly he saw something move. It flitted like a shadow from one +trunk to the other so swiftly that De Catinat could not have told +whether it were beast or human. And then again he saw it, and yet +again, sometimes one shadow, sometimes two shadows, silent, furtive, +like the _loup-garou_ with which his nurse had scared him in his +childhood. Then for a few moments all was still once more, and then in +an instant there crept out from among the bushes the most +terrible-looking creature that ever walked the earth, an Iroquois chief +upon the war-trail. + +He was a tall powerful man, and his bristle of scalp-locks and eagle +feathers made him look a giant in the dim light, for a good eight feet +lay between his beaded moccasin and the topmost plume of his headgear. +One side of his face was painted in soot, ochre, and vermilion to +resemble a dog, and the other half as a fowl, so that the front view was +indescribably grotesque and strange. A belt of wampum was braced round +his loin-cloth, and a dozen scalp-locks fluttered out as he moved from +the fringe of his leggings. His head was sunk forward, his eyes gleamed +with a sinister light, and his nostrils dilated and contracted like +those of an excited animal. His gun was thrown forward, and he crept +along with bended knees, peering, listening, pausing, hurrying on, a +breathing image of caution. Two paces behind him walked a lad of +fourteen, clad and armed in the same fashion, but without the painted +face and without the horrid dried trophies upon the leggings. It was +his first campaign, and already his eyes shone and his nostrils twitched +with the same lust for murder which burned within his elder. So they +advanced, silent, terrible, creeping out of the shadows of the wood, as +their race had come out of the shadows of history, with bodies of iron +and tiger souls. + +They were just abreast of the bush when something caught the eye of the +younger warrior, some displaced twig or fluttering leaf, and he paused +with suspicion in every feature. Another instant and he had warned his +companion, but Du Lhut sprang out and buried his little hatchet in the +skull of the older warrior. De Catinat heard a dull crash, as when an +axe splinters its way into a rotten tree, and the man fell like a log, +laughing horribly, and kicking and striking with his powerful limbs. +The younger warrior sprang like a deer over his fallen comrade and +dashed on into the wood, but an instant later there was a gunshot among +the trees in front, followed by a faint wailing cry. + +"That is his death-whoop," said Du Lhut composedly. "It was a pity to +fire, and yet it was better than letting him go." + +As he spoke the two others came back, Ephraim ramming a fresh charge +into his musket. + +"Who was laughing?" asked Amos. + +"It was he," said Du Lhut, nodding towards the dying warrior, who lay +with his head in a horrible puddle, and his grotesque features contorted +into a fixed smile. "It's a custom they have when they get their +death-blow. I've known a Seneca chief laugh for six hours on end at the +torture-stake. Ah, he's gone!" + +As he spoke the Indian gave a last spasm with his hands and feet, and +lay rigid, grinning up at the slit of blue sky above him. + +"He's a great chief," said Du Lhut. "He is Brown Moose of the Mohawks, +and the other is his second son. We have drawn first blood, but I do +not think that it will be the last, for the Iroquois do not allow their +war-chiefs to die unavenged. He was a mighty fighter, as you may see by +looking at his neck." + +He wore a peculiar necklace which seemed to De Catinat to consist of +blackened bean pods set upon a string. As he stooped over it he saw to +his horror that they were not bean pods, but withered human fingers. + +"They are all right fore-fingers," said Du Lhut, "so everyone represents +a life. There are forty-two in all. Eighteen are of men whom he has +slain in battle, and the other twenty-four have been taken and +tortured." + +"How do you know that?" + +"Because only eighteen have their nails on. If the prisoner of an +Iroquois be alive, he begins always by biting his nails off. You see +that they are missing from four-and-twenty." + +De Catinat shuddered. What demons were these amongst whom an evil fate +had drifted him? And was it possible that his Adele should fall into +the hands of such fiends? No, no, surely the good God, for whose sake +they had suffered so much, would not permit such an infamy! And yet as +evil a fate had come upon other women as tender as Adele--upon other men +as loving as he. What hamlet was there in Canada which had not such +stories in their record? A vague horror seized him as he stood there. +We know more of the future than we are willing to admit, away down in +those dim recesses of the soul where there is no reason, but only +instincts and impressions. Now some impending terror cast its cloud +over him. The trees around, with their great protruding limbs, were +like shadowy demons thrusting out their gaunt arms to seize him. +The sweat burst from his forehead, and he leaned heavily upon his +musket. + +"By Saint Eulalie," said Du Lhut, "for an old soldier you turn very +pale, monsieur, at a little bloodshed." + +"I am not well. I should be glad of a sup from your cognac bottle." + +"Here it is, comrade, and welcome! Well, I may as well have this fine +scalp that we may have something to show for our walk." He held the +Indian's head between his knees, and in an instant, with a sweep of his +knife, had torn off the hideous dripping trophy. + +"Let us go!" cried De Catinat, turning away in disgust. + +"Yes, we shall go! But I shall also have this wampum belt marked with +the totem of the Bear. So! And the gun too. Look at the 'London' +printed upon the lock. Ah, Monsieur Green, Monsieur Green, it is not +hard to see where the enemies of France get their arms." + +So at last they turned away, Du Lhut bearing his spoils, leaving the red +grinning figure stretched under the silent trees. As they passed on +they caught a glimpse of the lad lying doubled up among the bushes where +he had fallen. The pioneer walked very swiftly until he came to a +little stream which prattled down to the big river. Here he slipped off +his boots and leggings, and waded down it with his companions for half a +mile or so. + +"They will follow our tracks when they find him," said he, "but this +will throw them off, for it is only on running water that an Iroquois +can find no trace. And now we shall lie in this clump until nightfall, +for we are little over a mile from Port Poitou, and it is dangerous to +go forward, for the ground becomes more open." + +And so they remained concealed among the alders whilst the shadows +turned from short to long, and the white drifting clouds above them were +tinged with the pink of the setting sun. Du Lhut coiled himself into a +ball with his pipe between his teeth and dropped into a light sleep, +pricking up his ears and starting at the slightest sound from the woods +around them. The two Americans whispered together for a long time, +Ephraim telling some long story about the cruise of the brig _Industry_, +bound to Jamestown for sugar and molasses, but at last the soothing hum +of a gentle breeze through the branches lulled them off also, and they +slept. De Catinat alone remained awake, his nerves still in a tingle +from that strange sudden shadow which had fallen upon his soul. What +could it mean? Not surely that Adele was in danger? He had heard of +such warnings, but had he not left her in safety behind cannons and +stockades? By the next evening at latest he would see her again. As he +lay looking up through the tangle of copper leaves at the sky beyond, +his mind drifted like the clouds above him, and he was back once more in +the jutting window in the Rue St. Martin, sitting on the broad _bancal_, +with its Spanish leather covering, with the gilt wool-bale creaking +outside, and his arm round shrinking, timid Adele, she who had compared +herself to a little mouse in an old house, and who yet had courage to +stay by his side through all this wild journey. And then again he was +back at Versailles. Once more he saw the brown eyes of the king, the +fair bold face of De Montespan, the serene features of De Maintenon-- +once more he rode on his midnight mission, was driven by the demon +coachman, and sprang with Amos upon the scaffold to rescue the most +beautiful woman in France. So clear it was and so vivid that it was +with a start that he came suddenly to himself, and found that the night +was creeping on in an American forest, and that Du Lhut had roused +himself and was ready for a start. + +"Have you been awake?" asked the pioneer. + +"Yes." + +"Have you heard anything?" + +"Nothing but the hooting of the owl." + +"It seemed to me that in my sleep I heard a gunshot in the distance." + +"In your sleep?" + +"Yes, I hear as well asleep as awake and remember what I hear. But now +you must follow me close, and we shall be in the fort soon." + +"You have wonderful ears, indeed," said De Catinat, as they picked their +way through the tangled wood. "How could you hear that these men were +following us to-day? I could make out no sound when they were within +hand-touch of us." + +"I did not hear them at first." + +"You saw them?" + +"No, nor that either." + +"Then how could you know that they were there?" + +"I heard a frightened jay flutter among the trees after we were past it. +Then ten minutes later I heard the same thing. I knew then that there +was some one on our trail, and I listened." + +"_Peste!_ you are a woodsman indeed!" + +"I believe that these woods are swarming with Iroquois, although we have +had the good fortune to miss them. So great a chief as Brown Moose +would not start on the path with a small following nor for a small +object. They must mean mischief upon the Richelieu. You are not sorry +now that you did not bring madame?" + +"I thank God for it!" + +"The woods will not be safe, I fear, until the partridge berries are out +once more. You must stay at Sainte Marie until then, unless the +seigneur can spare men to guard you." + +"I had rather stay there forever than expose my wife to such devils." + +"Ay, devils they are, if ever devils walked upon earth. You winced, +monsieur, when I took Brown Moose's scalp, but when you have seen as +much of the Indians as I have done your heart will be as hardened as +mine. And now we are on the very borders of the clearing, and the +blockhouse lies yonder among the clump of maples. They do not keep very +good watch, for I have been expecting during these last ten minutes to +hear the _qui vive_. You did not come as near to Sainte Marie +unchallenged, and yet De Lannes is as old a soldier as La Noue. We can +scarce see now, but yonder, near the river, is where he exercises his +men." + +"He does so now," said Amos. "I see a dozen of them drawn up in a line +at their drill." + +"No sentinels, and all the men at drill!" cried Du Lhut in contempt. +"It is as you say, however, for I can see them myself with their ranks +open, and each as stiff and straight as a pine stump. One would think +to see them stand so still that there was not an Indian nearer than +Orange. We shall go across to them, and by Saint Anne, I shall tell +their commander what I think of his arrangements." + +Du Lhut advanced from the bushes as he spoke, and the four men crossed +the open ground in the direction of the line of men who waited silently +for them in the dim twilight. They were within fifty paces, and yet +none of them had raised hand or voice to challenge their approach. +There was something uncanny in the silence, and a change came over Du +Lhut's face as he peered in front of him. He craned his head round and +looked up the river. + +"My God!" he screamed. "Look at the fort!" They had cleared the clump +of trees, and the outline of the blockhouse should have shown up in +front of them. There was no sign of it. It was gone! + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + +THE MEN OF BLOOD. + +So unexpected was the blow that even De Lhut, hardened from his +childhood to every shock and danger, stood shaken and dismayed. +Then, with an oath, he ran at the top of his speed towards the line of +figures, his companions following at his heels. + +As they drew nearer they could see through the dusk that it was not +indeed a line. A silent and motionless officer stood out some twenty +paces in front of his silent and motionless men. Further, they could +see that he wore a very high and singular head-dress. They were still +rushing forward, breathless with apprehension, when to their horror this +head-dress began to lengthen and broaden, and a great bird flapped +heavily up and dropped down again on the nearest tree-trunk. Then they +knew that their worst fears were true, and that it was the garrison of +Poitou which stood before them. + +They were lashed to low posts with willow withies, some twenty of them, +naked all, and twisted and screwed into every strange shape which an +agonised body could assume. In front where the buzzard had perched was +the gray-headed commandant, with two cinders thrust into his sockets and +his flesh hanging from him like a beggar's rags. Behind was the line of +men, each with his legs charred off to the knees, and his body so +haggled and scorched and burst that the willow bands alone seemed to +hold it together. For a moment the four comrades stared in silent +horror at the dreadful group. Then each acted as his nature bade him. +De Catinat staggered up against a tree-trunk and leaned his head upon +his arm, deadly sick. Du Lhut fell down upon his knees and said +something to heaven, with his two clenched hands shaking up at the +darkening sky. Ephraim Savage examined the priming of his gun with a +tightened lip and a gleaming eye, while Amos Green, without a word, +began to cast round in circles in search of a trail. + +But Du Lhut was on his feet again in a moment, and running up and down +like a sleuth-hound, noting a hundred things which even Amos would have +overlooked. He circled round the bodies again and again. Then he ran a +little way towards the edge of the woods, and then came back to the +charred ruins of the blockhouse, from some of which a thin reek of smoke +was still rising. + +"There is no sign of the women and children," said he. + +"My God! There were women and children?" + +"They are keeping the children to burn at their leisure in their +villages. The women they may torture or may adopt as the humour takes +them. But what does the old man want?" + +"I want you to ask him, Amos," said the seaman, "why we are yawing and +tacking here when we should be cracking on all sail to stand after +them?" + +Du Lhut smiled and shook his head. "Your friend is a brave man," said +he, "if he thinks that with four men we can follow a hundred and fifty." + +"Tell him, Amos, that the Lord will bear us up," said the other +excitedly. "Say that He will be with us against the children of +Jeroboam, and we will cut them off utterly, and they shall be destroyed. +What is the French for 'slay and spare not'? I had as soon go about +with my jaw braced up, as with folk who cannot understand a plain +language." + +But Du Lhut waved aside the seaman's suggestions. "We must have a care +now," said he, "or we shall lose our own scalps, and be the cause of +those at Sainte Marie losing theirs as well." + +"Sainte Marie!" cried De Catinat. "Is there then danger at Sainte +Marie?" + +"Ay, they are in the wolf's mouth now. This business was done last +night. The place was stormed by a war-party of a hundred and fifty men. +This morning they left and went north upon foot. They have been +_cached_ among the woods all day between Poitou and Sainte Marie." + +"Then we have come through them?" + +"Yes, we have come through them. They would keep their camp to-day and +send out scouts. Brown Moose and his son were among them and struck our +trail. To-night--" + +"To-night they will attack Sainte Marie?" + +"It is possible. And yet with so small a party I should scarce have +thought that they would have dared. Well, we can but hasten back as +quickly as we can, and give them warning of what is hanging over them." + +And so they turned for their weary backward journey, though their minds +were too full to spare a thought upon the leagues which lay behind them +or those which were before. Old Ephraim, less accustomed to walking +than his younger comrades, was already limping and footsore, but, for +all his age, he was as tough as hickory, and full of endurance. Du Lhut +took the lead again and they turned their faces once more towards the +north. + +The moon was shining brightly in the sky, but it was little aid to the +travellers in the depths of the forest. Where it had been shadowy in +the daytime it was now so absolutely dark that De Catinat could not see +the tree-trunks against which he brushed. Here and there they came upon +an open glade bathed in the moonshine, or perhaps a thin shaft of silver +light broke through between the branches, and cast a great white patch +upon the ground, but Du Lhut preferred to avoid these more open spaces, +and to skirt the glades rather than to cross them. The breeze had +freshened a little, and the whole air was filled with the rustle and +sough of the leaves. Save for this dull never-ceasing sound all would +have been silent had not the owl hooted sometimes from among the +tree-tops, and the night-jar whirred above their heads. + +Dark as it was, Du Lhut walked as swiftly as during the sunlight, and +never hesitated about the track. His comrades could see, however, that +he was taking them a different way to that which they had gone in the +morning, for twice they caught a sight of the glimmer of the broad river +upon their left, while before they had only seen the streams which +flowed into it. On the second occasion he pointed to where, on the +farther side, they could see dark shadows flitting over the water. + +"Iroquois canoes," he whispered. "There are ten of them with eight men +in each. They are another party, and they are also going north." + +"How do you know that they are another party?" + +"Because we have crossed the trail of the first within the hour." + +De Catinat was filled with amazement at this marvellous man who could +hear in his sleep and could detect a trail when the very tree-trunks +were invisible to ordinary eyes. Du Lhut halted a little to watch the +canoes, and then turned his back to the river, and plunged into the +woods once more. They had gone a mile or two when suddenly he came to a +dead stop, snuffing at the air like a hound on a scent. + +"I smell burning wood," said he. "There is a fire within a mile of us +in that direction." + +"I smell it too," said Amos. "Let us creep up that way and see their +camp." + +"Be careful, then," whispered Du Lhut, "for your lives may hang from a +cracking twig." + +They advanced very slowly and cautiously until suddenly the red flare of +a leaping fire twinkled between the distant trunks. Still slipping +through the brushwood, they worked round until they had found a point +from which they could see without a risk of being seen. + +A great blaze of dry logs crackled and spurtled in the centre of a small +clearing. The ruddy flames roared upwards, and the smoke spread out +above it until it looked like a strange tree with gray foliage and trunk +of fire. But no living being was in sight and the huge fire roared and +swayed in absolute solitude in the midst of the silent woodlands. +Nearer they crept and nearer, but there was no movement save the rush of +the flames, and no sound but the snapping of the sticks. + +"Shall we go up to it?" whispered De Catinat. The wary old pioneer +shook his head. "It may be a trap," said he. + +"Or an abandoned camp?" + +"No, it has not been lit more than an hour." + +"Besides, it is far too great for a camp fire," said Amos. + +"What do you make of it?" asked Du Lhut. + +"A signal." + +"Yes, I daresay that you are right. This light is not a safe neighbour, +so we shall edge away from it and then make a straight line for Sainte +Marie." + +The flames were soon but a twinkling point behind them, and at last +vanished behind the trees. Du Lhut pushed on rapidly until they came to +the edge of a moonlit clearing. He was about to skirt this, as he had +done others, when suddenly he caught De Catinat by the shoulder and +pushed him down behind a clump of sumach, while Amos did the same with +Ephraim Savage. + +A man was walking down the other side of the open space. He had just +emerged, and was crossing it diagonally, making in the direction of the +river. His body was bent double, but as he came out from the shadow of +the trees they could see that he was an Indian brave in full war-paint, +with leggings, loin-cloth, and musket. Close at his heels came a +second, and then a third and a fourth, on and on until it seemed as if +the wood were full of men, and that the line would never come to an end. +They flitted past like shadows in the moonlight, in absolute silence, +all crouching and running in the same swift stealthy fashion. Last of +all came a man in the fringed tunic of a hunter, with a cap and feather +upon his head. He passed across like the others, and they vanished into +the shadows as silently as they had appeared. It was five minutes +before Du Lhut thought it safe to rise from their shelter. + +"By Saint Anne," he whispered, "did you count them?" + +"Three hundred and ninety-six," said Amos. + +"I made it four hundred and two." + +"And you thought that there were only a hundred and fifty of them!" +cried De Catinat. + +"Ah, you do not understand. This is a fresh band. The others who took +the blockhouse must be over there, for their trail lies between us and +the river." + +"They could not be the same," said Amos, "for there was not a fresh +scalp among them." + +Du Lhut gave the young hunter a glance of approval. "On my word," said +he, "I did not know that your woodsmen are as good as they seem to be. +You have eyes, monsieur, and it may please you some day to remember that +Greysolon du Lhut told you so." + +Amos felt a flush of pride at these words from a man whose name was +honoured wherever trader or trapper smoked round a camp fire. He was +about to make some answer when a dreadful cry broke suddenly out of the +woods, a horrible screech, as from some one who was goaded to the very +last pitch of human misery. Again and again, as they stood with +blanched cheeks in the darkness, they heard that awful cry swelling up +from the night and ringing drearily through the forest. + +"They are torturing the women," said Du Lhut. + +"Their camp lies over there." + +"Can we do nothing to aid them?" cried Amos. + +"Ay, ay, lad," said the captain in English. "We can't pass distress +signals without going out of our course. Let us put about and run down +yonder." + +"In that camp," said Du Lhut slowly, "there are now nearly six hundred +warriors. We are four. What you say has no sense. Unless we warn them +at Sainte Marie, these devils will lay some trap for them. Their +parties are assembling by land and by water, and there may be a thousand +before daybreak. Our duty is to push on and give our warning." + +"He speaks the truth," said Amos to Ephraim. "Nay, but you must not go +alone!" He seized the stout old seaman by the arm and held him by main +force to prevent him from breaking off through the woods. + +"There is one thing which we can do to spoil their night's amusement," +said Du Lhut. "The woods are as dry as powder, and there has been no +drop of rain for a long three months." + +"Yes?" + +"And the wind blows straight for their camp, with the river on the other +side of it." + +"We should fire the woods!" + +"We cannot do better." + +In an instant Du Lhut had scraped together a little bundle of dry twigs, +and had heaped them up against a withered beech tree which was as dry as +tinder. A stroke of flint and steel was enough to start a little +smoulder of flame, which lengthened and spread until it was leaping +along the white strips of hanging bark. A quarter of a mile farther on +Du Lhut did the same again, and once more beyond that, until at three +different points the forest was in a blaze. As they hurried onwards +they could hear the dull roaring of the flames behind them, and at last, +as they neared Sainte Marie, they could see, looking back, the long +rolling wave of fire travelling ever westward towards the Richelieu, and +flashing up into great spouts of flame as it licked up a clump of pines +as if it were a bundle of faggots. Du Lhut chuckled in his silent way +as he looked back at the long orange glare in the sky. + +"They will need to swim for it, some of them," said he. "They have not +canoes to take them all off. Ah, if I had but two hundred of my +_coureurs-de-bois_ on the river at the farther side of them not one +would have got away." + +"They had one who was dressed like a white man," remarked Amos. + +"Ay, and the most deadly of the lot. His father was a Dutch trader, his +mother an Iroquois, and he goes by the name of the Flemish Bastard. Ah, +I know him well, and I tell you that if they want a king in hell, they +will find one all ready in his wigwam. By Saint Anne, I have a score to +settle with him, and I may pay it before this business is over. +Well, there are the lights of Sainte Marie shining down below there. +I can understand that sigh of relief, monsieur, for, on my word, after +what we found at Poitou, I was uneasy myself until I should see them." + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + +THE TAPPING OF DEATH. + +Day was just breaking as the four comrades entered the gate of the +stockade, but early as it was the _censitaires_ and their families were +all afoot staring at the prodigious fire which raged to the south of +them. De Catinat burst through the throng and rushed upstairs to Adele, +who had herself flown down to meet him, so that they met in each other's +arms half-way up the great stone staircase with a burst of those little +inarticulate cries which are the true unwritten language of love. +Together, with his arm round her, they ascended to the great hall where +old De la Noue with his son were peering out of the window at the +wonderful spectacle. + +"Ah, monsieur," said the old nobleman, with his courtly bow, "I am +indeed rejoiced to see you safe under my roof again, not only for your +own sake, but for that of madame's eyes, which, if she will permit an +old man to say so, are much too pretty to spoil by straining them all +day in the hopes of seeing some one coming out of the forest. You have +done forty miles, Monsieur de Catinat, and are doubtless hungry and +weary. When you are yourself again I must claim my revenge in piquet, +for the cards lay against me the other night." + +But Du Lhut had entered at De Catinat's heels with his tidings of +disaster. + +"You will have another game to play, Monsieur de Sainte-Marie," said he. +"There are six hundred Iroquois in the woods and they are preparing to +attack." + +"Tut, tut, we cannot allow our arrangements to be altered by a handful +of savages," said the seigneur. "I must apologise to you, my dear De +Catinat, that you should be annoyed by such people while you are upon my +estate. As regards the piquet, I cannot but think that your play from +king and knave is more brilliant than safe. Now when I played piquet +last with De Lannes of Poitou--" + +"De Lannes of Poitou is dead, and all his people," said Du Lhut. +"The blockhouse is a heap of smoking ashes." + +The seigneur raised his eyebrows and took a pinch of snuff, tapping the +lid of his little round gold box. + +"I always told him that his fort would be taken unless he cleared away +those maple trees which grew up to the very walls. They are all dead, +you say?" + +"Every man." + +"And the fort burned?" + +"Not a stick was left standing." + +"Have you seen these rascals?" + +"We saw the trail of a hundred and fifty. Then there were a hundred in +canoes, and a war-party of four hundred passed us under the Flemish +Bastard. Their camp is five miles down the river, and there cannot be +less than six hundred." + +"You were fortunate in escaping them." + +"But they were not so fortunate in escaping us. We killed Brown Moose +and his son, and we fired the woods so as to drive them out of their +camp." + +"Excellent! Excellent!" said the seigneur, clapping gently with his +dainty hands. "You have done very well indeed, Du Lhut! You are, I +presume, very tired?" + +"I am not often tired. I am quite ready to do the journey again." + +"Then perhaps you would pick a few men and go back into the woods to +see what these villains are doing?" + +"I shall be ready in five minutes." + +"Perhaps you would like to go also, Achille?" His son's dark eyes and +Indian face lit up with a fierce joy. + +"Yes, I shall go also," he answered. + +"Very good, and we shall make all ready in your absence. Madame, you +will excuse these little annoyances which mar the pleasure of your +visit. Next time that you do me the honour to come here I trust that we +shall have cleared all these vermin from my estate. We have our +advantages. The Richelieu is a better fish pond, and these forests are +a finer deer preserve than any of which the king can boast. But on the +other hand we have, as you see, our little troubles. You will excuse me +now, as there are one or two things which demand my attention. +De Catinat, you are a tried soldier and I should be glad of your advice. +Onega, give me my lace handkerchief and my cane of clouded amber, and +take care of madame until her husband and I return." + +It was bright daylight now, and the square enclosure within the stockade +was filled with an anxious crowd who had just learned the evil tidings. +Most of the _censitaires_ were old soldiers and trappers who had served +in many Indian wars, and whose swarthy faces and bold bearing told their +own story. They were sons of a race which with better fortune or with +worse has burned more powder than any other nation upon earth, and as +they stood in little groups discussing the situation and examining their +arms, a leader could have asked for no more hardy or more war-like +following. The women, however, pale and breathless, were hurrying in +from the outlying cottages, dragging their children with them, and +bearing over their shoulders the more precious of their household goods. +The confusion, the hurry, the cries of the children, the throwing down +of bundles and the rushing back for more, contrasted sharply with the +quiet and the beauty of the woods which encircled them, all bathed in +the bright morning sunlight. It was strange to look upon the fairy +loveliness of their many-tinted foliage, and to know that the spirit of +murder and cruelty was roaming unchained behind that lovely screen. + +The scouting party under Du Lhut and Achille de la Noue had already +left, and at the order of the seigneur the two gates were now secured +with huge bars of oak fitted into iron staples on either side. +The children were placed in the lower store-room with a few women to +watch them, while the others were told off to attend to the fire +buckets, and to reload the muskets. The men had been paraded, fifty-two +of them in all, and they were divided into parties now for the defence +of each part of the stockade. On one side it had been built up to +within a few yards of the river, which not only relieved them from the +defence of that face, but enabled them to get fresh water by throwing a +bucket at the end of a rope from the stockade. The boats and canoes of +Sainte Marie were drawn up on the bank just under the wall, and were +precious now as offering a last means of escape should all else fail. +The next fort, St. Louis, was but a few leagues up the river, and De la +Noue had already sent a swift messenger to them with news of the danger. +At least it would be a point on which they might retreat should the +worst come to the worst. And that the worst might come to the worst was +very evident to so experienced a woodsman as Amos Green. He had left +Ephraim Savage snoring in a deep sleep upon the floor, and was now +walking round the defences with his pipe in his mouth, examining with a +critical eye every detail in connection with them. The stockade was +very strong, nine feet high and closely built of oak stakes which were +thick enough to turn a bullet. Half-way up it was loop-holed in long +narrow slits for the fire of the defenders. But on the other hand the +trees grew up to within a hundred yards of it, and formed a screen for +the attack, while the garrison was so scanty that it could not spare +more than twenty men at the utmost for each face. Amos knew how daring +and dashing were the Iroquois warriors, how cunning and fertile of +resource, and his face darkened as he thought of the young wife who had +come so far in their safe-keeping, and of the women and children whom he +had seen crowding into the fort. + +"Would it not be better if you could send them up the river?" he +suggested to the seigneur. + +"I should very gladly do so, monsieur, and perhaps if we are all alive +we may manage it to-night if the weather should be cloudy. But I cannot +spare the men to guard them, and I cannot send them without a guard when +we know that Iroquois canoes are on the river and their scouts are +swarming on the banks." + +"You are right. It would be madness." + +"I have stationed you on this eastern face with your friends and with +fifteen men. Monsieur de Catinat, will you command the party?" + +"Willingly." + +"I will take the south face as it seems to be the point of danger. +Du Lhut can take the north, and five men should be enough to watch the +river side." + +"Have we food and powder?" + +"I have flour and smoked eels enough to see this matter through. +Poor fare, my dear sir, but I daresay you learned in Holland that a cup +of ditch water after a brush may have a better smack than the +blue-sealed Frontiniac which you helped me to finish the other night. +As to powder, we have all our trading stores to draw upon." + +"We have not time to clear any of these trees?" asked the soldier. + +"Impossible. They would make better shelter down than up." + +"But at least I might clear that patch of brushwood round the birch +sapling which lies between the east face and the edge of the forest. +It is good cover for their skirmishers." + +"Yes, that should be fired without delay." + +"Nay, I think that I might do better," said Amos. "We might bait a trap +for them there. Where is this powder of which you spoke?" + +"Theuriet, the major-domo, is giving out powder in the main +store-house." + +"Very good." Amos vanished upstairs, and returned with a large linen bag +in his hand. This he filled with powder, and then, slinging it over his +shoulder, he carried it out to the clump of bushes and placed it at the +base of the sapling, cutting a strip out of the bark immediately above +the spot. Then with a few leafy branches and fallen leaves he covered +the powder bag very carefully over so that it looked like a little +hillock of earth. Having arranged all to his satisfaction he returned, +clambering over the stockade, and dropping down upon the other side. + +"I think that we are all ready for them now," said the seigneur. +"I would that the women and children were in a safe place, but we may +send them down the river to-night if all goes well. Has anyone heard +anything of Du Lhut?" + +"Jean has the best ears of any of us, your excellency," said one man +from beside the brass corner cannon. "He thought that he heard shots a +few minutes ago." + +"Then he has come into touch with them. Etienne, take ten men and go to +the withered oak to cover them if they are retreating, but do not go +another yard on any pretext. I am too short-handed already. Perhaps, +De Catinat, you wish to sleep?" + +"No, I could not sleep." + +"We can do no more down here. What do you say to a round or two of +piquet? A little turn of the cards will help us to pass the time." + +They ascended to the upper hall, where Adele came and sat by her +husband, while the swarthy Onega crouched by the window looking keenly +out into the forest. De Catinat had little thought to spare upon the +cards, as his mind wandered to the danger which threatened them and to +the woman whose hand rested upon his own. The old nobleman, on the +other hand, was engrossed by the play, and cursed under his breath, or +chuckled and grinned as the luck swayed one way or the other. Suddenly +as they played there came two sharp raps from without. + +"Some one is tapping," cried Adele. + +"It is death that is tapping," said the Indian woman at the window. + +"Ay, ay, it was the patter of two spent balls against the woodwork. +The wind is against our hearing the report. The cards are shuffled. +It is my cut and your deal. The capot, I think, was mine." + +"Men are rushing from the woods," cried Onega. + +"Tut! It grows serious!" said the nobleman. "We can finish the game +later. Remember that the deal lies with you. Let us see what it all +means." + +De Catinat had already rushed to the window. Du Lhut, young Achille de +la Noue, and eight of the covering party were running with their heads +bent towards the stockade, the door of which had been opened to admit +them. Here and there from behind the trees came little blue puffs of +smoke, and one of the fugitives who wore white calico breeches began +suddenly to hop instead of running and a red splotch showed upon the +white cloth. Two others threw their arms round him and the three rushed +in abreast while the gate swung into its place behind them. An instant +later the brass cannon at the corner gave a flash and a roar while the +whole outline of the wood was traced in a rolling cloud, and the shower +of bullets rapped up against the wooden wall like sleet on a window. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + + +THE TAKING OF THE STOCKADE. + +Having left Adele to the care of her Indian hostess, and warned her for +her life to keep from the windows, De Catinat seized his musket and +rushed downstairs. As he passed a bullet came piping through one of the +narrow embrasures and starred itself in a little blotch of lead upon the +opposite wall. The seigneur had already descended and was conversing +with Du Lhut beside the door. + +"A thousand of them, you say?" + +"Yes, we came on a fresh trail of a large war-party, three hundred at +the least. They are all Mohawks and Cayugas with a sprinkling of +Oneidas. We had a running fight for a few miles, and we have lost five +men." + +"All dead, I trust." + +"I hope so, but we were hard pressed to keep from being cut off. +Jean Mance is shot through the leg." + +"I saw that he was hit." + +"We had best have all ready to retire to the house if they carry the +stockade. We can scarce hope to hold it when they are twenty to one." + +"All is ready." + +"And with our cannon we can keep their canoes from passing, so we might +send our women away to-night." + +"I had intended to do so. Will you take charge of the north side? +You might come across to me with ten of your men now, and I shall go +back to you if they change their attack." + +The firing came in one continuous rattle now from the edges of the wood, +and the air was full of bullets. The assailants were all trained shots, +men who lived by their guns, and to whom a shaking hand or a dim eye +meant poverty and hunger. Every slit and crack and loop-hole was +marked, and a cap held above the stockade was blown in an instant from +the gun barrel which supported it. On the other hand, the defenders +were also skilled in Indian fighting, and wise in every trick and lure +which could protect themselves or tempt their enemies to show. They +kept well to the sides of the loop-holes, watching through little +crevices of the wood, and firing swiftly when a chance offered. A red +leg sticking straight up into the air from behind a log showed where one +bullet at least had gone home, but there was little to aim at save a +puff and flash from among the leaves, or the shadowy figure of a warrior +seen for an instant as he darted from one tree-trunk to the other. +Seven of the Canadians had already been hit, but only three were +mortally wounded, and the other four still kept manfully to their +loop-holes, though one who had been struck through the jaw was spitting +his teeth with his bullets down into his gun-barrel. The women sat in a +line upon the ground, beneath the level of the loop-holes, each with a +saucerful of bullets and a canister of powder, passing up the loaded +guns to the fighting men at the points where a quick fire was most +needful. + +At first the attack had been all upon the south face, but as fresh +bodies of the Iroquois came up their line spread and lengthened until +the whole east face was girt with fire, which gradually enveloped the +north also. The fort was ringed in by a great loop of smoke, save only +where the broad river flowed past them. Over near the further bank the +canoes were lurking, and one, manned by ten warriors, attempted to pass +up the stream, but a good shot from the brass gun dashed in her side and +sank her, while a second of grape left only four of the swimmers whose +high scalp-locks stood out above the water like the back-fins of some +strange fish. On the inland side, however, the seigneur had ordered the +cannon to be served no more, for the broad embrasures drew the enemy's +fire, and of the men who had been struck half were among those who +worked the guns. + +The old nobleman strutted about with his white ruffles and his clouded +cane behind the line of parched smoke-grimed men, tapping his snuff-box, +shooting out his little jests, and looking very much less concerned than +he had done over his piquet. + +"What do you think of it, Du Lhut?" he asked. + +"I think very badly of it. We are losing men much too fast." + +"Well, my friend, what can you expect? When a thousand muskets are all +turned upon a little place like this, some one must suffer for it. +Ah, my poor fellow, so you are done for too!" + +The man nearest him had suddenly fallen with a crash, lying quite still +with his face in a platter of the sagamite which had been brought out by +the women. Du Lhut glanced at him and then looked round. + +"He is in a line with no loop-hole, and it took him in the shoulder," +said he. "Where did it come from then? Ah, by Saint Anne, look there!" +He pointed upwards to a little mist of smoke which hung round the summit +of a high oak. + +"The rascal overlooks the stockade. But the trunk is hardly thick +enough to shield him at that height. This poor fellow will not need his +musket again, and I see that it is ready primed." De la Noue laid down +his cane, turned back his ruffles, picked up the dead man's gun, and +fired at the lurking warrior. Two leaves fluttered out from the tree +and a grinning vermilion face appeared for an instant with a yell of +derision. Quick as a flash Du Lhut brought his musket to his shoulder +and pulled the trigger. The man gave a tremendous spring and crashed +down through the thick foliage. Some seventy or eighty feet below him a +single stout branch shot out, and on to this he fell with the sound of a +great stone dropping into a bog, and hung there doubled over it, +swinging slowly from side to side like a red rag, his scalp-lock +streaming down between his feet. A shout of exultation rose from the +Canadians at the sight, which was drowned in the murderous yell of the +savages. + +"His limbs twitch. He is not dead," cried De la Noue. + +"Let him die there," said the old pioneer callously, ramming a fresh +charge into his gun. "Ah, there is the gray hat again. It comes ever +when I am unloaded." + +"I saw a plumed hat among the brushwood." + +"It is the Flemish Bastard. I had rather have his scalp than those of +his hundred best warriors." + +"Is he so brave then?" + +"Yes, he is brave enough. There is no denying it, for how else could he +be an Iroquois war-chief? But he is clever and cunning, and cruel-- +Ah, my God, if all the stories told are true, his cruelty is past +believing. I should fear that my tongue would wither if I did but name +the things which this man has done. Ah, he is there again." + +The gray hat with the plume had shown itself once more in a rift of the +smoke. De la Noue and Du Lhut both fired together, and the cap +fluttered up into the air. At the same instant the bushes parted, and a +tall warrior sprang out into full view of the defenders. His face was +that of an Indian, but a shade or two lighter, and a pointed black beard +hung down over his hunting tunic. He threw out his hands with a gesture +of disdain, stood for an instant looking steadfastly at the fort, and +then sprang back into cover amid a shower of bullets which chipped away +the twigs all round him. + +"Yes, he is brave enough," Du Lhut repeated with an oath. +"Your _censitaires_ have had their hoes in their hands more often than +their muskets, I should judge from their shooting. But they seem to be +drawing closer upon the east face, and I think that they will make a +rush there before long." + +The fire had indeed grown very much fiercer upon the side which was +defended by De Catinat, and it was plain that the main force of the +Iroquois were gathered at that point. From every log, and trunk, and +cleft, and bush came the red flash with the gray halo, and the bullets +sang in a continuous stream through the loop-holes. Amos had whittled a +little hole for himself about a foot above the ground, and lay upon his +face loading and firing in his own quiet methodical fashion. Beside him +stood Ephraim Savage, his mouth set grimly, his eyes flashing from under +his down-drawn brows, and his whole soul absorbed in the smiting of the +Amalekites. His hat was gone, his grizzled hair flying in the breeze, +great splotches of powder mottled his mahogany face, and a weal across +his right cheek showed where an Indian bullet had grazed him. +De Catinat was bearing himself like an experienced soldier, walking up +and down among his men with short words of praise or of precept, those +fire-words rough and blunt which bring a glow to the heart and a flush +to the cheek. Seven of his men were down, but as the attack grew +fiercer upon his side it slackened upon the others, and the seigneur +with his son and Du Lhut brought ten men to reinforce them. De la Noue +was holding out his snuff-box to De Catinat when a shrill scream from +behind them made them both look round. Onega, the Indian wife, was +wringing her hands over the body of her son. A glance showed that the +bullet had pierced his heart and that he was dead. + +For an instant the old nobleman's thin face grew a shade paler, and the +hand which held out the little gold box shook like a branch in the wind. +Then he thrust it into his pocket again and mastered the spasm which had +convulsed his features. + +"The De la Noues always die upon the field of honour," he remarked. +"I think that we should have some more men in the angle by the gun." + +And now it became clear why it was that the Iroquois had chosen the +eastern face for their main attack. It was there that the clump of +cover lay midway between the edge of the forest and the stockade. A +storming party could creep as far as that and gather there for the final +rush. First one crouching warrior, and then a second, and then a third +darted across the little belt of open space, and threw themselves down +among the bushes. The fourth was hit, and lay with his back broken a +few paces out from the edge of the wood, but a stream of warriors +continued to venture the passage, until thirty-six had got across, and +the little patch of underwood was full of lurking savages. Amos Green's +time had come. + +From where he lay he could see the white patch where he had cut the bark +from the birch sapling, and he knew that immediately underneath it lay +the powder bag. He sighted the mark, and then slowly lowered his barrel +until he had got to the base of the little trees as nearly as he could +guess it among the tangle of bushes. The first shot produced no result, +however, and the second was aimed a foot lower. The bullet penetrated +the bag, and there was an explosion which shook the manor-house and +swayed the whole line of stout stockades as though they were corn-stalks +in a breeze. Up to the highest summits of the trees went the huge +column of blue smoke, and after the first roar there was a deathly +silence which was broken by the patter and thud of falling bodies. Then +came a wild cheer from the defenders, and a furious answering whoop from +the Indians, while the fire from the woods burst out with greater fury +than ever. + +But the blow had been a heavy one. Of the thirty-six warriors, all +picked for their valour, only four regained the shelter of the woods, +and those so torn and shattered that they were spent men. Already the +Indians had lost heavily, and this fresh disaster made them reconsider +their plan of attack, for the Iroquois were as wary as they were brave, +and he was esteemed the best war-chief who was most chary of the lives +of his followers. Their fire gradually slackened, and at last, save for +a dropping shot here and there, it died away altogether. + +"Is it possible that they are going to abandon the attack?" cried De +Catinat joyously. "Amos, I believe that you have saved us." + +But the wily Du Lhut shook his head. "A wolf would as soon leave a +half-gnawed bone as an Iroquois such a prize as this." + +"But they have lost heavily." + +"Ay, but not so heavily as ourselves in proportion to our numbers. +They have fifty out of a thousand, and we twenty out of threescore. No, +no, they are holding a council, and we shall soon hear from them again. +But it may be some hours first, and if you will take my advice you will +have an hour's sleep, for you are not, as I can see by your eyes, as +used to doing without it as I am, and there may be little rest for any +of us this night." + +De Catinat was indeed weary to the last pitch of human endurance. Amos +Green and the seaman had already wrapped themselves in their blankets +and sunk to sleep under the shelter of the stockade. The soldier rushed +upstairs to say a few words of comfort to the trembling Adele, and then +throwing himself down upon a couch he slept the dreamless sleep of an +exhausted man. When at last he was roused by a fresh sputter of +musketry fire from the woods the sun was already low in the heavens, and +the mellow light of evening tinged the bare walls of the room. +He sprang from his couch, seized his musket, and rushed downstairs. +The defenders were gathered at their loop-holes once more, while Du +Lhut, the seigneur, and Amos Green were whispering eagerly together. +He noticed as he passed that Onega still sat crooning by the body of her +son, without having changed her position since morning. + +"What is it, then? Are they coming on?" he asked. + +"They are up to some devilry," said Du Lhut, peering out at the corner +of the embrasure. "They are gathering thickly at the east fringe, and +yet the firing comes from the south. It is not the Indian way to attack +across the open, and yet if they think help is coming from the fort they +might venture it." + +"The wood in front of us is alive with them," said Amos. "They are as +busy as beavers among the underwood." + +"Perhaps they are going to attack from this side, and cover the attack +by a fire from the flank." + +"That is what I think," cried the seigneur. "Bring the spare guns up +here and all the men except five for each side." + +The words were hardly out of his mouth when a shrill yell burst from the +wood, and in an instant a cloud of warriors dashed out and charged +across the open, howling, springing, and waving their guns or tomahawks +in the air. With their painted faces, smeared and striped with every +vivid colour, their streaming scalp-locks, their waving arms, their open +mouths, and their writhings and contortions, no more fiendish crew ever +burst into a sleeper's nightmare. Some of those in front bore canoes +between them, and as they reached the stockade they planted them against +it and swarmed up them as if they had been scaling-ladders. Others +fired through the embrasures and loop-holes, the muzzles of their +muskets touching those of the defenders, while others again sprang +unaided on to the tops of the palisades and jumped fearlessly down upon +the inner side. The Canadians, however, made such a resistance as might +be expected from men who knew that no mercy awaited them. They fired +whilst they had time to load, and then, clubbing their muskets, they +smashed furiously at every red head which showed above the rails. The +din within the stockade was infernal, the shouts and cries of the +French, the whooping of the savages, and the terrified screaming of the +frightened women blending into one dreadful uproar, above which could be +heard the high shrill voice of the old seigneur imploring his +_censitaires_ to stand fast. With his rapier in his hand, his hat lost, +his wig awry, and his dignity all thrown to the winds, the old nobleman +showed them that day how a soldier of Rocroy could carry himself, and +with Du Lhut, Amos, De Catinat and Ephraim Savage, was ever in the +forefront of the defence. So desperately did they fight, the sword and +musket-butt outreaching the tomahawk, that though at one time fifty +Iroquois were over the palisades, they had slain or driven back nearly +all of them when a fresh wave burst suddenly over the south face which +had been stripped of its defenders. Du Lhut saw in an instant that the +enclosure was lost and that only one thing could save the house. + +"Hold them for an instant," he screamed, and rushing at the brass gun he +struck his flint and steel and fired it straight into the thick of the +savages. Then as they recoiled for an instant he stuck a nail into the +touch-hole and drove it home with a blow from the butt of his gun. +Darting across the yard he spiked the gun at the other corner, and was +back at the door as the remnants of the garrison were hurled towards it +by the rush of the assailants. The Canadians darted in, and swung the +ponderous mass of wood into position, breaking the leg of the foremost +warrior who had striven to follow them. Then for an instant they had +time for breathing and for council. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + + +THE COMING OF THE FRIAR. + +But their case was a very evil one. Had the guns been lost so that they +might be turned upon the door, all further resistance would have been +vain, but Du Lhut's presence of mind had saved them from that danger. +The two guns upon the river face and the canoes were safe, for they were +commanded by the windows of the house. But their numbers were terribly +reduced, and those who were left were weary and wounded and spent. +Nineteen had gained the house, but one had been shot through the body +and lay groaning in the hall, while a second had his shoulder cleft by a +tomahawk and could no longer raise his musket. Du Lhut, De la Noue, and +De Catinat were uninjured, but Ephraim Savage had a bullet-hole in his +forearm, and Amos was bleeding from a cut upon the face. Of the others +hardly one was without injury, and yet they had no time to think of +their hurts for the danger still pressed and they were lost unless they +acted. A few shots from the barricaded windows sufficed to clear the +enclosure, for it was all exposed to their aim; but on the other hand +they had the shelter of the stockade now, and from the further side of +it they kept up a fierce fire upon the windows. Half-a-dozen of the +_censitaires_ returned the fusillade, while the leaders consulted as to +what had best be done. + +"We have twenty-five women and fourteen children," said the seigneur. +"I am sure that you will agree with me, gentlemen, that our first duty +is towards them. Some of you, like myself, have lost sons or brothers +this day. Let us at least save our wives and sisters." + +"No Iroquois canoes have passed up the river," said one of the +Canadians. "If the women start in the darkness they can get away to the +fort." + +"By Saint Anne of Beaupre," exclaimed Du Lhut, "I think it would be well +if you could get your men out of this also, for I cannot see how it is +to be held until morning." + +A murmur of assent broke from the other Canadians, but the old nobleman +shook his bewigged head with decision. + +"Tut! Tut! What nonsense is this!" he cried. "Are we to abandon the +manor-house of Sainte Marie to the first gang of savages who choose to +make an attack upon it? No, no, gentlemen, there are still nearly a +score of us, and when the garrison learn that we are so pressed, which +will be by to-morrow morning at the latest, they will certainly send us +relief." + +Du Lhut shook his head moodily. + +"If you stand by the fort I will not desert you," said he, "and yet it +is a pity to sacrifice brave men for nothing." + +"The canoes will hardly hold the women and children as it is," cried +Theuriet. "There are but two large and four small. There is not space +for a single man." + +"Then that decides it," said De Catinat. "But who are to row the +women?" + +"It is but a few leagues with the current in their favour, and there are +none of our women who do not know how to handle a paddle." + +The Iroquois were very quiet now, and an occasional dropping shot from +the trees or the stockade was the only sign of their presence. Their +losses had been heavy, and they were either engaged in collecting their +dead, or in holding a council as to their next move. The twilight was +gathering in, and the sun had already sunk beneath the tree-tops. +Leaving a watchman at each window, the leaders went round to the back of +the house where the canoes were lying upon the bank. There were no +signs of the enemy upon the river to the north of them. + +"We are in luck," said Amos. "The clouds are gathering and there will +be little light." + +"It is luck indeed, since the moon is only three days past the full," +answered Du Lhut. "I wonder that the Iroquois have not cut us off upon +the water, but it is likely that their canoes have gone south to bring +up another war-party. They may be back soon, and we had best not lose a +moment." + +"In an hour it might be dark enough to start." + +"I think that there is rain in those clouds, and that will make it +darker still." + +The women and children were assembled and their places in each boat were +assigned to them. The wives of the censitaires, rough hardy women whose +lives had been spent under the shadow of a constant danger, were for the +most part quiet and collected, though a few of the younger ones +whimpered a little. A woman is always braver when she has a child to +draw her thoughts from herself, and each married woman had one now +allotted to her as her own special charge until they should reach the +fort. To Onega, the Indian wife of the seigneur, who was as wary and as +experienced as a war sachem of her people, the command of the women was +entrusted. + +"It is not very far, Adele," said De Catinat, as his wife clung to his +arm. "You remember how we heard the Angelus bells as we journeyed +through the woods. That was Fort St. Louis, and it is but a league or +two." + +"But I do not wish to leave you, Amory. We have been together in all +our troubles. Oh, Amory, why should we be divided now?" + +"My dear love, you will tell them at the fort how things are with us, +and they will bring us help." + +"Let the others do that, and I will stay. I will not be useless, Amory. +Onega has taught me to load a gun. I will not be afraid, indeed I will +not, if you will only let me stay." + +"You must not ask it, Adele. It is impossible, child I could not let +you stay." + +"But I feel so sure that it would be best." + +The coarser reason of man has not yet learned to value those subtle +instincts which guide a woman. De Catinat argued and exhorted until he +had silenced if he had not convinced her. + +"It is for my sake, dear. You do not know what a load it will be from +my heart when I know that you are safe. And you need not be afraid for +me. We can easily hold the place until morning. Then the people from +the fort will come, for I hear that they have plenty of canoes, and we +shall all meet again." + +Adele was silent, but her hands tightened upon his arm. Her husband was +still endeavouring to reassure her when a groan burst from the watcher +at the window which overlooked the stream. + +"There is a canoe on the river to the north of us," he cried. + +The besieged looked at each other in dismay. The Iroquois had then cut +off their retreat after all. + +"How many warriors are in it?" asked the seigneur. + +"I cannot see. The light is not very good, and it is in the shadow of +the bank." + +"Which way is it coming?" + +"It is coming this way. Ah, it shoots out into the open now, and I can +see it. May the good Lord be praised! A dozen candles shall burn in +Quebec Cathedral if I live till next summer!" + +"What is it then?" cried De la Noue impatiently. + +"It is not an Iroquois canoe. There is but one man in it. He is a +Canadian." + +"A Canadian!" cried Du Lhut, springing up to the window. "Who but a +madman would venture into such a hornet's nest alone! Ah, yes, I can +see him now. He keeps well out from the bank to avoid their fire. Now +he is in mid-stream and he turns towards us. By my faith, it is not the +first time that the good father has handled a paddle." + +"It is a Jesuit!" said one, craning his neck. "They are ever where +there is most danger." + +"No, I can see his capote," cried another. "It is a Franciscan friar!" + +An instant later there was the sound of a canoe grounding upon the +pebbles, the door was unbarred, and a man strode in, attired in the long +brown gown of the Franciscans. He cast a rapid glance around, and then, +stepping up to De Catinat, laid his hand upon his shoulder. + +"So, you have not escaped me!" said he. "We have caught the evil seed +before it has had time to root." + +"What do you mean, father?" asked the seigneur. "You have made some +mistake. This is my good friend Amory de Catinat, of a noble French +family." + +"This is Amory de Catinat, the heretic and Huguenot," cried the monk. +"I have followed him up the St. Lawrence, and I have followed him up the +Richelieu, and I would have followed him to the world's end if I could +but bring him back with me." + +"Tut, father, your zeal carries you too far," said the seigneur. +"Whither would you take my friend, then?" + +"He shall go back to France with his wife. There is no place in Canada +for heretics." + +Du Lhut burst out laughing. "By Saint Anne, father," said he, "if you +could take us all back to France at present we should be very much your +debtors." + +"And you will remember," said De la Noue sternly, "that you are under my +roof and that you are speaking of my guest." + +But the friar was not to be abashed by the frown of the old nobleman. + +"Look at this," said he, whipping a paper out of his bosom. "It is +signed by the governor, and calls upon you, under pain of the king's +displeasure, to return this man to Quebec. Ah, monsieur, when you left +me upon the island that morning you little thought that I would return +to Quebec for this, and then hunt you down so many hundreds of miles of +river. But I have you now, and I shall never leave you until I see you +on board the ship which will carry you and your wife back to France." + +For all the bitter vindictiveness which gleamed in the monk's eyes, De +Catinat could not but admire the energy and tenacity of the man. + +"It seems to me, father, that you would have shone more as a soldier +than as a follower of Christ," said he; "but, since you have followed us +here, and since there is no getting away, we may settle this question at +some later time." + +But the two Americans were less inclined to take so peaceful a view. +Ephraim Savage's beard bristled with anger, and he whispered something +into Amos Green's ear. + +"The captain and I could easily get rid of him," said the young +woodsman, drawing De Catinat aside. "If he _will_ cross our path he +must pay for it." + +"No, no, not for the world, Amos! Let him alone. He does what he +thinks to be his duty, though his faith is stronger than his charity, I +think. But here comes the rain, and surely it is dark enough now for +the boats." + +A great brown cloud had overspread the heavens, and the night had fallen +so rapidly that they could hardly see the gleam of the river in front of +them. The savages in the woods and behind the captured stockade were +quiet, save for an occasional shot, but the yells and whoops from the +cottages of the _censitaires_ showed that they were being plundered by +their captors. Suddenly a dull red glow began to show above one of the +roofs. + +"They have set it on fire," cried Du Lhut. "The canoes must go at once, +for the river will soon be as light as day. In! In! There is not an +instant to lose!" + +There was no time for leave-taking. One impassioned kiss and Adele was +torn away and thrust into the smallest canoe, which she shared with +Onega, two children, and an unmarried girl. The others rushed into +their places, and in a few moments they had pushed off, and had vanished +into the drift and the darkness. The great cloud had broken and the +rain pattered heavily upon the roof, and splashed upon their faces as +they strained their eyes after the vanishing boats. + +"Thank God for this storm!" murmured Du Lhut. "It will prevent the +cottages from blazing up too quickly." + +But he had forgotten that though the roofs might be wet the interior was +as dry as tinder. He had hardly spoken before a great yellow tongue of +flame licked out of one of the windows, and again and again, until +suddenly half of the roof fell in, and the cottage was blazing like a +pitch-bucket. The flames hissed and sputtered in the pouring rain, but, +fed from below, they grew still higher and fiercer, flashing redly upon +the great trees, and turning their trunks to burnished brass. +Their light made the enclosure and the manor-house as clear as day, and +exposed the whole long stretch of the river. A fearful yell from the +woods announced that the savages had seen the canoes, which were plainly +visible from the windows not more than a quarter of a mile away. + +"They are rushing through the woods. They are making for the water's +edge," cried De Catinat. + +"They have some canoes down there," said Du Lhut. + +"But they must pass us!" cried the Seigneur of Sainte Marie. "Get down +to the cannon and see if you cannot stop them." + +They had hardly reached the guns when two large canoes filled with +warriors shot out from among the reeds below the fort, and steering out +into mid-stream began to paddle furiously after the fugitives. + +"Jean, you are our best shot," cried De la Noue. "Lay for her as she +passes the great pine tree. Lambert, do you take the other gun. The +lives of all whom you love may hang upon the shot!" + +The two wrinkled old artillerymen glanced along their guns and waited +for the canoes to come abreast of them. The fire still blazed higher +and higher, and the broad river lay like a sheet of dull metal with two +dark lines, which marked the canoes, sweeping swiftly down the centre. +One was fifty yards in front of the other, but in each the Indians were +bending to their paddles and pulling frantically, while their comrades +from the wooded shores whooped them on to fresh exertions. +The fugitives had already disappeared round the bend of the river. + +As the first canoe came abreast of the lower of the two guns, the +Canadian made the sign of the cross over the touch-hole and fired. +A cheer and then a groan went up from the eager watchers. The discharge +had struck the surface close to the mark, and dashed such a shower of +water over it that for an instant it looked as if it had been sunk. +The next moment, however, the splash subsided, and the canoe shot away +uninjured, save that one of the rowers had dropped his paddle while his +head fell forward upon the back of the man in front of him. The second +gunner sighted the same canoe as it came abreast of him, but at the very +instant when he stretched out his match to fire a bullet came humming +from the stockade and he fell forward dead without a groan. + +"This is work that I know something of, lad," said old Ephraim, +springing suddenly forward. "But when I fire a gun I like to train it +myself. Give me a help with the handspike and get her straight for the +island. So! A little lower for an even keel! Now we have them!" +He clapped down his match and fired. + +It was a beautiful shot. The whole charge took the canoe about six feet +behind the bow, and doubled her up like an eggshell. Before the smoke +had cleared she had foundered, and the second canoe had paused to pick +up some of the wounded men. The others, as much at home in the water as +in the woods, were already striking out for the shore. + +"Quick! Quick!" cried the seigneur. "Load the gun! We may get the +second one yet!" + +But it was not to be. Long before they could get it ready the Iroquois +had picked up their wounded warriors and were pulling madly up-stream +once more. As they shot away the fire died suddenly down in the burning +cottages and the rain and the darkness closed in upon them. + +"My God!" cried De Catinat furiously, "they will be taken. Let us +abandon this place, take a boat, and follow them. Come! Come! Not an +instant is to be lost!" + +"Monsieur, you go too far in your very natural anxiety," said the +seigneur coldly. "I am not inclined to leave my post so easily!" + +"Ah, what is it? Only wood and stone, which can be built again. But to +think of the women in the hands of these devils! Oh, I am going mad! +Come! Come! For Christ's sake come!" His face was deadly pale, and he +raved with his clenched hands in the air. + +"I do not think that they will be caught," said Du Lhut, laying his hand +soothingly upon his shoulder. "Do not fear. They had a long start and +the women here can paddle as well as the men. Again, the Iroquois canoe +was overloaded at the start, and has the wounded men aboard as well now. +Besides, these oak canoes of the Mohawks are not as swift as the +Algonquin birch barks which we use. In any case it is impossible to +follow, for we have no boat." + +"There is one lying there." + +"Ah, it will but hold a single man. It is that in which the friar +came." + +"Then I am going in that! My place is with Adele!" He flung open the +door, rushed out, and was about to push off the frail skiff, when some +one sprang past him, and with a blow from a hatchet stove in the side of +the boat. + +"It is my boat," said the friar, throwing down the axe and folding his +arms. "I can do what I like with it." + +"You fiend! You have ruined us!" + +"I have found you and you shall not escape me again." + +The hot blood flushed to the soldier's head, and picking up the axe, he +took a quick step forward. The light from the open door shone upon the +grave, harsh face of the friar, but not a muscle twitched nor a feature +changed as he saw the axe whirl up in the hands of a furious man. +He only signed himself with the cross, and muttered a Latin prayer under +his breath. It was that composure which saved his life. De Catinat +hurled down the axe again with a bitter curse, and was turning away from +the shattered boat, when in an instant, without a warning, the great +door of the manor-house crashed inwards, and a flood of whooping savages +burst into the house. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + +THE DINING HALL OF SAINTE MARIE. + +What had occurred is easily explained. The watchers in the windows at +the front found that it was more than flesh and blood could endure to +remain waiting at their posts while the fates of their wives and +children were being decided at the back. All was quiet at the stockade, +and the Indians appeared to be as absorbed as the Canadians in what was +passing upon the river. One by one, therefore, the men on guard had +crept away and had assembled at the back to cheer the seaman's shot and +to groan as the remaining canoe sped like a bloodhound down the river in +the wake of the fugitives. But the savages had one at their head who +was as full of wiles and resource as Du Lhut himself. The Flemish +Bastard had watched the house from behind the stockade as a dog watches +a rat-hole, and he had instantly discovered that the defenders had left +their post. With a score of other warriors he raised a great log from +the edge of the forest, and crossing the open space unchallenged, he and +his men rushed it against the door with such violence as to crack the +bar across and tear the wood from the hinges. The first intimation +which the survivors had of the attack was the crash of the door, and the +screams of two of the negligent watchmen who had been seized and scalped +in the hall. The whole basement floor was in the hands of the Indians, +and De Catinat and his enemy the friar were cut off from the foot of the +stairs. + +Fortunately, however, the manor-houses of Canada were built with the one +idea of defence against Indians, and even now there were hopes for the +defenders. A wooden ladder which could be drawn up in case of need hung +down from the upper windows to the ground upon the river-side. +De Catinat rushed round to this, followed by the friar. He felt about +for the ladder in the darkness. It was gone. + +Then indeed his heart sank in despair. Where could he fly to? The boat +was destroyed. The stockades lay between him and the forest, and they +were in the hands of the Iroquois. Their yells were ringing in his +ears. They had not seen him yet, but in a few minutes they must come +upon him. Suddenly he heard a voice from somewhere in the darkness +above him. + +"Give me your gun, lad," it said. "I see the loom of some of the +heathen down by the wall." + +"It is I. It is I, Amos," cried De Catinat. "Down with the ladder or I +am a dead man." + +"Have a care. It may be a ruse," said the voice of Du Lhut. + +"No, no, I'll answer for it," cried Amos, and an instant later down came +the ladder. De Catinat and the friar rushed up it, and they hardly had +their feet upon the rungs when a swarm of warriors burst out from the +door and poured along the river bank. Two muskets flashed from above, +something plopped like a salmon in the water, and next instant the two +were among their comrades and the ladder had been drawn up once more. + +But it was a very small band who now held the last point to which they +could retreat. Only nine of them remained, the seigneur, Du Lhut, the +two Americans, the friar, De Catinat, Theuriet the major-domo, and two +of the _censitaires_. Wounded, parched, and powder-blackened, they were +still filled with the mad courage of desperate men who knew that death +could come in no more terrible form than through surrender. The stone +staircase ran straight up from the kitchen to the main hall, and the +door, which had been barricaded across the lower part by two mattresses, +commanded the whole flight. Hoarse whisperings and the click of the +cocking of guns from below told that the Iroquois were mustering for a +rush. + +"Put the lantern by the door," said Du Lhut, "so that it may throw the +light upon the stair. There is only room for three to fire, but you can +all load and pass the guns. Monsieur Green, will you kneel with me, and +you, Jean Duval? If one of us is hit let another take his place at +once. Now be ready, for they are coming!" + +As he spoke there was a shrill whistle from below, and in an instant the +stair was filled with rushing red figures and waving weapons. +Bang! Bang! Bang! went the three guns, and then again and again +Bang! Bang! Bang! The smoke was so thick in the low-roofed room that +they could hardly see to pass the muskets to the eager hands which +grasped for them. But no Iroquois had reached the barricade, and there +was no patter of their feet now upon the stair. Nothing but an angry +snarling and an occasional groan from below. The marksmen were +uninjured, but they ceased to fire and waited for the smoke to clear. + +And when it cleared they saw how deadly their aim had been at those +close quarters. Only nine shots had been fired, and seven Indians were +littered up and down on the straight stone stair. Five of them lay +motionless, but two tried to crawl slowly back to their friends. +Du Lhut and the _censitaire_ raised their muskets, and the two crippled +men lay still. + +"By Saint Anne!" said the old pioneer, as he rammed home another bullet. +"If they have our scalps we have sold them at a great price. A hundred +squaws will be howling in their villages when they hear of this day's +work." + +"Ay, they will not forget their welcome at Sainte Marie," said the old +nobleman. "I must again express my deep regret, my dear De Catinat, +that you and your wife should have been put to such inconvenience when +you have been good enough to visit me. I trust that she and the others +are safe at the fort by this time." + +"May God grant that they are! Oh, I shall never have an easy moment +until I see her once more." + +"If they are safe we may expect help in the morning, if we can hold out +so long. Chambly, the commandant, is not a man to leave a comrade at a +pinch." + +The cards were still laid out at one end of the table, with the tricks +overlapping each other, as they had left them on the previous morning. +But there was something else there of more interest to them, for the +breakfast had not been cleared away, and they had been fighting all day +with hardly bite or sup. Even when face to face with death, Nature +still cries out for her dues, and the hungry men turned savagely upon +the loaf, the ham, and the cold wild duck. A little cluster of wine +bottles stood upon the buffet, and these had their necks knocked off, +and were emptied down parched throats. Three men still took their turn, +however, to hold the barricade, for they were not to be caught napping +again. The yells and screeches of the savages came up to them as though +all the wolves of the forest were cooped up in the basement, but the +stair was deserted save for the seven motionless figures. + +"They will not try to rush us again," said Du Lhut with confidence. +"We have taught them too severe a lesson." + +"They will set fire to the house." + +"It will puzzle them to do that," said the major-domo. "It is solid +stone, walls and stair, save only for a few beams of wood, very +different from those other cottages." + +"Hush!" cried Amos Green, and raised his hand. The yells had died away, +and they heard the heavy thud of a mallet beating upon wood. + +"What can it be?" + +"Some fresh devilry, no doubt." + +"I regret to say, messieurs," observed the seigneur, with no abatement +of his courtly manner, "that it is my belief that they have learned a +lesson from our young friend here, and that they are knocking out the +heads of the powder-barrels in the store-room." + +But Du Lhut shook his head at the suggestion. "It is not in a Redskin +to waste powder," said he. "It is a deal too precious for them to do +that. Ah, listen to that!" + +The yellings and screechings had begun again, but there was a wilder, +madder ring in their shrillness, and they were mingled with snatches of +song and bursts of laughter. + +"Ha! It is the brandy casks which they have opened," cried Du Lhut. +"They were bad before, but they will be fiends out of hell now." + +As he spoke there came another burst of whoops, and high above them a +voice calling for mercy. With horror in their eyes the survivors +glanced from one to the other. A heavy smell of burning flesh rose from +below, and still that dreadful voice shrieking and pleading. Then +slowly it quavered away and was silent forever. + +"Who was it?" whispered De Catinat, his blood running cold in his veins. + +"It was Jean Corbeil, I think." + +"May God rest his soul! His troubles are over. Would that we were as +peaceful as he! Ah, shoot him! Shoot!" + +A man had suddenly sprung out at the foot of the stair and had swung his +arm as though throwing something. It was the Flemish Bastard. +Amos Green's musket flashed, but the savage had sprung back again as +rapidly as he appeared. Something splashed down amongst them and rolled +across the floor in the lamp-light. + +"Down! Down! It is a bomb!" cried De Catinat + +But it lay at Du Lhut's feet, and he had seen it clearly. He took a +cloth from the table and dropped it over it. + +"It is not a bomb," said he quietly, "and it _was_ Jean Corbeil who +died." + +For four hours sounds of riot, of dancing and of revelling rose up from +the store-house, and the smell of the open brandy casks filled the whole +air. More than once the savages quarrelled and fought among themselves, +and it seemed as if they had forgotten their enemies above, but the +besieged soon found that if they attempted to presume upon this they +were as closely watched as ever. The major-domo, Theuriet, passing +between a loop-hole and a light, was killed instantly by a bullet from +the stockade, and both Amos and the old seigneur had narrow escapes +until they blocked all the windows save that which overlooked the river. +There was no danger from this one, and, as day was already breaking once +more, one or other of the party was forever straining their eyes down +the stream in search of the expected succour. + +Slowly the light crept up the eastern sky, a little line of pearl, then +a band of pink, broadening, stretching, spreading, until it shot its +warm colour across the heavens, tinging the edges of the drifting +clouds. Over the woodlands lay a thin gray vapour, the tops of the high +oaks jutting out like dim islands from the sea of haze. Gradually as +the light increased the mist shredded off into little ragged wisps, +which thinned and drifted away, until at last, as the sun pushed its +glowing edge over the eastern forests, it gleamed upon the reds and +oranges and purples of the fading leaves, and upon the broad blue river +which curled away to the northward. De Catinat, as he stood at the +window looking out, was breathing in the healthy resinous scent of the +trees, mingled with the damp heavy odour of the wet earth, when suddenly +his eyes fell upon a dark spot upon the river to the north of them. +"There is a canoe coming down!" he cried. In an instant they had all +rushed to the opening, but Du Lhut sprang after them, and pulled them +angrily towards the door. + +"Do you wish to die before your time?" he cried. + +"Ay, ay!" said Captain Ephraim, who understood the gesture if not the +words. "We must leave a watch on deck. Amos, lad, lie here with me and +be ready if they show." + +The two Americans and the old pioneer held the barricade, while the eyes +of all the others were turned upon the approaching boat. A groan broke +suddenly from the only surviving _censitaire_. + +"It is an Iroquois canoe!" he cried. + +"Impossible!" + +"Alas, your excellency, it is so, and it is the same one which passed us +last night." + +"Ah, then the women have escaped them." + +"I trust so. But alas, seigneur, I fear that there are more in the +canoe now than when they passed us." + +The little group of survivors waited in breathless anxiety while the +canoe sped swiftly up the river, with a line of foam on either side of +her, and a long forked swirl in the waters behind. They could see that +she appeared to be very crowded, but they remembered that the wounded of +the other boat were aboard her. On she shot and on, until as she came +abreast of the fort she swung round, and the rowers raised their paddles +and burst into a shrill yell of derision. The stern of the canoe was +turned towards them now, and they saw that two women were seated in it. +Even at that distance there was no mistaking the sweet pale face or the +dark queenly one beside it. The one was Onega and the other was Adele. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + + +THE TWO SWIMMERS. + +Charles de la Noue, Seigneur de Sainte Marie, was a hard and +self-contained man, but a groan and a bitter curse burst from him when +he saw his Indian wife in the hands of her kinsmen, from whom she could +hope for little mercy. Yet even now his old-fashioned courtesy to his +guest had made him turn to De Catinat with some words of sympathy, when +there was a clatter of wood, something darkened the light of the window, +and the young soldier was gone. Without a word he had lowered the +ladder and was clambering down it with frantic haste. Then as his feet +touched the ground he signalled to his comrades to draw it up again, and +dashing into the river he swam towards the canoe. Without arms and +without a plan he had but the one thought that his place was by the side +of his wife in this, the hour of her danger. Fate should bring him what +it brought her, and he swore to himself, as he clove a way with his +strong arms, that whether it were life or death they should still share +it together. + +But there was another whose view of duty led him from safety into the +face of danger. All night the Franciscan had watched De Catinat as a +miser watches his treasure, filled with the thought that this heretic +was the one little seed which might spread and spread until it choked +the chosen vineyard of the Church. Now when he saw him rush so suddenly +down the ladder, every fear was banished from his mind save the +overpowering one that he was about to lose his precious charge. +He, too, clambered down at the very heels of his prisoner, and rushed +into the stream not ten paces behind him. + +And so the watchers at the window saw the strangest of sights. +There, in mid-stream, lay the canoe, with a ring of dark warriors +clustering in the stern, and the two women crouching in the midst of +them. Swimming madly towards them was De Catinat, rising to the +shoulders with the strength of every stroke, and behind him again was +the tonsured head of the friar, with his brown capote and long trailing +gown floating upon the surface of the water behind him. But in his zeal +he had thought too little of his own powers. He was a good swimmer, but +he was weighted and hampered by his unwieldy clothes. Slower and slower +grew his stroke, lower and lower his head, until at last with a great +shriek of _In manus tuas, Domine!_ he threw up his hands, and vanished +in the swirl of the river. A minute later the watchers, hoarse with +screaming to him to return, saw De Catinat pulled aboard the Iroquois +canoe, which was instantly turned and continued its course up the river. + +"My God!" cried Amos hoarsely. "They have taken him. He is lost." + +"I have seen some strange things in these forty years, but never the +like of that!" said Du Lhut. + +The seigneur took a little pinch of snuff from his gold box, and flicked +the wandering grains from his shirt-front with his dainty lace +handkerchief. + +"Monsieur de Catinat has acted like a gentleman of France," said he. +"If I could swim now as I did thirty years ago, I should be by his +side." + +Du Lhut glanced round him and shook his head. "We are only six now," +said he. "I fear they are up to some devilry because they are so very +still." + +"They are leaving the house!" cried the _censitaire_, who was peeping +through one of the side windows. "What can it mean? Holy Virgin, is it +possible that we are saved? See how they throng through the trees. +They are making for the canoe. Now they are waving their arms and +pointing." + +"There is the gray hat of that mongrel devil amongst them," said the +captain. "I would try a shot upon him were it not a waste of powder and +lead." + +"I have hit the mark at as long a range," said Amos, pushing his long +brown gun through a chink in the barricade which they had thrown across +the lower half of the window. "I would give my next year's trade to +bring him down." + +"It is forty paces further than my musket would carry," remarked Du +Lhut, "but I have seen the English shoot a great way with those long +guns." + +Amos took a steady aim, resting his gun upon the window sill, and fired. +A shout of delight burst from the little knot of survivors. The Flemish +Bastard had fallen. But he was on his feet again in an instant and +shook his hand defiantly at the window. + +"Curse it!" cried Amos bitterly, in English. "I have hit him with a +spent ball. As well strike him with a pebble." + +"Nay, curse not, Amos, lad, but try him again with another pinch of +powder if your gun will stand it." + +The woodsman thrust in a full charge, and chose a well-rounded bullet +from his bag, but when he looked again both the Bastard and his warriors +had disappeared. On the river the single Iroquois canoe which held the +captives was speeding south as swiftly as twenty paddles could drive it, +but save this one dark streak upon the blue stream, not a sign was to be +seen of their enemies. They had vanished as if they had been an evil +dream. There was the bullet-spotted stockade, the litter of dead bodies +inside it, the burned and roofless cottages, but the silent woods lay +gleaming in the morning sunshine as quiet and peaceful as if no +hell-burst of fiends had ever broken out from them. + +"By my faith, I believe that they have gone!" cried the seigneur. + +"Take care that it is not a ruse," said Du Lhut. "Why should they fly +before six men when they have conquered sixty?" + +But the _censitaire_ had looked out of the other window, and in an +instant he was down upon his knees with his hands in the air, and his +powder blackened face turned upwards, pattering out prayers and +thanksgivings. His five comrades rushed across the room and burst into +a shriek of joy. The upper reach of the river was covered with a +flotilla of canoes from which the sun struck quick flashes as it shone +upon the musket-barrels and trappings of the crews. Already they could +see the white coats of the regulars, the brown tunics of the +coureurs-de-bois_, and the gaudy colours of the Hurons and Algonquins. +On they swept, dotting the whole breadth of the river, and growing +larger every instant, while far away on the southern bend, the Iroquois +canoe was a mere moving dot which had shot away to the farther side and +lost itself presently under the shadow of the trees. Another minute and +the survivors were out upon the bank, waving their caps in the air, +while the prows of the first of their rescuers were already grating upon +the pebbles. In the stern of the very foremost canoe sat a wizened +little man with a large brown wig, and a gilt-headed rapier laid across +his knees. He sprang out as the keel touched bottom, splashing through +the shallow water with his high leather boots, and rushing up to the +seigneur, he flung himself into his arms. + +"My dear Charles," he cried, "you have held your house like a hero. +What, only six of you! Tut, tut, this has been a bloody business!" + +"I knew that you would not desert a comrade, Chambly. We have saved the +house, but our losses have been terrible. My son is dead. My wife is +in that Iroquois canoe in front of you." + +The commandant of Fort St. Louis pressed his friend's hand in silent +sympathy. + +"The others arrived all safe," he said at last. "Only that one was +taken, on account of the breaking of a paddle. Three were drowned and +two captured. There was a French lady in it, I understand, as well as +madame." + +"Yes, and they have taken her husband as well." + +"Ah, poor souls! Well, if you are strong enough to join us, you and +your friends, we shall follow after them without the loss of an instant. +Ten of my men will remain to guard the house, and you can have their +canoe. Jump in then, and forward, for life and death may hang upon our +speed!" + + + +CHAPTER XL. + + +THE END. + +The Iroquois had not treated De Catinat harshly when they dragged him +from the water into their canoe. So incomprehensible was it to them why +any man should voluntarily leave a place of safety in order to put +himself in their power that they could only set it down to madness, a +malady which inspires awe and respect among the Indians. They did not +even tie his wrists, for why should he attempt to escape when he had +come of his own free will? Two warriors passed their hands over him, to +be sure that he was unarmed, and he was then thrust down between the two +women, while the canoe darted in towards the bank to tell the others +that the St. Louis garrison was coming up the stream. Then it steered +out again, and made its way swiftly up the centre of the river. +Adele was deadly pale and her hand, as her husband laid his upon it, was +as cold as marble. + +"My darling," he whispered, "tell me that all is well with you--that you +are unhurt!" + +"Oh, Amory, why did you come? Why did you come, Amory? Oh, I think I +could have borne anything, but if they hurt you I could not bear that." + +"How could I stay behind when I knew that you were in their hands? +I should have gone mad!" + +"Ah, it was my one consolation to think that you were safe." + +"No, no, we have gone through so much together that we cannot part now. +What is death, Adele? Why should we be afraid of it?" + +"I am not afraid of it." + +"And I am not afraid of it. Things will come about as God wills it, and +what He wills must in the end be the best. If we live, then we have +this memory in common. If we die, then we go hand-in-hand into +another life. Courage, my own, all will be well with us." + +"Tell me, monsieur," said Onega, "is my lord still living?" + +"Yes, he is alive and well." + +"It is good. He is a great chief, and I have never been sorry, not even +now, that I have wedded with one who was not of my own people. But ah, +my son! Who shall give my son back to me? He was like the young +sapling, so straight and so strong! Who could run with him, or leap +with him, or swim with him? Ere that sun shines again we shall all be +dead, and my heart is glad, for I shall see my boy once more." + +The Iroquois paddles had bent to their work until a good ten miles lay +between them and Sainte Marie. Then they ran the canoe into a little +creek upon their own side of the river, and sprang out of her, dragging +the prisoners after them. The canoe was carried on the shoulders of +eight men some distance into the wood, where they concealed it between +two fallen trees, heaping a litter of branches over it to screen it from +view. Then, after a short council, they started through the forest, +walking in single file, with their three prisoners in the middle. +There were fifteen warriors in all, eight in front and seven behind, all +armed with muskets and as swift-footed as deer, so that escape was out +of the question. They could but follow on, and wait in patience for +whatever might befall them. + +All day they pursued their dreary march, picking their way through vast +morasses, skirting the borders of blue woodland lakes where the gray +stork flapped heavily up from the reeds at their approach, or plunging +into dark belts of woodland where it is always twilight, and where the +falling of the wild chestnuts and the chatter of the squirrels a hundred +feet above their heads were the only sounds which broke the silence. +Onega had the endurance of the Indians themselves, but Adele, in spite +of her former journeys, was footsore and weary before evening. It was a +relief to De Catinat, therefore, when the red glow of a great fire beat +suddenly through the tree-trunks, and they came upon an Indian camp in +which was assembled the greater part of the war-party which had been +driven from Sainte Marie. Here, too, were a number of the squaws who +had come from the Mohawk and Cayuga villages in order to be nearer to +the warriors. Wigwams had been erected all round in a circle, and +before each of them were the fires with kettles slung upon a tripod of +sticks in which the evening meal was being cooked. In the centre of all +was a very fierce fire which had been made of brushwood placed in a +circle, so as to leave a clear space of twelve feet in the middle. +A pole stood up in the centre of this clearing, and something all +mottled with red and black was tied up against it. De Catinat stepped +swiftly in front of Adele that she might not see the dreadful thing, but +he was too late. She shuddered, and drew a quick breath between her +pale lips, but no sound escaped her. + +"They have begun already, then," said Onega composedly. "Well, it will +be our turn next, and we shall show them that we know how to die." + +"They have not ill-used us yet," said De Catinat. "Perhaps they will +keep us for ransom or exchange." + +The Indian woman shook her head. "Do not deceive yourself by any such +hope," said she. "When they are as gentle as they have been with you it +is ever a sign that you are reserved for the torture. Your wife will be +married to one of their chiefs, but you and I must die, for you are a +warrior, and I am too old for a squaw." + +Married to an Iroquois! Those dreadful words shot a pang through both +their hearts which no thought of death could have done. De Catinat's +head dropped forward upon his chest, and he staggered and would have +fallen had Adele not caught him by the arm. + +"Do not fear, dear Amory," she whispered. "Other things may happen but +not that, for I swear to you that I shall not survive you. No, it may +be sin or it may not, but if death will not come to me, I will go to +it." + +De Catinat looked down at the gentle face which had set now into the +hard lines of an immutable resolve. He knew that it would be as she had +said, and that, come what might, that last outrage would not befall +them. Could he ever have believed that the time would come when it +would send a thrill of joy through his heart to know that his wife would +die? + +As they entered the Iroquois village the squaws and warriors had rushed +towards them, and they passed through a double line of hideous faces +which jeered and jibed and howled at them as they passed. Their escort +led them through this rabble and conducted them to a hut which stood +apart. It was empty, save for some willow fishing-nets hanging at the +side, and a heap of pumpkins stored in the corner. + +"The chiefs will come and will decide upon what is to be done with us," +said Onega. "Here they are coming now, and you will soon see that I am +right, for I know the ways of my own people." + +An instant later an old war-chief, accompanied by two younger braves and +by the bearded half-Dutch Iroquois who had led the attack upon the +manor-house, strolled over and stood in the doorway, looking in at the +prisoners, and shooting little guttural sentences at each other. +The totems of the Hawk, the Wolf, the Bear, and the Snake showed that +they each represented one of the great families of the Nation. +The Bastard was smoking a stone pipe, and yet it was he who talked the +most, arguing apparently with one of the younger savages, who seemed to +come round at last to his opinion. Finally the old chief said a few +short stern words, and the matter appeared to be settled. + +"And you, you beldame," said the Bastard in French to the Iroquois +woman, "you will have a lesson this night which will teach you to side +against your own people." + +"You half-bred mongrel," replied the fearless old woman, "you should +take that hat from your head when you speak to one in whose veins runs +the best blood of the Onondagas. You a warrior? You who, with a +thousand at your back, could not make your way into a little house with +a few poor husbandmen within it! It is no wonder that your father's +people have cast you out! Go back and work at the beads, or play at the +game of plum-stones, for some day in the woods you might meet with a +man, and so bring disgrace upon the nation which has taken you in!" + +The evil face of the Bastard grew livid as he listened to the scornful +words which were hissed at him by the captive. He strode across to her, +and taking her hand he thrust her forefinger into the burning bowl of +his pipe. She made no effort to remove it, but sat with a perfectly set +face for a minute or more, looking out through the open door at the +evening sunlight and the little groups of chattering Indians. He had +watched her keenly in the hope of hearing a cry, or seeing some spasm of +agony upon her face, but at last, with a curse, he dashed down her hand +and strode from the hut. She thrust her charred finger into her bosom +and laughed. + +"He is a good-for-nought!" she cried. "He does not even know how to +torture. Now, I could have got a cry out of him. I am sure of it. +But you--monsieur, you are very white!" + +"It was the sight of such a hellish deed. Ah, if we were but set face +to face, I with my sword, he with what weapon he chose, by God, he +should pay for it with his heart's blood." + +The Indian woman seemed surprised. "It is strange to me," she said, +"that you should think of what befalls me when you are yourselves under +the same shadow. But our fate will be as I said." + +"Ah!" + +"You and I are to die at the stake. She is to be given to the dog who +has left us." + +"Ah!" + +"Adele! Adele! What shall I do!" He tore his hair in his helplessness +and distraction. + +"No, no, fear not, Amory, for my heart will not fail me. What is the +pang of death if it binds us together?" + +"The younger chief pleaded for you, saying that the _Mitche Manitou_ had +stricken you with madness, as could be seen by your swimming to their +canoe, and that a blight would fall upon the nation if you were led to +the stake. But this Bastard said that love came often like madness +among the pale-faces, and that it was that alone which had driven you. +Then it was agreed that you should die and that she should go to his +wigwam, since he had led the war-party. As for me, their hearts were +bitter against me, and I also am to die by the pine splinters." + +De Catinat breathed a prayer that he might meet his fate like a soldier +and a gentleman. + +"When is it to be?" he asked. + +"Now! At once! They have gone to make all ready! But you have time +yet, for I am to go first." + +"Amory, Amory, could we not die together now?" cried Adele, throwing her +arms round her husband. "If it be sin, it is surely a sin which will be +forgiven us. Let us go, dear. Let us leave these dreadful people and +this cruel world and turn where we shall find peace." + +The Indian woman's eyes flashed with satisfaction. + +"You have spoken well, White Lily," said she. "Why should you wait +until it is their pleasure to pluck you. See, already the glare of +their fire beats upon the tree-trunks, and you can hear the howlings of +those who thirst for your blood. If you die by your own hands, they +will be robbed of their spectacle, and their chief will have lost his +bride. So you will be the victors in the end, and they the vanquished. +You have said rightly, White Lily. There lies the only path for you!" + +"But how to take it?" + +Onega glanced keenly at the two warriors who stood as sentinels at the +door of the hut. They had turned away, absorbed in the horrible +preparations which were going on. Then she rummaged deeply within the +folds of her loose gown and pulled out a small pistol with two brass +barrels and double triggers in the form of winged dragons. It was only +a toy to look at, all carved and scrolled and graven with the choicest +work of the Paris gunsmith. For its beauty the seigneur had bought it +at his last visit to Quebec, and yet it might be useful, too, and it was +loaded in both barrels. + +"I meant to use it on myself," said she, as she slipped it into the hand +of De Catinat. "But now I am minded to show them that I can die as an +Onondaga should die, and that I am worthy to have the blood of their +chiefs in my veins. Take it, for I swear that I will not use it myself, +unless it be to fire both bullets into that Bastard's heart." + +A flush of joy shot over De Catinat as his fingers closed round the +pistol. Here was indeed a key to unlock the gates of peace. Adele laid +her cheek against his shoulder and laughed with pleasure. + +"You will forgive me, dear," he whispered. + +"Forgive you! I bless you, and love you with my whole heart and soul. +Clasp me close, darling, and say one prayer before you do it." + +They had sunk on their knees together when three warriors entered the +hut and said a few abrupt words to their country-woman. She rose with a +smile. + +"They are waiting for me," said she. "You shall see, White Lily, and +you also, monsieur, how well I know what is due to my position. +Farewell, and remember Onega!" + +She smiled again, and walked from the hut amidst the warriors with the +quick firm step of a queen who sweeps to a throne. + +"Now, Amory!" whispered Adele, closing her eyes, and nestling still +closer to him. + +He raised the pistol, and then, with a quick sudden intaking of the +breath, he dropped it, and knelt with glaring eyes looking up at a tree +which faced the open door of the hut. + +It was a beech-tree, exceedingly old and gnarled, with its bark hanging +down in strips and its whole trunk spotted with moss and mould. +Some ten feet above the ground the main trunk divided into two, and in +the fork thus formed a hand had suddenly appeared, a large reddish hand, +which shook frantically from side to side in passionate dissuasion. +The next instant, as the two captives still stared in amazement, the +hand disappeared behind the trunk again and a face appeared in its +place, which still shook from side to side as resolutely as its +forerunner. It was impossible to mistake that mahogany, wrinkled skin, +the huge bristling eyebrows, or the little glistening eyes. It was +Captain Ephraim Savage of Boston! + +And even as they stared and wondered a sudden shrill whistle burst out +from the depths of the forest, and in a moment every bush and thicket +and patch of brushwood were spouting fire and smoke, while the snarl of +the musketry ran round the whole glade, and the storm of bullets whizzed +and pelted among the yelling savages. The Iroquois' sentinels had been +drawn in by their bloodthirsty craving to see the prisoners die, and now +the Canadians were upon them, and they were hemmed in by a ring of fire. +First one way and then another they rushed, to be met always by the same +blast of death, until finding at last some gap in the attack they +streamed through, like sheep through a broken fence, and rushed madly +away through the forest, with the bullets of their pursuers still +singing about their ears, until the whistle sounded again to recall the +woodsmen from the chase. + +But there was one savage who had found work to do before he fled. +The Flemish Bastard had preferred his vengeance to his safety! +Rushing at Onega, he buried his tomahawk in her brain, and then, yelling +his war-cry, he waved the blood-stained weapon above his head, and flew +into the hut where the prisoners still knelt. De Catinat saw him +coming, and a mad joy glistened in his eyes. He rose to meet him, and +as he rushed in he fired both barrels of his pistol into the Bastard's +face. An instant later a swarm of Canadians had rushed over the +writhing bodies, the captives felt warm friendly hands which grasped +their own, and looking upon the smiling, well-known faces of Amos Green, +Savage, and Du Lhut, they knew that peace had come to them at last. + +And so the refugees came to the end of the toils of their journey, for +that winter was spent by them in peace at Fort St. Louis, and in the +spring, the Iroquois having carried the war to the Upper St. Lawrence, +the travellers were able to descend into the English provinces, and so +to make their way down the Hudson to New York, where a warm welcome +awaited them from the family of Amos Green. The friendship between the +two men was now so cemented together by common memories and common +danger that they soon became partners in fur-trading, and the name of +the Frenchman came at last to be as familiar in the mountains of Maine +and on the slopes of the Alleghanies as it had once been in the _salons_ +and corridors of Versailles. In time De Catinat built a house on Staten +Island, where many of his fellow-refugees had settled, and much of what +he won from his fur-trading was spent in the endeavour to help his +struggling Huguenot brothers. Amos Green had married a Dutch maiden of +Schenectady, and as Adele and she became inseparable friends, the +marriage served to draw closer the ties of love which held the two +families together. + +As to Captain Ephraim Savage, he returned safely to his beloved Boston, +where he fulfilled his ambition by building himself a fair brick house +upon the rising ground in the northern part of the city, whence he could +look down both upon the shipping in the river and the bay. There he +lived, much respected by his townsfolk, who made him selectman and +alderman, and gave him the command of a goodly ship when Sir William +Phips made his attack upon Quebec, and found that the old Lion Frontenac +was not to be driven from his lair. So, honoured by all, the old seaman +lived to an age which carried him deep into the next century, when he +could already see with his dim eyes something of the growing greatness +of his country. + +The manor-house of Sainte Marie was soon restored to its former +prosperity, but its seigneur was from the day that he lost his wife and +son a changed man. He grew leaner, fiercer, less human, forever heading +parties which made their way into the Iroquois woods and which +outrivalled the savages themselves in the terrible nature of their +deeds. A day came at last when he sallied out upon one of these +expeditions, from which neither he nor any of his men ever returned. +Many a terrible secret is hid by those silent woods, and the fate of +Charles de la Noue, Seigneur de Sainte Marie, is among them. + + + +NOTE ON THE HUGUENOTS AND THEIR DISPERSION. + + +Towards the latter quarter of the seventeenth century there was hardly +an important industry in France which was not controlled by the +Huguenots, so that, numerous as they were, their importance was out of +all proportion to their numbers. The cloth trade of the north and the +south-east, the manufacture of serges and light stuffs in Languedoc, the +linen trade of Normandy and Brittany, the silk and velvet industry of +Tours and Lyons, the glass of Normandy, the paper of Auvergne and +Angoumois, the jewellery of the Isle of France, the tan yards of +Touraine, the iron and tin work of the Sedanais--all these were largely +owned and managed by Huguenots. The numerous Saint days of the Catholic +Calendar handicapped their rivals, and it was computed that the +Protestant worked 310 days in the year to his fellow-countryman's 260. + +A very large number of the Huguenot refugees were brought back, and the +jails and galleys of France were crowded with them. One hundred +thousand settled in Friesland and Holland, 25,000 in Switzerland, 75,000 +in Germany, and 50,000 in England. Some made their way even to the +distant Cape of Good Hope, where they remained in the Paarl district. + +In war, as in industry, the exiles were a source of strength to the +countries which received them. Frenchmen drilled the Russian armies of +Peter the Great, a Huguenot Count became commander-in-chief in Denmark, +and Schomberg led the army of Brandenburg, and afterwards that of +England. + +In England three Huguenot regiments were formed for the service +of William. The exiles established themselves as silk workers in +Spitalfields, cotton spinners at Bideford, tapestry weavers at Exeter, +wool carders at Taunton, kersey makers at Norwich, weavers at +Canterbury, bat makers at Wandsworth, sailcloth makers at Ipswich, +workers in calico in Bromley, glass in Sussex, paper at Laverstock, +cambric at Edinburgh. + +Early Protestant refugees had taken refuge in America twenty years +before the revocation, where they formed a colony at Staten Island. +A body came to Boston in 1684, and were given 11,000 acres at Oxford, +by order of the General Court at Massachusetts. In New York and +Long Island colonies sprang up, and later in Virginia (the Monacan +Settlement), in Maryland, and in South Carolina (French Santee and +Orange Quarter). + + + +NOTE ON THE FUTURE OF LOUIS, MADAMS DE MAINTENON, AND MADAME DE +MONTESPAN. + + +It has been left to our own century to clear the fair fame of Madame de +Maintenon of all reproach, and to show her as what she was, a pure woman +and a devoted wife. She has received little justice from the memoir +writers of the seventeenth century, most of whom, the Duc de St. Simon, +for example, and the Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria, had their own +private reasons for disliking her. An admirable epitome of her +character and influence will be found in Dr. Dollinger's _Historical +Studies_. She made Louis an excellent wife, waited upon him assiduously +for thirty years of married life, influenced him constantly towards +good--save only in the one instance of the Huguenots, and finally died +very shortly after her husband. + +Madame de Montespan lived in great magnificence after the triumph of her +rival, and spent freely the vast sums which the king's generosity had +furnished her with. Eventually, having exhausted all that this world +could offer, she took to hair-shirts and nail-studded girdles, in the +hope of securing a good position in the next. Her horror of death was +excessive. In thunderstorms she sat with a little child in her lap, in +the hope that its innocence might shield her from the lightning. She +slept always with her room ablaze with tapers, and with several women +watching by the side of her couch. When at last the inevitable arrived +she left her body for the family tomb, her heart to the convent of La +Fleche, and her entrails to the priory of Menoux near Bourbon. +These latter were thrust into a box and given to a peasant to convey to +the priory. Curiosity induced him to look into the box upon the way, +and, seeing the contents, he supposed himself to be the victim of a +practical joke, and emptied them out into a ditch. A swineherd was +passing at the moment with his pigs, and so it happened that, in the +words of Mrs. Julia Pardoe, "in a few minutes the most filthy animals +in creation had devoured portions of the remains of one of the +haughtiest women who ever trod the earth." + +Louis, after a reign of more than fifty years, which comprised the most +brilliant epoch of French history, died at last in 1715 amidst the +saddest surroundings. + +One by one those whom he loved had preceded him to the grave, his +brother, his son, the two sons of his son, their wives, and finally his +favourite great-grandson, until he, the old dying monarch, with his +rouge and his stays, was left with only a little infant in arms, the Duc +D'Anjou, three generations away from him, to perpetuate his line. +On 20th August, 1715, he was attacked by senile gangrene, which +gradually spread up the leg until on the 30th it became fatal. +His dying words were worthy of his better self. "Gentlemen, I desire +your pardon for the bad example which I have set you. I have greatly to +thank you fur the manner in which you have served me, as well as for the +attachment and fidelity which I have always experienced at your hands. +I request from you the same zeal and fidelity for my grandson. +Farewell, gentlemen. I feel that this parting has affected not only +myself but you also. Forgive me! I trust that you will sometimes think +of me when I am gone." + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11413 *** |