CHAPTER XXXVII. ARRIVAL OF PIERRE PHILIBERT.
Dinner at the table of the Count de la Galissoniere was not a dullaffair of mere eating and drinking. The conversation and sprightlinessof the host fed the minds of his guests as generously as his breadstrengthened their hearts, or his wine, in the Psalmist's words, madetheir faces to shine. Men were they, every one of them possessed ofa sound mind in a sound body; and both were well feasted at thishospitable table.
The dishes were despatched in a leisurely and orderly manner, as becamemen who knew the value of both soul and body, and sacrificed neither tothe other. When the cloth was drawn, and the wine-flasks glittered rubyand golden upon the polished board, the old butler came in, bearing upona tray a large silver box of tobacco, with pipes and stoppers and awax candle burning, ready to light them, as then the fashion was incompanies composed exclusively of gentlemen. He placed the materials forsmoking upon the table as reverently as a priest places his biretta uponthe altar,--for the old butler did himself dearly love the Indian weed,and delighted to smell the perfume of it as it rose in clouds over hismaster's table.
"This is a bachelors' banquet, gentlemen," said the Governor, filling apipe to the brim. "We will take fair advantage of the absence of ladiesto-day, and offer incense to the good Manitou who first gave tobacco forthe solace of mankind."
The gentlemen were all, as it chanced, honest smokers. Each one took apipe from the stand and followed the Governor's example, except PeterKalm, who, more philosophically, carried his pipe with him--ahuge meerschaum, clouded like a sunset on the Baltic. He filled itdeliberately with tobacco, pressed it down with his finger and thumb,and leaning back in his easy chair after lighting it, began to blow sucha cloud as the portly Burgomaster of Stockholm might have envied on agrand council night in the old Raadhus of the city of the Goths.
They were a goodly group of men, whose frank, loyal eyes lookedopenly at each other across the hospitable table. None of them but hadtravelled farther than Ulysses, and, like him, had seen strange citiesand observed many minds of men, and was as deeply read in the book ofhuman experience as ever the crafty king of Ithaca.
The event of the afternoon--the reading of the royal despatches--hadsomewhat dashed the spirits of the councillors, for they saw clearlythe drift of events which was sweeping New France out of the lap of hermother country, unless her policy were totally changed and the hourof need brought forth a man capable of saving France herself and herfaithful and imperilled colonies.
"Hark!" exclaimed the Bishop, lifting his hand, "the Angelus is ringingfrom tower and belfry, and thousands of knees are bending with thesimplicity of little children in prayer, without one thought of theologyor philosophy. Every prayer rising from a sincere heart, asking pardonfor the past and grace for the future, is heard by our Father in heaven;think you not it is so, Herr Kalm?"
The sad foreboding of colonists like La Corne St. Luc did not preventthe desperate struggle that was made for the preservation of Frenchdominion in the next war. Like brave and loyal men, they did their dutyto God and their country, preferring death and ruin in a lost cause tosurrendering the flag which was the symbol of their native land. Thespirit, if not the words, of the old English loyalist was in them:
"For loyalty is still the same, Whether it win or lose the game; True as the dial to the sun, Although it be not shone upon."
New France, after gathering a harvest of glory such as America had neverseen reaped before, fell at last, through the neglect of her mothercountry. But she dragged down the nation in her fall, and France wouldnow give the apple of her eye for the recovery, never to be, of "theacres of snow" which La Pompadour so scornfully abandoned to theEnglish.
These considerations lay in the lap of the future, however; theytroubled not the present time and company. The glasses were againreplenished with wine or watered, as the case might be, for the Count dela Galissoniere and Herr Kalm kept Horatian time and measure, drinkingonly three cups to the Graces, while La Corne St. Luc and Rigaud deVaudreuil drank nine full cups to the Muses, fearing not the enemy thatsteals away men's brains. Their heads were helmeted with triple brass,and impenetrable to the heaviest blows of the thyrsus of Bacchus. Theydrank with impunity, as if garlanded with parsley, and while commendingthe Bishop, who would drink naught save pure water, they rallied gailyClaude Beauharnais, who would not drink at all.
In the midst of a cheerful concert of merriment, the door of the cabinetopened, and the servant in waiting announced the entrance of ColonelPhilibert.
All rose to welcome him. Pierre looked anxious and somewhat discomposed,but the warm grasp of the hands of so many true friends made him gladfor the moment.
"Why, Pierre!" exclaimed the Count, "I hope no ill wind has blown you tothe city so unexpectedly! You are heartily welcome, however, and we willcall every wind good that blows our friends back to us again."
"It is a cursed wind that blows me back to-day," replied Philibert,sitting down with an air of disquiet.
"Why, what is the matter, Pierre?" asked the Count. "My honored Lady deTilly and her lovely niece, are they well?"
"Well, your Excellency, but sorely troubled. The devil has tempted LeGardeur again, and he has fallen. He is back to the city, wild as asavage and beyond all control."
"Good God! it will break his sister's heart," said the Governor,sympathizingly. "That girl would give her life for her brother. I feelfor her; I feel for you, too, Pierre." Philibert felt the tight claspof the Governor's hand as he said this. He understood well its meaning."And not less do I pity the unhappy youth who is the cause of such griefto his friends," continued he.
"Yes, your Excellency, Le Gardeur is to be pitied, as well as blamed. Hehas been tried and tempted beyond human strength."
La Corne St. Luc had risen, and was pacing the floor with impatientstrides. "Pierre Philibert!" exclaimed he, "where is the poor lad? Hemust be sought for and saved yet. What demons have assailed him now?Was it the serpent of strong drink, that bites men mad, or the legionof fiends that rattle the dice-box in their ears? Or was it the lasttemptation, which never fails when all else has been tried in vain--awoman?"
"It was all three combined. The Chevalier de Pean visited Tillyon business of the Intendant--in reality, I suspect, to open acommunication with Le Gardeur, for he brought him a message from a ladyyou wot of, which drove him wild with excitement. A hundred men couldnot have restrained Le Gardeur after that. He became infatuated withDe Pean, and drank and gambled all night and all day with him at thevillage inn, threatening annihilation to all who interfered with him.Today he suddenly left Tilly, and has come with De Pean to the city."
"De Pean!" exclaimed La Corne, "the spotted snake! A fit tool for theIntendant's lies and villainy! I am convinced he went not on his ownerrand to Tilly. Bigot is at the bottom of this foul conspiracy to ruinthe noblest lad in the Colony."
"It may be," replied Philibert, "but the Intendant alone would have hadno power to lure him back. It was the message of that artful sirenwhich has drawn Le Gardeur de Repentigny again into the whirlpool ofdestruction."
"Aye, but Bigot set her on him, like a retriever, to bring back thegame!" replied La Corne, fully convinced of the truth of his opinion.
"It may be," answered Philibert; "but my impression is that she hasinfluenced the Intendant, rather than he her, in this matter."
The Bishop listened with warm interest to the account of Philibert. Helooked a gentle reproof, but did not utter it, at La Corne St. Lucand Philibert, for their outspoken denunciation of the Intendant. Heknew--none knew better--how deserved it was; but his ecclesiasticalrank placed him at the apex of all parties in the Colony, and taught himprudence in expressing or hearing opinions of the King's representativesin the Colony.
"But what have you done, Pierre Philibert," asked the Bishop, "sinceyour arrival? Have you seen Le Gardeur?"
"No, my Lord; I followed him and the Chevalier to the city. They havegone to the Palace, whither I went and got admittanc
e to the cabinetof the Intendant. He received me in his politest and blandest manner.I asked an interview with Le Gardeur. Bigot told me that my friendunfortunately at that moment was unfit to be seen, and had refusedhimself to all his city friends. I partly believed him, for I heard thevoice of Le Gardeur in a distant room, amid a babble of tongues and therattle of dice. I sent him a card with a few kind words, and receivedit back with an insult--deep and damning--scrawled upon it. It was notwritten, however, in the hand of Le Gardeur, although signed by hisname. Read that, your Excellency," said he, throwing a card to theCount. "I will not repeat the foul expressions it contains. Tell PierrePhilibert what he should do to save his honor and save his friend. Poor,wild, infatuated Le Gardeur never wrote that--never! They have made himsign his name to he knew not what."
"And, by St. Martin!" exclaimed La Corne, who looked at the card, "someof them shall bite dust for that! As for Le Gardeur, poor boy, overlookhis fault--pity him, forgive him. He is not so much to blame, Pierre, asthose plundering thieves of the Friponne, who shall find that La CorneSt. Luc's sword is longer by half an ell than is good for some of theirstomachs!"
"Forbear, dear friends," said the Bishop; "it is not the way ofChristians to talk thus."
"But it is the way of gentlemen!" replied La Corne, impatiently, "and Ialways hold that a true gentleman is a true Christian. But you do yourduty, my Lord Bishop, in reproving us, and I honor you for it, althoughI may not promise obedience. David fought a duel with Goliath, and washonored by God and man for it, was he not?"
"But he fought it not in his own quarrel, La Corne," replied the Bishopgently; "Goliath had defied the armies of the living God, and Davidfought for his king, not for himself."
"Confiteor! my Lord Bishop, but the logic of the heart is often truerthan the logic of the head, and the sword has no raison d'etre, exceptin purging the world of scoundrels."
"I will go home now; I will see your Excellency again on this matter,"said Pierre, rising to depart.
"Do, Pierre! my utmost services are at your command," said the Governor,as the guests all rose too. It was very late.
The hour of departure had arrived; the company all rose, and courteouslybidding their host good-night, proceeded to their several homes, leavinghim alone with his friend Kalm.
They two at once passed into a little museum of minerals, plants, birds,and animals, where they sat down, eager as two boy-students. The world,its battles, and its politics were utterly forgotten, as they conversedfar into the night and examined, with the delight of new discoverers,the beauty and variety of nature's forms that exist in the New World.