CHAPTER XXII.
OB AND AZURE.
After that complete repulse of the Iroquois tribes the French foundthemselves so weak as to be practically at the mercy of a foe. Anotherresolute attack must have driven them from their position. But theIroquois bands were completely disorganised; the few English scatteredabout the maritime provinces, including that remnant of Scots in theeast, who had settled Newfoundland and Nova Scotia only to see theirterritories wrested from them, were entirely inadequate even incombination to menace the supremacy of the House of Bourbon; and it maybe questioned whether, at that time, any Scotsman would have stood tofight side by side with the English. Soon another ship would arrivefrom Marseilles, bringing, not only provisions and ammunition, but areinforcement of men, prepared to till the ground as settlers should,but far more ready to continue the French error of attempting tocolonise with the sword. On the heels of the discovery of two Dutchbodies among the Indian slain, La Salle returned, and conveyed toRoussilac the information that an English spy was escaping south.Gaudriole also announced that Van Vuren and his company were bearing inthat same direction. Roussilac's hand was forced. If these menescaped him the fortress might be called upon to resist, not only anEnglish, but possibly a Dutch invasion also. He sent out twenty menimmediately to cut off the Hollanders, leaving the garrison depleted tono more than fifty men available for defence; and the commandant madehaste to reward Oskelano for his services as suitably as his resourceswould permit, and sent him home, fearful lest the treacherous Algonquinmight discover, and take advantage of, his weakness.
When La Salle stood before him, and announced that the English spy wasthe guest of one Madame Labroquerie, a widow living with her daughterin the country to the south, the commandant refused to betray himself,but replied that he would accompany the priest and be a witness to thehanging of the Englishman. At the same time, he considered, he mightkeep the oath which he had sworn to his dead cousin. Having given theorder for a troop of men to attend upon his person, he abandoned thesubject which awoke in him unpleasant memories, and bowing haughtily toLa Salle--for he and the priest were in a manner rivals--congratulatedhim upon his appointment to the governorship of Acadie, theconfirmation of which, signed by the Cardinal himself, had lately beendelivered by the hand of the master of the _St. Wenceslas_.
"This fortress will be the weaker for your loss, Sir Priest," he said,feigning a sorrow which he could not feel. "May I seek to know whenyou propose to set forth to the undertaking of your newresponsibilities?"
"If my work here be finished what time the _St. Wenceslas_ sailshomeward I shall depart with her," La Salle replied, flashing adisdainful glance upon Roussilac. "But I have yet to rid this land ofits English vermin."
With that implied scorn of the governor, and suggestion of his ownsuperiority, La Salle departed to make his preparations; and an hourlater a troop of horsemen rode forth, Roussilac at the head, and besidehim Gaudriole jesting for his chief's amusement; on the other side thetwo priests--for Laroche accompanied his senior--and behind sixsoldiers, riding two abreast on bright bay ponies, their weaponsflashing in the sunlight.
There had been war in the grove. An angry scene passed between motherand daughter when Madeleine returned after seeing her lover upon hisway. For the first time in her life the girl lost her sweet patience,and returned word for word so hotly that Madame at length becameafraid, and backed away, yet muttering:
"Men shall stay your pride, girl, if a weak woman may not."
"They also shall find that a resolute mind is not quickly broken,"Madeleine returned.
"The law against heresy is still in being," Madame threatened, madestill more bitter by the knowledge that her daughter and Geoffrey hadtogether outwitted her. "I have borne with you, because you are mychild. Our Lady punishes me for my lack of devotion. I had speech butrecently with a holy priest. We shall see, when that priest returns.We shall see!"
"Drive me from you with that bitter tongue, as you drove outJean-Marie," cried Madeleine, her fair throat swelling like a bird insong. "So shall you die without son or daughter at your side, and nonebut an Indian shall see you to your grave."
At that Madame put up her hand with a superstitious gesture, and limpedaway, her yellow face wrinkled with rage; nor did she speak again toher daughter until the Indian servant entered the cabin to announce thecoming of a warlike band. Then she croaked at Madeleine: "'Tis theholy priest. Know you not, girl, how those are punished who conspireto aid an enemy of their country?" Then she hasted away to don the capand gown which she had kept against the coming of a change of fortune.
There came a sound of voices, the troop rode into the grove, andMadeleine, as she stood trembling at the door, was greeted byGaudriole, who bowed and grinned as he announced his Excellency theCommandant to visit the Madame Labroquerie and the fair lady herdaughter.
"I am Madeleine Labroquerie," stammered the girl, frightened for amoment by the brave show of mounted men.
"Cousin," cried a half-familiar voice, "hast put a friend and relativeout of memory?"
Dazzled by the sunlight after the gloom of the cabin, Madeleine shadedher eyes. She saw before her a tall man, sallow and dark, his hairfalling in snaky lines to his shoulders, the golden fleur-de-lys workedupon his blue surcoat making his face the more sickly by comparison.Before she could return his salutation he had dropped to his knee andkissed her hand.
"Years have passed since we parted, cousin," he said. "The presentfinds me with position, and you with beauty. I knew not that you werehere until your brother told me."
"Arnaud!" she exclaimed, giddy with amazement at finding the boy whohad been the autocrat of childhood's games grown into a man of power.Then, because her heart was so tender to all that breathed, she forgotthe character of the man who was looking down upon her with increasingwonder to find how the plain child with the tangle of flaming hair hadblossomed into this lovely creature, and asked quickly:"Jean-Marie--what of him?"
Roussilac was not a man to tell ill-news gently. Wasting neither wordsnor sentiment, he replied: "Your brother died but recently of fever,calling upon your name with his last breath."
His final words were intended to show her that he had been by the sickman's side until the end.
Madeleine turned white and tottered. Then, as her strong heartrecovered, she said:
"Let me call my mother. My father has long been dead. We haveremained poor, Arnaud," she added defiantly. "But if you haveascended, we have at least not descended."
"To what higher pinnacle can a woman wish to attain than that ofperfect beauty?" he replied gallantly; but he noticed that she left himwith a frown.
"Had I but known that she had grown so fair!" he muttered.
Gaudriole was grinning at his side. The dwarf put up his red hand andshowed his chief a dead butterfly, its bright plumage well-nigh wornaway, its wings crushed and wet.
"Short-lived beauty, Excellency," he leered, with the jester'sprivilege. "Yesterday shining in the sun. To-day!" He laughedhoarsely and dropped the ruined insect. "'Tis a world of change andcontrast," he chuckled. "Mark this philosophy, my captain. When oldage sends me white hairs and a reverend aspect you shall perchance callme beautiful, if you look not too closely at my hump; but when thebloom of yonder beauteous lady turns to seed----"
"Off, Bossu!" cried Roussilac angrily. "Learn to turn your jestingwith a better judgment, or your tongue shall be slit and your backwhipped."
"My faith!" the dwarf chuckled. "I have no back. I am like the frog,but shoulders and legs."
Madame herself appeared in a fresh white cap and an antique gown. Itwas not her way to be gracious, nor were her recollections of hernephew's fidelity of the happiest; so she did but greet him coldly,asking why he had now come since he had tarried so long.
"Good aunt," came the reply, "I would have sought you earlier, had Iknown you were in this land. I have not long held command, and myhands have been filled in crushing the strength of the Iroquo
is. Ientreat you both to return with me now and take up your abode at thefortress, not indeed as my guests, but as an honoured mother andsister."
"Pretty talk," sniffed Madame. "I said in the old days you would makea courtier. So you, the governor of the land, knew nothing of thishome of your poor relations a paltry two days' journey beyond theriver. There is no man so blind as he who makes a living by thatinfirmity. This girl tells me that my son is dead. Died he in thefaith of the Church?"
"Surely," said Roussilac. "But tell me I pray, good aunt, is it true,as this Indian says, that the English spy has already escaped?"
"Yes, he has gone," cried Madeleine, flushing warmly. "He has gone,Arnaud, to--to the west."
Her deceit was so transparent that even Roussilac could not restrain asmile.
"And why, fair cousin," he asked, addressing her with marked deference,"why should this Englishman seek the unknown west, where it is believednone dwell save Indians? Would he not rather turn towards the south,and seek New England and his own people?"
"Indeed I know not why he should seek the west," Madeleine replied,between tears and laughter. "But I do assure you he has gone in thatdirection----"
"Peace, girl," her mother cried. "The fool lies to you, Arnaud. Sheis a heretic, shame though it be, and her master is the father of lies.'Tis true the English spy escaped in the early morning, but he knowsnot the land, and may yet be secured. I am surrounded all my life longby wickedness," the bitter woman continued. "My husband was pervertedby the sin of science. Jean-Marie was but a knave. He left me here.Madeleine is a heretic, and she has threatened to leave me also. Well,I will come with you, Arnaud, but see that you give me a scented pillowfor my head and a cup of warm wine at evening. Stand not there,nephew, like a wooden stock, but command one of yonder evil-facedrogues to bring up a horse fitted for the age and dignity of the firstlady in this thrice-accursed land."
An evil smile curved the thin line of Roussilac's mouth. His aunt hadindeed not changed; but she had yet to learn that he had advanced. Heturned to where the priests were talking loudly in the shade of thegrove, noting La Salle's anger at the failure of his mission, and a fewpaces beyond his troopers jesting in the sun. Then he looked upon thefair face of Madeleine and smiled again.
"Tamalan," he called, dividing his attention between the soldier he wasaddressing and his aunt, "prepare your pony for the use of the firstlady in this great colony of France--the lady Madeleine Labroquerie."
He bowed slightly towards the silent girl.
For one instant Madame appeared to stifle. Then she drew back her lipsand snarled at her nephew, yet without uttering a word.
"This is not Normandy, Madame," said Roussilac calmly. "And you havenot here the boy whose cheeks you would smite when the angry fit was onyou. This is the New World, and I am the Representative of his mostsacred Majesty, King Louis the Thirteenth."
Madame started forward, two passionate red spots upon her cheeks, herbony hand uplifted; but Roussilac indicated the golden fleur-de-lysupon his breast and said, in the quiet consciousness of power:"Remember!"
The little woman stood for a moment motionless, grinding her teeth, herblack eyes starting from a ghastly countenance, then flung herself backinto the cabin, tearing at her hair and cap in the madness of heranger. Roussilac watched with the same quiet smile, and when she hadgone turned to Madeleine and said:
"My aunt forgets that time may work a change."
"Pardon her," murmured the girl. "This solitude has touched her brain."
Then La Salle strode up with angry questionings: "Shall we tarry hereall the day, Sir Commandant, while the heretic escapes? Know you notthat New England swarms with Puritans, who, if they but hear of ourweakness, shall fill this land and compel us forth by their numbers?"
"You speak truly, Sir Priest," Roussilac answered. "We do but wasteour time."
Crossing to the men, he selected the five strongest ponies and the fivemost trustworthy soldiers, and charged the latter to ride out, securethe Englishman, and hang him out of hand. These men set forthimmediately, while Roussilac turned himself to the task of soothing LaSalle, and to the pleasure of flattering the fair lady his cousin.