CHAPTER XI
BIGOT'S BALL
"You needn't expect any trouble from the authorities," said deGalisonniere, when they sat once more in the great room at the inn."Dueling is of course frowned upon theoretically, but it's a commonpractice, and since no life has been lost, not even any wound inflicted,you'll hear nothing of it from the government. And de Mezy, I imagine,will say as little about it as possible. He rather fancies himself as aswordsman, and he will not want everybody in Quebec to know that he wasdefeated and disarmed by a boy. Still, it will spread."
He and Glandelet took a courteous leave, and Robert thanked them fortheir services. He liked them both, especially de Galisonniere, and hewas sorry that fate should put them on opposing sides in the war thatall of them felt was surely coming.
"The French count gave you the hand of friendship, but not the spirit ofit," said Tayoga, who had not spoken at all while they were at thedueling ground. "He was grateful to you for sparing his life, but hisgratitude will go like the wind, and then he will hate you. And he willhave the powerful friends, of whom the captain spoke, to plot againstyou and us."
"That's so, Tayoga," said the hunter, gravely, "I'm sorry the GovernorGeneral wasn't here when we arrived. It was an unlucky chance, becauseit would have been better for us to have given him our letters and havedeparted at once."
Robert, in his heart, knew that it was true, and that dangers would sooncluster about them, but he was willing to linger. The spell of Quebechad grown stronger, and he had made an entrance into its world in mostgallant fashion, sword in hand, like a young knight, and that wouldappeal to the warlike French.
They deemed it wise to stay in the inn for a while, but two or threehours later Willet went out, returning soon, and showing someexcitement.
"An old friend has come," he said.
"A friend!" said Robert. "I know of no friend to expect."
"I used the word 'friend' in exactly the opposite sense. It's an enemy.I'm quite sure nobody in the world hates us more."
"Tandakora!"
"None other. It's the sanguinary Ojibway, his very self. I saw himstalking along the streets of Quebec in the most hideous paint that manever mixed, a walking monument of savage pride, and I've no doubt in mymind either why he came here."
"To get some sort of revenge upon us."
"That's it. He'll go before the Governor General, and charge that weattacked him in the gorge and slew good, innocent men of his."
"Tandakora is cunning," said Tayoga. "The Great Bear is right. He willlie many times against us, and it is likely that the Frenchmen, deCourcelles and Jumonville, will come also and tell that they met us inthe woods, although they said smooth words to us when we left them."
"And we don't know what kind of a net they'll try to weave around us,"said Willet. "I say again I wish we'd delivered our letters and were outof Quebec."
But Robert could not agree with the hunter and Tayoga. He was still gladof the lucky chance that had taken away the Governor General. There wasalso a certain keen delight in speculating what their enemies would donext. Conscious of right and strength he believed they could foil allattempts upon them, and while the question was still fresh in his mindFather Philibert Drouillard came in. Wrapped closely in his black robehe looked taller, leaner, and more ascetic than ever, and his gaze waseven stronger and more penetrating. Now it rested upon Robert.
"I had a fair opinion of you," he said. "Coming with you in the_Frontenac_ down the river I judged you, despite your weapons and thefact that you belong to another race than mine, a gentle youth and fullof the virtues. Now I find that you have been fighting and fighting withintent to kill."
"Hold hard, Father," said Willet in a good-humored tone. "Only half ofthat is true. Your information is not full. He has been fighting, butnot with intent to kill. He held the life of Count Jean de Mezy on thepoint of his sword, but gave it back to him, such as it was."
The deep eyes of the priest smoldered. Perhaps there was a distant andfiery youth of his own that the morning's deed recalled, but hismenacing gaze relaxed.
"If you gave him back his life when you could have taken it, you havedone well," he said. "As the hunter intimates, it is a life of littlevalue, perhaps none at all, but you did not on that account have anyright to take it. And I say more, that if the misadventure had to happento any Frenchman here in Quebec I am glad it happened to one of thewicked tribe of Bigot."
"Your man Bigot, powerful though he may be, seems to have plenty ofenemies," said the hunter.
"He has many, but not enough, I fear," said the priest gloomily. "He andhis horde are a terrible weight upon the shoulders of New France. But Ishould not talk of these things to you who are our enemies, and who maysoon be fighting us."
He quit the subject abruptly, and talked in a desultory manner onirrelevant matters. But Robert saw that Quebec itself and the strugglebetween the powerful Bigot ring and the _honnetes gens_ was a muchgreater weight on his mind than the approaching war with the Englishcolonies.
After a stay of a half hour he departed, saying that he was going tovisit a parish farther down the river, and might not see them again, buthe wished them well. He also bade them once more to beware of Tandakora.
"A good man and a strong one," said Willet, when, he left. "I seem tofeel a kindred spirit in him, but I don't think his prevision about notseeing us again is right, though his advice to look out for Tandakora iscertainly worth following."
They saw the Ojibway warrior twice that afternoon. Either he concealedthe effects of the wound in his shoulder or it had healed rapidly, sincehe was apparently as vigorous as ever and gave them murderous glances.Tayoga shrugged his shoulders.
"Tandakora has followed us far," he said, "but this is not the groundthat suits him. The forest is better than a city for the laying of anambush."
"Still, we'll watch him," said Willet.
The evening witnessed the arrival at the Inn of the Eagle of two newguests to whom Monsieur Berryer paid much deference, Colonel deCourcelles and Captain de Jumonville, who had been on an expedition inbehalf of His Majesty, King Louis, into the forests of the south andwest, and who, to the great surprise of the innkeeper, seemed to be wellacquainted with the three.
Robert, Tayoga and Willet were having their dinner, or supper as itwould have been called in the Province of New York, when the twoFrenchmen dressed in their neat, close-fitting uniforms and with all themarks of travel removed, came into the large room. They rose at once andexchanged greetings. Robert, although he did not trust them, felt thatthey had no cause of quarrel with the two, and it was no part of hischaracter to be brusque or seek trouble.
De Courcelles gave them a swift, comprehensive glance, and then said,as if they were chance visitors to Quebec:
"You've arrived ahead of us, I see, and as I learn, you find the MarquisDuquesne away. Perhaps, if your letters are urgent, you would care topresent them to the Intendant, Monsieur Bigot, a man of great perceptionand judgment."
Robert turned his examining look with interest. Was he also one ofBigot's men, or did he incline to the cause of the _honnetes gens?_ Or,even if he were not one of Bigot's followers, did he prefer thatRobert's mission should fail through a delivery of his letters to thewrong man? Bigot certainly was not one with whom the English could dealeasily, since so far as Robert could learn he was wrapped in the foldsof a huge conceit.
"We might do that," the youth replied, "but I don't think it's quiteproper. I make no secret of the fact that I bear letters for theGovernor General of Canada, and it would not be pleasing to the Governorof the Province of New York for me to deliver them to someone else."
"It was merely a suggestion. Let us dismiss it."
He did not speak again of the immediate affairs that concerned them sovitally, but talked of Paris, where he had spent a gay youth. He saw theresponse in the glowing eyes of Robert, and exerted himself to please.Moreover his heart was in his subject. Quebec was a brilliant city forthe New World, but Paris was the cente
r of the whole world, the flowerof all the centuries, the city of light, of greatness and of genius.The throne of the Bourbons was the most powerful in modern times, andthey were a consecrated family.
Robert followed him eagerly. Both he and de Courcelles saw the Bourbonsas they appeared to be before the fall, and not as the world has seenthem since, in the light of revelation. The picture of Paris and itssplendors, painted by one who loved it, flung over him a powerful spell,and only the warning words Willet had spoken recalled to him that theBourbon throne might not really be made for all time.
De Courcelles and Jumonville, who had no permanent quarters in Quebec,would remain two days at the inn, and, on the whole, Robert was glad. Hefelt that the three could protect themselves from possible wiles andstratagems of the two Frenchmen, and that they meant to attempt them hebelieved he had proof later, as de Courcelles suggested they might callin the course of the evening upon the Intendant, Bigot, who was then athis palace. They need not say anything about their mission, but goodcompany could be found there, and they might be sure of a welcome fromthe Intendant. Again Robert declined, and de Courcelles did not pressthe matter. He and Jumonville withdrew presently, saying they had areport to make to the commandant of the garrison, and the three went tobed soon afterward.
Tayoga, who slept lightly, awoke after midnight and went to a window.The Onondaga, most of the three, distrusted Quebec. It was never Quebecto him. It was Stadacona of the Ganeagaono, the great warrior nation ofthe Hodenosaunee who stood beside the Onondagas, their lost Stadacona,but their Stadacona still. In his heart too burned the story ofFrontenac and how he had ravaged the country of the Hodenosaunee withfire and sword. He was here in the very shrine and fortress of theancient enemies of the great Iroquois. He had taken the education of thewhite man, he had read in his books and he knew much of the story of thehuman race, but nothing had ever disturbed his faith that a coming chiefof the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the mighty League ofthe Hodenosaunee was, by right, and in fact, a prince among men.
But while Tayoga learned what civilization, as the European races calledit, had to offer, it did not make him value any the less the arts andlore of his own forest. Rather, they increased in size and importance bycomparison. He had seen how the talk of de Courcelles had lighted a firein the soul of Lennox, he had seen how even Willett, the wary, had beenstirred, but he, Tayoga, had been left cold. He had read the purposebehind it all, and never for an instant did he let himself put any faithin de Courcelles or Jumonville.
The air of the room was heavy and fetid to Tayoga. His free spiritdetected poison in the atmosphere of Quebec, and, for the moment, helonged to be in the great, pure wilderness, pure at least to one of hisrace. He opened the window more widely and inhaled the breeze which wascoming from the north, out of vast clean forests, that no white mansave the trapper had ever entered.
He looked upward, at first toward the blue sky and its clustering stars,and then, turning his eyes to the open space near the inn, caught sightof two shadowy figures. The Onondaga was alert upon the instant, becausehe knew those figures, thin though they seemed in the dusk. One wasTandakora, the Ojibway, and the other was Auguste de Courcelles, Colonelin the French army, a pair most unlike, yet talking together earnestlynow.
Tayoga was not at all surprised. He had pierced the mind of deCourcelles and he had expected him to seek Tandakora. He watched them afull five minutes, until the Ojibway slipped away in the darkness, andde Courcelles turned back toward the inn, walking slowly, and apparentlyvery thoughtful.
Tayoga thought once of going outside to follow Tandakora, but he decidedthat no good object would be served by it and remained at the window,where the wind out of the cold north could continue to blow upon him. Heknew that the Indian and de Courcelles had entered into some conspiracy,but he believed they could guard against it, and in good time it woulddisclose itself.
There might be many hidden trails in a city like Quebec, but he meant todiscover the one that Tandakora followed. He remained an hour at thewindow, and then without awaking his comrades to tell what he had seenwent back to his bed. Nor did he say anything about it when they awokein the morning. He preferred to keep Tandakora as his especial charge.A coming chief of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of thegreat League of the Hodenosaunee, would know how to deal with a savageOjibway out of the western forests.
At breakfast, Robert wondered what they would do during the coming day,as it was not advisable to go much about Quebec owing to the notorietythe duel had brought to them. Monsieur Berryer, suave, deferential andfull of gossip, informed them that the fame of young Mr. Lennox as amaster of the sword had spread through the city in a few hours. Braveand skillful young Frenchmen were anxious to meet him and prove thatwhere Count Jean de Mezy had failed they might succeed.
"The young gentleman will not lack opportunities for honor and glory inQuebec," said Monsieur Berryer, rubbing his fat, white hands.
"In view of our errand here you must let all these opportunities go,Robert," said Willet. "If we show ourselves too much some of these hotyoung French knights will force a fight upon you, not because they hateyou, but from sporting motives. But it would be just as bad for you tolose your life in a friendly duel as in one full of hate."
Robert chafed, nevertheless. The Inn of the Eagle was a good inn, but hedid not wish to spend an entire day within its walls. Young CaptainLouis de Galisonniere solved the problem, arriving just after breakfastwith a note addressed to Mr. Robert Lennox, which proved to be aninvitation for all three of them from Monsieur Francois Bigot,Intendant of Canada, to attend a dinner given by him that evening at hispalace. The letter was full of polite phrases. The Intendant had heardof young Mr. Lennox's surpassing skill with the sword, and of hissuccess with Count Jean de Mezy, who wielded a good blade himself. Butneither the Intendant nor those associated with him bore any ill will.It was well known that Mr. Lennox was accredited with letters to theMarquis Duquesne, but in the absence of the Governor General it would bethe pleasure of the Intendant to show courtesy to the messenger of theGovernor of the Province of New York and his comrades.
It was a full and abounding letter, swarming with polite phrases, and itappealed to Robert. Bigot might be corrupt, but he belonged to the greatworld, and Robert felt that since he had come to Quebec he ought to seethe Intendant, his palace and what was done within its walls. It wastrue that they had evaded suggestions to meet him, but a formalinvitation was different. He passed the letter to Willet, who read itand handed it to Tayoga.
"We'll have to go, Robert," said the hunter. "It's evident that Bigotwants us, and if we don't accept he may make trouble for us. Yes, it'swiser to go."
Robert's eyes shone and Willet noticed it.
"You'd have been disappointed if I had counseled a negative," he said.
"I would," said Robert frankly. "I'm looking forward to the dinner withthe Intendant. Will you be there, Captain de Galisonniere?"
"Yes, and I'm glad you've accepted. Mr. Willet was right when he saidit was wisdom to go. The Intendant is the most powerful man in Canada.'Tis said that the Governor General, the Marquis Duquesne, will returnto France before long, and hence he lets a part of his authority slipinto the hands of Monsieur Bigot. You understand the dual nature of ourgovernment in Canada. The Governor General is the immediate personalrepresentative of the King, but the Intendant is supreme over thecourts, finance, commerce and all the civil affairs of the country. So amighty power is lodged in his hands and it's also true here, as well aselsewhere, that he who holds the purse holds more than the sword."
"Will Colonel de Courcelles and Captain de Jumonville be there?"continued Robert.
"Undoubtedly. They belong to the military arm, of course, but they areboth favorites of Bigot, and they neglect no opportunity to strengthentheir position with him. Be careful what you say before them."
Robert thanked him for his caution, although it was not needed, as hehad already resolved to be very wary in the presence of d
e Courcellesand Jumonville, and the Onondaga also made a mental note of it, knowingthat de Courcelles was willing to plot in the dusk with a savageOjibway.
De Galisonniere did not stay long, and after his departure Robert andhis friends reconsidered their determination, deciding that it was bestto brave Quebec and whatever it should have to offer in the full lightof day. The hunter's apprehensions that a quarrel might be forced uponthem were not justified, as Canadian and French politeness held true,and they were received only with curiosity and interest.
They gazed again at the great stone buildings and also took a brief viewof the Intendant's palace, where they expected to dine in the evening.It was a palace in extent, but not in beauty, a great rambling buildingof both timber and masonry, with a green lawn and flower gardens nearby. It was said that Bigot and his predecessors had spent huge sums onthe interior decoration, but that Robert expected soon to see forhimself.
Returning to the Inn of the Eagle late in the afternoon, they began toarray themselves for Bigot's dinner, not wishing the Bostonnais toappear at a disadvantage before the _noblesse_ of Quebec. MonsieurBerryer sent them a barber, Gaston, who not only shaved the two whitefaces, but who powdered and arranged their queues, and also manicuredtheir nails and gave their coats and waistcoats a rakish set, which heassured them was quite the latest mode in Paris. Robert took all hisadvice. He was very particular about his attire, knowing that howevermuch the jealous might criticize fine dress it always had its effect.
The hunter watched Robert as he and Gaston arranged the new Paris styleswith a look that was almost paternal. The fine youth had exceededWillet's best hopes. Tall, straight, frank and open, he had the soundmind in the sound body which is the sum of excellence, and the hunterwas glad to see him particular. It was a part of his heritage, andbecame him.
They were not to leave the Inn of the Eagle until after dusk, and Willetsuggested that they should not start until late, as they could walk tothe palace in a few minutes. But Robert said boldly that they would notwalk. It was fitting for the messengers of the Governor of New York toride and he would have Monsieur Berryer to call a caleche. Willetassented with a laugh.
"You're right, Robert," he said, "but I ride so little in carriages thatI didn't think of it."
The night was rather dark, but when the three in the caleche approachedthe palace they saw many men holding torches, and many people back ofthem watching. The entertainments of Francois Bigot were famous inQuebec for lavish splendor, and the uninvited usually came in numbers tosee the guests go in.
"Be on your guard tonight, Robert," whispered Willet. "This is a societyto which you're not used, although I'll not deny that you could soonlearn it. But the French think we English, whether English English orAmerican English, are inferior in wit and quickness to themselves, andthere may be some attempts at baiting the bear before we leave."
Robert felt his breath coming a little more quickly, and in the dusk,Willet did not see the glow that appeared in his eyes. They might try to"bait the bear" but he would be ready. The new powers that he had foundin himself not only accepted the challenge, but craved it. He wasconscious that he was not deficient in wit and quickness himself, andif any follower of Francois Bigot, or if the great Bigot himself triedto make sport of him he might find instead that the ruffler wasfurnishing sport for the Bostonnais. So it was with a beating heart butno apprehension that he alighted from the caleche with his friends, andwent into the palace to meet the Intendant.
The interior of the great building was a singular mixture of barbaricand civilized splendor, the American forests and the factories of Francealike being drawn upon for its furnishings. The finest of silkentapestries and the rarest of furs often hung close together. Beyond theanterooms was a large hall in which the chosen guests danced while thepeople might look on from galleries that surrounded it. These people,who were not so good as the guests, could dance as much as they pleasedin a second hall set aside exclusively for their use. In another andmore secluded but large room all kinds of games of chance to which Bigotand his followers were devoted were in progress. In the huge dining-roomthe table was set for forty persons, the usual number, until the warcame, when it was reduced to twenty, and Bigot gave a dinner therenearly every evening, unless he was absent from Quebec.
Robert felt as soon as he entered the palace that he had come into astrange, new, exotic atmosphere, likely to prove intoxicating to theyoung, and he remembered the hunter's words of warning. Yet his spiritresponded at once to the splendor and the call of a gayer and moregorgeous society than any he had ever known. Wealth and great housesexisted even then in New York and upon occasion their owners made fulluse of both, but there was a restraint about the Americans, the Englishand the Dutch. Their display was often heavy and always decorous, and inQuebec he felt for the first time the heedless gayety of the French,when the Bourbon monarchy had passed its full bloom, and already was inits brilliant decay. Truly, they could have carved over the doorway,"Leave all fear and sorrow behind, ye who enter here."
There were lights everywhere, flaming from tall silver candlesticks, anduniforms, mostly in white and silver, or white with black or violetfacings, were thick in the rooms. Ladies, too, were present, in silk orsatin billowing in many a fold, their powdered hair rolled high in thestyle made fashionable by Madame Jeanne Poisson de Pompadour. From aninner room came the music of a band softly playing French songs or airsfrom the Florentine opera. The air was charged with odors of perfume.
It _was_ intoxicating, and yet it was pleasant. No, "pleasant" was notthe word, it was alluring, it played upon the senses, it threw a glowover the rooms and the people, and the youth saw everything through atawny mist that heightened and deepened the colors. He was glad that hehad come. Nor was "glad" the word either. Seeing what he now saw andknowing what he now knew, he would have blamed himself bitterly had hestayed away.
"Welcome, Mr. Lennox, my brave and generous opponent of the morning,"said a voice, and, looking through the tawny mist, he saw the man whomhe had fought and spared, Count Jean de Mezy, in a wonderful coat,waistcoat and knee breeches of white satin, heavily embroidered, whitesilk stockings, and low white shoes with great silver buckles, and asmall gold-hilted sword hanging at his thigh. The cheeks, a trifle toofat, were mottled again, but his manner like his costume was silken. Onewould have thought that he and not Robert was the victor in that trialof skill by the St. Louis gate.
"Welcome, Mr. Lennox," he said again in a tone that showed no malice."The Intendant's ball will be all the more brilliant for the presence ofyourself and your friends. What a splendid figure the young Onondagachief makes!"
Tayoga bowed to the compliment, which was rather broad but true, and deMezy ran on:
"We are accustomed here to the presence of Indian chiefs. We French haveknown how to win the trust and friendship of the warriors and we askthem to our parlors and our tables as you English do not do, although Iwill confess that the Iroquois hitherto have come into Canada as enemiesand not as friends."
"Quebec was once the Stadacona of the Ganeagaono, known to you as theMohawks," said Tayoga in his deep musical voice, "and there is no recordthat they ever gave or sold it to Onontio."
De Mezy was embarrassed for a moment, but he recovered himself quicklyand laughed.
"You have us there!" he cried, "but it was long, long ago, when Cartiercame to Quebec. Times change and ownerships change with them. We can'troll back the past."
Tayoga said no more, content to remind the French at intervals that abrother nation of the Hodenosaunee still asserted its title to Quebec.
"You are not the only member of the great red race present," said deMezy to Tayoga. "We have a chief from the far west, a splendid type ofthe forest man. What size! What strength! What a mien! By my faith, hewould make a stir in Paris!"
"Tandakora, the Ojibway!" said Robert.
"Yes, but how did you know?"
"We have met him--more than once. We have had dealings with him, and wemay have more. He seems t
o be interested in what we're doing, and hencewe're never surprised when we see him."
De Mezy looked puzzled, but at that moment de Courcelles and deJumonville, wearing uniforms of white and silver, came forward to addtheir greeting to those of the count. They were all courtesy and thewords dropped from their lips like honey, but Robert felt that theirsouls were not like the soul of de Galisonniere, and that they could notbe counted among the _honnetes gens_. But the three Frenchmen were readynow to present the three travelers to Monsieur Francois Bigot, Intendantof Canada, great and nearly all powerful, and Robert judged too thatthey had made no complaint against his friends and himself.
Bigot was standing near the entrance to the private dancing room, andabout him was a numerous company, including ladies, among them the wifeof Pean, to whom the gossip of the time gave great influence with him,and a certain Madame Marin and her sister, Madame de Rigaud, and others.As the three approached under the conduct of the three Frenchmen thegroup opened out, and they were presented in order, Robert first.
The youth was still under the influence of the lights, the gorgeousrooms and the brilliant company, but he gazed with clear eyes and themost eager interest at Bigot, whose reputation had spread far, even inthe British colonies. He saw a man of middle years, portly, his red facesprinkled with many pimples, probably from high living, not handsome andperhaps at first repellent, but with an expression of vigor and ease,and an open, frank manner that, at length, attracted. His dress was muchlike de Mezy's, but finer perhaps.
Such was the singular man who had so much to do with the wrecking of NewFrance, a strange compound of energy and the love of luxury, lavish withhospitality, an untiring worker, a gambler, a profligate, a thief ofpublic funds, he was also kindly, gracious and devoted to his friends. Astrange bundle of contradictions and disjointed morals, he representedin the New World the glittering decadence that marked the Frenchmonarchy at home. Now he was smiling as de Mezy introduced Robert withsmooth words.
"Mr. Robert Lennox of Albany and New York," he said, "the brilliantyoung swordsman of whom I spoke to you, the one who disarmed me thismorning, but who was too generous to take my life."
Bigot's smiling gaze rested upon Robert, who was conscious, however,that there was much penetration behind the smile. The Intendant wouldseek to read his mind, and perhaps to learn the nature of the letters hebrought, before they were delivered to their rightful owner, the MarquisDuquesne. Quebec was the home of intrigue, and the Intendant's palacewas the heart of it, but if Robert's pulse beat fast it was withanticipation and not with fear.
"It was fortune more than skill," he said. "The Count de Mezy credits mewith too much knowledge of the sword."
"No," said Bigot, laughing, "Jean wouldn't do that. He'd credit you withall you have, and no more. Jean, like the rest of us, doesn't relish adefeat, do you, Jean?"
De Mezy reddened, but he forced a laugh.
"I suppose that nobody does!" he replied, "but when I suffer one I tryto make the best of it."
"That's an honest confession, Jean," said Bigot, "and you'll feel betterfor making it."
He seemed now to Robert bluff, genial, all good nature, and the youthstood on one side, while Willet and Tayoga were presented in their turn.Bigot looked very keenly at the Onondaga, and the answering gaze wasfierce and challenging. Robert saw that Tayoga was not moved by thesplendor, the music and the perfumed air, and that he did not forget foran instant that this gay Quebec of the French was the Stadacona of theMohawks, a great brother nation of the Hodenosaunee.
Bigot's countenance fell a little as he met the intensely hostile gaze,but in a moment he recovered himself and began to pay compliments toWillet and the Iroquois. Robert felt the charm of his manner and saw whyhe was so strong with a great body of the French in New France. Then hiseyes wandered to the others who stood near like courtiers around a king,and he noticed that foremost among them was a man of mean appearance andpresuming manner, none other, he soon learned, than the notorious JosephCadet, confederate of Bigot, in time to become Commissary General of NewFrance, the son of a Quebec butcher, who had begun life as a pilot boy,and who was now one of the most powerful men in those regions of the NewWorld that paid allegiance to the House of Bourbon. Near him stood Pean,the Town Mayor of Quebec, a soldier of energy, but deep in corruptbargains with Cadet, and just beyond Pean was his partner, Penisseault,and near them were their wives, of whom scandal spoke many a true word,and beyond them were the Commissary of Marine, Varin, a Frenchman, smalland insignificant of appearance, the Intendant's secretary, Deschenaux,the son of a shoemaker at Quebec, Cadet's trusted clerk, Corpron andMaurin, a humpback.
A strange and varied company, one of the strangest ever gathered in anyoutlying capital of a diseased and dying monarchy. Robert, although heknew that it was corrupt and made a mockery of many things that he hadbeen taught to reverence, did not yet understand how deadly was thepoison that flowed in the veins of this society. At present, he saw onlythe glow and the glitter. All these people were connected closely. TheCanadians intermarrying extensively were a great family, and theFrenchmen were bound together by the powerful tie, a common interest.
"Don't believe all you see, Robert," whispered Willet. "You're seeingthe surface, and it's hollow, hollow! I tell you!"
"But we have nothing like it at home," said Robert. "We're lucky tocome."
De Mezy had left them, but de Courcelles was near, and he saw that theywere not neglected. Robert was introduced to officers and powerfulcivilians and the youngest and handsomest of the ladies, whose freedomof language surprised him, but whose wit, which played about everything,pleased a mind peculiarly sensitive to the charm of light and brillianttalk.
He had never before been in such an assembly, one that contained so muchof rank and experience in the great world. Surrounded by all that heloved best, the people, the lights, the colors, and the anticipation ofwhat was to come, the Intendant shone. One forgot his pimply face andportly figure in the geniality that was not assumed, and the ease of hismanners. He spoke to Robert more than once, asked him many questionsabout Albany and New York, and referred incidentally, too, to theIroquois, but it was all light, as if he were asking them because ofinterest in his guest, or merely to make conversation.
The hues of everything gradually grew brighter and more brilliant toRobert. The music from the next room steeped his senses, and he began tofeel the intoxication of which Willet had warned him. Many of the guestswere of the noblest families of France, young officers who had come toQuebec, where it was reported promotion was rapid and sure, or whereyounger sons, with the aid of such powerful men as Bigot and Cadet,could make fortunes out of the customs or in the furnishing of suppliesto the government. Robert found himself talking much, his gift of speechresponding readily to the call. He answered their jests with a jest,their quips with a quip, and when they were serious so was he. He feltthat while there may have been an undercurrent of hostility when heentered the palace it had all disappeared now, and he was a favorite, orat least they took a friendly interest in him, because he was a new typeand they did not think him brusque and rude, as the French believed allBostonnais to be.
And through this picturesque throng stalked the two Indians, Tayoga andTandakora. The Ojibway wore a feather headdress, and a scarlet blanketof richest texture was draped around his body, its hem meeting hisfinely tanned deerskin leggings, while his feet were encased in beadedmoccasins. Nevertheless he looked, in those surroundings, which belongedso thoroughly to an exotic civilization, more gigantic and savage thanever. Robert was well aware that Bigot had brought him there for apolitical purpose, to placate and win the western tribes, and to impresshim with the power and dignity of France. But whatever he may havefelt, the Ojibway, towering half a head above the tallest white man,save Willet, was grim and lowering. His left arm lay in a fold of hisblanket, and, as he held it stiffly, Robert knew that his wound was yetfar from healed. He and Tayoga were careful to keep away from eachother, the Onondaga because he was a guest
and was aware of the whiteman's amenities, and the Ojibway because he knew it was not the time andplace for his purpose.
They went in to dinner presently and the table of Francois Bigot wassplendid as became the powerful Intendant of New France, who had plentyof money, who was lavish with it and who, when it was spent, knew whereto obtain more with ease and in abundance. Forty guests sat down, andthe linen, the silver and the china were worthy of the King's palace atVersailles. A lady was on Robert's right and Colonel de Courcelles wason his left. Willet and Tayoga were farther down on his own side of thetable, and he could not see them, unless he leaned forward, which he wastoo well mannered to do. Bigot sat at the foot of the table and at itshead was Madame Pean, a native of Canada, born Mademoiselle Desmeloizes,young, handsome and uncommonly vivacious, dressed gorgeously in thelatest Parisian style, and, as Robert put it to himself, coruscatingwith talk and smiles.
The dinner progressed amid a great loosening of tongues and much wit.The perfume from the flowers on the table and the continuous playing ofthe band made the air heavier and more intoxicating. It seemed toRobert that if these people had any cares they had dismissed them allfor the time. Their capacity for pleasure, for snatching at the incenseof the fleeting moment, amazed him. War might be coming, but tonightthere was no thought of it.
Bigot toasted the two Bostonnais and the young Iroquois chief who werehis guests in a flowery speech and Robert responded. When he rose to hisfeet he felt a moment of dizziness, because he was so young, and becausehe felt so many eyes upon him. But the gift of speech came to hisaid--he was not the golden-mouthed for nothing. The heavy sweet odor ofthe roses was in his nostrils, inspiring him to liquid words, andeverything glittered before him.
He had the most friendly feeling for all in the room except Tandakora,and a new thought coming into his mind he spoke it aloud. He was,perhaps, in advance of his time, but he told them that New France andthe British colonies could dwell in peace, side by side. Why should theyquarrel? America was vast. British and French were almost lost in itsforests. France and England together could be stowed away in the regionabout the Great Lakes and the shades of the wilderness would encompassthem both. The French and British were great races, it was useless tocompare them and undertake to say which was the greater, because eachwas great in its own way, and each excelled in its own particulars, butthe two combined were the sum of manly virtues and strength. What theBritish lacked the French supplied, and what the French lacked theBritish supplied. Together they could rule the world and spreadenlightenment.
He sat down and the applause was great and hearty, because he had spokenwith fervor and well. His head was singing, and he was confused alittle, after an effort that had induced emotion. Moreover, the band hadbegun to play again some swaying, lilting dance tune, and his pulsesbeat to its measure. But he did lean forward, in spite of his manners,and caught Willet's approving look, for which he was very glad. Hereceived the compliments of the lady on his right and of de Courcelles,then the band ceased presently and he became conscious that Tayoga wasspeaking. He had not heard Bigot call upon him, but that he had calledwas evident.
Tayoga stood up, tall, calm and dignified. He too had the oratoricalpower which was afterward displayed so signally by the Seneca who wasfirst called by his own people Otetiani and was later known asSagoyewatha, but who was known to the white men as Red Jacket.
"I speak to you not as a Frenchman nor as an Englishman," said Tayoga,"but as a warrior of the clan of the Bear of the nation Onondaga, of thegreat League of the Hodenosaunee. Most of this land belonged to ourfathers before ever Englishmen or Frenchmen crossed the great water andput foot upon these shores. Where you sit now was Stadacona, the villageof our brother race, the Mohawks. Frenchmen or Englishmen may make warupon one another, or they may make peace with one another, but theHodenosaunee cannot be forgotten. There are many beautiful rivers andlakes and forests to the south and west, but they do not belong toeither Onontio or Corlear. The laws of the fifty sachems who sit incouncil in the vale of Onondaga run there, and those who leave them out,be they French or English, reckon ill. There was a time when Frontenaccame raiding their villages, burning and slaying, but we did not knowthe use of firearms then. Now we do know their use and have them, and inbattle we can meet the white man on equal terms, be he English orFrench. I have been to the white man's school and I have learned thatthere are other great continents beyond the sea. I do not know what mayhappen in them, nor does it matter, but in this vast continent which youcall America the wars and treaties of the English and the French arealike unavailing, unless they consider the wishes of the Hodenosaunee."
He spoke in a manner inexpressibly haughty, and when he had finished heswept the table from end to end with his challenging glance, then he satdown amid a deep silence. But they were French. They understood that hehad tossed a glove among them, their quick minds saw that the challengewas intended not alone for them, but for the English as well, unless therights of the Hodenosaunee were respected, and such a speech at such atime appealed to their gallant instincts. After a moment or two ofsilence the applause burst forth in a storm.
"'Twas a fair warning," said de Courcelles in Robert's ear, "and 'twasmeant for us both."
It was on Robert's tongue to reply that the English were included forthe sake of courtesy, as they were the friends of the Hodenosaunee andalways kept faith with them, but second thought stopped the words on hislips. Then the band began again, playing a warm song of the south fromthe Florentine opera, and the talk increased. It seemed to Robert thateverybody spoke at once, and his senses were again steeped in the musicand the perfumed air, and the sound of so many voices. Presently herealized that some one across the table was speaking to him.
"The Onondaga said bold words in behalf of his league, but can he provethem true?" the voice was saying.
There was something provocative in his tone, and Robert looked closelyat the speaker. He saw a tall man of at least forty-five, thin butobviously very powerful and agile. Robert noticed that his wrists werethick like his own and that his fingers were long and flexible. His facewas freckled, his nose large and curved, giving to his face anuncommonly fierce appearance, and his eyes were black and set closetogether. It was a strong countenance and, when Robert looked at him,the black brows were drawn together in a frown. His words undoubtedlyhad a challenge in them, and the youth replied:
"When Tayoga speaks he speaks from his head as well as his heart, and Iwho am his sworn brother, although we are of different races, know thathe doesn't boast when he refers to the power of the Hodenosaunee."
"And may it not be possible, sir, that you have been deceived by yourfriendship?"
Robert looked at him in surprise. The man's manner was pointed as if hewere making an issue, and so he did not answer just then, but deCourcelles by his side leaned forward a little and said:
"Perhaps, Mr. Lennox, you have not yet been introduced formally to thechevalier, Chevalier Pierre Boucher, who has been only a year fromParis, but who is already a comrade good and true."
"No, I don't think I've been deceived," replied Robert, keeping histemper, and bowing to the introduction. "The Hodenosaunee, better knownto you as the Iroquois, are a very powerful league, as many of thevillages of Canada can tell."
The man's face darkened.
"Is it wise," he asked, "to remind us of the ferocious deeds theIroquois have done upon us,"
But de Courcelles intervened.
"Peace! Peace, chevalier!" he said in a good-humored tone. "Mr. Lennoxmeant no innuendo. He merely stated a fact to prove a contention."
The chevalier subsided into silence, but Robert saw a significant lookpass between them, and instantly he became keen and watchful. What didit mean? Willet's warning words came back to him. The more he studiedBoucher the less he liked him. With his thin face, and great hookednose, and long, bony fingers like talons, he reminded him of some greatbird of prey. He noticed also that while the others were drinking wine,although he himself did not,
the chevalier was the only one within hisview who also abstained.
The dinner was long. One or two of the ladies sang to the music, anotherdanced, and then de Galisonniere, in a full, round tenor voice, sang"The Bridge of Avignon."
"Hier sur le pont d'Avignon J'ai oui chanter la belle Lon, la, J'ai oui chanter la belle, Elle chantait d'un ton si doux Comme une demoiselle Lon, la, Comme une demoiselle."
It was singularly appealing, and for a moment tears came to the eyes ofall those who were born in France. They saw open fields, stone fences,and the heavy grapes hanging in the vineyards, instead of the hugerivers, the vast lakes and the mighty wilderness that curved almost totheir feet. But it was only for a moment. This was Quebec, the seat ofthe French power in America, and they were in the Intendant's palace,the very core and heart of it. The laughter that had been hushed for athoughtful instant or two came back in full tide, and once more theChevalier Pierre Boucher spoke to Robert.
"The songs of our France are beautiful," he said. "None other have inthem so much of poetry and haunting lament."
The youth detected as before the challenging under note in a remark thatotherwise would have seemed irrelevant, and an angry contradictionleaped swiftly to his lips, but with the recollection of Willet'swarning look he restrained himself again.
"France has many beautiful things," he replied quietly.
"Well spoken, Mr. Lennox! A compliment to us from one of another race isworth having," said de Courcelles. But Robert thought he saw thatsignificant look pass for a second time between de Courcelles andBoucher. The long dinner drew to its close and the invited guests passedinto the private ballroom, where the band began to play dance music. Inthe other ballroom, the one intended for the general public, the peoplewere dancing already, and another band was playing.
Now Bigot was in his element, swelling with importance and good humor,easy, graceful, jesting with men and women, wishing the world well,knowing that he could milk from the royal treasury the money he wasspending tonight, and troubled by no twinges of conscience. Cadethovered near his powerful partner and Pean, Maurin, Penisseault andCorpron were not far away. Robert looked with interest at the ballroomwhich was decorated gorgeously. The balcony was filled already withspectators who would watch the lords and ladies dance. There was norestraint. No Father Drouillard was present to give rebuke and all the_honnetes gens_ were absent, unless a few young officers like deGalisonniere, who sympathized with them, be excepted.
They began to dance to light, tripping music, and to Robert all thewomen seemed beautiful and graceful now, and all the men gay andgallant. He could dance the latest dances himself, and meant to do sosoon, but for the present he would wait, standing by the wall andlooking on. Willet came to him, and evidently intended to whispersomething, but de Courcelles, by the youth's side, intervenedlaughingly.
"No secrets, Mr. Willet," he said. "No grave and serious matters can bediscussed at the Intendant's ball. It is one of our rules that when wework we work and when we play we play. It is a useful lesson which youBostonnais should learn."
Then Jumonville came and began to talk to the hunter in such directfashion that he was compelled to respond, and presently he was drawnaway, leaving Robert with de Courcelles.
"You at least dance, do you not?" asked de Courcelles.
"Yes," replied Robert, "I learned it at Albany."
"Shall I get you a partner?"
"In a little while, if you will be so good, Colonel de Courcelles, butjust now I'd rather see the others dancing. A most brilliant assemblage.I never beheld its like before."
"Brilliant for Quebec," said a voice at his elbow, "but you should go toParis, the very heart and center of the world, to see great pleasure andgreat splendor in the happiest combination."
It was the grim and freckle-faced Boucher, and again Robert detectedthat challenging under note in his voice. In spite of himself his bloodgrew hot.
"I don't know much about Paris," he said. "I've never been there,although I hope to go some day, but Quebec affords both pleasure andsplendor in high degree tonight."
"You don't mean to say that Quebec, much as we French have labored tobuild it up here in the New World, can compare with Paris?"
Robert stared at him in astonishment. Both manner and tone were nowcertainly aggressive, and as far as he could see aggressive aboutnothing. Why should anyone raise an issue between Quebec and Paris, andabove all at such a time, there at Bigot's ball? He refused to be drawninto a controversy, and shrugging his shoulders a little, he turned awaywithout an answer. He heard Boucher's voice raised again, but deCourcelles laughingly waved him down.
"Come! come, my Pierre," he said. "You're too ready to suspect thatsomeone is casting aspersions upon that beloved Paris of ours. Perhapsyou and I shall have the pleasure of showing the great city to Mr.Lennox some day."
He hooked his hand in Robert's arm and drew him away.
"Don't mind Boucher," he said. "He has a certain brusqueness of mannerat times, although he is a good soul. He can't bear for anyone tosuggest that another city, even one of our own, could possibly rivalParis in any particular. It's his pet devotion, and we won't disturb himin it. There's your friend, Tayoga, standing by the wall with his armsfolded across his chest. What a splendid savage!"
"He's not a savage. Tayoga was educated in our schools and he has boththe white man's learning and the red man's. He has the virtues, too, ofboth races, and few, very few of their vices."
"You're an enthusiast about your friend."
"And so would you be if you knew him as well as I do. That little speechhe made showed his courage and the greatness of his soul."
"Spoken at such a time, its appeal was strong. I don't want to boast ofmy race, Mr. Lennox, but the French always respond to a gallant act."
"I know it, and I know, too, that if we English, and Americans orBostonnais, as you call us, do go to war with you we could not possiblyhave a more enterprising or dangerous foe."
Colonel de Courcelles bowed to the compliment, and then with a nodindicated Tandakora, also standing against the wall, huge, sullen andlooking like a splash of red flame, wrapped in his long scarlet blanket.
"He, at least, is a savage," he said.
"That I readily admit," said Robert.
"And as you know by the charges that he made against you to me, hewishes you and your comrades no good."
"I know by those charges and by events that have occurred since.Tandakora is a savage through and through, and as such my comrades and Imust guard against him."
"But the Ojibway is a devoted friend of ours," said a harsh voice overhis shoulders.
He turned and saw the lowering face of Boucher, and once more he wasamazed. De Courcelles did not give the youth time to answer. Again helaughingly waved Boucher away.
"Pierre, my friend," he said, "you seem to be seeking points of issuetonight. Now, I refuse to let you and Mr. Lennox quarrel over themanners, habits and personal characteristics of Tandakora. Come, Mr.Lennox, I'm about to present you to a lady with whom you are going todance."
Robert went away with him and he saw that Boucher, who was left behind,was frowning, but he danced with the lady and others, and as theexcitement of the moment mounted again to his head he forgot all aboutBoucher. He saw too that de Galisonniere had abandoned his restraint,and had plunged into the gayety with all the enthusiasm and delight ofone to whom pleasure was natural. After a while de Courcelles hooked hisarm again in Robert's and said: "Come, I'll show you something."
He led the way down a narrow passage, and then into a large apartment,well lighted, though not so brilliantly as the ballroom. A clickingsound had preceded their entrance, and Robert was aware that he was inthe famous gambling room of Monsieur Bigot. Nearly twenty men, includingthe Intendant himself, Cadet and Pean, were there, gambling eagerly withcards or dice.
And standing by one of the tables, a frown on his freckled face, Robertalso saw the man, Boucher.
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