PREPARING FOR THE RAID.
"Thank heaven!" ejaculated Antoine Lecorbeau, "they have saved
the dike!"
In Acadian eyes to tamper with the dikes was sacrilege.
"Well!" said the sergeant, with a somewhat cynical chuckle, "at least
the English have got their feet wet!"
Pierre broke off his laugh in the middle, for at this moment the red
lines charged. The deadly volley which rang out along the summit for
an instant staggered the assailants; but they rallied and went over
the barrier like a scarlet wave. The dike was much easier to scale when
thus approached on the landward side.
And now ensued a fierce hand-to-hand struggle. The spectators could
hardly contain their excitement as they saw their party, fighting
doggedly, forced back step by step to the edge of the water. Some,
slipping in the ooze of the retreating tide, fell and were carried
down by the current. These soon swam ashore--discreetly landing on
the further side of the river. The rest seeing the struggle hopeless,
now broke and fled with a celerity that the English could not hope
to rival. Along the flats, for perhaps a mile, a detachment of the
English pursued them till a bugle sounded their recall. Then Major
Lawrence, finding himself master of the field, directed his march
to that low hill where he had encamped the previous spring, and a
fatigue party was set to repair the dike.
On this hill the English proceeded to erect a fortified post, which
they called Fort Lawrence; and in an incredibly short time the red flag
was waving from its battlements, not three miles distant from Beauséjour,
and an abiding provocation to the hot-headed soldiery of France. As for
Le Loutre, after his disastrous repulse, he yielded to the inevitable,
and gave up all thought of preventing the establishment of Fort Lawrence.
But he was not discouraged; he was merely changing his tactics.
The Missaguash being the dividing line between the two powers, he
caused his Acadian and Indian followers to enrage the English by petty
depredations, by violations of the frontier, by attacks and ambuscades.
Soon the English were provoked into retaliations; whereupon the regulars
of Beauséjour found an excuse for taking part, and the turbid Missaguash
became the scene of such perpetual skirmishes that its waters ran redder
than ever.
Even then there might have been erelong an attempt at reconciliation,
to which end the efforts of Captain Howe were ceaselessly directed. But
Le Loutre made this forever impossible by an outrage so fiendish as to
call forth the execration of even his unscrupulous employers. One morning
the sentries on Fort Lawrence were somewhat surprised to see one who was
apparently an officer from the garrison of Beauséjour, with several
followers, approaching the banks of the Missaguash with a flag of truce.
The party reached the dike, and the bearer of the flag waved it as if
desiring to hold a parley. His followers remained behind at a respectful
distance, standing knee-deep in the heavy aftermath of the fertile marsh.
In prompt response to this advance Captain Howe and several companions,
under a white flag, set out from Fort Lawrence to see what was wanted.
When Howe reached the river he detected something in the supposed
officer's dress and language which excited his suspicions of the man's
good faith, and he turned away as if to retrace his step's. Instantly
there flashed out a volley of musketry from behind the dike on the
further shore, and the beloved young captain fell mortally wounded.
The pretended officer was one of Le Loutre's supporters, the Micmac chief,
Jean Baptiste Cope, and the fatal volley came from a band of Micmacs
who had, under cover of darkness, concealed themselves behind the dike.
The assassins kept up a sharp fire on the rest of the English party,
but failed to prevent them from carrying off their dying captain to the
fort. The scene had been witnessed with horror by the French forces
on Beauséjour, and their officers sent to Fort Lawrence to express their
angry reprobation of the atrocious deed. They openly laid it to the
charge of Le Loutre, declaring that such a man was capable of anything;
and for a few weeks Le Loutre did not care to show himself at Beauséjour.
At last he came, and met the accusations of the French officers with the
most solemn declaration that the whole thing had been done without his
knowledge or sanction. The Indians, he swore, had done it by reason of
their misguided but fervent religious zeal, to take vengeance on Howe
for something he was reported to have said injurious and disrespectful
to the Church. "The zeal of my flock," said he, solemnly, "is, perhaps,
something too rash, but it springs from ardent and simple natures!"
"Aye! aye!" said the old sergeant to his companions-in-arms, when he
heard of the abbé's explanations, "but I happened to recognize His
Reverence myself in the party that did the murder."
There were many more on Beauséjour whose eyes had revealed to them the
same truth as that so bluntly stated by the sergeant. But the abbé was
most useful--was, in fact, necessary, to do those deeds which no one
else would stoop to; and, therefore, his explanation was accepted.
At this time, moreover, there was a work to be done at Beauséjour
requiring the assistance of the abbé's methods. Orders had been sent
from Quebec that a strong fort should straightway be built at Beauséjour,
as an offset to Fort Lawrence. And this fort was to be built by the
ill-fated Acadians.
The labor of the Acadians was supposed to be voluntary. That is, they
were invited to assist, without pay other than daily rations; and those
who appeared reluctant were presently interviewed by the indefatigable
and invaluable Le Loutre. His persuasions, with blood-thirsty Indians
in the background, invariably produced their effect. To be sure, there
was money sent from Quebec for payment of the laborers; but the
authorities of Beauséjour having Le Loutre to depend upon, found
it more satisfactory to put this money in their own pockets.
With his customary foresight, Antoine Lecorbeau had promptly evinced
his willingness to take part in the building. Either he or Pierre was
continually to be found upon the spot, working diligently and, without
complaint--which was a disappointment to Le Loutre. The abbé had not
forgotten the remark of Antoine which he had caught the day of the battle
on the Missaguash. He was seeking his opportunity to punish him for the
rash utterance. For the present, however, there was nothing to do but
commend the prudent Acadian for his zeal.
Upon Pierre and his father this fort building fell not heavily. They had
a tight roof and a warm hearth close by. But their hearts ached to see
hundreds of their fellow-countrymen toiling half-clad in the bitter
weather, with no reward but their meager daily bread. These poor
peasants had many of them been the owners of happy homes, whence the
merciless fiat of Le Loutre had banished them. The hill of Beauséjour
lies open to the four winds of heaven, one or the other of which is
pretty sure to be blowing at all seasons; and some of the dispirited
toilers had not even rawhide moccasins to protect their feet from the
biting frost. Le Loutre was continually among them working in his
shirt sleeves, and urging everyone to his utmost exertions. But as
the winter dragged on the Acadians became so weak and heartless that
even the threats of the abbé lost their effect, and the fort grew but
slowly. Upon this it became necessary to increase the rations and even
to give a small weekly wage. The effect of this was magical, and in
the following spring the fortress of Beauséjour was ready for its
garrison. Its strong earthworks overlooked the whole surrounding
country, and in the eyes that watched it from Fort Lawrence formed
no agreeable addition to the landscape. Across the tawny Missaguash
and the stretches of bright green marsh the red flag and the white
flapped each other a ceaseless defiance.
Elated at the completion of the fort, Le Loutre concluded the times
were ripe for a raid upon the English settlements. On the banks of the
Kenneticook there was a tiny settlement which had been an eyesore to
the abbé ever since its establishment some three years before. There
were only a half dozen houses in the colony and against these Le Loutre
decided to strike. In the enterprise he saw an opportunity of making
Lecorbeau feel his power. He would make the careful Acadian take part
in the expedition. To assume the disguise of an Indian would, he well
knew, be hateful to every instinct of the law-abiding Lecorbeau. As the
abbé took his way to the Acadian's rude cabin his grim face wore a
sinister gleam.
It was about sunset, and the family were at their frugal meal. All rose
to their feet as the dreaded visitor entered, and the children betook
themselves in terror to the darkest corners they could find. The abbé
sat down by the hearth and motioned his hosts to follow his example.
After a word or two of inquiry as to the welfare of the household,
he remarked abruptly:
"You are a true man, Antoine--a faithful servant of the Holy Church
and of France!"
His keen eyes, as he spoke, burned upon the dark face of the Acadian.
Lecorbeau did not flinch. He returned the piercing gaze calmly and
respectfully, saying:
"Have I not proved it, Reverend Father?"
A phantom of a smile went over the priest's thin lips, leaving his
eyes unlightened.
"It is well! You shall have yet another chance to prove it. It is just
such men as you whose help I want in my next venture. I have business
on hand which my faithful flock at Cobequid are not sufficient for,
unaided. You and certain others whom I need not name shall join them for
a little. I will bring you such dress, equipment, and so forth, as you
will need to become as one of them. Be ready to-morrow night."
As he spoke he studied intently the face of Lecorbeau. But the sagacious
Acadian was a match for him. Lecorbeau's heart sank in his breast. He was
a prey to the most violent feeling of hatred toward his guest, and of
loathing for the task required of him. He saw in it, also, the probability
of his own ruin, for he believed the complete triumph of the English was
at hand. Notwithstanding, his face remained perfectly untroubled, while
Pierre flushed hotly, clenching his hands, and Mother Lecorbeau let
a sharp cry escape her.
"Be not a child, Jeanne!" said Lecorbeau, rebuking her with his glance.
Then he answered to the demand of Le Loutre.
"In truth, Reverend Abbé, I should like to prove my zeal in some easier
way. Have I not obeyed you with all diligence and cheerfulness, nor
complained when your wisdom seemed hard to many? Surely, you will keep
such harassing service for younger men, men who have not a family to
care for! Will you not deal a little gently with an old and obedient
servant? I pray you, let young men go on such enterprises, and let me
serve you at home!"
"I am too lenient to such as you," cried the priest, in a voice grown
suddenly high and terrible. "I know you. I have long suspected you.
Your heart is with the English. You shall steep your hands in the blood
of those accursed, or I will make you and yours as if you had never been!"
Antoine Lecorbeau held his countenance unmoved and bowed his head.
"It shall be as you will, father," he said, quietly. "But is this the
way you reward obedience?"
The abbé's reply was interrupted by Pierre, who stepped forward with
flashing eyes and almost shouted:
"Our hearts are _not_ with the English! We are the children of France!"
The abbé, strange to say, seemed not offended by this hot contradiction.
The outburst rather pleased him. He thought he saw in Pierre the making
of an effective partisan. Diverted by this thought, and feeling sure of
Antoine after the threat he had uttered, he rose abruptly, blessed the
household, all unconscious of the irony of the act, and stepped out into
the raw evening. There was silence in the cabin for some minutes after
his going forth. The blow had fallen, even that which Lecorbeau had most
dreaded.