WHAT ROSE DID NOT LIKE
Eustache Boulle, the Governor's brother-in-law, had been not a little
surprised when his sister was helped off the vessel at Tadoussac. He
greeted her warmly.
"But I never believed you would come to this wild country," he
exclaimed, with a half-mischievous smile. "I am afraid the Sieur has let
his hopes of the future run riot in his brain. He can see great things
with that far gaze of his."
"But a good wife follows her husband. We have had a rather stormy and
tiresome passage, but praised be the saints, we have at last reached our
haven."
"I hope you will see some promise in it. We on the business side do not
look for pleasure alone."
"It is wild, but marvellously fine. The islands with their frowning
rocks and glowing verdure, the points, and headlands, the great gulf and
the river are really majestic. And you--you are a man. Two years have
made a wondrous change. I wish our mother could see you. She has
frightful dreams of your being captured by Indians."
He laughed at that.
"Are the Indians very fierce here?" she asked timidly.
"Some tribes are, the Hurons. And others are very easily managed if you
can keep fire-water away from them."
"Fire"--wonderingly.
"Rum or brandy. You will see strange sights. But you must not get
frightened. Now tell me about our parents."
The Sieur was quite angry when he heard some boats had been up the
river, and bartered firearms and ammunition for peltries. It was their
desire to keep the white man's weapons away from the savages.
Pontgrave had left a bark for the Governor, and Eustache joined them as
they went journeying on to Quebec. It was new and strange to the young
wife, whose lines so far had been cast in civilized places. The wide,
ever-changing river, the rough, unbroken country with here and there a
clearing, where parties of hunters had encamped and left their rude
stone fireplaces, the endless woods with high hills back of them, and
several groups of Indians with a wigwam for shelter, that interested her
very much. Braves were spread out on the carpet of dried leaves, playing
some kind of game with short knives and smoking leisurely. Squaws
gossiping and gesticulating with as much interest as their fairer
sisters, their attire new and strange, and papooses tumbling about. They
passed great tangles of wild grapes that scented the air, here and there
an island shimmering with the bloom of blueberries.
Then the great cliff of Quebec came in sight. Latterly it had taken on
an aspect of decay that caused the Governor to frown. The courtyard was
littered with rubbish from a building that had actually fallen down, and
a new one was being erected. And though some of the houses were quite
comfortable within, the exterior was very unattractive, from the
different materials, like patches put on to add warmth in winter.
The cannon rang out a salute, and the lilies of France floated in the
brilliant sunshine. Officers and men had formed a sort of cordon, and
from the gallery several ladies looked down and waved handkerchiefs. The
Heberts, with their son and daughter, a few other women, a little above
the peasant rank, had joined them and Madame Giffard, who still essayed
a role of delicacy.
The Sieur took formal possession again in the name of the new Governor
General, the Duke of Montmorency. Then they repaired to the little
chapel, where the priest held a service of thanksgiving for their safe
arrival.
The Recollets had chosen a site on the St. Charles river, some distance
from the post, and had begun the erection of a church and convent, for
headquarters. Madame Champlain was pleased to hear this and held quite a
lengthy talk with Pere Jamay, who was glad to find the new wife took a
fervent interest in religion, for even among the French women he had not
awakened the influence he had hoped for, in his enthusiasm.
Eustache began a tour of observation. Perched on a rock with a great
hemlock tree back of her, he saw a small human being that he was quite
sure was not an Indian girl. She was talking to something, and raised
her small forefinger to emphasize her words. What incantation was she
using?
As he came nearer he saw it was a flock of pigeons. She had been feeding
them berries and grains of rye. They arched their glossy necks and cooed
in answer. He watched in amaze, drawing nearer. What sprite of the
forest was this?
Did she feel the influence that invaded her solitude? She glanced up
with wide startled eyes at the intruder, and looked at first as if she
would fly.
"Do not be afraid, I will not harm you," said a clear, reassuring voice.
"Are you charming the wild things of the forest? Your incantation was in
French--do they understand the language?"
"They understand me."
There was a curious dignity in her reply.
"You are French, Mam'selle?"
"I came from France a long while ago, so long that I do not remember."
"Was it in another life? Are you human, or some forest nymph? For you
are not out of childhood."
"I do not understand."
"But you must belong to some one----"
"No," she said proudly. "I have never really belonged to any one. M'sieu
Destournier is my good friend, and miladi took me when the Dubrays went
to the fur country. But she has been ill, and she does not like me as
she used."
"But you must have a home----"
"I live at the post, mostly with Wanamee. Some days my lady sends for
me. But I like out-of-doors, and the birds, and the blue sky, and the
voice of the falling waters that are always going on, and the great gray
rocks, where I find mossy little caves with red bloom like tiny
papooses, and the tall grasses that shake their heads so wisely, as if
they knew secrets they would never tell. And the birds--even some of the
little lizards with their bright black eyes. They are dainty, not like
the snakes that go twisting along."
"Are you not afraid of them?"
"I do not molest them," calmly.
"You should have been down at the post. The Governor's wife has come."
"Yes, I saw her. And I did not like her. But the Sieur was always kind
to me. He used to show me journeys on the maps, and the great lakes he
has seen. He has been all over the world, I believe."
"Oh, no. But I think he would like to. Why do you not like Madame de
Champlain?"
She studied him with a thoughtful gaze.
"M'sieu Ralph told me when he went to France he was betrothed to a
pretty little French girl, and that some day he would bring her here to
be his wife. I was glad of the little girl. I like Marie Gaudrion, but
she has to care for the babies and--she does not understand why I love
the woods and the rocks. And I thought this other little _girl_----"
She was so naive that he smiled, but it was not the smile to hurt one.
"She was a little girl then. But every one grows. Some day you will be a
woman."
"No, I will not. I shall stay this way," and she patted the ground
decisively with her small foot, the moccasin being little more than a
sandal, and showed the high arch and shapely ankle that dimpled with the
motion.
"I am afraid you cannot. But I think you will like Madame when you know
her. I am her brother, though I have not seen her for over two years."
She studied him attentively. The birds began to grow restless and
circled about her as if to warn off the intruder. Then she suddenly
listened. There was a familiar step climbing the rock.
M'sieu Destournier parted the hemlock branches.
"I thought I should find you here. Why did you run away? Ah, M. Boulle,"
but the older man frowned a little.
"She left the company because my sister was grown up and not the little
girl she imagined. Is she a product of the forest? Her very ignorance is
charming."
"I am not ignorant!" she returned. "I can read a page in Latin, and that
miladi cannot do."
"She is a curious child," explained Destournier, "but a sweet and noble
nature, and innocent is the better word for it. The birds all know her,
and she has a tame doe that follows her about, except that it will not
venture inside the palisade. I'm not sure but she could charm a wolf."
"The Loup Garou," laughed the younger man. "I think nothing would dare
harm her. But I should like my sister to see her. Oh, I am sure you will
like her, even if she is a woman grown."
"Come," said Destournier, holding out his hand.
The pigeons had circled wider and wider, and were now purplish shadows
against the serene blue. Rose sprang up and clasped Destournier's hand.
But she was silent as they took their way down.
"Whatever bewitched my august brother-in-law about this place I cannot
see. Except that the new fort will sweep the river and render the town
impregnable from that side. It will be the key of the North. But
Montreal will be a finer town at much less cost."
Rose was fain to refuse at the last moment, but M'sieu Ralph persuaded.
The few women of any note were gathered in the room miladi had first
occupied. Rose looked curiously at the daughter of M. Hebert--she was so
much taller than she used to be, and her hair was put up on her head
with a big comb.
"Thou art a sweet child," said Madame de Champlain. "And whose daughter
may she be?"
It was an awkward question. Destournier flushed unconsciously.
"She is the Rose of Quebec," he made answer, with a smile. "Her parents
were dead before she came here."
"Ah, I remember hearing the Governor speak of her, and learned that
there were so few real citizens in Quebec who were to grow up with the
town as their birthright. It is but a dreary-looking place, yet the wild
river, the great gulf, the magnificent forests give one a sense of
grandeur, yet loneliness. And my husband says it is the same hundreds of
miles to the westward; that there are lakes like oceans in themselves.
And such furs! All Paris is wild with the beauty of them. Yet they lie
around here as if of no value."
"You would find that the traders appraise them pretty well," and he
raised his brows a trifle, while a rather amused expression played about
his eyes.
"Is there always such a turmoil of trade?"
"Oh, no. The traders scatter before mid-autumn. The cold weather sets in
and the snow and ice are our companions. The small streams freeze up.
But the Sieur has written of all these things in his book."
He looked inquiringly at her for a touch of enthusiasm, but her sweet
face was placid.
"Monsieur my husband desired that I should be educated in his religion
in the convent. We do not take up worldly matters, that is not
considered becoming to girls and women. We think more of the souls that
may be saved from perdition. The men go ahead to discover, the priests
come to teach these ignorant savages that they have souls that must be
returned to God, or suffer eternally."
There spoke the devotee. Destournier wondered a little how the Sieur had
come to choose a devote for a wife. For he was a born explorer, with a
body and a will of such strength that present defeat only spurred him
on. But where was there a woman to match him, to add to his courage and
resolve! Perhaps men did not need such women. Destournier was not an
enthusiast in religious matters. He had been here long enough to
understand the hold their almost childish superstitions had on the
Indians, their dull and brutish lack of any high motive, their brutal
and barbarous customs. They were ready to be baptized a dozen times over
just as they would use any of their own charms, or for the gain of some
trifle.
Madame seemed to study the frank face of the little girl. How beautiful
her eyes were; her eager, intelligent, spirited face; the fine skin that
was neither light nor dark, and withstood sun and wind alike, and lost
none of its attractive tints. But she was so different from the little
girls sent to the nuns for training. They never looked up at you with
these wide-open eyes that seemed to question you, to weigh you.
"There is no convent here where you can be taught?" addressing herself
to the child.
"The fathers are building one. But it is only for the men. The women
cook and learn to dress deerskins until they are like velvet. They must
make the clothing, for not a great deal comes from France. And it would
only do for ladies like you and Madame Giffard."
"But there must be some education, some training, some prayers," and the
lady looked rather helpless.
She was very sweet and beautiful in her soft silken dress of gray, that
was flowered in the same color, and trimmed with fur and velvet. From
her belt depended a chain of carved ivory beads and a crucifix, from
another chain a small oval looking-glass in a silver frame. Her flaring
collar of lace and the stomacher were worked in pearls. Many Parisians
had them sewn with jewels.
"I can read French very well," said Rose, after a pause. "And some
Latin."
"Oh, the prayers, and some of the old hymns----"
"No, it isn't prayers exactly--except to their gods. There are so many
gods. Jove was the great one."
"Oh, my child, this is heresy. There is but one God and the Holy Virgin,
and the saints to whom you can make invocation."
"Well, then I think you have a number of gods. Do you pray to them all?
And what do you pray for?"
"For the wicked world to be converted to God, for them to love Him, and
serve Him."
"And how do they serve Him?" inquired the child. "If He is the great God
Father Jamay teaches He can do everything, have everything. It is all
His. Then why does He not keep people well, so they can work, and not
blight the crops with fierce storms. Sometimes great fields of maize are
swept down. And the little children die; the Indians kill each other,
and at times the white men who serve them."
"Oh, child, you do not understand. There must be convents in this new
world for the training of girls. They must be taught to pray that God's
will may be done, not their own."
"How would I know it was God's will?" asked the irreverent child,
decisively, yet with a certain sweetness.
"The good Father would tell you."
"How would he know?"
"He lives a holy life in communion with God."
"What is the convent like?" suddenly changing her thoughts.
"It is a large house full of little ones, the sisters' cells, the
novices' cells----"
"There are some at the post. They put criminals in them. They are filthy
and dark," with a kind of protesting vehemence.
"These are clean, because they are whitewashed, and you scrub the floor
twice a week. There is a little pallet on which you sleep, a
_prie-dieu_----"
"What is that?" interrupted the child.
"A little altar, with a stone step on which you kneel. And a crucifix at
the top, a book of prayer and invocation. Many of the sisters pray an
hour at midnight. All pray an hour in the morning, then breakfast and
the chapel for another hour, with prayers and singing. After that the
classes. The little girls are taught the catechism and manners, if they
are to go out in the world, sewing and embroidery. At noon prayers again
and a little lunch, then work out of doors for an hour, and running
about for exercise, catechising again, singing, supper and a chapel
hour, and then to bed. But the nuns spend the evening in prayer, so do
the devout."
"Madame, I shall never go in a convent, if the Fathers build one for
girls. I like the big out-of-doors. And if God made the world He made it
for some purpose, that people should go out and enjoy it. I like the
wilderness, the great blue sky, the sun and the stars at night, the
trees and the river, and the birds and the deer and the beautiful wild
geese, as they sail in great flocks. If I was shut up in a cell I should
beat my head against the stones until it was a jelly, and then I should
be dead."
Madame de Champlain looked at the child in amaze. In her decorous life
she had known nothing like it.
"And I wish there were no women. I do not like women any more. Men are
better because they live out of doors and do not pray so much. Except
the priests. And they are dirty."
Then she turned away and went out on the gallery, with a curiously
swelling heart. Oh, why was not Marie Gaudrion different? What made
people so unlike. If there was some one----
"Ha, little maid, where are you running to so fast?" exclaimed a
laughing voice. "Have you seen my sister yet?"
Eustache Boulle caught her arm, but she shook him off, and stood up
squarely, facing him. What vigor and resolution there was in her small
bewitching face.
"Hi, hi! thou art a plucky little _fille_, ready for a quarrel by the
looks of thy flashing eyes. What have I done to thee, that thou shouldst
shake me off as a viper?"
"Nothing! I am not to be handled roughly. I am going my way, and I think
it will not interfere with thine."
A pleasant smile crossed his face which made him really attractive, and
half disarmed her fierceness.
"My way is set in no special lines until I return to Tadoussac. Hast
thou seen my sister?"
She nodded.
"Every one loves her. She is as good as she is beautiful. And she will
charm thee," in a triumphant tone, gathering that the interview had not
already done this.
"I am not to be charmed in that fashion. Yes, she is beautiful, but she
would like me to be put in a convent. And I would throw myself in the
river first."
"There are no convents, little one. And but few people to put into them.
In a new country it is best that they marry and have families. When
there are too many women then convents play a useful part."
"Let me pass," she cried disdainfully, but not trying to push aside.
"Tell me where you go!"
"To Mere Gaudrion's to see that soft-headed Marie. I wish she had some
ideas, but she is good and cheerful, and does as she is told."
"You are not very complimentary to your friend."
"But if I said she had a bad temper, and told what was not true, and
slapped her little brothers and sisters, that would be a falsehood. And
if I said she understood the song of the birds and the sough of the wind
among the trees, and the running, tumbling little streams that are
always saying 'oh! let me get to the gulf as soon as possible, for I
want to see what a great ocean is like,' it would not be true either. I
like Marie," calmly.
"Thou art a curious little casuist. I am glad you like her. It shows
that you are human. There are strange creatures in the woods and wilds
of this new world."
"There is the Loup Garou, but I have not seen him. He gets changed from
a man to a fierce dog, and if you kill the dog, the man dies. There is
the Windigo, and the old medicine woman can call strange things out of a
sick person who has been bewitched, and then he gets well. But M.
Destournier laughs at these stories."
The young man had been backing slowly toward the steps and she had
followed without taking note.
Now he said--"Let me help you down."
"I am not lame, M'sieu, neither am I blind."
"Will you take me to see Marie Gaudrion?"
"You would laugh at her, I see it in your eyes."
"Are my eyes such telltales?"
He had not the placid fairness of his sister, and his chestnut hair
curled about his temples. His cheeks were red enough for a girl.
"Why should you want to see her?"
"I want to see all there is in Quebec. I want to know how the colony
progresses. I may put it in a book."
"Like the Governor. But you could not make maps out of people," with an
air of triumph.
"I'm not so sure. See here."
He drew from his pocket a roll and held one of the leaves before her
eyes.
"Oh, that is old Temekwisa sitting out by the hut. And, M'sieu, he looks
half drunken, as he nearly always is. And that is Jacques Barbeau
breaking stone. Why, it is wonderful. And who else have you?"
There were several Indians in a powwow around the fire, there was a
woman with a papoose on her back, and a few partly done.
"And the Sieur--and your sister?" eagerly.
"I have tried dozens of times and cannot please myself. The Indians have
about the same salient points, and that lack of expression when they are
tranquil. They are easy to do. And I can sometimes catch the fierce
anger. At home I would have a teacher. Here I have to go by myself, try,
and tear up. Then I am busy with many other things."
Her resentment had mostly subsided. His gift, if it could be called
that, fascinated her. She had reproduced wonderful pictures in her
brain, but to do them with her hand would be marvellous, like the Sieur
writing his books.
They had reached the garden of the Gaudrions. Pierre was employed
regularly now and was studying the plans of the new fort. Marie was
seated on the grass, cutting leather fringe for garments and leggings.
You could use up otherwise useless bits that way. The Mere was farther
down pulling weeds from the carrot bed, and directing the labors of two
children, at whom she shook a switch now and then. Marie had a baby on
each side of her, tumbling about in the grass.
She looked up and nodded, while a heavy sort of smile settled about her
lips, the upper one protruding a little, on account of two prominent
teeth. Eustache had seen the peasant type at home, the low forehead, the
deep-set eyes, the short nose, flattened at the base, the wide mouth and
rather broad, unmeaning countenance, the type of women who bear burthens
without complaining and do not resent when they are beaten. Marie had an
abundance of blue-black hair, a clear skin, and a soft color in her
cheeks.
Boulle glanced from one to the other, the lithe figure, the spirited
face, the eyes that could flash and soften and sparkle with mirth almost
in a minute, it seemed. What a distance lay between them.
"Marie, this is"--then Rose paused and flushed, and glanced at her
unbidden companion.
"I am Eustache Boulle and my sister is the wife of the Governor de
Champlain. And though I have been up and down the river I have never
really visited Quebec before."
Marie nodded and went on cutting fringe.
"And he has done pictures--Temekwisa, that you would know in a minute.
He did them with a pencil. Show them to her," she ordered, in a pretty
peremptory manner, as with a graceful gesture of the hand she invited
him to be seated on the grass, deftly rolling one baby over, who stared
an instant, and then fell to sucking his fist.
Marie's heavy face lighted up with a kind of cheerful surprise.
"Why did you not go up and see them come in? And after the service of
thanks, almost everybody went to see our dear Sieur's wife. She is
beautiful in the face and wears a silken gown, and a little cap so fine
you can see her hair through it. And she has small hands that look like
snow, but not many rings, like Madame Giffard."
"_Ma mere_ went to the prayers, but we could not both go. I saw the line
of boats and heard the salute. And your sister will live here with the
Governor?"
Eustache wanted to laugh, but commanded his countenance.
"Yes, though 'tis a dreary place to live in after gay France. I long to
go back."
"They are to build a new fort. My father will work on it, and my
brother, Pierre. And he wonders that you do not come oftener, Rose."
"There has not been a moonlight in a long while. I cannot come in the
dark. And now he wants his own way in all the plans and I like mine. He
has grown so big he is not amusing any more."
"But he likes you just as well," the girl said naively.
Eustache glanced. Rose did not change color at this frank admission.
Then the gun boomed out to announce the day's work for the government
was over.
Rose sprang up. "It will soon be supper time," she said.
"Stay and have it with us. There are some cold roasted pigeons, with
spiced gravy turned over them. You shall have a whole one."
"You are very good, Marie, but there are so many men about who have been
drinking too much, that M. Destournier would read me a long lecture."
"But Pierre would walk up with thee."
Eustache had gathered up his pictures. They had only been an excuse to
prolong his interview with Rose.
"I will see that no harm comes to your friend. Adieu, Mam'selle," and he
bowed politely, at which Marie only stared.
"We are very good friends, are we not?" as he was parting with the
pretty child.
"But I might not like you to-morrow," archly.