The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-03-01
A TALE OF PONTIAC.

A. Il 1AAA vi O4N lhO
You may hear Mathurin's story fro,
almost any tale teller in the province {
Quebec, where every parish has It's profe
sional raconteur and where every man
an amateur But you will hear 1t toll
with most fitting sympathy and imagine
tion, at the beating of the flax, In the III
tie valley beside Dalgrothe mountain
That Is perhaps because of the woma
who tells 1t. And when Antoinette Maj
motto, who has voice like bird, sings
verse or two of the song they call "Mathu
rim, the Master of the School, I" to tho bea
OF the hammers upon the FAX, the womel
pause in their work and weep in a sill
? sort of way, without shame
| The tale was told to me in the little val
ley one September morning Far and nea
one could see the swinging of the fail, ant
the laughter Of a ripe summer was upol
the land. There was little Calvary dow1
by the riverside where the fax beater.
used to say their prayers in the intervals
of their work, and it was just at the foot
of this that Angelo Rouvier, having fin
ished her prayer, put her rosary in hel
PoohUVi NlpCu lltE GyCS WIFI Ullb HUH vi Mel
petticoat and said to me:
"Ah, that poor Mathurin"
could not guess at first why she spoke
so at the moment, but presently 1t dawned
upon me that she had been praying for the
repose of Mathurin's soul, though he had
been at least 100 years dead and she had
never known him. But tradition and
memory are sweet to her race, and perhaps
something In her own life that day had
recalled to her the apocryphal Scripture
according to Mathurin for some of these
stories and legends lie as near to the heart
of the race of Angelo as Job or Isaiah Lies
to your lives and mine; perhaps nearer,
because Angelo and her race are closer to
the honest earth, from which good stories
spring
"Ah, that poor Mathurinl wipe my
eyes for him. she said to me again.
Tell me all about him, won't you,
Nine. Angelo? l want to hear you tell
about it, added hastily, for saw that
she would despise me if l showed igno-
rance Of Mathurin's story. Her sympathy
with Mathurin's memory was real but
her pleasure at the compliment conveyed
in my request was also real
"Ahl 1t was ver' long time ago--yes.
My gran 'mudder she remember dat Ma.
thurln YER we'll He Is not YER big man,
not so bigger as yourself He has a faoe-
oh, not YER handsome, not SO more hand.
some asyours-non His clothes they hang
on him all loose, his hair it is all some
gray, and it blows about his head, He Is
clean of the face, no beard no nosing like
dat. But his eye, oh, m'sieu', his eye 1t
Is like coal which you blow in your hand
whew! All bright! My gran 'mudder she
say: VOLTA! You can light your PHO with
the eyes of dat III sieu'.' She knows. She
say dat M'sieu' Mathurins eyes they
shine in the dark. My gran fadder he says
he not need any lights on his carriole when
Mathurin ride with him in the dark
"Nraiment, it Is all yer true what tell
you all the time. If you cut off Mathurin
at the ohm all the way up, you would say
the top Of him 1t is priest. All the way
down from his Ieck, if you let it stan, oh,
he Is just no better as yourself or my Jean,
non. He is aver good man. Only one bad
ting he do. Dat is why l pray for him;
dat is why everybody pray for him-only
one bad ting. Saprie If have only one
ting to say God have mercy for, l t'ink
dat YER good, do my pcnance happy.
Well, dat Mathurin him Use to teach the
sc >. The cure he Is yer fond of him
AL o"o leetla children, boys and girls,
they all say, c est bon Mathurn' He Is |
not YER cross, non. He have no wife-no
child; just like by himself, all alone But
he is YER good friends with everybody in
Pontiac. When he so long the street, ey-
erybody say, All, there go the good Ma.
thurin He laugh, he tell story, he smoke
a leetla, he take leetla white wine benin
the door-dat is nosing, non
He have in tho parish 5, TO- 90 chill
dorn all call Mathurin He is godfadder
with them--ycs. So he go about with
plenty of sugar and sticks of candy in his
pocket. 1Io never forget once the age of
every leetla. child which call him godfad-
der He have brain dat work like q
clock My gran fadder he say dat Mathu-
rim have machine in his head 1t make
the words. make the thoughts, make the
fine speech like the euro, make the gran
poetry-oh, yes.
when the king of Englan' 90 to sit on .
the throne, Muthurin write YER nice verse
to him, And by and by there come to Ma.
thUrn letter-vUila, dat IL a letter. 1t !
has l. 2, 3, ~ seals, and the king he say
to Mathurin, Morci mile fois m sieu,
You are yer polite, | thank you | will |
Keep your verses to toll mo dat my French .
subjects are all loyal like NJ. Mathurin. 4
Dat is YER nice; but he is not prOud-nonl .
He write six verses for my gran 'mudder-
huin Dat is something He writo two
verses for the king Of Englan', and he write
civ for IN
He go on SO, dis week, dat week, dis year,
dat ycar-all tho time
"Wcll, by and by there is trouble in
Pontiac. 1t is yer great trouble. You see
there is fight against the king of Eng.
Ian, and dat is too bad 1t is not his fault
He is YER nice man, 1t Is tho bad men
who make the laws for the king in Quebec
Well, one day, all over the country every
body take him gun and the leetla bullets
and say Il will fight the soldier of the
king Of Englun like dat Yer we'll
there were 20 men in Pontiac, YER nice
mcn-you will find their names cut in
GtOne on the church, and thon, three times
as big you will find Mathurins name
All, dat is the ing. You see, dat rebellion
you English call tive call the war of the
patriot-well, you call it what YOU like,
quelle differ nee The king of Englau
smash him patriot war all to pieces Then
there are 10 mon Of the 20 come back to
Pontiac ver' sorry, They are not happy;
nobody is happy All their wives cry, all
their children they are afraid Some peo.
pie say, what fools you are; others say you
Yer sorry all the time.
a. Want l,,r 1.