The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-12-12
seen the one in the past or a seer recog.

| IlCuSHt the marquis ana those who adj
| vised him, who never suspected the real
reason for her i'll health She ACTUALLY
had pinned for the young man who had left
her behind and yet had taken her child
| 1sh neart with him. But of this of
course. she, said nothing. so the wise men
| concluded that she had studied too hard
had been too closely confined. and so on
| The physicians who were consulted. after
the simple remedies Of the time had proved
unavailing, recommended a sea voyage
AS it happened, the marquis had just
then been summoned to the king to take
! part as commander in one of the cam
palgns of the Seven Years War. his ex-
perence and ability being too valuable to
allow him to be neglected. The old man,
therefore. had taken advantage of the de-
parture of a heavy French squadron car.
| ry1ng General, the Marquis de Montcalm
his suite. and some troops. to send his
| granddaughter to Canada under the
| charge OF the general. an old friend, who
| had been appointed to the supreme mill
tary command in New France. An an
| Gent relative Of the house of Rohan lived
IN 9Hluence and ease in Quebec. and to her
the marquis consigned the young countess
She mad remained in New France with
| TINS estlmable lady ever since her arrival
for two reasons: one. it had been difficult
! -Well-night- impossible indeed. on ac-
count OF the number of English ships
cruising to intercept the traffic between
canada and France-to get away; and the
other as the marquis was still engaged in
the french army, she would have had no
| place to which to go, no place where she
could have lived so comfortably and safe
~ If she returned to France The mar
gus was determined that he would not
throw her into the hotbed of destination
ana intrigue of which Louis XIV was the
locus. in Paris Or at Versailles
Her health, much benefited by the voy-
>1aAS
with her great beauty. her ancient name
her powerful grandfather, the great
estates to which she was sole heiress, she
became. as childhood gave way to woman
hood. the undoubted belle of New France.
The officers of the army. the sea officers
from time to time arrived from France
the young Canadian noblesse. all laid their
hearts at her feet. She could have chosen
any one from among them. but as yet none
or them had succeeded in touching her
heart Most of them she liked and the
society of many of them she enjoyed
IN all the gaities of Canada-and the
traditions of France were royalty main
tanned in the new world-she participated.
Yet with native dignity and pride she held
herself aloof from the dsso!ute set sur
rounding the able but interruptions In
tendant. Bigot: and If she acquired knowl-.
edge OF the world, she neither lost her
Innocence Of heart nor sacrificed her purity
Among the many she had met who
had paid court to her, the man she
most liked and, who was in fact,
perhaps the = 91inest among them
was the young sailor to whom, in fear
OF her love for. Grafton she had just en-
gagged herself. She had refused his suit
many times. before, but with undaunted
gallantry he had persisted in his at
tentions.
The two had many ties in common
They both came from Breton families
Upon the score of wealth, breeding and
personality de Wire was an entirely suit
able companion for her. In but~one par
t1cular did he fall below the required
! standard. His family. while old. was not
to be mentioned in the same breath with
hers., and as he was only the son of
cadet of his house. a simple chevalier
holding the rank Of lieutenant in the
navy. he was from that point of view no
match for her
! How her grandfather the, marquis,
| would regard the engagement upon which
| she had so suddenly and capriciously en-
| tered was problemat cal. In fact she felt
that he would disapprove; but while she
| was wholly French in her training and in
| her ideas she was not for nothing the
! daughter of an American woman. She
| combined a determine ton to exercise a
certain liberty of choice as to the dis
| position of her heart and person with the
stubborn, inflexble will power Of her
grandfather. Therefore She could meet
| the certain antagonism of the marquis
| with two WeapOns-his own and her
! mothers. She trusted also that he might
| be won to her views; she was sure he
would rather see her dead than have her
marry an Englishman. an enemy, and
she hoped. when she explained to him
that in utter despair she had thrown her.
| self into the arms of the one to escape
the promptings of her heart, which would
fain have thrown her into the arms of
the other, that he would acquiesce
She had no one to advise her, poor
child! The sancient relative to whose care
she had been committed had died few
| weeks since of the cares, anxieties and
priyations brought about by the siege. An
ordinary French girl would have gone to
a. convent under the circumstances, but
i Anne possessed certain amount of self
reliance and Independence, and she re-
solved. for the time being, at least, to
1 remain at her own house with old Jean
Renaud and Josette.,- If the English were
driven away she made up her mind that
at any hazard she would take ship for
| France. IT, on the contrary, the Eng
! fish captured the town she would prob
ably be sent back a prisoner. So she
| awaited the issue of the campaign in the
| meantime busying herself with caring for
| the sick and wounded. -
| She would have appealed for advice to
the Marquis de Montcalm as her fathers
| friend and an honorable man in whom
she could trust, and upon whose judg-
ment she could depend, but the exigen-
cies of the siege had so fully occupied
that general that she was not willing to
! trouble him with her private AFFAIRS and
now it was too late. -. ~ ~
1t was evening. She stood by the dor
mer window looking out the street.
| Grafton watched her closely from the
| bed She had stopped a moment to in
| quire for him. her third and to be her
last visit that day, and then, attracted by
a commotion, she had gone to the window.
! A little cortege filled the street below.
Some soldiers bore upon their shoulders a
rude wooden box Over it was laid the
golden- ilied white flag of France, and
| upon the flag handsome sword. half
dozen men, holding pine torches whose
! Pickering. wavering flames cast an un-
certain illumination over the scene,
walked by the makeshfft coffin. Imme-
diately behind came a few priests and
| then Monsieur de Ramesay and his STAFF,
and a little huddle of townspeople-the
| idle and the curious.
There were no strains Of martial music:
! there was neither blare of bugle nor roll
of drum nor tolIing of bells. There was
no ceremony, no pomp; there were no
women even.
Anne leaned her head upon the case
| ment, her tears falling softly. Her body
with SohS Grafton stared az I,o,.