The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-11-01

u
moon before that time the soil it stands
on belonged to the Illini. To-day both
house and soil belong to us. See; here
stood the village. There are the corn
fields, cut and trampled by the Iroquois.
Here are the kettles Of the natives
do we not hasten away?" broke in Jear.
Breboeuf. s.. ..
"Pish! We do not go away. We re-
main where we are" .....
Remain? Stay here, and be eaten by
the Iroquois? Nay! not Jean Breboeuf."
Du Mesne smiled broadly at his terrors,
and a dry grin even broke over the fea-
lures Of the impressive old trapper. HTete
Girls. -. ..,.... ..e .'-..s. |
mot 80 fast with your going away,
Jean, my brother" said Du Mesne.
"Thou'rt ever limiting Of corn and the
bean; now see what can be done in this
garden place Of the Iroquois and the ulini.
You are appointed head gardener for tho
postr'
''Messieurs, me VOLTA" said Jean Bre.
boeuf, dropping his hands in despair
Were not the bravest man in all New
France should leave you at this moment.
It Is mad, quite mad you are, every one
Of you! I, Jean Breboeuf,; will remain,
and, If necessary, will protect. Corn, and
perhaps the bean, ye shall have; perhaps
even some OF those little roots that the
savages dig and eat; but, look you. this
Is but because you are with one who Is
brave. Enfin, I go. I bend me to the
hoe, here in this place. like any peasant"
IAN excellent hoe can be made from
the blade bone Of an elk, as the woman
Wabana will perhaps show you If you
like" said Pierre Noir. derisively, to his
comrade Of the paddle.
"Even So" said Jean Brebeouf. Il
make me the hoe. Could have but thee, |
old Pierre. to sit on stump and fright |
the crows away, I make no doubt that |
all would go well with our husbandry. I
had as lief go censitaire for Monsieur |
Las as for any seignieur on the Richel1eu; |
of that be sure, old Pierre" l
Faith" replied the latter, when it |
comes to frightening crows. I'll even agree
to sit on a stump with my musket across |
my knees and watch you work. 'Tis q |
good place for a sentinel--to keep the
crows from picking yet more bones than
these which will embarrass you in the
hoeing, Jean Breboeuf:;"
HE says the Richelieu, Du Mesne,"
broke in John Law, unsteady. Every far
away it sounds. I wonder If we shall ever
see it again, with it's little narrow farms.
But here we have our own trails and our
own lands, and let US hope that Monsieur
Jean shall prosper In his belated farming.
And now, for the rest Of us, we must look
presently to the building of our houses"
| Thus began, slowly and in primitive
fashion, the building Of one Of the first
the seeds of civilization taking hold upon
the ground Of barbarism, the one sup
planting the other, yet awaiting itself Of
that other. AS the white men took over
the crude fields Of the departed savages,
so also they appropriated the imperfect
edifce which the conquerors Of those saw
ages had left for them. It was in little
the story Of old England herself. builded
upon the races and the ruins Of Briton,
and Roman, and Saxon, Of Dane and Nor
man.
Under the direction of Law, the walls
Of the old war house were strengthened
with an inner row Of palisades, support
, ing an embankment of earth and stone.
The overlap Of the gate was extended into
a re-entrant angle. and rude battlements
were erected at the four corners Of the
, Enclosure. The little stream Of unfailing
, water was led through a corner Of the
; fortress In the center of the Enclosure
they built the houses: a cabin for Law,
one for the men, and a larger one to serve
;; as storeroom and as trading place, should
there be opportunity for trade.
, It was In these rude quarters that Law
; and his companion established that which
was the nearest approach to a home that
either for the time might claim; and ii
was thus that both undertook once more
that old and bootless human expert
. ment Of seeking to escape from ones own
!, self. Silent now, and dutifully obedien1
:. enough was this erstwhile English beau
- ty. Mary Connynge; yet often and otter
!. oiLaw caught the question Of her gaze
: And often enough too, he found his owl
: questioning running back up the wate
;, trails, and down the lakes and across tn,
- wide ocean, in a demand which, fierce
and flercer as it grew, he yet remained to-
, bitter and too proud to put to the proc
4 by any means now within his power
Strange enough, savage enough, hopeless
= enough, was this wild home Of his In tn
q wilderness Of the Messasebe.
r. The smoke Of the new settlement ros
q steadily day by day, but it gave signal TO
q no watching enemy. All about stretched
the pale green ocean Of the grasses, dotte.
q by many wild flowers, nodding and bow
ing like bits Of fragile fotsam on the sur
,. face Of a continually rolling sea. The lit
. tie groves Of timber, scattered here an
q there, sheltered from the summer sun tn
70 wild cattle of the plains. The shorte
y grasses hid the coveys of the prairi
q hens, and on the marsh grown bayou bank
., the wild duck led her brood. A great LAND
e rich, fruitful one, was this that la
" about these adventures. ~'
t, A soberness had come over the habit &
the master mind Of this colony His han
J. took up the AK and forgot the sword an
ID gum Day after day he stood looking abou
% him, examining and studying in little a
e the strange things which he saw seekin
IS to learn as much as might be of the tim
l
straggle back to their ruined villages
e talking. as best he might. through such In
terpreting as was possible, with savage
u who came from the west OF the Messaseb,
and from the south and from the ia
10 southwest; hearing, and learning an
e, wondering Of land which seemed q
~ large as all the earth, and various as a
n the lands that lay beneath the sun-ths
st west, SO glorious, SO new, SO borndles
a which was yet to be the home Of counties
We hearth fires and the sites Of myriad flel6
ae Of corn. Let others hunt, and fish. and re
OF the Indians Of their furs, after the az
o. cepted fashion Of the time; as for job
d, Law, he must look about him, and thin!
,ir and watch this growing Of the corn.
We He saw It fairly from its beginning tn
ur growth Of the maize, this plant whie
d. never yet had grown on Scotch or Englis
soil; this tall. beautiful. broad blade
ou tender tree, the very emblem OF all fruit
fulness. He saw here and there, droppt
by the careless hand of some departt
le. Indian woman, the little germinatir
at seeds, just thrusting their pale gree
heads up through the soil, half brok,
nd by the tomahawk. He saw the clusteri1
green shoots--numerous in the sign
lenty-an crowding together and clar
oring for light, and life, and a
and room. He saw the prevailing Of the t,