Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1905-09-28

occur? Why call ii the Fort of the
Breaking I.cart?"
"Ah! mon ami, our commander
named it that, out Of the depths OF his
own grief AMI discouragement, after
overcoming dangers and difficulties
that would have turned back any other
man dozen times. Mon Dieu now
that you have me upon the subject of
the friend | have learned 20 admire
and love as my own brother, | can tall:
all night without stopping. What
think you, after the final wreck of our
little vessel and its stores at the mouth
OF the Niagara river by our unfaithful
pilot, and the desertion of a goCdly
portion of his men. did he despair?
MordiouX. no. A shrug of the shoul-
der, firm pressure of the lips, q
Strengthening and stiffening of his
body, as though to Withstand an at
tack, were all the signs of the disap-
pointment he showed. His voice was
the Sayest and the load upon his back
was the heaviest of us all as we
climbed up the steep bank and through
the snOwdrifts. bearing what remained
of our supplies to place of safety.
Treachery met him at every hand; the
very men whose burdens he had tried
to tighten and whom he had watched
and tended through sickness and
starvation turned against him, thwart..
ing his plans and crippling his re-
sources. Even now. while | sit here,
he is graphing with danger and disas-
ter. Is it any wonder that for such a
leader Pompon. Aldesko, and myself
gladly risked our lives to return to
Quebec for aid?
with the eye Of a general he has
planned the winning of all that great
land for the king and holy church, and
has decided upon the spot to be first
seized and held. 4 short distance uD
the river from the point where | left
him is giant rock, impregnable if
once securely fortified, that will serve
as the beginning of a new empire for
France, and will preserve it against
Indian and white man alike, besides
forming the center of a vast trading
enterprise. This plan, if successfully
carried out, will give us the key to the
whole situation. All! Cielo! NJ. le
Gouyerneur, if you do not give me aid
and that soon, his great heart will
break When final disappointment
comes to natures such as his, there is
no other end"
Tonti spoke with feeling as he leane1
toward Frontanac in his earnestness.
Bravo" cried the Comte, and his
huge hand came down with a clasp up
on Tontis as it rested on the table
You do not disappoint my first esti.
mate of you. You are indeed n worthy
associate for the courageous La Sale
With score of men like you two,
could conquer and hold the entire new
world"
Thus they talked and planned to
meet the great demands that the emer-
gency required for the successful is
sue of the great enterprise until day
dawned. And as they strove, the pa
tient heart of their comrade alone in
the wilderness with a handful of mu-
tinous men yearned for the succor so
desperately needed, and his eyes be-
held above the forest tree tops the
breaking of another day of hope and
endeayor undismayed.
Meanwhile Renee was welcomed
heartily by the nuns, who attributed
the intense nervous excitement under
which she was laboring to the dan
gers to which she had so recently been
exposed She quickly sought solitude
in order to think out some plar of ac-
tion. She had learned from one of the
women standing by all that had oc-
CURED at the gate of the seigniory aft
er she had tainted, and her heart was
filled with rage and shame. The poi
soned lie told by Madame Bizard had
done its work. Tonti, the ideal, the
hero; Tonti, the gallant and brave;
Tonti, the fairy prince, the possible
lover the chance of meeting whom had
rendered her exile bearable, was de-
throned, and she saw in him only an
ordinary man, impure, base, deceiv-
ing, an enemy to be avoided. Although
no words of love had passed between
them, yet the remembrance of the
budding passion that she had recog-
niZed within her breast scorched her
brain anew. As long as he was far dis
tant she had been able to try bravely
to overcome her disappointment, but
his proximity had aroused within her
a sense of danger and desire to flee
Banished from her home through a
peril she could not combat. she found
herself surrounded by fresh hazards
She bad fed to the convent TO escape
the Comte de Miron, and now like
hunted animal she sought a new refuge !
as another enemy appeared in view
The rumored presence of the es-
capped comte as leader of a band OF the |
murderous Iroauois rendered her un-
safe except while under the direct !
protection of Frontenac. The arrival |
Of Tonti, whom her unsettled magma |
ton pictured to her as having aban- |
doned his comrades in the wilderness, |
was menace even under the shelter
ing walls Of the fort.