Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-01-25
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PA ROSE OFA
NORMANDY
~21S
Pr XIV.

CHAPTER XIV.
WHEREIN FRONTENAC ASSUMES
THE ROLE OF GUARDIAN. AND
TWO FAMILIAR FACES REAPPEAR.
Two years passed, and affairs of mo-
ment, affecting closely the lives and
fortune of all the chief actors in this
New World drama, were enacted in
quebec. Fol a time the new associa-
ton of fur-traders, whose support La
Sale had with difficulty obtained, were
content with their venture and looked
forward to the day when they could
reasonably expect to hear tidings of
n expeditions success. Their conf
dence resisted for a time attacks made
by Duchesneau, through the crafty
Jacques LIE Der and other agents
against the enterprise. But little by
little, as no news came and the efforts
OF the indefatigable intendant were
unremitting, their assurance was
weakened. La Sales personality, had
he been there, would have been suffi-
clent to hold their allegiance, and
Frontenac himself could doubtless have
alfayed their un~easiness. Affairs of
state, however, had compelled him to
devote all his time to their d~isentan-
clement. His relations with Duches-
neau became more and more strained;
the council showed itself more unruly;
failure in their crops had made the
neighboring farmers dissatisfied; their
demands for government assistance
became clamorous, while the ex-
pected aid from the king had been de-
layed and was destined to prove to
be little better than an empty promise.
Thus the first vague fears for the
success of the expedition had become,
thanks to the i~ntendant's machina-
lions, a settled feeling of dissatisfac-
ton and unrest; and when a messen-
ger finally arrived with a tale of La
Sales misfortunes and difficulties, the
anger of the discontents became open.
Hence the seizure of all of the avail
able property of La Sale at this juno
ture. Frontenac did his utmost to
placate these men, and it was only the
expected arrival in September (of the
year following that in which Tonti
and his comrades had set out from
Quebec of the kings ship that kept
them from taking further active meas
ures for securing legal redress for
their losses. The possibility of an al
iteration in the plans of the king for
his colonies; of material aid from the
royal treasury; of a change in off
cials-all caused a suspension of hos
tilities on the part of the warning par
ties and individuals.
Once more did the cliffs and shores
re-echo to the roar of cannon, as the
long expected messenger from behind
the horizons rim folded it's sails and
anchored peacefully in the basin be-
fore the town. Again were letters
read from king and minister exhort-
ing loyal subjects to maintain AMIGA
BILE relations amongst themselves, and
to exercise all due economy in the ad-
ministration of affairs; again did the
suitors swarm to the marriage market
and carry away the new consignment
of kings girls" IN many ways the
ships arrival had proved a disappoint-
ment. The amount of money sent had
been wofully short of the sum asked
for; of the 200 soldiers he had i'm
plored the king to dispatch for the
proper garrisoning of the, various
posts, and the Qverawing of the saw
ages who had given increasing signs
of unfriendliness to the French, From
tenac had received but 60.
1t was while reviewing mentally the
general situation that the governor sat
at his desk, the morning after the
ships arrival, in the great room at the
Chateau, where he first dined with La
Sale and Tonti. A stormy session of
the council the evening before and the
knowledge of the impending difficulties
ahead had no deferred him from a
good nights sleep. Nothing seemed
to daunt the nerve of steel and heart
of oak that the man possessed. Dan
ger and difficulties only made him
strive the harder. The heat of battle
had been his lot all his life, whether
in Louis Dutch and Italian wars, or
in a campaign against the Turk. 1t
was, then, with a feeling of renewed
energy and eagerness for the fray that
he surveyed the situation. II will
govern in spite Of them" he ex-
claimed as he struck the desk, be-
strewn with papers before him, a Wig
orous blow with his fist. Them
comprehended all who rendered his
task difficult, from the procrastinating
king and his minister across the seas,
to the painted savage lurking in the
forests OF the New World.
Thus with a fresh vigor and deter
mination to face his most belligerent
enemy boldly, he ordered a servant
to admit any seeking audience with
him. Imagine his surprise when he
beheld before him not the intendant
bringing to his attention some fresh
point Of dispute, or the cringing form
and whining voice of Jacques LIE Der
as he offered a new complaint from
the trading community, but rather
the face, pale and severe, of Madame
Bourbon, who had again been placed
in charge of the feminine portion of
the ships cargo. She was accompa-
MED by a yelled, girlish figure, clad
in the plainest garb, who retired to
one side of the room upon entering,
leaving her conductress to approach
the governor alone.
Frontenac, on seeing Madame Bour-
don, Immediately arose and welcomed
her kindly, receiving from her hand a
letter, which he opened forthwith and
proceeded to read, after glancing at
the signature. A look of surprise and
pleasure passed owe his features as