The Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1931, 1931-04-30
CHAPTER XIV-Continued


where many aristocratic families
OF the city lived. Nancy Gagnon,
who had been Nancy Lotbiniere
before her marriage to Peter
Gagnon, and dearly loved belle
of the town. described the incident
soon afterward in letter to Anne
st. Denis-Rock. and this letter,
partly unintnlligible because of it's
age, is cherished possession of
that family.
Il had come out of the house
(she WrOte) in time to see q
strange figure pause near the iron
gate which shut him out from the
plot of ground where the dog was
watching little Jeems at play with
some blocks and sticks. He was
q soldier in faded uniform of
France, with hospital badge on
his arm. and had apparently just
risen from terrible sickness. AS
he staggered against the gate with
a strange cry, thought he was
about to faint and hurried toward
MIN. Then most amazing thing
happened. The dog sprang straight
at him, and so frightened was |
by the unexpectedness of his at
tack that | screamed at the top of
my voice and snatched up one of
the baby's sticks with which | was
about to beat the animal from his
victim when. to my still greater
establishment, ! saw that both man
and beast were overcome by what
appeared to be paroxysm of rec
ognition and joy. The action of
the dog together with my scream
set little Jeems to crying Justify
and my terrified voice brought Toi.
nette and my father to the door.
Snail | ever forget what happened
then? Toinette started first to-
ward her baby, then saw the man
at the gate, and the cry which
came from her lips will remain
with me until my dying day. In
moment she was In that poor
wreck of q soldiers arms, kissing
him and sobbing, until, with the
antics of the dog and the tiercer
shrieking of the child, to say moth
ing of my own wild appearance
with the stick, we were beginning
to attract the attention of the
public. :"
In this way Jeems found his wife
and boy. Their story was destined
to be remembered because it was
marked incident in a transition
of land, people, and customs which
history could not regard too light
ly. Manuscripts and letters were
to bear it on, until almost forgot
ten, it was to remain only a wills
per among a thousand others of
days and years whose echoes grow
FAINTER as time passes The walls
of the old Lotbiniere home in st.
Louis street, close to the resi-
dence of the beautiful but infa-
nous Madame de Paean, witnessed
the piecing together of the story
and might repeat it today if they
could talk. For Jeems the few
minutes after his entry in thesLot-
biniere house, where he and Toi-
nette were guided by Nancy and
her father while black servant
brought up the rear with the baby,
were nearly as unreal as the last
moments of his consciousness on
the Plains Of Abraham. Inside the
door, Nancy placed the child in
his arms, which had not relin-
quished their hold of Toinette, and
the discovery that he possessed q
son leapt upon him. He was so
overwhelmed by the emotion which
followed that he did not see Hep
sibah Adams as he felt his way
through the wide hall to find what
the excitement and crying were
about. 1t was Hepsibah with his
round, sightless face and his voice
breaking with joy when he found |
Jeems alive under his great, fun
bling hands which added-as
Nancy wrote in her letter to Anne |
st. Denis Rock-"a final proof that
God does answer prayer"
ih"I thio 1oN WIZ udu seen |
New France sink into ruin had
guided their own destinies with a
benefcent hand Jeems devoutly
believed when Toinette told him
what had befallen her after the
flight from Chenufsio. They were
alone in her room. 1t was the
eleventh of December, and the
afternoon sun shone from a sky
filled with the smiling warmth of
autumn rather than the chill of
winter. A few hundred yards
away, General Murray was holding
a review of the regiments which
were soon to face Lewis in his at
tempt to retake the city. The
sound of martial music came to
them family, and with 1t the dis
tinct but softer tolling of a bell
which marked an hour of prayer,
and to this appeal Toinette bowed
her head and murmured words of
alteration taught her by the white
robed Slsterhood of Christ. Three !
years had changed her. Not time
alone, but motherhood and the
grief Of hopeless waiting had
made her more woman and less
a girl. At last she had believed
Jeems was dead, and now she had
him again, an indescribable beauty
suffused her face and eyes with
its radiance as the mystery of the
years was unveiled.
She told of Hepsibah's capture
1y sthe Mohawks in Forbidden
valley, of his escape, his recap
-ure later by the Senecas, and of
her appeals to Shindas and Tiaoga
and OF her failure to inspire their