The Coolidge examiner., 1931-04-17
CHAPTER III

time HeDSlnan had come with SET
and determined purpose to his sis
ter's home. The traders cOuntenance
had grown stern. and GATHERINGS
cheeks were like those of a pale
nun in the candlelight In Henri
Bulain's face were still the cheer
and good humOr and unrufiled
equanimity of confidence and
faith that Hepsibah, with the dark
est pictures he had painted, had
been unable TO disturb.
They were talking about war. AS
early as this spring of 1749. the
American wilderness had begun to
stir with whispers Of the impending
cOnflagration which was destined
soon to turn the eastern part of the
continent into a SETTLING pot of
fury and death.
While George the Second of Eng
iand and Louis the Fifteenth of
France were playing at friendship
after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle,
France CaSping for breath with the
flower of her armies buried on Eu-
rOpean battIefiPlds. and England
with her fighting forces reduced on
land 10 eighteen thousand men and
10 less than seventeen thousand on
the sea. the vast colonies Of the
two countries. working out their
own salvatiOns. were steadily and
surely and with deadly intent en-
croaching upon each other.
The stage was set for the writ
ing of the blOodiest and most pic
turesQue pages in American his
tory. Southward from the Richie
lieu were the hitterest Of all the
white mems enemies. the warriors
of the Six Nations. and northward.
sweeping east and west through the
CanadaS. were the forty scattered
tribes who bore allegiance TO New
France. Eehind these savage vas
sails. on one side. were eleven hun
dred thousand English cOlnniSts
holding the sea-cOaSt lands from
Maine To Georgia. and on the other
less than eighty thousand souls.
counting women and children as
we'll as men. To defend and hold the
illimitahle domains Of New France,
which reached from the upper Can
adas To the Gulf of Mexico and
from the Alleghanies to the Rocky
mountains.
OF this alarming disparity in
power of fighting men. and Of the
pitileSs scourge which he swore
would some day sweep through all
the country of Lake Champlain and
the Richelieu, Hepsibah Adams had
spoken at length but with small
effect on Henri Bulain.
"I.et war come if it must" said
Henri. The heart of New France
is set behind an impenetrahle wall
of rock and forest. and with these
ramparts in our favor. eighty thou
sand will he q match for the mil
lion English if they come this way.
As for me. should fighting chance
10 come-why. I shall be a friend
TO both sides and strike at neither.
For no matter what cause should
bring about the strife, could not
strike at the people of my Cath
crimes blood. nor would she have
me turn against my own. So why
move from here? Ii is neutral
ground. and we, being neutral. are
fitly placed here. OneidaS and Mo-
hawks have eaten under our roof
as well as HuronS and Algonquins.
and when deadly enemies such as
these meet lis on common ground,
what cause have we for fear?"
A light of pride glOwed in Cath
crimes eyes as she listened TO her
husbands words. and she added:
Henri loves the Indians, and |
have grown to love them. too. They
are all our friends"
'Friends :" shifted Hepsibah.
Henri. it is because of Catherine
and Jeems that call you fool.
Take them where this danger does
1ot hang day and night along the
edges of the frontiers. Take them
to the st. Lawrence. if you will, or
bring them south into GATHERINGS
country. But Go one or t'Other, for
Gods sake. or the day will come
when Christ himself cannot save
you" and his voice shook with
earnest2eSS.
There will be no war;" insisted
Henri Stubbornly. England and
France have bled themselves white
on Continental battlefields. and the
peace which was signed only last
October will surely not be broken
again while you and | are living.
for Hanover and Austria have had
their fill as we'll as the others. and
are like two dead men on their
backs"
THAT is right" nodded Cath
crime. with a shudder. Il think all
lighting is over for many years"
"FOOlS-innocentsr :" her brother
growled- Il tell you neither George
nor Louis will have anything to do
with the running of this war until
every mile of woods between our
colonies and your city of Quebec
is red with tire and blood. God
love me, ii has already begun
French and English traders are
fighting wherever they come to-
Sether along the frontiers. and the
hired Indians of one are taking
scalps for t'Other. Even white men
have Joined in that pretty game,
for Massachusetts has sent out
I.ovewell and his fifty men to hunt