When I waked it must have been near noon, so I lay still for a
time, listening to the cheerful noise of fowls and cattle in the
yard without, and to the clacking of a hen above me. The air smelt
very sweet. I also heard my unknowing host, at whose table I had
once sat, two years before, talking with his son, who had just
come over from Quebec, bringing news of my escape, together with a
wonderful story of the fight between Gabord and myself. It had, by
his calendar, lasted some three hours, and both of us, in the end,
fought as we lay upon the ground. "But presently along comes a
cloaked figure, with horses, and he lifts m'sieu' the Englishman
upon one, and away they ride like the devil towards St. Charles
River and Beauport. Gabord was taken to the hospital, and he swore
that Englishman would not have got away if stranger had not fetched
him a crack with a pistol-butt which sent him dumb and dizzy. And
there M'sieu' Lancy sleep snug through all until the horses ride
away!"
The farmer and his son laughed heartily, with many a "By Gar!"
their sole English oath. Then came the news that six thousand
livres were offered for me, dead or living, the drums beating
far and near to tell the people so.
Pages:
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81