Part 15 (1/2)
”Malbrouck, s'en va t-en guerre Mironton, mironton, mirontaine; Malbrouck s'en va t-en guerre Ne sait quand reviendra.”
Then he left Malbrouck, and it was:
”Hier sur le pont d'Avignon J'ai oui chanter la belle Lon, la, J'ai oui chanter la belle Elle chantait d'un ton si doux Comme une demoiselle Lon, la, Comme une demoiselle.”
The Canadians sang well, particularly in ”The Bridge of Avignon,” and the dying fire, the black woods around them and the sighing wind created an effect that no stage scenery could ever have given it. When the last note melted with the wind de Courcelles sighed a little and stared into the sinking fire.
”It is a fair country, sweet France,” he said; ”I myself have stood upon the bridge of Avignon, and I have watched the pretty girls. It may be that I have had a kiss or two, but all that is far away now. This is a bolder country than France, Mr. Lennox, larger, more majestic, but it is wild and savage, and will be so for many years to come. Nor can the rules that apply to old and civilized Europe apply here, where the deeds of men, like the land, are wilder, too.”
Robert was conscious of some meaning in his words, perhaps a trace of apology for a deed that he had done or would do, but in the mind of young Lennox men's standards should be the same, whether in the wilderness of New York and Canada or in the open fields of France and England. De Courcelles, thoughtful for a moment, turned suddenly to the man with the violin and cried:
”Play! Play again!”
The man played quaint old airs, folk songs that had been brought from Normandy and Brittany, and the _habitants_ sang them in low voices or rather hummed them in the subdued manner that seemed fitting to the night, since the black shadows were creeping up closer, leaving only the fire, as a core of light with the dusky figures around it. During all the talk the Indians had been silent. They had eaten their food and remained now, sitting in Turkish fas.h.i.+on, the flickering flames that played across their faces giving to them a look sinister and menacing to the last degree.
The Frenchmen, too, fell silent, as if their courtesy was exhausted and conversation had become an effort. The last of the old French airs was finished, and the player put his violin away. Jumonville, who had spoken but little, threw a fresh stick on the fire and looked at the black wall of circling forest.
”I can never get quite used to it,” he said. ”The wilderness is so immense, so menacing that when I am in it at night a little s.h.i.+ver will come now and then. I suppose our remote ancestors who lived in caves must have had fear at their elbows all their lives.”
”Very likely,” said de Courcelles, thoughtfully, staring into the coals.
”It isn't strange that many people have wors.h.i.+ped fire as G.o.d. Why shouldn't they when it brings light in the dark, and lifts up our souls, when it warms us and makes us feel strong, when it cooks our food and when in the earlier day it drove away the great wild animals, with which man was not able to fight on equal terms?”
”I am not one to undervalue fire,” said Robert.
”Few of us do in the forest. The night grows chill, but two of our good Canadians will keep the coals alive until morning. And now I suppose you are weary with your day's travels and wish sleep. I see that you have blankets of your own or I should offer you some of ours.”
Tayoga had been sitting before the fire, as silent as the Canadian Indians, his rifle across his knees, his eyes turned toward the blaze.
The glow of the flames fell upon him, disclosing his lofty countenance, his splendidly molded figure, and his superiority to the other Indians, who were not of the Hodenosaunee and who to him were, therefore, as much barbarians as all people who were not Greeks were barbarians to the ancient Greeks. Not a word of kins.h.i.+p or friends.h.i.+p had pa.s.sed between him and them. For him, haughty and uncompromising, they did not exist.
For a long time his deep unfathomable eyes had never turned from the fire, but now he rose suddenly and said:
”Someone comes in the forest!”
De Courcelles looked up in surprise.
”I hear nothing,” he said.
”Someone comes in the forest!” repeated Tayoga with emphasis.
De Courcelles glanced at his own Indians. They had not yet moved, but in a moment or two they too rose to their feet, and then he knew that the Onondaga was right. Now Robert also heard a moccasined and light footstep approaching. A darker shadow appeared against the darkness, and the figure of an Indian, gigantic and sinister, stepped within the circle of the firelight.
It was Tandakora, the Ojibway.
CHAPTER VII
NEW FRANCE