Show the am U plains U s IU of A abraao is Us h a james oliver irwy ages MJ X bd 14 DM mcw 1 41 t SE THE STORY with his english wife catherine and son jeems henry bu lain frencl french settler in canada in 1749 cultivates cultivates a farm adjacent to the ton t eur digneur I 1 9 As aa the story opens open th the s bullins are returning from a visit to the ton beur a cott catherines er nos wandering wander lne broth brother r meets them with presents presents tor for the family to jeems he gives elves a pistol bidding him perfect himself in marksmanship tears fears tor for the safety of the bullins in their isolated position jeems fights with paul tache cousin of tol nette Tont eur whom they both adore CHAPTER III Con continued tinned 8 jeems was aware of tier her presence and physically sensible of her corn cont bati veness but in the complexity of action which surged over and about him ile he could afford no discrimination in tile manner of using its ills arms legs teeth and head and at last flading finding herself disentangled tobnette Tol nette scrambled to her feet considerably bruised and in such itch disorder that no one won would d have ave recognized her as aa the splendid little lady of the seigne urle who had come so BO proudly to cussans Lus sans place a short time before ner iler handsome hat was a crumpled wreck in the mud ifer her dress dres was twisted and bedraggled her fler hands and face were discolored with soil and tier her hair was so tangled about lier her that she was almost smothered in it despite this physical condition her mental self was more than ever inflamed with the desire to fight and seizing upon the hard and ke stalk of a last years sunflower which lay in the dirt she succeeded in bringing it aown down with such force that missing jeems it caught paul on the side of the head and laid him sprawling flat on ills his face this terminated the conflict for tobnette Tol nette who gave a cry of apprehension when she saw what she had done paul had bad recovered from blow before jeems could take advantage of it and what happened during the final round of contention remained largely a matter of speculation in jeems mind ile he was sitting up after a little and there was no one to strike at al paul an antl d hodnette Tol Tod nette were out of his reach yet he heard their voices oddly indistinct moving in the direction of cussans Lus sans house lie tried to call out thinking that tache was escaping like a something in his throat choked him until it was impossible for him boget breath enough to make a sound lie made an effort to rise that lie he might pursue ills his beaten enemy the earth about him swam dizzily ite was gasping sick at ills his stomach and blood was dripping from his nose A horrifying thought leapt upon him and so sudden was the shock of it that lie he sat staring straight ahead barely conscious of two fl figures ures emerging from the concealment of a thick growth of brushwood twenty paces away the thou thought ht became conviction he had biad not whipped paul tache I 1 I 1 paul had whipped him and ills his ene mys accomplishment had bad been so thorough that lie could still feel the of the lie world about him as he drew draw himself to ills his feet ills eyes and head fiend cleared as the realization of defeat swept over film then lie he recognized the two who had appeared in the edge of the open one was his uncle the other father both were grinning broadly at the spectacle which he ma made do arid and as they drew nearer lie he heard Ton Tont teura eurs voice in what was meant to be a confidential whisper Is it really your petit neveu friend adams or one of cussans Lus sans pigs come out of its wallow hold me or what I 1 have seen will make me split I 1 but jeems heard beard no response cronl from tor for the traders face ace suddenly lost its humor and in place of it come came a look which had no glint of smile or laughter in it CHAPTER IV next sunday morning jeems set out for manor with the thought deeply In trenched in his mind that lie he would not light paul tache that lay day no matter what temptation might be placed in its his path lie he had told ills his mother where lie he was going and what he was planning to do and with her encouragement to spur him film on he felt eager and hopeful as lie he mode made ills way toward the sel ne urfe this feeling feell ng was unlike the one with which lie he ha had 1 I set out to fight paul tache and what lie he had to do loomed even more important than tiny physical which lie ho nl might ait bring upon open ills his rival TF soften heart now so bitterly against him to bring bauc bai the friendliness of 0 ner biale and to see tier her eyes alight with the swe sweetness eEness w which she hod had on the point of yielding to linn him tit at lus anns an were foremost in its his mind tl was anxious to see tobnette Tol nette and to offer tier her all that ills small world held it if thereby lie could make amends tor for the ruin and humiliation he be had brought upon lier her A spirit ot of chivalry in him older than his years rose above the lowly lovly consideration of rights and wrongs lie ile was sure lie was wag right yet lie he wanted to say lie he was wrong though he did not know it years had passed since two days ago and he was a new jeems going to a new tobnette Tol nette ills fear of her had vanished lie ile was no longer borne down by a feeling of littleness and unimportance and tor for the first time he was visiting manor without the thought of inferiority sending its misgivings through his soul in some mysterious way ft ay which lie he did not understand der stand but which lie he strongly felt lie he had bad passed away from yesterday forever soon ills his feet were in the path which led to the manor it was so still he could have hae believed bellev bd that every one one was asleep ns as lie he courageous courageously ry mounted the wide steps to the door of home on this door was degreat a great black knocker of battered iron the face of the knocker was a grinning ogre a head which from his ear earliest blest memory of it had fixed itself 1 I ask you to forgive me upon him bin as a symbol of the grim and unapproachable spirit that guarded the rooms within ills hand reached out to awaken the dull thunder of its voice ills fingers touched the cold irm imn lie ile hesitated in the moment he was lifting it for he observed that the door was wag open by a space of a aft afta ft w inches through this aperture a voice came to him clearly it was a high biting angry voice and lie recognized it as Tont eur ile he raised the weight from its elal panel and would have hae knocked alan hen lie he heard a name which made him pause in rigid silence it was his own ile he heard mother say illen rl bblain was a fool for marrying this good for nothing english woman and edmond is a greater great r fool for not driving tier lier from the country when it her er breed Is murdering and killing almost at our doors the woman was made for a spy despite the pretty face willell which has softened Ell edmonds monds silly heart and that boy of hers bers Is no less english than slie she the two should not be allowed to live so near to us yet maintains they are ills friends the place they have built should be burned and the english woman and her boy sent where they belong let fiend bblain go with them it ho he chooses to ba b a renegade instead of a frenchman I 1 fie upon you for such thoughts enriette lette chided the milder vol voice e e of madame tache 1 I despise the en english g as much as you iou or tobnette Tol nette but it li unfair to voice such invective against these aliese two even though the woman Is proud of bet pretty face and her boy Is a mudslinging mud slinging little wretch edmond Is a big man and sina ply befriends them out of pity I 1 AW ate you angry because of that Henr lettel 1 I am angry because site ehe Is english and nd her boy Is english and yet they a are re allowed to live among us as a if hey were french I 1 tell you they will be traitors when the time for or treachery comes I 1 I 1 jeems had stood with his fingers clenched at the unyielding iron of the knocker now he heard another voice and knew it ads was 1 I think jeems mother Is nice she malj but jeems Is a detestable little english beast I 1 and some day that beast will hel help to cut our throats add added edher her mother unpleasantly the great iron krocker knocker fell ell with a crash and almost before the sound of it reached a servants ears cars the door swung open and jeems stalked in the women were speechless as he stood in the wide opening to the room in n which they were seated ne ile scarcer scarcely seemed to realize they were there and looked only at tobnette Tol nette he remained for a moment without movement or speech ills his slim figure tense ond and gripped then lie he bowed his head in a courtesy which catherine had carefully taught him when he spoke ills his words were ns as calm as those of cadaine tache had been 1 I have come to tell you I 1 am sorry because of what happened at lus lug sans place tobnette Tol nette he said and he bent his head a little lower toward her 1 I ask you to forgive me even enriette II could not have thought of him as a beast after that for pride and fearlessness were in ills his boarin bearing in spite of the whiteness of ills hla face face As the occupants of the room stared at him unable to find their voices he drew back quietly and was gone as suddenly as lie he had appeared the big door closed behind him film and turning illig to a window near tier her tobnette Tol nette saw him go down the steps an exclamation of indignation and amazement came at last from her mother but tills this she did not hear her eyes were following jeems lie he went across the open and into the holds field sr As he drew n near ar the toot foot of it hill odd came cautiously forth to meet him but not until they reached their old resting place at the crest of the ascent did he pause or seem to notice the dog then he looked back upon the seigne urle A bit of iron had sunk suck into his soul ills eyes were seeing with a new and darker vision from the rich valley which had been the fount of all hla his dreams they turned to the faint gleam of distant water in the south where lay lake champlain Champl aln and beyond which not far away were the mo hawks and the english and the land of his mothers people it was the blood of that land running red and strong in his veins which tobnette Tol nette and her mother hated bated ile he dropped a hand upon odds head and the two started over the home ward trait trail the dog watched the forest and ca caught light its scents but lie ha watched and guarded alone for jeems gave small heed to the passing interests of the woods and thickets late spring then the beginning of summer followed arrival at the bulala bblain home and still he gave no betrayal of the restless restlessness nes S which presaged his usual disappearance tor for another long period into the fast nesses of the world this season of 0 the year was always one of torment for the forest dwellers because of the winged posts pests which crawled the earth and filled the air and jeems had come to dread it as an indescribable nightmare of discomfort and suffering from the first of june until tile the middle of august such plagues of mosquitoes bred and multiplied in the swamps and lowlands and woods that beasts were halt half devoured alive and the pioneers literally fought for their own existence smoking their cabins incessantly covering their flesh with hog fat and bear grease and resorting to every known subtlety that they might snatch a little sleep at night within a few days it seemed to jeems a world that had been a paradise of flowers of sweet scents of ripening fruits and delicious air was transformed into a hell of insect life which shutout shut out travel in ell directions and which invested with poisonous torture every spot where it was not partly subjugated by fire and smoke the timber was heavy and dark swamps were rivers and lakes were shadowed by dense idease vegetation and in the humid sweating mold of these places the malevolent pestilence was born and rose dose in clouds that sometimes obscured the face of the moon during these weeks a cordon of decayed stumps and logs smoldered night and day about the bblain cabin screening it in pungent smoke and outside this small haven work on the fard farm was continued at a price of physical martyrdom except under a burning sun when the insects sought refuge from the glare and ana heat beat TO BE CONTINUED |