u ever heard," asked Julian, "of that great explorer La
Salle, who first made the voyage of the great river Mississippi,
and founded the infant colony of Louisiana, albeit he himself
perished by the hand of an assassin in the wilderness, before he
had half achieved the object to which he was pledged?"

"I have heard the name," said Humphrey; "I used to hear the men of
Philadelphia talk of such things when I was a boy. But he was a
Frenchman."

"Yes, and came with a commission from the King of France hard upon
a century ago. My great-grandfather and his father were of the
company of La Salle, although they bore their part in a different
expedition from that which is known to the world."

"Are you then French?" asked Humphrey, half disappointed, though he
could not tell why.

Julian smiled, reading the thought in his heart.

"French in little beside name," he replied. "My great grandfather,
Gaspard Dautray, was half English through his mother, an
Englishwoman; and he married Mary Neville, an English maiden, from
whose family Fritz there is descended. In brief, let me tell you
the story. Long before La Salle had penetrated the fastnesses of
the west, there had grown up in a green valley a little colony of
English, outcasts from their own land by reason of their faith.
They had lived at peace for long with the Indian tribes; but when
more white men began invading their country, jealousy and fury were
awakened in the hearts of the Indians, and this little settlement
was in great danger. In their extremity this little colony sent to
La Salle, and though he himself was absent, his lieutenant sent
them a band of men to aid them in defending their lives and
property, and in routing the attacking Indian force.

"But it was no longer safe to remain in the green valley which had
sheltered them so long. They heard of the lands of the south, down
the great mysterious river, and they resolved to seek an asylum
there.

"With the company of La Salle, and yet not attached to it, was a
holy man whom all the world called Father Fritz; a priest, yet one
who followed not the Pope of Rome, but loved each Christian
brother, and recognized only one Church--the Church of the
baptized. He went with the little band, and they made themselves a
new home in the land of the south. They were beloved of the Indians
about them. Father Fritz taught them, baptized such as were truly
converted, and lived amongst them to a hoary old age, loving and