lies alike, he fell
back upon bluster (to say nothing of the common talk in Quebec that he
had set out to build up his private fortune by the fur trade).
Learning that, by his grant of Fort Frontenac, La Salle was entitled
to a third of the trade that passed through it, he seized the fort. He
weakened La Salle's communications so greatly that La Salle and Tonty
could not make good their promises of French protection to the
Illinois. This made it possible for the Iroquois, unhindered, to lay
waste the Illinois country. By equally shortsighted methods, La Barre
so weakened the ties that bound the northern allies, and so increased
the arrogance of the Iroquois, that when Governor Denonville took up
the task, most of the allies, always looking to the stronger party,
were on the point of going over to the Iroquois. This would give the
fur trade to the English, and ruin New France. Governor Dongan seized
the moment to promise better bargains for the peltry than the French
could offer. It remained for the new governor to make a demonstration
which would establish firmly the drooping prestige of New France.

Now the spring of 1687 was just ending. Since February it had been
spread abroad, from the gulf seignories to Fort Frontenac, that
preparations were making for a great campaign against the Iroquois.
Champigny, the new Intendant, had scoured the country for supplies,
and now was building bateaux and buying canoes. Regulars and militia
were drilling into the semblance of an army, and palisades and
defences were everywhere built or strengthened, that the home guard
might keep the province secure during the long absence of the troops.
Menard wondered, as he snapped bits of stone off the parapet, and
watched the last boatload of galley slaves embarking at the wharf,
whether the Governor's plans would carry. He would undoubtedly act
with precision, he would follow every detail of campaigning to the
delight of the tacticians, he would make a great splash,--and then?
How about the wily chiefs of the Senecas and Onondagas and Mohawks?
They had hoodwinked La Barre into signing the meanest treaty that ever
disgraced New France. Would Denonville, too, blind himself to the
truth that shrewd minds may work behind painted faces?

But above all else, Menard was a soldier. He snapped another bit of
stone, and gave up the problem. He would fight at the Governor's
orders, retreat at the Governor's command,--to the Governor would
belong the