ly retain them by becoming British subjects. But they had not
complied with those terms. The English contend that the Acadians did
everything in their power to assist the French and embarrass the
English. Many of them joined with the Indians in the attacks on the
garrison at Annapolis, and on other English fortified posts. They
supplied England's enemies with cattle and grain at Louisbourg,
Beausejour, and elsewhere. They acted the part of spies on the
English, and maintained a constant correspondence with the French.
They were on friendly terms with the Indians, who were such a menace to
the English that an English settler could scarcely venture beyond his
barn, or a soldier beyond musket shot of his fort for fear of being
killed or scalped. That is the English version of the affair which I
heard in Halifax. The Acadians deny it, and say it is all false."

"We heard," one of the settlers said, "that the Acadians were expelled
because the greedy English colonists looked upon their fair farms with
covetous eyes, and that the government was influenced by these persons."

"I have heard that, too," Davidson replied, "and I have made enquiries
about that matter. But I do not believe it is true, because those
abandoned farms were not settled by the English until years after the
Acadians were expelled, and the lands at Annapolis were not occupied
until nine or ten years after the French had left them. Why did not
the English colonists settle upon those abandoned farms at once, if
they were so anxious to have them? They did nothing of the kind, so I
do not think that had anything to do with the expulsion."

"What was the real cause, then?" Henry Watson asked.

"It was the seriousness of the whole situation. England was just
entering upon a great war with France. It was a death-struggle, so
there was no room for half-way measures. Feeling ran high, and the
English may have become panicky. There was a bitter hatred, too, which
may have had something to do with it. The English believed that with
so many concealed enemies in the country, and such a large number of
open enemies on the borders, their position was far from secure. They
thought that the Acadians were beginning to show their real feelings,
especially so whenever a rumour reached them that a French fleet was in
the Bay of Fundy. Anyway, they at last became so much worked up that
they ordered the Acadians to give up the arms they had in their
possessio