AVIS.
_Clerk of the District of Masachusetts._

THE

RIVALS OF ACADIA

CHAPTER I.

Far on th' horizon's verge appears a speck--
A spot--a mast--a sail--an armed deck!
Their little bark her men of watch descry,
And ampler canvas woos the wind from high.

LORD BYRON.

On a bright day in the summer of 1643, a light pleasure-boat shot gaily
across the harbor of Boston, laden with a merry party, whose cheerful
voices were long heard, mingling with the ripple of the waves, and the
music of the breeze, which swelled the canvas, and bore them swiftly
onward. A group of friends, who had collected on the shore to witness
their departure, gradually dispersed, till, at length, a single
individual only remained, whose eyes still followed the track of the
vessel, though his countenance wore that abstracted air, which shewed
his thoughts were detached from the passing scene. He seemed quite
unconscious of the silence that succeeded this transient bustle, and a
low murmur, which soon begun to spread along the shore, was equally
disregarded. Suddenly a confused sound of many voices burst upon his
ear, and hurried steps, as of persons in alarm and agitation, at once
aroused him from his reverie. At the same moment, a hand was laid
heavily on his shoulder, and a voice exclaimed, with earnestness,

"Are you insensible, Arthur Stanhope, at a moment, when every man's life
is in jeopardy?"

"My father!" replied the young man, "what is the meaning of all this
excitement and confusion?"

"Do you not know?" demanded the other; "a strange sail is approaching
our peaceful coast; and, see! they have unfurled the standard of popish
France."

"It is true, by heaven!" exclaimed young Stanhope; "and, look, father,
yonder boat is flying before them; this is no time to gaze idly on; we
must hasten to their rescue."

The vessel, which produced so much alarm, was, in fact, a French ship of
considerable force, apparently well manned, and armed for offensive or
defensive operations. The national flag streamed gaily on the wind, and,
as it anchored just against Castle Island, the roll of the drum, and the
shrill notes of the fife, were distinctly heard, and men were seen
busied on deck, as if preparing for some important action. The little
bark, already mentioned, was filled, chiefly, with females and
children, bound, on an excursion of pleasure, to an island in the bay;
and their terror was extreme,