"
said Colonel Leboeuf. "A gentleman would give a louis d'or any day to
buy a whip to lash the rabble sooner than a sou to win their applause! I
would not give a red herring for the good opinion of all Quebec!"

"They say in France, Colonel," replied La Corne de St. Luc, scornfully,
"that 'King's chaff is better than other people's corn, and that fish in
the market is cheaper than fish in the sea!' I believe it, and can prove
it to any gentleman who maintains the contrary!"

There was a laugh at La Corne's allusion to the Marquise de Pompadour,
whose original name of Jeanne Poisson, gave rise to infinite jests and
sarcasms among the people of low and high degree.

Colonel Leboeuf, choleric as he was, refrained from pressing the quarrel
with La Corne St. Luc. He sat sulkily smothering his wrath--longing to
leave the hall and go to the relief of the Intendant, but kept against
his will by the command of the Governor.

The drums of the main guard beat the assembly. The clash of arms and
the tramp of many feet resounded from the court-yard of the Chateau. The
members of the Council looked out of the windows as the troops formed in
column, and headed by Colonel St. Remy, defiled out of the Castle gate,
the thunder of their drums drowning every other sound and making the
windows shake as they marched through the narrow streets to the scene of
disturbance.

CHAPTER XIII. THE CHIEN D'OR.

On the Rue Buade, a street commemorative of the gallant Fontenac, stood
the large, imposing edifice newly built by the Bourgeois Philibert, as
the people of the Colony fondly called Nicholas Jaquin Philibert, the
great and wealthy merchant of Quebec and their champion against the
odious monopolies of the Grand Company favored by the Intendant.

The edifice was of stone, spacious and lofty, but in style solid, plain,
and severe. It was a wonder of architecture in New France and the talk
and admiration of the Colony from Tadousac to Ville Marie. It comprised
the city residence of the Bourgeois, as well as suites of offices and
ware-rooms connected with his immense business.

The house was bare of architectural adornments; but on its facade,
blazing in the sun, was the gilded sculpture that so much piqued the
curiosity of both citizens and strangers and was the talk of every
seigniory in the land. The tablet of the Chien D'or,--the Golden
Dog,--with its enigmatical inscription, looked down defiantly upon
the busy street beneath, wh