a good friend of a
_sous-lieutenant_ of the regiment Carignan, sometime dweller at Quebec
and Montreal, and who later became a lieutenant under L'Huillier. It is
said that this same mysterious fair, having returned from America and
having cast aside her lieutenant, has come under protection of no less a
person than his Grace Philippe of Orleans, the regent. Now, as you know,
the bank is the best friend of the regent, and this mysterious dame, as
we are advised by servants of his Grace's household, hath told his Grace
such stories of the wealth of the Messasebe that he has secretly and
quickly made over the control of the trade of those provinces to this
new bank. There is story also that his Grace himself will not lack
profit in this movement!"

The hand of Conti smote hard upon the table. "By heaven! it were strange
thing," said he, "if this foreign traveler should prove the same
mysterious beauty Philippe is reported to have kept in hiding. My faith,
is it indeed true that we are come upon a time of miracles?"

"Listen!" broke in again Varenne, his ardor overcoming his
obsequiousness. "These are some of the tales brought back--and reported
privately, I can assure you, gentlemen, now for the first time and to
yourselves. The people of this country are said to be clad in beauteous
raiment, made of skins, of grasses, and of the barks of trees. Their
ornaments are made of pure, yellow gold, and of precious gems which they
pick up from the banks of the streams, as common as pebbles here in
France. The climate is such that all things grow in the most unrivaled
fruitfulness. There is neither too much sun nor too much rain. The lakes
and rivers are vast and beautiful, and the forests are filled with
myriads of strange and sweet-voiced birds. 'Tis said that the dream of
Ponce de Leon hath been realized, and that not only one, but scores of
fountains of youth have been discovered in this great valley. The people
are said never to grow old. Their personal beauty is of surpassing
nature, and their disposition easy and complaisant to the last degree--"

"My faith, say on!" broke in De la Chaise. "'Tis surely a story of
paradise which you recount."

"But, listen, gentlemen! The story goes yet farther. As to mines of gold
and silver, 'twas matter of report that such mines are common in all the
valley of the Messasebe. Indeed the whole surface of the earth, in some
parts, is covered with lumps of gold, so that the natives care not