urent dropped anchor before
Quebec. The voyage had come to an end, and a prosperous voyage,
indeed. There had been only one death at sea; they had encountered
neither the Spaniard nor the outlaw; the menace of ice they had slipped
past. What a welcome was roared to them from Fort Louis, from the
cannon and batteries, high up on the cliffs! The echoes rolled across
the river and were lost in the mighty forests beyond. Again and again
came the flash, and the boom. It was wondrous to see the fire and
smoke so far above one's head. Flags fluttered in the sunshine; all
labor was stopped, and the great storehouses were closed for the
remainder of the day. Canoes filled with peaceful Hurons sallied
forth, and the wharves were almost blotted out of sight with crowding
humanity.

Many notable faces could be identified here and there among the
pressing throng on the wharves. Some were there to meet friends or
relatives; some wanted the news from France; some came for mail to be
delivered to the various points along the river. Prominent among them
was Governor Lauson, a grey-haired, kindly civilian, who, though a
shrewd speculator, was by no means the man to be at the head of the
government in Canada. He was pulled this way and that, first by the
Company, then by the priests, then by the seigneurs. Depredations by
the Indians remained unpunished; and the fear of the great white father
grew less and less. Surrounding Monsieur de Lauson was his staff and
councillors, and the veterans Du Puys had left behind while in France.
There were names which in their time were synonyms for courage and
piety. The great Jesuits were absent in the south, in Onondaga, where
they had erected a mission: Father Superior le Mercier, and Fathers
Dablon and Le Moyne.

Immediately on landing, Father Chaumonot made a sign, and his sea-weary
voyagers fell upon their knees and kissed the earth. New France!

"Now," said Victor, shaking himself, "let us burn up the remaining
herrings and salt codfish. I see yonder a gentleman with a haunch of
venison on his shoulder."

"One would think that you had had no duck or deer since we passed
Acadia," laughed Du Puys. "But, patience, lad; Monsieur de Lauson
invites all the gentlemen to the Fort at six to partake of his table.
You have but four hours to wait for a feast such as will make your
Paris eyes bulge."

"Praise be!"

As he breathed in the resinous, balsamic perfume which wafted across