This being the Company's vessel, hundreds of Canadians flocked
to the wharves. And again flags decked the chateau and town, and
cannon roared. The Henri IV was part merchantman and part man-of-war.
Her ports bristled with cannon, her marines wore formidable cutlasses,
and the law on board was military in the strictest sense. Stores and
ammunition filled her hull; carpenters' tools, tea-chests, bags of
plaster, uniforms, cannon, small arms, beads and trinkets of no value
save to the Indian, silk and wool and a beautiful window for the
cathedral. And in return she was to carry away mink, otter and beaver
skins.
Breton had been left behind by the Chevalier, who had joined a scouting
party up the river. Love and anxiety had made the lad thin. Any night
might bring disastrous news from Three Rivers, the burning of the
settlement and the massacre. Such speculation counteracted his usually
good appetite. So Breton mooned about the wharves day by day, always
looking up the river instead of down.
To-day he lingered to witness the debarkation. Besides, the Henri IV
was a great ship, bringing with her a vague perfume from France.
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