Acadians -- History -- Juvenile fiction; Nova Scotia -- Description and travel -- Juvenile fiction; Vacations -- Juvenile fiction
"Yes, this very morning. You see I had time to spare after you sent me
into exile, and Taps and I were to have our dinner at a private
boarding-house, where I thought we ought to stay, since you didn't care
to have us at the hotel. Well, to make a long story short, I found a set
of Parkman there, and it seemed wise to refresh my memory before going
down to Port La Tour."
"Do tell us what you learned." Amy spoke eagerly. "I'll admit that I've
quite forgotten the first Fort La Tour."
"I haven't much time now," said Fritz, "but I'll do what I can to make
my knowledge yours,--only you mustn't expect me to be perfectly
accurate. This, however, is the way I figure it out. After that old
rascal, Argall, attacked Port Royal, in 1613, Biencourt, or
Poutrincourt, as he was known after his father's death, wandered for
years in the woods with a few followers, sleeping in the open air, and
living on roots and nuts like an Indian. In some way or other he managed
to get men enough, and material enough, to build a small fort in the
Cape Sable region, that he called Fort Loméron,--a rocky and foggy
neighborhood. But there was fine fishing and hunting, and he felt that
the Fort was a warning to any enemies who might try to take away the
rest of what his father had left him. Well, among his followers was
young Charles de Saint Étienne de La Tour, who also had come out to
Acadia as a boy. When Biencourt died La Tour claimed that Acadia had
been left to him by his friend. He tried to get Louis XIII. to help him
against the English, and against Sir William Alexander in particular, to
whom James I. had granted Acadia. Now young Charles La Tour began to
have a hard time because his father Claude had married a Maid of Honor
to Queen Henrietta Maria, and had promised Charles I. that he would
drive out the French and establish the English in Nova Scotia. But when
Claude appeared with his two ships before his son's Fort, he could not
persuade him to turn color and become a Baronet of Nova Scotia. The
father made great promises in the name of King Charles if the son would
surrender, but the son withstood the father, and the latter lost English
support because he had not been able to keep his promise; and so he was
nothing but a refugee the rest of his life."
"Served him right for deserting his country," murmured Priscilla.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account