Acadians -- History -- Juvenile fiction; Nova Scotia -- Description and travel -- Juvenile fiction; Vacations -- Juvenile fiction
Seen at close range, it looked like a toy church, built plainly of wood,
absolutely simple and bare on the outside. Martine raised herself on a
ledge of wood so that she could look in through the windows. There was
something almost pathetic in the tawdry attempts at decoration--the
little altar draped with old lace curtains and gold lace and some faded
flowers. On top there was a silver cross within a white canopy, and a
small altar with a canopy in the corner. Walking around the graveyard,
Martine noticed that there were French names on almost all the stones.
Suddenly she was disturbed by the barking of a dog, and, following the
direction of the sound, she saw a house on a hill high above the chapel.
The dog was running up and down in front of the house, and barking
loudly, as if he detected the presence of a stranger near the church.
Martine remembered that the Indian woman in the cabin below had spoken
of the chief's house near the church, but this did not reassure her.
Perhaps the chief, himself, would object to the presence of a young
American girl, and she began to wonder how she should make her peace
with him if he should interfere; she was less afraid of the possible
chief, however, than of the very real dog, whose barking still
continued. To leave the enclosure by the way she had come would bring
her out in full view of the creature. To avoid this, therefore, with
some difficulty she climbed a fence at the other side, believing that
she was going straight in the direction of the bicycle. But alas for her
miscalculations! She was in a tangled thicket of shrubbery; she tore her
dress and scratched her ankles, and she could not get back to the
bicycle nor even find the cabin from which she had been directed to the
chapel.
When at last she reached the broad road, she sat down disconsolately by
the side of a fence.
"Why was I so foolish as to borrow Amy's bicycle?" Had it been her own
wheel, so reckless was Martine's disposition, she would have left it
behind without a qualm. Yet though it was quite possible for her to buy
a new one for Amy, it did not seem quite right to return to the hotel
without it. While she was pondering, without seeing any way out of the
difficulty, she heard a shrill voice crying,--
"Hi, lady, hi!"
Turning about, she saw the tall, thin Indian woman in the purple gown
walking down the hill and guiding the bicycle beside her.
"Why, how did you know I was here?" asked Martine, after she had thanked
her profusely.
"Oh, I could see the way you start from the chapel, and I thought you
not find your wheel, so I thought I bring him."
Martine, thanking the woman warmly, gave her all the silver that she
happened to have in her purse,--not a very large sum from her point of
view, but magnificent from that of the Indian.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account