n flying, where could he go? Annapolis Royal was many miles
away; He did not know the way there; he could not ask; and even if he
did know the way, he could only go there by running the gantlet of a
population who were in league with Cazeneau.

That evening, as old Comeau brought him some food, he tried to enter
into conversation with him. He began in a gradual way, and as his
host, or, rather, his jailer, listened, he went on to tell his whole
story, insisting particularly on the idea that Cazeneau must be
mistaken; for he thought it best not to charge him with deliberate
malice. He hinted, also, that if he could escape he might bestow a
handsome reward upon the man who might help him. To all this Comeau
listened, and even gave utterance to many expressions of sympathy;
but the end of it all was nothing. Either Comeau disbelieved him
utterly, but was too polite to say so, or else he was afraid to
permit the escape of the prisoner who had been intrusted to his care.
Claude then tried another means of influencing him. He reminded him
that the governor of Louisbourg had no jurisdiction here; that the
Acadians of Grand Pre were subject to the King of England, and that
all concerned in this business would be severely punished by the
English as soon as they heard of it. But here Claude utterly missed
his mark. No sooner had he said this, than old Comeau began to
denounce the English with the utmost scorn and contempt. He told
Claude that there were many thousands of French in Acadia, and only a
hundred English; that they were weak and powerless; that their fort
at Annapolis was in a ruinous state; and that, before another year,
they would be driven out forever. He asserted that the King of France
was the greatest of all kings; that France was the most powerful of
all countries; that Louisbourg was the strongest fortress in the
universe; and that the French would drive the English, not only out
of Acadia, but out of America. In fact, Claude's allusion to the
English proved to be a most unfortunate one; for, whereas at first
the old man seemed to feel some sort of sympathy with his
misfortunes, so, at the last, excited by this allusion, he seemed to
look upon him as a traitor to the cause of France, and as a criminal
who was guilty of all that Cazeneau had laid to his charge.

CHAPTER X.

ALONE IN THE WORLD.

The condition of the old Count de Laborde grew steadily worse. The
change to the land had done him no good