he went off into the wilderness, and has never been heard of
since. He must have perished at once. His steward, Motier, was then
left. This man was a Huguenot and an incorrigible rascal. He found
Canada too hot to hold him with his infidel Huguenot faith, and so he
went among the English. I dare say that this Motier, ever since, has
been concocting a plan by which he might make his fortune out of the
Montresor estates. This Claude Motier is his son, and has, no doubt,
been brought up by old Motier to believe that he is the son of the
count; or else the young villain is his partner. You see his game
now--don't you? He hired a schooner to take him here. He would have
began his work here by getting some of you on his side, and gaining
some influence, or money, perhaps, to begin with. Very well; what
then? Why, then off he goes to France, where he probably intended to
take advantage of the change in the ministry to push his claims, in
the hope of making something out of them. And there is no doubt that,
with his impudence, the young villain might have done something. And
that reminds me to ask you whether you found anything at his
lodgings."

"No, nothing."

"He should be searched. He must have some papers."

"He shall be searched to-night."

"I should have done that before. I left word to have that done before
sending him from Grand Pre; but, as the fellow got off, why, of
course that was no use. And I only hope he hasn't thought of
destroying the papers. But if he has any, he won't want to destroy
them--till the last moment. Perhaps he won't even think of it."

"Do you suppose that this Motier has lived among the English all his
life?"

"I believe so."

"Impossible!"

"Why so?"

"His manner, his accent, and his look are all as French as they can
possibly be."

"How he has done it I am unable to conjecture. This Motier, pere,
must have been a man of superior culture, to have brought up such a
very gentlemanly young fellow as this."

"Well, there is a difficulty about that. My opinion of the New
Englanders is such that I do not think they would allow a man to live
among them who looked so like a Frenchman."

"Bah! his looks are nothing; and they don't know what his French
accent may be."

"Do you think, after all, that his own story is true about living in
New England? May he not be some adventurer, who has drifted away from
France of late years, and has come in contact with Motier? Or, better
yet, may h