ry tired, indeed, when he retired to rest, but this did not
prevent the youthful brain from dreaming, and the youthful lips from
murmuring:

"Beautiful rebel!"

VIII.

THE HERMIT OF MONTMORENCI.

His name was Baptiste, but he went by the more familiar appellation of
Batoche. His residence was a hut near the Falls of Montmorenci, and
there he led the life of a hermit. His only companions were a little
girl called Blanche, and a large black cat which bore the appropriate
title of Velours, for though the brute was ugly and its eyes,

"Had all the seeming
Of a demon's that is dreaming,"

its coat was soft and glossy as silken velvet. The interior of the hut
denoted poverty, but not indigence. There was a larder in one corner; a
small oven wrought into the chimney to the right of the fire-place;
faggots and logs of wood were piled up near the hearth, and diverse
kitchen utensils and other comforts hung brightly on the wall. In the
angle of the solitary room furthest from the door, and always lying in
shadow, was a curtained alcove, and in this a low bedstead over which a
magnificent bear-skin was thrown, with the head of the animal lying on
the pillow, and its eyes, bulging out in red flannel, turned to the
rafters above. Directly behind the door stood a wooden sofa which could
sit two or three persons during the day, but which, at night, served as
the couch of little Blanche. A shallow circular cavity in the large blue
flag of the hearth was the resting place of Velours. On two hooks within
easy reach of his hand, rested a long heavy carbine, well worn, but
still in good order and with which, so long as he could carry it,
Batoche needed never pass a day without a meal, for the game was
abundant almost to his very door. From the beams were suspended an
array of little bags of seeds, paper cornets of dried wild flowers and
bunches of medicinal herbs, the acrid, pungent odor of which pervaded
the whole room and was the first thing which struck a stranger upon
entering the hut.

The habitation of Batoche was fully a mile from any other dwelling.
Indeed, at that period, the country in the immediate vicinity of the
Falls of Montmorenci was very sparsely settled. The nearest village, in
the direction of Quebec, was Beauport, and even there the inhabitants
were comparatively few. The hut of the hermit was also removed from the
high road, standing about midway between it and the St. Lawrence, on the
right s