ary eyes, green, beautiful, and fresh, with the
high Falls of Montmorenci leaping wildly down on the opposite shore. On
to Charlesbourg Royal they sailed; and a horrible dread seized La
Pommeraye as he approached the place. A dead silence reigned on the
steep banks of the broad river. A substantial structure now stood where
Cartier had had his rude fort, and its two towers loomed up before the
eyes of the Frenchmen. Other buildings could be seen here and there, but
no living soul appeared in sight; and in the anchorage, where he had
looked for the ships of the colonists, not even a canoe could be seen.
Could they have grown tired of the life here, and started further up the
stream--to Hochelaga, perhaps? But no time was to be lost. When the
silent shore was within a stone's throw the anchor was run out, and the
vessel rested from her long journey. A boat was lowered, and La
Pommeraye went on shore and explored the castle-like structure that
crowned the heights, the empty halls and chambers, the gaping shelves
and bins in the storehouses, the deep and vacant cellars, the great
ovens, and the two silent watermills, all told him of the hopes which
had filled the heart of De Roberval. Everything had been carefully
removed from the place, and there were evident traces of Indians; but as
there were no marks of a struggle, and no dead to be seen, Charles
concluded that they had merely visited the place to pick up whatever the
whites had chanced to leave behind.

A rude plot of ground, with several new-made graves, told him that King
Death had visited the young colony, and the high gallows in the square
hinted that the stern-willed nobleman had helped the cold and scurvy to
lessen the population.

Charles would not return without making sure that his friends had left
the New World, and so, after a fruitless search for natives, who seemed
to have betaken themselves to better hunting-grounds, he boarded his
ship, weighed anchor, and rested not till he was within the shadow of
Mont Royal. Here he met a chieftain, Agona by name, whom he had formerly
known, and who had taken the place of old Donnacona. From him he learned
of De Roberval's sufferings and failure. He could learn nothing definite
about Claude or Marguerite, but as there had been other noblemen in the
colony, he did not so much wonder at that. But there was no doubt that
they had all departed. His journey had been in vain; and with a heavy
heart he set about retracing