Canadian
expedition, while Charles and Claude were both eager, for reasons of
their own, for the return of De Roberval's niece and his ward, whom he
had taken to Fontainebleau with him. The three weeks lengthened into a
fourth, the fourth into a fifth, and the adventurers were beginning to
despair, when the faithful Jean appeared at the inn where Charles and
his friend were lodged, bearing a note from his master.

De Roberval had returned, and success had crowned his efforts. The King
had given him full power to make preparations--but they must come to him
at once to receive instructions, and hear from his own lips the
generosity of their noble monarch.

Eagerly the two young men hurried to tell Cartier the good news; and the
three proceeded to Roberval's house, where they found him in high
spirits. He had received more than he had asked. Anne de Montmorency had
been with the King, and a friendship which had been begun at "The Field
of the Cloth of Gold" had made him an ardent supporter of the little
nobleman from Picardy.

The King was won to the glorious cause of extending French territory,
and of winning souls. He bade Roberval return to St Malo, hurry on his
preparations, collect his crews, and await his official commission,
which would follow him as soon as the necessary legal proceedings could
be gone through. In the meantime a letter signed by the King's own hand
gave him all the power he needed.

"You are about to settle a new world for France," he had said to
Roberval; "our right of colonisation is firmly established there, and
the sword and the cross will make us strong. To keep you bold in arms,
and firm in the faith, I present you with this sword which the saintly
Bayard laid upon my shoulders with the words: 'He who has been crowned,
consecrated, and anointed with oil sent down from Heaven, he who is the
eldest son of the Church, is knight over all other knights'--and with
this golden cross, which encases a fragment of the true cross--these
dints on it are from Spanish blows; thrice did it save my life on the
field of Pavia of unhappy memories--with this talisman you may hope to
succeed in the great land of Norembega."

The three enthusiastic listeners congratulated him on his success, but
without heeding them he went on: "That is not all. Hear the substance of
this letter, signed with his royal hand. A fleet is to be fitted out at
once; the governors of all the provinces are to aid in securing arms;