nion until a thorough search of the records in France shall have
been made in order if possible to settle the question.

Upon his arrival at St. John, la Tour speedily surrounded himself with
soldiers and retainers and established an extensive traffic with the
Indians, who came from their hunting grounds when the ships arrived
laden with goods for the Indian trade. Doctor Hannay gives a graphic
picture of la Tour's situation:--

"A rude abundance reigned at the board where gathered the defenders of
Fort la Tour. The wilderness was then a rich preserve of game, where
the moose, caribou and red deer roamed in savage freedom. Wild fowl of
all kinds abounded along the marsh, and interval lands of the St.
John, and the river itself--undisturbed by steamboats and unpolluted
by saw mills--swarmed with fish. And so those soldier-traders lived on
the spoils of forest, ocean and river, a life of careless freedom,
undisturbed by the politics of the world and little crossed by its
cares. Within the fort, Lady la Tour led a lonely life, with no
companions but her domestics and her children, for her lord was often
away ranging the woods, cruising on the coast, or perhaps on a voyage
to France. She was a devout Huguenot, but the difference of religion
between husband and wife seems never to have marred the harmony of
their relations."

In the struggle between the rival feudal chiefs, Charnisay had the
advantage of having more powerful friends at court, chief among them
the famous Cardinal Richelieu.

Representations made concerning the conduct of la Tour led the French
monarch in 1641 to order him to return to France to answer the charges
against him. In the event of his refusal, Charnisay was directed to
seize his person and property. The commission of la Tour was also
revoked.

The contest now entered upon an acute stage. La Tour claimed that the
royal order had been obtained through misrepresentation, and
absolutely refused to submit to Charnisay. The latter, not daring to
attack la Tour in his stronghold, repaired to France where he
succeeded in fitting out five vessels and in obtaining the services of
500 soldiers to compel his rival to submission. He also procured
another and more definite order from the king, directing him to seize
la Tour's fort and person and to send him to France as a rebel and a
traitor.

Meanwhile la Tour was not idle. His friends at Rochelle sent out to
him a large armed vessel, the Clement, loade