" said De Frontenac, with an angry flush upon
his swarthy cheek; "but as long as your Majesty did me the honour to
intrust those affairs no my own guidance, I would brook no interference
in the performance of my duties, whether the meddler were clad in coat
or cassock."

"Enough, sir, enough!" said Louis sharply. "I had asked you about the
missions."

"They prosper, sire. There are Iroquois at the Sault and the mountain,
Hurons at Lorette, and Algonquins along the whole river _cotes_ from
Tadousac in the East to Sault la Marie, and even the great plains of the
Dakotas, who have all taken the cross as their token. Marquette has
passed down the river of the West to preach among the Illinois, and
Jesuits have carried the Gospel to the warriors of the Long House in
their wigwams at Onondaga."

"I may add, your Majesty," said Pere la Chaise, "that in leaving the
truth there, they have too often left their lives with it."

"Yes, sire, it is very true," cried De Frontenac cordially. "Your
Majesty has many brave men within your domains, but none braver than
these. They have come back up the Richelieu River from the Iroquois
villages with their nails gone, their fingers torn out, a cinder where
their eye should be, and the scars of the pine splinters as thick upon
their bodies as the _fleurs-de-lis_ on yonder curtain. Yet, with a
month of nursing from the good Ursulines, they have used their remaining
eye to guide them back to the Indian country once more, where even the
dogs have been frightened at their haggled faces and twisted limbs."

"And you have suffered this?" cried Louis hotly. "You allow these
infamous assassins to live?"

"I have asked for troops, sire."

"And I have sent some."

"One regiment."

"The Carignan-Saliere. I have no better in my service.

"But more is needed, sire."

"There are the Canadians themselves. Have you not a militia? Could you
not raise force enough to punish these rascally murderers of God's
priests? I had always understood that you were a soldier."

De Frontenac's eyes flashed, and a quick answer seemed for an instant to
tremble upon his lips, but with an effort the fiery old man restrained
himself. "Your Majesty will learn best whether I am a soldier or not,"
said he, "by asking those who have seen me at Seneffe, Mulhausen,
Salzbach, and half a score of other places where I had the honour of
upholding your Majesty's cause."

"Your services have not been forgotten.