d for France,
and we all responded to his fervent voice, and said amen! from the
depths of our hearts. A painful silence prevailed in the little church
until mass was over; it seemed as if every one of us was attending the
funeral of a member of his family. As we left the church, the people
grouped themselves on all sides to discuss the sad news. There was no
dancing on the greensward in front of the little church that day,
petiots, and we retired mournfully and quietly to our homes.

"This intelligence troubled us, and we tried, in vain, to shake off
the gloom that darkened our souls. When we conversed together, the
words died on our lips, and our smiles had the sadness of a sob.

"Ah! Petiots, war, with its train of evils and of woes, is always
a terrible scourge, and it was but natural that we should ponder
mournfully on its consequences and dread the future. England had
enlisted hundreds of Indians in her armies, and we knew that the
bloodthirsty savages spared no one, and inflicted the most exquisite
tortures on their prisoners; they dreamed of nothing but incendiarism
and massacre, and these were the troops that were to be let loose upon
us. The mere thought of facing such fiends, was enough to dismay the
stoutest heart and to disturb the peace and quiet of a community like
ours. We knew not what to resolve, but, come what may, we were
determined to die, rather than become traitors to our King and to our
God.

"Then we argued ourselves into a different mood by thinking that this
news might, after all, be exaggerated, and that our apprehensions were
unfounded. Why should England wage war upon us? Acadia, so poor, so
desolate, so sparsely peopled, was surely not worth the shedding of a
single drop of blood for its conquest. The storm would pass by without
even ruffling our peace and tranquillity. We argued thus to rid
ourselves of the gloomy forebodings that troubled us, but despite our
endeavors, our fears haunted us and made us despondent and miserable.

"The news that reached us, now and then, were far from being
encouraging. France, whelmed in defeat, seemed to have abandoned us,
the English were gaining ground, and our Canadian brothers were
calling for assistance. Several of our young men resolved to join them
to fight the battles of France and to die for their country, if God so
willed it.

"Ah! Petiots, that was a sad day in the colony, and we all shed bitter
tears. The brave young men that were sacrif