cursed be either man or woman who will cast a stone at her!"

"La Corne," replied the Governor, "the spirit of chivalry will not
wholly pass away while you remain to teach by your example the duty of
brave men to fair women. Stay and dine with me, and we will consider
this matter thoroughly! Nay, I will not have an excuse to-day. My
old friend, Peter Kalm, will dine with us too; he is a philosopher as
perfectly as you are a soldier! So stay, and we will have something
better than tobacco-smoke to our wine to-day!"

"The tobacco-smoke is not bad either, your Excellency!" replied La
Corne, who was an inveterate smoker. "I like your Swedish friend. He
cracks nuts of wisdom with such a grave air that I feel like a boy
sitting at his feet, glad to pick up a kernel now and then. My practical
philosophy is sometimes at fault, to be sure, in trying to fit his
theories but I feel that I ought to believe many things which I do not
understand."

The Count took his arm familiarly, and, followed by the other gentlemen,
proceeded to the dining-hall, where his table was spread in a style
which, if less luxurious than the Intendant's, left nothing to be
desired by guests who were content with plenty of good cheer, admirable
cooking, adroit service, and perfect hospitality.

CHAPTER XXXVII. ARRIVAL OF PIERRE PHILIBERT.

Dinner at the table of the Count de la Galissoniere was not a dull
affair of mere eating and drinking. The conversation and sprightliness
of the host fed the minds of his guests as generously as his bread
strengthened their hearts, or his wine, in the Psalmist's words, made
their faces to shine. Men were they, every one of them possessed of
a sound mind in a sound body; and both were well feasted at this
hospitable table.

The dishes were despatched in a leisurely and orderly manner, as became
men who knew the value of both soul and body, and sacrificed neither to
the other. When the cloth was drawn, and the wine-flasks glittered ruby
and golden upon the polished board, the old butler came in, bearing upon
a tray a large silver box of tobacco, with pipes and stoppers and a
wax candle burning, ready to light them, as then the fashion was in
companies composed exclusively of gentlemen. He placed the materials for
smoking upon the table as reverently as a priest places his biretta upon
the altar,--for the old butler did himself dearly love the Indian weed,
and delighted to smell the perfume of it as it rose in