he.

"Yes, your Excellency, Le Gardeur is to be pitied, as well as blamed. He
has been tried and tempted beyond human strength."

La Corne St. Luc had risen, and was pacing the floor with impatient
strides. "Pierre Philibert!" exclaimed he, "where is the poor lad? He
must be sought for and saved yet. What demons have assailed him now?
Was it the serpent of strong drink, that bites men mad, or the legion
of fiends that rattle the dice-box in their ears? Or was it the last
temptation, which never fails when all else has been tried in vain--a
woman?"

"It was all three combined. The Chevalier de Pean visited Tilly
on business of the Intendant--in reality, I suspect, to open a
communication with Le Gardeur, for he brought him a message from a lady
you wot of, which drove him wild with excitement. A hundred men could
not have restrained Le Gardeur after that. He became infatuated with
De Pean, and drank and gambled all night and all day with him at the
village inn, threatening annihilation to all who interfered with him.
Today he suddenly left Tilly, and has come with De Pean to the city."

"De Pean!" exclaimed La Corne, "the spotted snake! A fit tool for the
Intendant's lies and villainy! I am convinced he went not on his own
errand to Tilly. Bigot is at the bottom of this foul conspiracy to ruin
the noblest lad in the Colony."

"It may be," replied Philibert, "but the Intendant alone would have had
no power to lure him back. It was the message of that artful siren
which has drawn Le Gardeur de Repentigny again into the whirlpool of
destruction."

"Aye, but Bigot set her on him, like a retriever, to bring back the
game!" replied La Corne, fully convinced of the truth of his opinion.

"It may be," answered Philibert; "but my impression is that she has
influenced the Intendant, rather than he her, in this matter."

The Bishop listened with warm interest to the account of Philibert. He
looked a gentle reproof, but did not utter it, at La Corne St. Luc
and Philibert, for their outspoken denunciation of the Intendant. He
knew--none knew better--how deserved it was; but his ecclesiastical
rank placed him at the apex of all parties in the Colony, and taught him
prudence in expressing or hearing opinions of the King's representatives
in the Colony.

"But what have you done, Pierre Philibert," asked the Bishop, "since
your arrival? Have you seen Le Gardeur?"

"No, my Lord; I followed him and the Chevalier to the city. T