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VIII. Ville Marie 81 IX. An Occasion of Rejoicing 92 X. The Council 101 XI. The Annual Fair 110 XII. A Canadian Bushranger 118 XIII. Pierre’s Temptation 127 XIV. An Awakening 137 XV. Nanon’s Lovers 142 XVI. A Vice-Regal Banquet 157 XVII. The Matshi Skouéou 164 XVIII. Saintly Protection 174 XIX. A Woman’s Loyalty 179 XX. Preparing for the Expedition 192 XXI. Baptiste Finds His Wits 202 XXII. The Departure 207 XXIII. Suspense 211 XXIV. A Pilgrimage to Mount Royal 217 XXV. Tidings at Last 227 XXVI. Du Chesne’s Return 237 XXVII. A Completed Sacrifice 246

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DIANE OF VILLE MARIE.

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THE SEIGNIORY OF SENNEVILLE.

A LANGUID summer day was that of the 3rd of August, 1690. A light mist lay like a veil upon the St. Lawrence, spreading out in grand and generous swell, the Lake of Two Mountains glimmering in the distance like a silver shield. The eye lingered on noble heights, sunny slopes and deep forest glooms. Near the shore grasses leaned over the surface of the stream, rushes tall and straight waved with the ripples, but from their tangled and interlacing fibres the water flowed clear. The St. Lawrence was full of tinkling tremors of sound. The distant hills showed blue and vague through the fluctuating haze.

At the Seigniory of de Senneville this was a busy time. The Seignior, Jacques Le Ber, had been superintending the gathering of his harvests. A far-sighted and thrifty man in business affairs, while the whole colony existed in a state of extreme penury he had contrived to accumulate great wealth. To him the New World had proved wonderfully profitable. The Western fur trade had led to fortune. Indomitable energy and sound judgment aided him to overcome the difficulties under which the new country labored, while experience, joined to natural shrewdness, taught how to steer safely between the varying official interests which in turn directed the colony.

The ravages of the caterpillars had left little harvest to gather, and had it not been for the marvellous incursion of