Adventure Magazine Cover — page 109: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Doom Trail “Qur own Indians I will tolerate when I must, but I want no strange savages stealing my stores.” “Monsieur has a family here?” I asked as we took.our seats at a rough table in the front room. “Here! Never! Although I have one son — who will soon be able to carry on his father’s work.” “One son? That is too bad. Now in Picardy “Mort de ma viel Would you talk to me of your Picards? Young man, each Autumn that I return to Montreal—and it has been many Autumns, let me tell you—Madame de Joncaire has a new little one to introduce to me.” His face softened. “Bless me if I know how that old lady does it!” he sighed. “We have ten now— or maybe ’tis twelve. But I am not sure. I must count up when I return this year.” He clapped his hands, and a soldier in the undress uniform of the French marine troops, who formed the major part of the garrison of Canada, entered. “Francois,” announced Joncaire,” this is Jean Courbevoir, who will be my guest until he departs. He has been in Arles, Francois. Remember that. It should be a part of each young man’s training to visit Arles. “What he orders you will render to him. Now bring us the flagon of wine which Mon- sieur Bigon sent out this Spring.” The soldier saluted me as if I were a mar- shal of France, and brought in the flagon of the intendant’s wine with the exquisite rev- erence which only a son of Francé could be- stow upon the choicest product of the soil of France. “Pour it out, Francois,” Joncaire. The soldier hesitated. “And Monsieur de Lery?”’ he said. ‘A thousand million curses!’ exploded Joncaire. ‘Am I to wait for him? Am I to sacrifice my choicest wine in his gullet?” “Who is Monsieur de Lery?” I asked as Francoi8 = a thick mug with the ruby juice. “What? Sei do not know him? That isa commanded good one, that! I should like to have had, him hear you say it. But do you mean you do not know of him?” “VW onsteur will remember I am of the wil- derness,” I protested. “True, true. And this pompous whipper- snapper, monsteur ,” 103 who sets out to teach Louis Thomas de Joncaire, Sieur de Chabert, his duty, after thirty-five years on the frontier He drained his mug, and pushed it toward Francois for more. “But you have not told me who he is, I said. ‘He is 9 ‘Monsieur de Lery enters,” interposed Frangois with a glance at the doorway. CHAPTER XVI TRAPPED A SLENDER, wiry little man in a wig several sizes too big for him strode in to the room. He had a thin face, near-sighted eyes and a bulging forehead. He favored me with a curious glance, nodded to Jon- caire and took a seat across the table from me. My host made a wry smile and motioned to Francois to bring a third mug. 3 ‘Hola, Monsieur de Lery,” hesaid. ‘‘This is a gallant young forest-runner, one Jean Courbevoir, who has come to tell me that charming idiot Alphonse de Tonty has been chased out of Le de Troit by the Messesa- gues. Jean, Monsieur de Lery is the King’s engineer officer in Canada.” “Another case of a log fortification, I suppose,” remarked de Lery sarcastically i In a dry, crackling voice. He paid no attention to the introduction to me. “You gentlemen will never learn,” he added. “You must think we grow louis d’or in- stead of furs in Canada,” growled Joncaire. “Be sure, we a the wilderness posts are the most anxious to have stone walls around us. - Well, what headway have you made?” “T have traced out the lines of the central mass,” replied de Lery, taking a gulp of the wine. ‘Tomorrow I shall mark out a sur- rounding work of four bastions to encom- pass it.” “And you insist it shall be at the conflu- ence of the river and the lake?” “There can be no doubt ’tis the proper spot,” declared de Lery didactically, “both from the engineering and the strategical points of view.” , “But I am telling you—I, Louis Thomas de Joncaire, Sieur de Chabert, who have | COMMICLOOKS (E@