THE RAID FROM BEAUSÉJOUR
AND
HOW THE CARTER BOYS LIFTED THE MORTGAGE
TWO STORIES OF ACADIE
BY CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS
CONTENTS.
I. THE RAID FROM BEAUSÉJOUR.
CHAPTER I. "BEAUBASSIN MUST GO!"
CHAPTER II. PIERRE VISITS THE ENGLISH LINES.
CHAPTER III. FRENCH AND ENGLISH.
CHAPTER IV. PREPARING FOR THE RAID.
CHAPTER V. THE MIDNIGHT MARCH.
CHAPTER VI. THE SURPRISE.
CHAPTER VII. PIERRE'S LITTLE ONE.
CHAPTER VIII. THE NEW ENGLANDERS.
II. HOW THE CARTER BOYS LIFTED THE MORTGAGE.
CHAPTER I. CATCHING A TARTAR.
CHAPTER II. THE HAND OF THE LAW.
CHAPTER III. A PIECE OF ENGINEERING.
CHAPTER IV. A RESCUE AND A BATTLE.
CHAPTER V. THE TRANSFER OF THE MORTGAGE.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
"BEAUBASSIN MUST GO!" The family were gathered in the kitchen.
THE RAID FROM BEAUSÉJOUR. "They sped rapidly across the marsh."
MR. HAND. "When he reached the door he knocked imperiously."
THE RAID FROM BEAUSÉJOUR.
CHAPTER I.
On the hill of Beauséjour, one April morning in the year 1750 A.D., a little group of French soldiers stood watching, with gestures of anger and alarm, the approach of several small ships across the yellow waters of Chignecto Bay. The ships were flying British colors. Presently they came to anchor near the mouth of the Missaguash, a narrow tidal river about two miles to the southeast of Beauséjour. There the ships lay swinging at their cables, and all seemed quiet on board. The group on Beauséjour knew that the British would attempt no landing for some hours, as the tide was scarce past the ebb, and half a mile of red mire lay between the water and the firm green edges of the marsh.
The French soldiers were talking in loud, excited tones. As they spoke a tallish lad drew near and listened eagerly. The boy, who was apparently about sixteen or seventeen years of age, was clad in the rough, yellow-gray homespun cloth of the Acadians. His name was Pierre Lecorbeau, and he had just come from the village of Beaubassin to carry eggs, milk, and cheeses to the camp on Beauséjour. The words he now heard seemed to concern him deeply, for his dark face paled anxiously as he listened.
"Yes, I tell you," one of the soldiers was saying, "Beaubassin must go. Monsieur the abbé has said so. You know, he came into camp this morning about daybreak, and has been shut up with the colonel ever since. But he talks so loud when he's angry that Jacques has got hold of all his plans. His Reverence has brought two score of his Micmacs with him from Cobequid, and has left 'em over in the woods behind Beaubassin. He swears that sooner than let the English establish themselves in the village and make friends with those mutton-head Acadians, he will burn the whole place to the ground."
