Monckton half smiled; then rubbed his forehead in weariness and perplexity. Finally he said:
“Well, lieutenant, go! But bid them do quickly that which they desire. The order has gone forth, and in a day or two at farthest I may spare none.”
So once more Gabriel flew across the Missaguash, and although he could hear nothing more of Margot, he at least had the consolation of feeling that he had saved her benefactors, and that there was always hope she might be found at Halifax, whither the party started that same night in their ox-wagons, driving their milch-cows before them.
CHAPTER VIII
And now followed bitter days indeed. A merciless guide and shepherd might Le Loutre have been, but at least in him the helpless flock had found a leader; he had forsaken them, and like silly sheep they ran hither and thither, halting more than ever betwixt two opinions. Looking vainly to the French for assistance, they shilly-shallyed too long with the oath of allegiance to the English government, and began to reap the terrible harvest accruing from long years of deceit and paltering with honor. It has been written that a man may not serve two masters, and too late the unhappy Acadians realized the truth of these words.
Gabriel gave thanks that it was the New England troops that were sent out from Beauséjour, re-christened Fort Cumberland, to gather in all the male Acadians in the vicinity, since but a small proportion had obeyed the summons to report themselves at the fort. But he rejoiced too soon. Winslow was soon ordered to the Basin of Mines, and especially requested that the lieutenant who had distinguished himself during the siege might accompany him with a few regulars.
The entire Basin of Mines, including the village of Grand Pré, having been left comparatively undisturbed by Le Loutre and his “lambs,” still continued to be prosperous Acadian settlements; and it was therefore upon them that the storm broke most destructively, and it was there, perhaps, that the saddest scenes in this sad history took place. Yet it was here too, that the people had benefited most by the lenient English rule, and had shown themselves most unreliable and treacherous; or, to speak more accurately, had yielded with the greatest weakness to the abbé’s instigations, in particular as regarded the disguising of themselves as Indians that they might plunder English settlements. By this means they had saved their own skins, so to speak, and had been spared many persecutions at the hands of Le Loutre. And now these unhappy peasants, too dull of brain to thoroughly understand what they were bringing upon themselves, refused to sign the oath of allegiance “until after further consideration.” Already six years of such “consideration” had been granted them by the indulgence of former governors; and instead of considering, they had been acting,—acting the part of traitors. As has been said, the present governors of New England and Nova Scotia were in no mood for longer dalliance, even had they been able to afford it. If more time were given, the French, whose forces were the stronger, might regain all they had lost. The Acadians were aware of the superior strength of France, and this knowledge was one of the causes of their suicidal tardiness.
It was with a gloomy brow, therefore, that Gabriel stood one bright September morning at the window of the vicarage at Grand Pré, gazing forth upon the rich farms and meadowland spread before him, backed by the azure of mountain and water. Winslow was a thorough soldier, if a rough man; and, like every officer, regular or colonial, loathed his task, though convinced of its necessity. At Fort Edward, farther inland, he had found both sympathy and good fellowship in the English lieutenant stationed there; but sociabilities had to end now, although a friendly intercourse was kept up, Winslow and Murray remaining on the best of terms throughout their detested work.
The two officers had decided not to interfere with the farmers until the crops were gathered; but as Winslow’s force was greatly outnumbered by the Acadians, he put up a palisade around the church, graveyard, and vicarage, thus making a kind of fort. Before doing so, however, he had directed the Acadians to remove from the church all sacred emblems lest through the bigotry and fanaticism of the Puritan soldiers these revered treasures should be destroyed.
The New Englander expressed his own feelings thus, in a letter to his commanding officer: “Although it is a disagreeable path of duty we are put upon, I am sensible it is a necessary one, and shall endeavor strictly to obey your excellency’s orders.”