“Fontenelle claims that all the kings and presidents of France from 1541 down to the present time have confirmed this grant so far as certain mineral and timber properties are concerned. For years Fontenelle has been trying to gain possession of the original charter brought to this country by Cartier, but has never succeeded.”
“Would he secure a large amount of property if he found it?” asked Alex. “How did it ever become lost?”
“It disappeared from Cartier’s hands,” was the reply. “It is believed that the recovery of the original charter would make the Fontenelles very wealthy, especially as the family jewels, worth millions of francs, are said to have been lost with the important document.”
“I think they had their nerve to send family jewels to America in 1541,” Case cut in. “Might have known they would be lost.”
“You must remember,” Captain Morgan replied, “that for years during and following the reign of Francis I. the protestant persecutions kept France in a turmoil. It was hinted that the Fontenelles did not favor these persecutions and that the jewels were shipped to the new world for greater safety. What I am telling you now, remember, is only tradition, and not history. To be frank with you, I will say that I don’t believe it myself. It is too misty.”
“It is interesting, anyway,” Clay declared, “and I’d like to hear more about it, but tell me this—why should the Fontenelles, or their agents, send this letter to us? And why should they send it, if at all, in so mysterious a manner?”
“I have heard,” Captain Morgan replied, “that an expedition for the recovery of this original charter was being fitted out at Quebec. Your boat may have been mistaken for the one carrying the searchers.”
“Searching in this wild country?” questioned Alex. “Where do they think this blooming charter is, I’d like to know?”
Captain Morgan took the crude map into his hands and pointed to an egg-shaped peninsula reaching out into the St. Lawrence between the mouths of two rivers.
“There is said to be a lost channel somewhere in that vicinity,” he said, “and tradition has it that the papers and the jewels were hidden on its shore. The searchers, for years, have been in the hope of finding this lost channel. They have never succeeded.”