“Yes, and where they all lived until 1747, that is, the French who were driven out of Port Royal.”
“And what made the English drive those people away from their homes?” inquired Priscilla. “I don’t mean from Port Royal, but from Grand Pré, like Longfellow tells about in Evangeline?”
“They thought the French people were not loyal to the British government; for the country then belonged to England. To go back to our story, in 1629 the King of Scotland gave the entire country to a friend of his, and the name was changed from Acadia to Nova Scotia, which means New Scotland. From that time until 1710 the land was claimed by both France and England, and was in possession of first one and then the other. Finally Great Britain secured it for good. Is it any clearer now?”
“Oh, yes, lots; you make everything so plain, I wish I knew as much as you do,” sighed Desiré admiringly.
“I hope some day you will know lots more,” smiled Jack, adding, “I’m afraid we’re in for a wetting. I have felt several splashes of rain. The trees are getting so heavy with water that it will shower down upon us before long.”
“Then you simply can’t sleep in the tent,” said Desiré decidedly.
“Nothing else for it; there’s no room in the wagon.”
“Let me think a minute,” said Desiré. “I have it! We’ll push the trunk and box side by side and put René on them, at our feet; and you can sleep on the wagon seat. You’ll have to double up, but it will be better than getting so damp in the tent.”
“We didn’t count on a pour like this while we were on the road,” said Jack. “Too bad we were not near enough to a town to get lodgings.”
“But we could hardly afford that; and besides, this is going to be lots of fun. Priscilla, you and René run up and down in that dry path over there while we fix things,” directed Desiré.