“He lived in Grand Pré,” said the old man. “He was one of those that the English drove away.”
“And he must have been one of those who managed to come back again,” exclaimed Bart, eagerly. “I’ve heard that a great many found their way back from Massachusetts, from New York, from the Southern States, and even from the West India islands.”
“Yes,” said the old man, “but my grandfather was never carried away. He escaped, and ran for his life. He was pursued, and almost caught; but by God’s help he was saved from his enemies, and came here, where he lived to grow old.”
“Escaped?” said Bart. “O, how I wish you would tell us all about it!”
The old man smiled. The eager faces of all the boys showed how deeply they were interested; and with such listeners as these it could not be otherwise than pleasant to tell a story.
XXIII.
The Story of an Acadian Exile.—The Country in Flames.—A dread Discovery.—Pursuit.—Flight over the Water.—The Bloodhound Instinct.—Red Sea Waves.
THE story which the old man went on to tell the boys was long, and subject to frequent interruptions, partly owing to his own emotion, and partly from the eager questions of his listeners. A direct report of his own words need not therefore be given here, but rather the material of his narrative.
Grousset, then, the grandfather of their host, was a young man at the time of the expulsion of the Acadians. He was not married, but lived with his father and mother in a place which, by close questioning, Bart conjectured could not have been far away from the very spot where the school stood. As the old man had never been there himself, but had only to speak from hearsay, he could not, of course, give any very exact description of localities; and it was only from his general knowledge that Bart was able to draw this conclusion. At any rate, the young Grousset lived here. There was one brother besides himself. They devoted themselves to farming, chiefly, but they also went out fishing, whenever any good opportunity presented itself.