The Man with the Iron Hand

by John Carl Parish

“But where is La Salle?” he asked. Of the two men who replied, one was a heavy-built, honest-faced man, the other a priest. The priest was the Abbé Cavelier, an own brother of La Salle; his companion was Henri Joutel, a trusted follower of the lost chief. La Salle, they said, had accompanied them part of the way and had left them at a place about forty leagues from the village of the Cenis; and when he left them he was in good health.

If there was anything peculiar about their reply Boisrondet did not at the time seriously note it. Nor did he notice the silence of the gray-robed friar who stood beside the speakers. He was too full of joy at news from his chief, and listened with ready ear as they added that they had orders from La Salle to go on to France to report his travels and bring aid.

It was two o’clock in the afternoon when, after their exchange of greetings, the whole party climbed to the fort towering high above the landscape. Volleys from the guns of the garrison saluted them, and the commander, Bellefontaine, came forward to greet them. Then the strangers crossed over to the little chapel to give thanks on that September Sabbath for their safe arrival among friends.

Father Allouez, who lay sick in his room, received with alarm the news that a party of La Salle’s men had arrived at the fort. Was La Salle among them? With great relief he learned that he was not. Allouez sent word that he would like to talk with some of the party; and so La Salle’s brother and the quiet Father Douay, together with Joutel, entered the sick man’s chamber.

At first they talked of other matters—of affairs in far-away France, of the stamping-out of the heresy of Calvinism, and of the twenty years’ truce with the Emperor. At length the sick man asked them of La Salle. As they had told Boisrondet, so they now told Allouez that La Salle was well when they parted from him—and they added that he also had planned to come to the Illinois country and perhaps would be there before long. Thereupon the look of foreboding deepened upon the face of Allouez. As they left the sick-room the three men asked themselves why the priest seemed so displeased at the coming of La Salle.

The arrival of the five men of La Salle’s party was a welcome break in the monotony of life in the little colony; and glad would the garrison and the Indians alike have been to have had them stay. But they were anxious to go on—in particular the Abbé Cavelier, who seemed to be impatient of delay. He asked Boisrondet for a canoe and men to take them on to the Lakes, for the Arkansas guides who had brought them up the river must now return with their canoe to their own people. Yes, Boisrondet replied, he had a canoe, but the difficulty was to find capable men for guides. On Wednesday, however, three canoe-men arrived from Mackinac and agreed to conduct the party to that post.

Four days after their arrival at the fort the visitors were again on their way to the Lakes and Canada with Shawnee Indians to carry their provisions. When they reached the Lake of the Illinois the waves were tossing to an alarming height and storms kept them on shore for a week or more. At last, giving up in despair, they turned about, buried their supplies in a cache, and walked across country back to the fort.

Already the Indian warriors from Tonty’s party were straggling back full of the good news of an overwhelming defeat of the Seneca Nation of Iroquois. Tonty, with his Frenchmen and their Indian allies, had taken a valiant part in the great raid in July, and now was on his way homeward. The colony took on new life, as with each incoming group the joy of the Indians increased.

At length, on October 27, Tonty himself came down the river and climbed the path to Fort St. Louis. Guns roared, the men at the fort crowded around him, and admiring Indians hung upon his footsteps. But these five strangers! Tonty’s eyes fell upon the long robe and the priestly face of the Abbé Cavelier. La Salle’s brother here in his fort! Well did he know the face, and little did he like its owner; but he had been one of the lost party. What, then, of La Salle? Quick and intense came the questions from the iron-handed commander.

Again the Abbé and Joutel told their story. La Salle had come from the far southwest coast with them almost to the villages of the Cenis Indians who lived west of the Arkansas, and there he had left them; and when he left them he was in good health. Beside the little group stood Father Anastasius Douay with silent lips. Nor did the mariner Teissier or young Cavelier, the nephew of La Salle and the Abbé, add anything to the story.