His mother, who had
stayed to the last, was sitting in the cart on a pile of her treasures.
The children had been taken to a place of safety by their father, who
had left the final stripping of the home to his wife and boy, while
he went ahead to arrange for the night's shelter. Antoine Lecorbeau
had lost his home, his farm, his barns, his orchards, and his easy
satisfaction with life; but thanks to Pierre's promptitude and his own
shrewdness he had saved all his household stuff, his cattle, his hay
and grain, and the little store of gold coin which had been hidden
under the great kitchen hearth. His house was the last to be fired,
and even now, as Pierre and his mother stood watching, long red horns
of flame were pushed forth, writhing, from the low gables. The two were
silent, save for the woman's occasional heavy sobs. Presently the roof
fell in, and then the boy's wet eyes flashed. A body of the English
troops could be seen pitching tents in the orchard. "Mother!" said
the boy, "what if we had stayed at home and waited for these English
to protect us? They are our enemies, these English; and the abbe is
our enemy; and the Indians are our enemies; and our only friends
are--yonder!"
As Pierre spoke he turned his back on the lurid sky and pointed to the
crest of Beausejour. There, in long, dark lines, stood nearly a thousand
French troops, drawn up on parade. The light from the ruined village
gleamed in blood-red flashes from their steel, and over them the banner
of France flapped idly with its lilies.
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