These poor
peasants had many of them been the owners of happy homes, whence the
merciless fiat of Le Loutre had banished them. The hill of Beausejour
lies open to the four winds of heaven, one or the other of which is
pretty sure to be blowing at all seasons; and some of the dispirited
toilers had not even rawhide moccasins to protect their feet from the
biting frost. Le Loutre was continually among them working in his
shirt sleeves, and urging everyone to his utmost exertions. But as
the winter dragged on the Acadians became so weak and heartless that
even the threats of the abbe lost their effect, and the fort grew but
slowly. Upon this it became necessary to increase the rations and even
to give a small weekly wage. The effect of this was magical, and in
the following spring the fortress of Beausejour was ready for its
garrison. Its strong earthworks overlooked the whole surrounding
country, and in the eyes that watched it from Fort Lawrence formed
no agreeable addition to the landscape. Across the tawny Missaguash
and the stretches of bright green marsh the red flag and the white
flapped each other a ceaseless defiance.
Elated at the completion of the fort, Le Loutre concluded the times
were ripe for a raid upon the English settlements. On the banks of the
Kenneticook there was a tiny settlement which had been an eyesore to
the abbe ever since its establishment some three years before. There
were only a half dozen houses in the colony and against these Le Loutre
decided to strike.
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