Maria Chapdelaine

ed, and early in July th

yriad tufts of bloom; at first the reddening blueberries contended with them in glowing colour, but under the constant sun these slowly turned to pale blue, to royal bl

France, is of all the most abundant and delicious. The gathering of them, from July to September, is an industry for many families who spend the whole day in the woods; strings of children down to the t

d Alma Rose, went to pick blueberries; but their day had not come, and the

solation, "we shall all go a-gathering; the men as well, and

orable to the Chapdelaines; an evening of company

e others were at their meal he sat by the door in the cooler air that entered, balancing his chair on

e. But working alone, as I do, without a horse to draw the heavy logs, one makes po

uick progress by yourself, that is true enough, but a man lives on very little when he is alone, and then your brother Egide will be coming back from the drive with two

as though drawn thither by the thought that

asked Esdras. "Is there a

f Honfleur, who got back from La Tuque last month. He said that

he logs over the snow to the banks of the frozen rivers; and, when spring comes, the piles melt one after another into the rising waters and begin their long adventurous journey through the rapids. At every abrupt turn, at every fall, wher

the woods they are in a hurry to get home and buy yellow boots, stiff hats and cigarettes, and to go and see their girls. Even in th

with a shake of his head those prodigi

them to clear the right of way, always twenty-five miles ahead of the steel, and for fourteen months I never clapped eye on a house. We had no tents, summer or winter, only shelters o

s a day, one dug into that pail for something to eat. By Wednesday, no longer any pancakes, because they were all stuck together; nothing

d, all scratched and torn, and I well remember some who began to cry when told they could go home, because they though

orth side of the lake: no one but Indians and a few trappers who made their way up he

d now," said Esdras, "here we are fifteen miles beyond the lake, and whe

e cruel harshness of life as once it was, the easy day's journey now separating them

f approaching footsteps. "Another visitor!" Madame Chapdela

air with unconscious hand; but it was Ephre

of one who announces a great piece of news. Behind him was someo

on of my brother Elzear who died last autumn. You never met him

ogy on both sides of the house, and of setting forth his age, trade and the particulars of his life, in obedience to the Canadian custo

rprenants and as many Bourglouis, and gave the list with their baptismal

here is Lorenzo. He has been in the Stat

ded, with well-cut features, eyes gentle and unwavering, hands white; with his head a little

"to settle affairs after the death of

the land and cultivate it?" qu

of settling down on the farm does not tempt me, not in theleast. I earn

been living and what he had seen of the world, existence on a farm bet

hearing of the big wages earned over there in the factories, and every year one family after another sold out for next to nothing and left Canada. Some made a lot of mone

ee Frenchmen who came to Mistook last m

ans where you are living?

ericans or Irish; everyone spoke French; but where I live now, in the State of Massachu

Among people speaking nothing but English I should have been unhappy all the rest of my

untry across to the Pacific, he keeps the name of origin: English, Irish, Polish, Russian; never admitting for a moment that the children of these, albeit born in the cou

large town wh

Lorenzo with a little

sand! Bigger

our by train from Boston.

gnificence, of the life filled with ease and plenty, abounding in refin

ler tints, rose above the vague masses of the forest,-a column resting upon its base. The Mosquitos began to

ich ascended was carried by the wind into the house and drove out the countless horde. At length they were at peace, and with sighs of relief could desist from the warfare. The very last mosquito settled on the face of little Alma Rose. With great seriousness she pronounced the ritual words-"Fly, fly, get off my face, my nose is not a

the threshold. For weeks Maria had been expecting him. Half an hour earlier the sound of a step without

ee different quarters converging upon her, truly nothing more was needed t

hem over: eleven grown-up people!" Every chair in the house was filled; Esdras, Tit'Bé and Eutrope Gagnon occupied

re duly counted: three Chapdelaines, Eutrope Gagnon, Lorenzo Surprenant, Fran?ois Paradis. As fo

?ois Paradis, son of Fran?ois Paradis from St. Michel de Mistassini." Eutrope Gagnon knew him by name, Ephrem Surprenant had met his father:-"A tall man, taller still tha

and on top of it all a canoe was wrecked when running a rapid on the way back, and it was hard work fishing the pelts out of the river, without mentioning the fact that one of the bosses was nearly drowned,-the same one that had the fever. N

o reach Peribonka on Sunday, tomorrow; but, as they had another man, I left them to finish the journey

torn woollen jersey flapped upon his shoulder, moccasins replaced the long boots he had worn in the spring. He seemed to have brought back something of natures wildness from the head-waters Of the rivers where the Indians and the great

n legend dame de coeur. They played at quatre-sept. The two Surprenants, uncle and nephew, had Madame Chapdelaine and Maria for partners; after each game the beaten couple left the

use again, thick, almost stifling, but greeted with delight. The party ran its quiet course. An hour of cards, some t

his journeyings; in turn asking questions about her. He was far from putting on airs, yet

uld thus assemble beneath her roof. But Maria sat at the table devoting herself to the cards, and left it for some vacant seat near the door with scarcely a glance about her. Lorenzo Surprenant was always by her side and talking; s

apdelaine by way of excusing her, "she is really not us

with dark mysterious powers: the giant Wendigo pursuing the trespassing hunter; strange potions, carrying death or healing, which wise old men know how to distil from roots and leaves; incantations and every magic art. And here on the fringe of another worl

wo Surprenants, then Eutrope Gagnon, only Fran?ois Pa

e to-night, Fran?oi

d she. "And to-morrow we will all gather

boys, Maria's heart was filled with happiness. This seemed to b

nd brightness descends to earth. The green of tender grass and young wheat was of a

lothes borrowed from Da'Be and Esdras, and after he had shaved

Sunday lay before them. But the day's programme was already settled. Eutrope Gagnon came in just as they were finishing

their elders scattered through the woods in search of the larger patches, where one might sit on one's heels and fill a pail in an hour. The noise of footsteps on dry twigs, of rustling in the alder bushes, the cal

Paradis who was kneeling behind the alders. Side by side they picked industriously for a time, then plunged far

d the blossoms." He brought to the berry-seeking his woodsman's knowledge. "In the

h huge berries which they heaped into their pails. In the space of an hour th

, reckless and pitiless, bent only on finding one tiny spot to plant a sting; with their sharp note was blended that of the insatiate black-fly, filling the woods with un

s though to take his bearings. "The

w voice. But neither he nor

me moments before venturing to earth. The strident flight of heavy grasshoppers rose above the in

these shy glimpses of the strong bosom, the sweet face so modest and so patient, the utter simplicity of attitude and of her rare gestures; a great hunger for her awok

e cost; love of body and of soul, strength of arm in the daily task, the unmeasured devotion

the lumber-dam. But I will never take a glass, not one, Maria!" Hesitating a moment h

N

has been working in the woods for six months, with every kind of hardship and no amusement, and gets out to La Tuque or Jonquieres with all the

k because I said before him that I wasn't afraid of the devil. But there is an end of that too, Maria. All the summer I am to be working for two dollars and a half a day and you may be sure that I shall s

about to put took another form upon his li

es

r they fell silent and so long remained, wordle