56 FIFTY YEARS IN WESTERN CANADA

were holding a perfect pandemonium by the shore of
the lake. You must know the Babines’ capacity for
shouting and screaming and creating uproars to have
an idea of the terrible scene that was now on.

“What is the matter?’’ asked Father Morice
without getting up.

“Why? Don’t you know?” exclaimed the boy’s
mother outside. “The woman you took away from
Francois last evening, seeing that she was abandoned
by her paramour, went out and hanged herself in the
wood. Her people and those of her clan have seized
their rifles, and are now attempting to come and kill
you, whom they hold responsible for her death.”

The priest took in at once his position: he was to
fall a martyr to the indissolubility of the marriage tie!

Yet he assures us that he did not fear: he felt he had
done nothing but his duty, and he put himself in God’s
hands. His fate, humanly speaking, depended on the
bravery and constancy of his friends who were en-
deavouring to repulse the aggressors. They were much
more numerous than the latter, but it is well known
that, especially among the Indians, a few unscrupulous
individuals, a handful of desperate characters, can,
when properly excited, overpower and awe very many
quiet ones who try to stop them without hurting
anybody.

Finally, after waves of uproarious sound which were
swelling on as the would-be murderers gained the
ascendancy and were approaching the priest’s cabin,
nature claimed her own and Father Morice fell asleep.
When he woke up, do you know what he learned?
The virago who was the cause of the whole trouble
had only feigned to go and hang herself, in order to
have her revenge on the priest. In the morning she
was found crouching under an old bed!