But Du Lhut had entered at De Catinat’s heels with his tidings of disaster.

“You will have another game to play, Monsieur de Sainte-Marie,” said he.  “There are six hundred Iroquois in the woods and they are preparing to attack.”

“Tut, tut, we cannot allow our arrangements to be altered by a handful of savages,” said the seigneur.  “I must apologise to you, my dear De Catinat, that you should be annoyed by such people while you are upon my estate.  As regards the piquet, I cannot but think that your play from king and knave is more brilliant than safe.  Now when I played piquet last with De Lannes of Poitou—­”

“De Lannes of Poitou is dead, and all his people,” said Du Lhut.  “The blockhouse is a heap of smoking ashes.”

The seigneur raised his eyebrows and took a pinch of snuff, tapping the lid of his little round gold box.

“I always told him that his fort would be taken unless he cleared away those maple trees which grew up to the very walls.  They are all dead, you say?”

“Every man.”

“And the fort burned?”

“Not a stick was left standing.”

“Have you seen these rascals?”

“We saw the trail of a hundred and fifty.  Then there were a hundred in canoes, and a war-party of four hundred passed us under the Flemish Bastard.  Their camp is five miles down the river, and there cannot be less than six hundred.”

“You were fortunate in escaping them.”

“But they were not so fortunate in escaping us.  We killed Brown Moose and his son, and we fired the woods so as to drive them out of their camp.”

“Excellent!  Excellent!” said the seigneur, clapping gently with his dainty hands.  “You have done very well indeed, Du Lhut!  You are, I presume, very tired?”

“I am not often tired.  I am quite ready to do the journey again.”

“Then perhaps you would pick a few men and go back into the woods to see what these villains are doing?”

“I shall be ready in five minutes.”

“Perhaps you would like to go also, Achille?” His son’s dark eyes and Indian face lit up with a fierce joy.

“Yes, I shall go also,” he answered.

“Very good, and we shall make all ready in your absence.  Madame, you will excuse these little annoyances which mar the pleasure of your visit.  Next time that you do me the honour to come here I trust that we shall have cleared all these vermin from my estate.  We have our advantages.  The Richelieu is a better fish pond, and these forests are a finer deer preserve than any of which the king can boast.  But on the other hand we have, as you see, our little troubles.  You will excuse me now, as there are one or two things which demand my attention.  De Catinat, you are a tried soldier and I should be glad of your advice.  Onega, give me my lace handkerchief and my cane of clouded amber, and take care of madame until her husband and I return.”