Soon after his return Champlain broached a plan which he had been perfecting during the voyage.  The fifteen men of rank formed a society, to be called “L’Ordre de Bon-Temps.”  Each man became Grand-Master in turn, for a single day.  On that day he was responsible for the dinner,—­the cooking, catering, buying and serving.  When not in office he usually spent some days in hunting, fishing and trading with the Indians for supplies.  He had full authority over the kitchen during his reign, and it was a point of honor with each Grand Master to surpass, if possible, the abundance, variety and gastronomic excellence of the meals of the day before.  There was no market to draw upon, but the caterer could have steaks and roasts and pies of moose, bear, venison and caribou; beavers, otters, hares, trapped for their fur, also helped to feed the hunters.  Ducks, geese, grouse and plover were to be had for the shooting.  Sturgeon, trout and other fish might be caught in the bay, or speared through the ice of the river.  The supplies brought from France, with the addition of all this wilderness fare, held out well, and Lescarbot expressed the opinion, with which nobody disagreed, that no epicure in Paris could dine better in the Rue de l’Ours than the pioneers of Port Royal dined that winter.

Ceremony was not neglected, either.  At the dinner hour, twelve o’clock, the Grand Master of the day entered the dining-hall, a napkin on his shoulder, his staff of office in his hand, and the collar of the Order, worth about four crowns, about his neck.  After him came the Brotherhood in procession, each carrying a dish.  Indian chiefs were often guests at the board; old Membertou was always made welcome.  Biscuit, bread and many other kinds of food served there were new and alluring luxuries to the Indians, and warriors, squaws and children who had not seats at table squatted on the floor gravely awaiting their portions.

[Illustration:  “THE GRAND MASTER OF THE DAY ENTERED THE DINING HALL.”—­Page 266]

The evening meal was less formal.  When all were gathered about the fire, the Grand Master presented the collar and staff of office to his successor, and drank his health in a cup of wine.

The winter was unusually mild; until January they needed nothing warmer than their doublets.  On the fourteenth, a Sunday, they went boating on the river, and came home singing the gay songs of France.  A little later they went to visit the wheat fields two leagues from the fort, and dined merrily out of doors.  When the snow melted they saw the little bright blades of the autumn sowing already coming up from the rich black soil.  Winter was over, and work began in good heart.  Poutrincourt was not above gathering turpentine from the pines and making tar, after a process invented by himself.  Then late in spring a ship came into harbor with news which ended everything.  The fur-traders of Normandy, Brittany and the Vizcayan ports had succeeded in having