The Rivals of Acadia

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The Rivals of Acadia

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Title: The Rivals of Acadia An Old Story of the New World
Author: Harriet Vaughan Cheney
Release Date: December 19, 2005 [EBook #17351]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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RIVALS OF ACADIA ***

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THE RIVALS OF ACADIA,

AN OLD STORY OF THE NEW WORLD.

When two authorities are up, Neither supreme, how soon confusion
May enter 'twixt the gap of both, and take The one by the other.
SHAKSPEARE.
Boston: WELLS AND LILLY, COURT-STREET.
1827.

THE RIVALS OF ACADIA

DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT
_District Clerk's Office._
BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the twenty sixth day of January, A.D.
1827, in the fifty-first year of the Independence of the United States of
America, Wells and Lilly of the said district, have deposited in this
Office the Title of a Book, the Right whereof they claim as Proprietors
in the Words following, _to wit_:
"The Rivals of Acadia, an Old Story of the New World.
When two authorities are up, Neither supreme, how soon confusion
May enter 'twixt the gap of both, and take The one by the other
_Shakspeare._"
In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled
"An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of
Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such
Copies, during the Times therein mentioned," and also to an Act,
entitled "An act supplementary to an Act, entitled, 'An Act for the

encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts,
and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies during the
times therein mentioned,' and extending the Benefits thereof to the Arts
of Designing, Engraving, and Etching Historical, and other Prints."
JNO. W. DAVIS. _Clerk of the District of Masachusetts._

THE
RIVALS OF ACADIA
CHAPTER I.
Far on th' horizon's verge appears a speck-- A spot--a mast--a sail--an
armed deck! Their little bark her men of watch descry, And ampler
canvas woos the wind from high.
LORD BYRON.
On a bright day in the summer of 1643, a light pleasure-boat shot gaily
across the harbor of Boston, laden with a merry party, whose cheerful
voices were long heard, mingling with the ripple of the waves, and the
music of the breeze, which swelled the canvas, and bore them swiftly
onward. A group of friends, who had collected on the shore to witness
their departure, gradually dispersed, till, at length, a single individual
only remained, whose eyes still followed the track of the vessel, though
his countenance wore that abstracted air, which shewed his thoughts
were detached from the passing scene. He seemed quite unconscious of
the silence that succeeded this transient bustle, and a low murmur,
which soon begun to spread along the shore, was equally disregarded.
Suddenly a confused sound of many voices burst upon his ear, and
hurried steps, as of persons in alarm and agitation, at once aroused him
from his reverie. At the same moment, a hand was laid heavily on his
shoulder, and a voice exclaimed, with earnestness,
"Are you insensible, Arthur Stanhope, at a moment, when every man's

life is in jeopardy?"
"My father!" replied the young man, "what is the meaning of all this
excitement and confusion?"
"Do you not know?" demanded the other; "a strange sail is approaching
our peaceful coast; and, see! they have unfurled the standard of popish
France."
"It is true, by heaven!" exclaimed young Stanhope; "and, look, father,
yonder boat is flying before them; this is no time to gaze idly on; we
must hasten to their rescue."
The vessel, which produced so much alarm, was, in fact, a French ship
of considerable force, apparently well manned, and armed for offensive
or defensive operations. The national flag streamed gaily on the wind,
and, as it anchored just against Castle Island, the roll of the drum, and
the shrill notes of the fife, were distinctly heard, and men were seen
busied on deck, as if preparing for some important action. The little
bark, already mentioned, was filled, chiefly, with females and children,
bound, on an excursion of pleasure, to an island in the bay; and their