"Oh! Master Pothier never fails to find his way to the Crown of
France; but won't your Honors take a cup of wine? The day is hot
and the road dusty. 'A dry rider makes a wet nag,'" added the Dame,
with a smile, as she repeated an old saying, brought over with the
rest of the butin in the ships of Cartier and Champlain.
The gentlemen bowed their thanks, and as Philibert looked up, he saw
pretty Zoe Bedard poring over a sheet of paper bearing a red seal,
and spelling out the crabbed law text of Master Pothier. Zoe, like
other girls of her class, had received a tincture of learning in the
day schools of the nuns; but, although the paper was her marriage
contract, it puzzled her greatly to pick out the few chips of plain
sense that floated in the sea of legal verbiage it contained. Zoe,
with a perfect comprehension of the claims of meum and tuum, was at
no loss, however, in arriving at a satisfactory solution of the true
merits of her matrimonial contract with honest Antoine La Chance.
She caught the eye of Philibert, and blushed to the very chin as she
huddled away the paper and returned the salute of the two handsome
gentlemen, who, having refreshed their horses, rode off at a rapid
trot down the great highway that led to the city.
Pages:
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178