The harvests of the colonists, the corn,
the wool, the flax; the timber, enough to build whole navies, and
mighty pines fit to mast the tallest admiral, were stored upon the
wharves and in the warehouses of the Bourgeois upon the banks of the
St. Lawrence, with iron from the royal forges of the Three Rivers
and heaps of ginseng from the forests, a product worth its weight in
gold and eagerly exchanged by the Chinese for their teas, silks, and
sycee silver.
The stately mansion of Belmont, overlooking the picturesque valley
of the St. Charles, was the residence proper of the Bourgeois
Philibert, but the shadow that in time falls over every hearth had
fallen upon his when the last of his children, his beloved son
Pierre, left home to pursue his military studies in France. During
Pierre's absence the home at Belmont, although kept up with the same
strict attention which the Bourgeois paid to everything under his
rule, was not occupied by him. He preferred his city mansion, as
more convenient for his affairs, and resided therein. His partner
of many years of happy wedded life had been long dead; she left no
void in his heart that another could fill, but he kept up a large
household for friendship's sake, and was lavish in his hospitality.
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