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Show 132 TilE t.rr,Y A~D THE TOTE~r. bold conspirator. La Raquette was perhaps quito ns potential, though from art rnll1cr than nmb.city. J lc pretended to be a great magician, nnrl acquired large influence over the more j ,.110_ rant soldiers on tho score of l1is supposed capacity to read"' the boo~ of fate. Among his profcs~cd discoveries tl1rongh this mcdiUmJ were certain mines of gold and sih,cr, far in the interior, the wealth of which was such-and he pledged his life upon it.that, upon a fair division, after awarding the king's portion, each soldier would receive not less than ten thousand crowns. Tho arguments and assurances of La Roqucttc persuaded Lc GcnrC, among tho rest. He \vas exceedingly covetous, and sougi1t eagerly all royal roads for the acquisition of fortune. J le was more easily beguiled into conspiracy, in consequence of the ref usn! of Laudonniere to give l1im the cotmnnnd of a packet returning into Fmuce. h was determined to depose and destroy the latter. Several schemes were tried for this purpose; by poison, by gunpowder, nll of which failed, and resulted iu the ruin only of the conspirators. With this introduction we introduce the reader more particularly to tho parties of our history. I '· • XII. TDE CONSPIRACY OF LE GENRE:.-Cu ... I. L£ 0f:NRk, one of the lieutenants of Laudonniero, Wl'lS of .fierce and intractable temper. llis passions had been tlJwarted by his superior, whose preferences were clearly with another of his lieutenants, named D'Erlach. • This preference was quite sufficient to provoke the envy and enmity of Le GC;nr6. His dislike was fully retorted, and with equal spirit by his brother officer. But the feelings of D'Erlacb, who was the more noble and manly of tho two, were restrained by his prudence and sense of duty. It had been tho task of Laudonniere more than once to interfere between these persons, and prevent those outrages which he had O\'ery reason to apprehend from their mutual excitability; and it was partly with tho \'iow to keep the parties separate, that he had so frequently despatched D'Erlach upon his exploring expeditions. One of these appointments, however, which Lc Gcnr6 bnd desired for himself, had given him no little mortification when he found that, as usual, D'Erlach bad received • Laudonniere, in 1-!a\duyt, &pellt thit name improperly. It is properly written D'Erlnch. "Ce Geotilhomme,'' tays Charlevoix, "etoit Suisse, et il n'y a point de maiaon de Suiue !•lug connuii que celle d'Erlach." |
