La Salle and the discovery of the great West - North Central ...

458 THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. [1687as far as the Cenis villages, and that, when theyparted, he was in good health. This, so far as theywere concerned, was, literally speaking, true; butDouay and Teissier, theone a witness and the othera sharer in his death, could not have said so muchwithout a square falsehood, and thereforeinquiry.evaded theThreading the forest path, and circling to the rearof the rock, they climbed the rugged height, andreached the top. Here they saw an area, encircledby the palisades that fenced the brink of the cliff,and by several dwellings, a store-house, and a chapel.There were Indian lodges too; for some of the redallies of the French made their abode with them. 1Tonty was absent, fighting the Iroquois; but hislieutenant, Beliefontaine, received the travellers,and his little garrison of bush-rangers greeted themwith a salute of musketry, mingled with the whoopingof the Indians. A Te Deum followed at thechapel; "and, with all our hearts," says Joutel, "wegave thanks to God, who had preserved and guidedus." At length, the tired travellers were amongcountrymen and friends.Bellefontaine found a roomfor the two priests; while Joutel, Teissier, andyoung Cavelier were lodged in the store-house.The Jesuit Allouez was lying ill at the fort ; andi The condition of Fort St. Louis, at this time, may be gatheredfrom several passages of Joutel. The houses, he says, werebuilt at the brink of the cliff, forming, with the palisades, the circleof defence. The Indians lived in the area.