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eyes round with fascination and fear. Beneath their chins their brown knees gleamed like polished wood. Deftly Doré measured out the black powder and poured it from the apostle into the muzzle of the barrel, before ramming the lead down with an authoritative grimace. When he rotated the cock, the savages’ heads tilted to precisely the same angle, and they blinked rapidly as he tap-tapped the fine priming powder into the flash pan and slid the lid closed. Then he turned the cock and raised the musket to his shoulder, closing one eye.
    The crack of the gun caused several of the savages to cry out in terror. The white men laughed out loud, urging Doré to reload. Even the commandant smiled and shrugged and held his hands out, palms flat, towards the chief. As for the boy, he was filled with a sudden surge of exhilaration. His heart pounded and he hooted wide-mouthed as he watched the savages blinking uncertainly, peering at the instrument that had emitted so violent an explosion.
    Grinning, Doré held out the gun, inviting inspection. Shakily the savages stretched their necks, jabbing their heads like chickens as they darted looks at the gun. None dared to touch it. Doré let the musket drop. The savages watched, motionless, as once again he loaded the weapon, primed it and lifted it to his shoulder. Then he fired. For a moment the echo of the shot hung in the humid air. Then it was gone, drowned out by the violent screams of the birds.
    That evening, the commandant summoned the boy and quietly informed him that preparations were being made for departure early the next morning. Their business with the Houma was complete. In addition to a good supply of ground maize and vegetables, the chief had given the commandant a number of fowls and four of the savages of the village to serve as guides as far as the next settlement, some twenty leagues north. They would leave at daybreak.
    All, that was, except the boy.
    It was, the commandant said, a matter of diplomacy. Strong alliances with the savages were essential if the French were to hold their position. The colony boasted fewer than one hundred soldiers, many of whom were weakened by sickness, and, with war in Europe, there was little hope of more, at least for the present. Meanwhile the English, already well established in the lands to the east, were determined to extend their territories. Given the threat of English dominance in Europe as well as the New World, the French had hoped for assistance against them from the Spanish forts at Pensacola and at Veracruz, but the former was weak and the latter at too great a distance, and Spain had proved an erratic ally.
    The commandant’s voice was low and steady. He did not speak to the boy as the other men did, as though he was slow or a girl. With so acute a shortage of men and no military stations to buttress the wedge of French occupation between the strongholds of St Lawrence in Acadia and the handful of small forts in the south, the commandant explained, the French position was perilously ill-defended. Their only hope of securing the newborn colony against the English threat lay in the forging of strong alliances with the many savage nations situated along the length of the St Louis River. Through the bestowal of gifts and favours, the French might secure the allegiance of these savage tribes and, when required, induce them to war against their enemies. Such a stratagem had served the French well in the north. Now it must be depended upon to secure the vast empire of Louisiana for France until it grew strong enough to support itself.
    ‘All counted, and in a nation that extends perhaps one thousand leagues, we number fewer than two hundred souls. Only half are soldiers. If we are to claim Louisiana for our King, each Frenchman must do the work of one hundred. You included.’
    The commandant leaned forward, pressing his hands between his knees. Beneath his unbuttoned shirt the snakes writhed and licked at his chest. The boy