His chief property was in the West in the form of
goods which would be plundered without his guardianship. To tide
over the immediate future he sold the one small piece of land in
Montreal which he had inherited from his father and threw this
slight sop to his urgent creditors.
Saint-Pierre, strong in his right of monopoly, insisted that the
brothers should not even return to the West. Francois, urged that
to go was a matter of life and death. In some way he secured
leave to set out with one laden canoe. When Saint-Pierre found
that Francois had gone, he claimed damages for the intrusion on
his monopoly and secured an order to pursue Francois and bring
him back. He caught him at Michilimackinac. The meeting between
the two men at that place involved explanations. Face to face
with an injured man, Saint-Pierre admitted that he had been in
the wrong, paid to Francois many compliments, and regretted that
he had not joined hands with the brothers.
The mischief done was, however, irreparable. Francois, crippled
by opposition, could not carry on his trade with success and in
the end he returned to Montreal a ruined man overwhelmed with
debt.
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