Ignatius Bonpain is in his mid-twenties but almost  ten years of life in the American wilderness makes him look somewhat older. He is a compact man, strongly built and very agile. His dark hair hangs below his shoulders when not tied up in a plait and he only shaves when in Montreal.

In town he wears common broadcloth clothing and shoes and a brimmed hat, but in the wilderness, he wears deerhide shirt and breeches and high, soft boots, all fringed and beaded, topped by the red cap that is traditional for coureurs des bois.

He is of average appearance with good teeth that he displays often in a smile, less frequently in a snarl. His speech is plain and his grammar common. He loves music, being a good dancer and fiddler; his singing voice is untrained but enthusiastic. His accent is still of the area around Lille.

What is he doing in New France?

"My name tells my heritage,for my family are known as the finest bakers of Lille, and the most dedicated. My father and my grandfather and his father before him.

"Up every morning before the sun rises, down to the bakeshop to stir the fires and set the oven to glowing. The dough is mixed and kneaded and proofed and in go the loaves, dozen upon dozen. Throughout the morning, customers are served: 'Two loaves today, Mme Bernard? Some extra buns, M. Richard? Mme. Martin, don't forget your change!' Then clean the stove and beat the apprentice, pinch the shop girl's bottom and trudge home to supper and bed before the sun sets. Next day--every day---do it all again.

"Not me! Not Ignatius, third son of Dennis and Raziel. No, no! I will see something new every day. I will breathe air without flour dust. The sun that dapples the forest trails shall warm me, not the coals of that same old oven in my face.

"Sometimes I will know hunger or thirst. Sometimes I will shiver in the dark night with only a thin blanket between me and the stars above. Sometimes I will be set upon by beasts or men. But until le Bon Dieu sees fit to end my life, I will live! And so I have. That is what I have found in New France. Freedom."

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