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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of At the fall of Montreal, by Edward
+Stratemeyer
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: At the fall of Montreal
+       or, A soldier boy's final victory
+
+Author: Edward Stratemeyer
+
+Illustrator: A. B. Shute
+
+Release Date: December 8, 2022 [eBook #69501]
+
+Language: English
+
+Produced by: David Edwards, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online Distributed
+             Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+             produced from images made available by the HathiTrust
+             Digital Library.)
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL ***
+
+
+
+
+
+                       EDWARD STRATEMEYER’S BOOKS
+
+
+                            Old Glory Series
+
+       _Six Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.85._
+
+                     UNDER DEWEY AT MANILA.
+                     A YOUNG VOLUNTEER IN CUBA.
+                     FIGHTING IN CUBAN WATERS.
+                     UNDER OTIS IN THE PHILIPPINES.
+                     THE CAMPAIGN OF THE JUNGLE.
+                     UNDER MacARTHUR IN LUZON.
+
+
+                       Stratemeyer Popular Series
+
+       _Ten Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.00._
+
+                    THE LAST CRUISE OF THE SPITFIRE.
+                    REUBEN STONE’S DISCOVERY.
+                    TRUE TO HIMSELF.
+                    RICHARD DARE’S VENTURE.
+                    OLIVER BRIGHT’S SEARCH.
+                    TO ALASKA FOR GOLD.
+                    THE YOUNG AUCTIONEER.
+                    BOUND TO BE AN ELECTRICIAN.
+                    SHORTHAND TOM, THE REPORTER
+                    FIGHTING FOR HIS OWN.
+
+
+                       War and Adventure Stories
+
+             _Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25._
+
+                        ON TO PEKIN.
+                        BETWEEN BOER AND BRITON.
+
+
+                   American Boys’ Biographical Series
+
+             _Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25._
+
+               AMERICAN BOYS’ LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY.
+               AMERICAN BOYS’ LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
+
+
+                            Colonial Series
+
+             _Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25._
+
+                      WITH WASHINGTON IN THE WEST.
+                      MARCHING ON NIAGARA.
+                      AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL.
+                      ON THE TRAIL OF PONTIAC.
+
+
+                          Pan-American Series
+
+             _Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25._
+
+                    LOST ON THE ORINOCO.
+                    THE YOUNG VOLCANO EXPLORERS.
+                    YOUNG EXPLORERS OF THE ISTHMUS.
+                    YOUNG EXPLORERS OF THE AMAZON.
+
+
+                    Great American Industries Series
+
+           _Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.00, net._
+
+                          TWO YOUNG LUMBERMEN.
+
+                                -------
+
+                  JOE, THE SURVEYOR. _Price_, $1.00.
+                  LARRY, THE WANDERER. _Price_, $1.00.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                        AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  As the weapon rang out the red man leaped upward and fell in a
+    heap.—_Page 53._
+]
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                            Colonial Series
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+
+                        AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL
+
+
+                                   OR
+
+
+                     A SOLDIER BOY’S FINAL VICTORY
+
+
+
+                                   BY
+
+                           EDWARD STRATEMEYER
+
+         Author of “With Washington in the West,” “Lost on the
+          Orinoco,” “American Boys’ Life of William McKinley,”
+                “On to Pekin,” “Old Glory Series,” “Ship
+                        and Shore Series,” etc.
+
+
+
+                      _ILLUSTRATED BY A. B. SHUTE_
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+                                 BOSTON
+                            LEE AND SHEPARD
+                                  1904
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                         Published August, 1903
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                  COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY LEE AND SHEPARD
+
+                  Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London
+
+                                -------
+
+                         _All rights reserved_
+
+                                -------
+
+                       _AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL_
+
+
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                                CONTENTS
+
+                                -------
+
+         CHAPTER                                            PAGE
+              I. INTERESTING SPORT,                            1
+             II. THE INDIANS IN THE CANOE,                     8
+            III. ON A DANGEROUS MISSION,                      18
+             IV. A SQUALL ON LAKE ONTARIO,                    28
+              V. PERILS OF THE FOREST,                        38
+             VI. AN UNEXPECTED SEPARATION,                    48
+            VII. A BEAR AND HER CUBS,                         58
+           VIII. IN THE HANDS OF FRIENDS,                     68
+             IX. WHAT BEFELL HENRY,                           78
+              X. IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY,                   88
+             XI. ABOARD THE FIRE-BOAT,                        97
+            XII. GENERAL WOLFE’S CAMP,                       107
+           XIII. SCALING THE HEIGHTS OF QUEBEC,              116
+            XIV. WOLFE’S VICTORY AND DEATH,                  126
+             XV. NEWS FROM HOME,                             135
+            XVI. A FIRE AND AN ESCAPE,                       144
+           XVII. THE HOLE IN THE ICE,                        154
+          XVIII. WINTER QUARTERS,                            164
+            XIX. LOST IN THE SNOW,                           173
+             XX. THE SITUATION AT QUEBEC,                    183
+            XXI. UNDER ARREST,                               193
+           XXII. IN PRISON AND OUT,                          203
+          XXIII. FACE TO FACE WITH THE UNEXPECTED,           213
+           XXIV. A GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK,                    223
+            XXV. TAKEN AS A SPY,                             233
+           XXVI. DAVE’S JOURNEY TO QUEBEC,                   242
+          XXVII. THE ATTACK OF THE FRENCH,                   250
+         XXVIII. IN THE RANKS ONCE MORE,                     260
+           XXIX. DARK DAYS,                                  270
+            XXX. THE RAPIDS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE,             279
+           XXXI. THE FALL OF MONTREAL,                       288
+          XXXII. FROM WAR TO PEACE—CONCLUSION,               300
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                                PREFACE
+
+
+“AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL” is a compete story in itself, but forms the
+third volume of a line known by the general title of “Colonial Series.”
+
+The first volume of this series, entitled “With Washington in the West,”
+related the fortunes of David Morris, the son of a pioneer who settled
+at Wills’ Creek, now known as Cumberland, Va. David became well
+acquainted with Washington while the latter was a surveyor, and later on
+served under the young commander during the fateful Braddock expedition
+against Fort Duquesne.
+
+The defeat of General Braddock left the English frontier at the mercy of
+the French and Indians, and in the second volume of the series, entitled
+“Marching on Niagara,” were given the particulars of General Forbes’s
+advance on Fort Duquesne, and also the particulars of the advance on
+Fort Niagara under General’s Prideaux and Johnson, leading up to a
+decisive victory which gave the English control of all the vast
+territory lying between the great lakes and what was then the Louisiana
+Territory.
+
+The French hold on North America was now badly shaken, but not
+altogether broken; and in the present volume are related the particulars
+of General Wolfe’s brilliant scaling of the Heights of Quebec, the
+battle on the Plains of Abraham, and the capture of the city itself.
+
+Following the surrender of Quebec came a winter of dreary waiting for
+both sides in this great conflict. Each army looked for re-enforcements,
+and early in the spring the French made an attack, hoping to regain the
+ground lost. But this attack was repulsed, and then the French
+concentrated at Montreal, and hither were hurried the three divisions of
+the English army, including a goodly number of Colonial troops. With
+these forces was David Morris, doing his duty to the end, until the fall
+of Montreal brought this important and far-reaching war with France to a
+close.
+
+As in his previous works, the author has sought to be as accurate as
+possible in historical detail—no easy task where American, English, and
+French historians differ so widely in their statements.
+
+Once again I thank my young friends for the interest they have shown in
+my books. May the present volume prove both pleasing and profitable to
+them.
+
+                                                     EDWARD STRATEMEYER.
+
+_June 1, 1903._
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                             ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+                                                       PAGE
+
+            As the weapon rang out, the red man          53
+              leaped upward and fell in a heap
+              (_Frontispiece_)
+
+            As the catamount left the ground, White      46
+              Buffalo fired a second arrow
+
+            A short distance away was a                 109
+              broad-sterned brig
+
+            He gave it a vigorous kick, which sent      146
+              it spinning away from the dangerous
+              spot
+
+            “B’ar meat!” yelled Barringford             180
+
+            Four troopers were in hot pursuit           222
+
+            Dave’s musket was up in an instant          268
+
+            “Stand where you are,” ordered the sick     297
+              man
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+                        AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL.
+
+
+                                -------
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I
+
+                           INTERESTING SPORT
+
+
+“THIS looks like a good spot for fishing.”
+
+“I don’t know but that you are right, Dave. Those trees back of us cut
+off most of the sunlight, and a hollow like that ought to be good for at
+least one fair-sized trout.”
+
+“Do you think any of the other soldiers have been down to this part of
+the lake?”
+
+“Hardly,” answered Henry Morris. “At least, there are no signs of them,”
+he went on, as he examined the ground with the care of an Indian
+trailer.
+
+“If we are the first to try this vicinity we certainly ought to have
+good luck,” continued Dave Morris, as he dropped several of the traps he
+carried to the ground and began to prepare his fishing pole for use. “By
+the way, do you think there are any Indians in this vicinity?”
+
+“Only those who are under command of Sir William Johnson. They sent all
+the French redskins about their business in short order.”
+
+“How long do you suppose our troops will be kept around Fort Niagara?”
+
+“I’m sure I don’t know, Dave. We may get marching orders at any time.
+Now that the fort is ours all Sir William has to do is to leave a small
+force in command and then sail down the lake and the St. Lawrence to
+Montreal and Quebec. We’ve got the French on the run and we ought to
+keep ’em on the run until they give up fighting altogether.”
+
+“I wonder if General Wolfe has had a battle yet.”
+
+“I shouldn’t be surprised. Reckon we’ll get word in a few days. But
+come, let us keep quiet, or we won’t get even a perch, much less a
+trout,” concluded Henry Morris.
+
+David and Henry Morris were two young soldiers in the Colonial army,
+stationed at present at Fort Niagara, a stronghold located on the
+Niagara River, close to where that stream emptied into Lake Ontario.
+
+The two youths were cousins, and when at home lived at Wills’ Creek,
+where the town of Cumberland, Va., stands to-day. The household
+consisted of Dave’s father, Mr. James Morris, who was a widower, and of
+Mr. Joseph Morris, his wife Lucy, and their three children: Rodney, the
+oldest, who was something of a cripple; Henry, already mentioned, and
+little Nell, the family pet.
+
+When James Morris’s wife died the man, who was a trapper and a trader,
+became very disconsolate, and leaving his son Dave in his brother’s
+charge, he wandered to the West and established a trading-post on the
+Kinotah, a river flowing into the Ohio. This was at the time when George
+Washington was a young surveyor; and in the first volume of this series,
+entitled “With Washington in the West,” I related many of the
+particulars of how Dave fell in with the future President of our
+country, helped him in his surveying, and later on, when war broke out
+between the English and the French, marched under Washington in
+Braddock’s disastrous campaign against Fort Duquesne, located where the
+city of Pittsburg now stands.
+
+The defeat of General Braddock meant much to James Morris. He had spent
+both time and money in establishing his trading-post on the Kinotah, and
+though a rascally French trader named Jean Bevoir had done his utmost to
+cheat him out of his belongings, Mr. Morris had considered his property
+safe until the trading-post was taken and he was made a prisoner. Dave
+was also captured by the French, but father and son escaped by the aid
+of White Buffalo, a friendly Indian of the Delawares, and Sam
+Barringford, an old frontiersman and a warm personal friend of all the
+Morrises.
+
+Both England and her American colonies were now thoroughly aroused to
+the importance of a strong attack on the French and their Indian allies;
+and in the second volume of the series, entitled “Marching on Niagara,”
+were given the particulars of another campaign against Fort Duquesne,
+which was captured and renamed Fort Pitt, and then of a long and hard
+campaign against Fort Niagara, in which both Dave and Henry took an
+active part, accompanied by the ever-faithful Sam Barringford.
+
+The march against Fort Duquesne and Fort Niagara had come only after a
+bloodthirsty uprising by the Indians, which even to-day is well
+remembered by the people living in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York,
+whose forefathers suffered from the attack. Cabins were burned, cattle
+stolen, and men, women, and children killed or mutilated. In some
+instances children were carried off by the Indians, and among these was
+little Nell, the sunshine of the Morris household.
+
+The shock to Mrs. Lucy Morris was severe, and for a long time she could
+not be comforted. From various sources it was learned that the child had
+been taken first to one place and then another by the Indians, and at
+last it was ascertained that Nell was in the hands of some Indians under
+the command of Jean Bevoir, who had moved to the vicinity of Niagara
+Falls, where he intended to keep the little girl until the Morrises paid
+dearly for her ransom.
+
+As soon as the capture of the fort was accomplished, and while some of
+the soldiers were hunting for game for food, several wounded prisoners
+were brought in, and among them was Jean Bevoir, who had been shot
+through the leg. The rascally French trader was now thoroughly cowed,
+and when threatened by Henry confessed that little Nell was being held a
+prisoner in a cave near the Falls. A march was made in that direction,
+and after an exciting chase of some Indians the little girl was rescued.
+
+At the fort the whole matter was laid before Sir William Johnson, the
+Indian Superintendent, who had charge of the red men aiding the English,
+but who was now, because of the sudden death of General Prideaux, in
+command of all the troops. By Johnson’s order Jean Bevoir was placed in
+the hospital under military guard, to stand trial when physically able
+to do so.
+
+The two young soldiers were overjoyed over the rescue of little Nell and
+promised themselves that Jean Bevoir should suffer roundly for his
+misdeeds. As for the little maiden, she was anxious to get back to her
+home, and soon set off with old Sam Barringford, the frontiersman having
+promised her folks that, if she was once found, he would not let her out
+of his sight again until she was safe in her mother’s arms.
+
+The days following the fall of Fort Niagara had been comparatively quiet
+ones for the two young soldiers. It had not yet been decided what should
+be done with the French prisoners, although it was certain a large part
+of them would be shipped to England. The women and children who had
+followed the French to the fort for protection were placed under the
+guidance of some Catholic priests and allowed to depart for Montreal and
+other settlements in Canada.
+
+The time was July, 1759, and the region for miles around the Niagara
+River and Lake Ontario was an almost unbroken forest, dotted here and
+there by the remains of an Indian camp or a French or English
+trading-post. Game had suffered but slightly from the hunting tours of
+the red men, and while the soldiers from England took but little
+interest in such sport, the frontiersman in the ranks seized the
+opportunity to supply themselves with fresh meat and also add a pelt or
+two to their scanty worldly store. Each day they would bring in one or
+more deer, and occasionally a buffalo, besides the skins of foxes,
+wild-cats, and other small animals, and innumerable birds, until the
+fort took on the look of a trading-post in spite of itself.
+
+Dave and Henry were not slow to join in the hunting, and between them
+they one day brought in a deer which was the pride of the camp, weighing
+thirty-five pounds more than the next largest. This game Dave had
+wounded by a shot in the foreleg, and Henry had finished by a bullet
+through the left eye, for Henry, as my old readers already know, was a
+natural-born hunter and a skillful marksman as well.
+
+Two days after bringing down the deer, and while the two had a half-day
+off-time, Dave proposed that they go fishing. His cousin was more than
+willing, and the pair lost no time in fitting up their poles and in
+obtaining bait, and thus equipped both set off for the lake front,
+tramped along until they came to a spot that looked particularly
+inviting, and then, as already described, prepared to try their luck.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER II
+
+                        THE INDIANS IN THE CANOE
+
+
+IT was a warm, clear day, and out on the broad bosom of the lake the sun
+shone brightly. There was a faint breeze from the west which rustled the
+leaves of the trees and sent an occasional ripple over the water. From
+the forest came the notes of the songbirds and the hum of countless
+insects.
+
+Dave would have been satisfied to catch a good mess of perch, but he
+knew Henry’s heart was set on at least one fair-sized lake trout, so he
+did not bait up at once, but stood by, watching his cousin adjust his
+fishing outfit.
+
+“There’s a fat fly fit to tempt any trout,” whispered Henry, as he
+brought the bait from a small box he carried. “Caught half a dozen of
+’em down at the horse stable. The glitter of those bluish wings ought to
+fetch something. Here goes!”
+
+Henry advanced to within six feet of the lake shore, at a point where a
+large tree and some rough rocks overhung the water. Here was a rather
+dark hole where the water was unusually quiet.
+
+With the skill of a born fisherman, the young soldier made his cast, and
+as the still buzzing fly struck the water, he whipped it along by jerks,
+a few inches at a time.
+
+Of a sudden there came a splash, the appearance and disappearance of
+something that might be a fish, and then a strong pull on the line.
+
+“Hurrah, you’ve got him!” cried Dave. “Be careful how you play him, or
+he’ll break your line for you.”
+
+“Yes, I’ve got him!” answered Henry, slowly and deliberately, playing
+his line as he spoke. “And he’s no small one either. If only those roots
+don’t tangle——Here he comes! Whoop!”
+
+As the youth spoke, the fish made another dart. But Henry was ready for
+him, and in a twinkling the game lay on the moss between the trees,
+flopping wildly in an endeavor to get back into the lake. But both
+youths knew too much to let anything like that happen, and in a minute
+more Henry had his prize secure and strung on a twig with a forked end.
+
+“What a fine haul for a start,” was Dave’s comment, as he gazed at the
+trout, that weighed several pounds. “I don’t believe we’ll get another
+fish as good.”
+
+“No, and I don’t believe there is another trout in this vicinity, Dave.
+A big fellow like this keeps his territory to himself.”
+
+Nevertheless, Henry tried his luck, not once but several times. But the
+flies went begging until some small fish came along and began to nibble
+at them, and then Henry drew in.
+
+“That spot just below here ought to be good for perch,” said he, after a
+look around, and they moved on to the place mentioned, where both baited
+with worms dug up before starting on the trip.
+
+Dave was the first to throw in, and his cousin waited until the bait was
+taken with a sudden short jerk. Dave pulled in steadily, and soon
+brought to light a perch as round and fat as one would wish to see.
+
+“That’s a good start on perch,” observed Henry, with a smile. “And to my
+mind they are just as good to eat as trout, even if they are not so
+gamey.”
+
+After this both fell to fishing with all the skill at their command,
+Dave remaining at the spot where he had made his first haul and Henry
+seeking a point a few rods farther up the shore.
+
+Although both of the young soldiers felt that no enemy was in the
+immediate vicinity, yet they took care to keep in sight of each other
+and kept a constant watch on the forest behind them. Each had brought
+along his trusty flint-lock musket, and the weapons, loaded and primed,
+were kept easy to hand.
+
+“Do you think Sam Barringford has reached home with Nell yet?” asked
+Dave, as Henry came toward him to get more bait.
+
+“Hardly yet, Dave; but he ought to get there by the end of the week.”
+
+“She’ll be glad to get back, won’t she? And how glad all of them will be
+to see her!”
+
+“Yes, indeed!” Henry’s eyes brightened at the thought. “Do you know,
+it’s a wonder to me that she didn’t die of fright when she was in the
+clutches of those dirty redskins and that mean, miserable Jean Bevoir,”
+he went on.
+
+“Bevoir pretends to be in an awfully bad condition, so one of the
+hospital surgeons told me. I reckon he is afraid of standing trial.”
+
+“To be sure. He’ll stay in the hospital till they kick him out.” Henry
+gave a grave shake of his head. “He ought to be hung; but I suppose they
+won’t go as far as that.”
+
+“It isn’t likely.”
+
+The youths separated, and the fishing continued steadily, until each had
+a mess of ten or a dozen fish to his credit. The perch were all of good
+size, so the load to carry back to the fort would be no light one.
+
+“Let us go down the shore and see if we can’t strike another trout
+hole,” said Dave. “I’d like to bring up one, even if he didn’t match
+yours.”
+
+They proceeded along the lake shore, and soon reached another shady
+spot. Here they found two small trout, which were both landed by Dave,
+Henry in the meantime hunting in the forest and bringing out some
+sassafras and birch, which both began to munch as a relish.
+
+“What a good trading-post one could establish up here,” observed Henry.
+“The game——” He broke off short. “What do you see?”
+
+Dave was gazing out on the lake, and now he climbed on the rock to get a
+better view.
+
+“It’s a canoe,” said Dave slowly. “And unless I am mistaken there are
+two or three Indians in it.”
+
+“Some of Sir William’s followers most likely. Are they coming this way?”
+
+“They are not paddling at all. They seem to be sleeping.”
+
+“Sleeping? That’s queer.” Henry climbed up beside his cousin and gave an
+equally searching look. “I don’t believe they are sleeping at all, Dave.
+Those Indians are either dead or else shamming death.”
+
+“Why should they come here shamming death, Henry?”
+
+“Perhaps they are spies. We had better be on guard and keep out of
+sight.”
+
+“But I think we ought to watch them.”
+
+“Certainty; we can do it from behind yonder brushwood.”
+
+It took but a minute to pick up their outfits and their catches, and
+with these they slipped behind the thicket Henry had mentioned. Here
+they kept themselves well hidden, each with his firearm in hand, ready
+for use should any shooting be required.
+
+The canoe came closer slowly, and presently they made out that it
+contained two red men, both in warpaint and sporting the colors and
+feathers of the Delawares.
+
+“If they are Delawares they should be friendly,” whispered Dave.
+
+“Don’t be too sure. Remember, White Buffalo said that even his tribe was
+divided, the old chiefs standing up for the French and the young chiefs
+swearing by Washington and Sir William.”
+
+“One of the redskins has raised himself and he is trying to paddle,”
+went on Dave, after a spell of silence. “He has got a bandage around his
+left forearm, as if he was wounded. See, he is talking to his companion,
+but the other fellow won’t budge. Do you know what I think? I think they
+are both badly wounded.”
+
+“Even so, they may be enemies,” returned Henry, who had learned by
+bitter experience not to trust anybody until he proved himself a friend.
+
+Gradually the canoe came up to the shore and they could see the faces of
+the occupants plainly. That they were suffering was evident, for the man
+at the bottom of the canoe lay in a pool of half-dried blood.
+
+“I believe we ought to help them if we can,” whispered Dave, as the
+Indian who had held the paddle dropped in a heap on the seat. “I don’t
+believe they could harm us, no matter how they tried.”
+
+After some hesitation Henry agreed, and guns in hand the pair stepped
+from the shelter of the bushes and walked down to the spot where the
+canoe had grounded.
+
+“Hullo, redskins!” called out Henry. “What brings you here?”
+
+At the sound of the young soldier’s voice the Indian on the seat stirred
+feebly. Then as he caught sight of the two on the shore he uttered a
+faint cry.
+
+“English soldiers!” he murmured in his native tongue.
+
+“I say, what brings you here?” repeated Henry.
+
+“How?” muttered the red man in return, and tried to brace himself up.
+“Blue Crow much hurt. Got fire-water?”
+
+“No, we haven’t any fire-water,” answered Dave. “How did you get hurt?”
+
+“French soldiers shoot Blue Crow and Yellow Nose,” answered the Indian,
+with an effort. “Good English help um, yes?”
+
+“Perhaps,” said Henry. “Where did you have the fight?”
+
+“Udder shore of lake. Want to find the Great William. You help or Yellow
+Nose die,” went on the Indian, pointing to his silent companion.
+
+Dave and Henry drew closer and lowered their muskets. What Blue Crow
+said was true—the Indian in the bottom of the canoe was wounded both in
+the breast and the stomach. He was breathing in loud gasps, and it was
+easy to see that his earthly career was fast approaching its end.
+
+“I am sorry, but we can do nothing for your friend,” said Dave softly.
+
+“Nothing?” repeated the Indian on the seat. “Nothing,—and Yellow Nose
+tried to do much for his English brothers.” He drew his mouth down
+bitterly. “His reward must come from the Great Spirit alone.”
+
+“If you want to find Sir William Johnson we can take you to him,” said
+Henry. “The fort is only a short distance up the lake. We can paddle the
+canoe.”
+
+“Let us bind up your wounds first,” said Dave, and this was done, and
+they also tried to do something for the Indian at the bottom of the
+canoe. But in the midst of their labors Yellow Nose breathed his last.
+
+Having covered the dead Indian with a coat, and done all they could for
+Blue Crow, Dave and Henry took up the two paddles the canoe contained
+and lost no time in moving the craft up the lake in the direction of the
+Niagara River. They soon reached one of the usual boat landings, and
+here fell in with a score or more of soldiers. By this time Blue Crow
+had fainted away, and it took all the skill of one of the fort surgeons
+to revive him.
+
+“He wants to see Sir William Johnson,” said Dave. “I believe he carries
+some sort of message.”
+
+“Then we’ll take him up to the fort on a litter,” said the surgeon. “I
+do not believe he can recover. He has lost too much blood.”
+
+By the time the fort was reached Blue Crow was in danger of another
+relapse. Sir William Johnson was speedily summoned. As he came in he
+recognized the Indian as one he knew fairly well.
+
+“I am sorry for you,” he said, taking the Indian’s hand.
+
+“Blue Crow is glad he has reached the Great William,” replied the red
+man. “He was afraid he would die before he met his English friend face
+to face. He comes many miles, from beyond the Thousand Islands of the
+St. Lawrence.”
+
+“With a message?”
+
+“Yes. He was sent by General Wolfe.”
+
+“And what has General Wolfe to say?” demanded Sir William Johnson
+eagerly.
+
+“He has fought the French, and—and has lo—lost. He—says—help—the French
+have—slain—I—’tis growing—dark—dark——”
+
+The Indian gave a gasp, and tried to go on. Sir William Johnson raised
+him up and called for the surgeon. But it was too late—the red messenger
+was dead.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III
+
+                         ON A DANGEROUS MISSION
+
+
+TO understand fully the importance of the news brought to Sir William
+Johnson by Blue Crow we shall have to go back a little and see what the
+English and Colonial soldiers were trying to do in this campaign of 1759
+against the French.
+
+Encouraged by the success at Fort Pitt and at other points, the king and
+the military leaders of the English had decided on a campaign which
+should strike at the French in three different places. General Prideaux
+and Sir William Johnson were to advance on Oswego and Fort Niagara,
+General Amherst was to push his way northward through the Lake Champlain
+territory, and General Wolfe was to sail from England with an army of
+eight thousand troops and move up the St. Lawrence River upon Quebec. As
+soon as the success of General Prideaux and of General Amherst was
+assured, these two branches of the English forces were to join Wolfe in
+his attack on the French stronghold.
+
+As we have already seen, the attack on Fort Niagara was a brilliant
+success. But the advance of Amherst proved difficult. The French fled
+slowly before him, doing all they could to hinder his progress, and a
+succession of storms on the lake caused him a heavy loss of ships and
+stores. Some of his troops, the New Hampshire Rangers under Major
+Rogers, went as far as the village of St. Francis, which they destroyed,
+thus saving that part of New England from further trouble on the
+frontier, but with the coming of winter Amherst was compelled to go into
+winter quarters at Crown Point.
+
+In the meantime, General Wolfe, on board the English fleet, reached the
+Canadian shore in June. News of his coming had already spread among the
+French, and it was felt that his attack would be directed against
+Quebec.
+
+“We must save our beloved city, no matter what the cost!” was the cry
+throughout Canada; and to Quebec flocked both the regular French troops
+and also the French colonists, to the number of many thousands. All of
+these soldiers were placed under the command of General Montcalm, a wise
+and good soldier and one known for his thorough bravery.
+
+As most of my young readers know, Quebec is located on a high bluff,
+overlooking the St. Lawrence. This bluff, or series of bluffs, extends
+along the river front for miles, making the task of reaching the city
+from the water a difficult one. But Montcalm was not to be caught
+napping, and he lost no time in fortifying the bluffs all the way from
+Quebec proper down the river to the Falls of Montmorenci, a distance of
+about five miles.
+
+It was no easy task for the British fleet to sail up the St. Lawrence,
+which was difficult of navigation because of the many hidden rocks and
+shoals, but at length they reached the Island of Orleans, just below the
+city, and after a short brush with the inhabitants, who soon fled, the
+army took possession.
+
+Early on the following morning General Wolfe went to the edge of the
+island and took a survey of the situation.
+
+“It will be no easy matter to capture Quebec,” said one of his
+subordinates. “’Tis a regular Gibraltar.”
+
+“It must be done,” answered Wolfe quietly.
+
+He well understood the difficulty of the task before him. To scale those
+frowning walls would be hard, especially in the face of the French
+batteries, and back of the city were the still higher hills of Cape
+Diamond, also well fortified. All along the rocky shore could be seen
+the frowning cannon of Montcalm.
+
+“General Wolfe must wait for help from Amherst and Prideaux,” was the
+comment of more than one old soldier, but Wolfe was resolved not to wait
+too long, fearing Montcalm would also be re-enforced, and that his own
+supplies would run short.
+
+To destroy the English ships, Montcalm sent out a number of fire-boats,
+filled to the gunwales and rails with pitch, tar, and explosives. These
+made a brilliant illumination, but failed to do much damage.
+
+Advancing from the Island of Orleans, General Wolfe captured Point Levi,
+where the town of Levis now stands. This was directly opposite Quebec,
+and from this point he was able to bombard the city, only about a mile
+away. This new movement of the English caused great alarm in Quebec, and
+plans for an immediate attack on Wolfe were begun by the armed
+townspeople, some Indians, and a number of young men from the Seminary.
+
+The attack was to be made on the 12th of July, but as the motley
+collection of French and Indians drew close to the English camp in the
+darkness there was a sudden alarm, some of the crowd fired on their own
+friends, and then followed a panic, and all rushed back to the canoes
+which had brought them over, and made haste to paddle back to Quebec.
+
+For this attack Wolfe made the French pay dearly. His cannon were
+trained on the water front before Quebec and on parts of the city
+itself, and inside of twenty-four hours a Cathedral and eighteen houses
+were burnt or wrecked by shot and shell. Mad with terror, the
+inhabitants fled to the back country, and sent word to Montcalm
+imploring the general to save them.
+
+But it was not Wolfe’s intention to waste his ammunition by merely
+battering down the buildings of Quebec. He wished to capture the
+stronghold, and as it seemed to offer no chance at the front he resolved
+to move down the river once again, make a landing below the Falls of
+Montmorenci, and try to find his way around to the enemy’s rear.
+
+The Montmorenci River is a wild and turbulent stream, flowing at the
+bottom of a deep gorge and leaping into the St. Lawrence over a cataract
+two hundred and more feet in height. On each side of the gorge was a
+dense forest, so a camp was made along the stream without molestation
+from the French soldiers, who lay concealed in the woods on the opposite
+side of the cataract.
+
+General Levis was in command of the French detachment on guard at the
+Montmorenci. He wished to dislodge Wolfe at once, but was overruled by
+Vaudreuil, the French governor-general. Nevertheless some French Indians
+crossed at a hidden ford and drove back some of the English troops, from
+which they took thirty-six scalps.
+
+There now ensued a number of small skirmishes in which the honors were
+about evenly divided. Some of the English troops landed above Quebec and
+gained a foothold, and there was a constant cannonading from both sides
+which did but little damage. Montcalm refused to move, and Wolfe at last
+decided to make a bold attack, both by the ford of the Montmorenci and
+by the river shore, where the receding tide at times left a long stretch
+of mud flats.
+
+This was on the last day of July, just one week after the fall of Fort
+Niagara. The day promised fair, but in the afternoon there was a heavy
+downpour of rain, which wet the ammunition of the soldiers and made
+marching in the mud next to impossible. The English troops fought
+desperately, but were beaten back by the French batteries, and soon saw
+that to climb the slippery slopes before them would be impossible.
+
+“We can’t make it,” said more than one, and reluctantly Wolfe had the
+retreat sounded, and the English withdrew, with a loss to the grenadiers
+and the Colonials of over four hundred killed and wounded.
+
+It was a bitter blow, but how bitter the colonists at large did not know
+until some time later, for in those days there was neither telegraph nor
+train to carry the news. Among the Indians in the fight was Blue Crow,
+and he and his companion, Yellow Nose, were at once dispatched to Fort
+Niagara to tell General Prideaux of what had occurred and to learn when
+the force along Lake Ontario might be expected to move down the St.
+Lawrence.
+
+The news received by Sir William Johnson was short and unsatisfactory,
+and both the bodies of the dead Indians and their canoe were searched
+for a possible written message, but without success. Sir William was
+much disturbed, for some instructions which had been forwarded to
+General Prideaux by General Amherst were also missing, and he scarcely
+knew how to turn next. General Gage, he knew, was coming to take command
+in his stead, but in the meanwhile time of great value might be lost.
+
+“I will send out some spies toward Oswego,” he said, to several of his
+fellow officers. “If they are not stopped they can move on as far as the
+St. Lawrence. Perhaps they can bring in the news I wish.”
+
+In the course of a talk with Dave and Henry regarding the manner in
+which the dead Indians had first been discovered, the commander
+mentioned that he wished to send out the spies, and Henry at once begged
+that he be allowed to go along.
+
+“I take a deep interest, sir,” he said respectfully. “And I would
+consider it an honor to serve you in that way.”
+
+“And so would I consider it an honor,” added Dave.
+
+“Perhaps but it is likewise a risk, my lads,” answered the Indian
+Superintendent.
+
+“We are used to taking risks,” went on Henry. “Both of us are fair shots
+and have been serving in the field ever since the war began.”
+
+“I will think it over,” said Sir William. “One thing is in your favor—a
+youth can sometimes get through where a man is suspected and halted and
+very often shot down.”
+
+“We should expect the same treatment that older men get,” answered Dave
+grimly.
+
+Late that evening a party of six was made up, composed of a sharpshooter
+named Silvers, who was the leader, three backwoodsmen named Raymond,
+Gilfoy, and Shamer, and the two young soldiers. Silvers was given minute
+instructions as to what he must do, and was told to impart these
+instructions to the others after Fort Niagara was left behind. They were
+told to move forward at early dawn, and all spent two hours in getting
+ready for the trip, which they knew would be full of peril.
+
+“It’s a big load on your shoulders,” said Shamer to the youths. He was a
+Dutch pioneer and had known them ever since they had joined the troops
+under Prideaux. “Maybe you don’t know the risk you are taking.”
+
+“No larger on our shoulders than on yours,” laughed Dave.
+
+“There may be French and Indian spies all around this lake,” went on
+Shamer.
+
+“Why do you go?” demanded Henry.
+
+“Me? Oh, I like the excitement.”
+
+“Well, I reckon we like the excitement too,” said Dave; and then there
+was a short laugh, for nobody fully realized the great peril that the
+future held in store for them.
+
+It was hardly four o’clock in the morning when Silvers came around and
+awakened the others, who had gone into a little camp of them own down by
+the lake front.
+
+“No time to be lost,” he said. “We’ll get breakfast just as quick as we
+can.” And the meal was disposed of in short order.
+
+It had been decided that the six should move down the lake in two small
+rowboats, each carrying its share of the stores taken along. Everybody
+was to take his turn at rowing, and the boats were to move along in the
+dark as well as during the daytime. By this means it was hoped that the
+distance, about a hundred and thirty miles, would be covered in less
+than three days.
+
+“All ready?” asked Silvers, when the dishes were put away.
+
+“All ready,” was the answer, from one and another. Then they entered the
+two rowboats, took up the oars, and before the morning sun shone over
+the surface of the placid lake the journey down the broad sheet of water
+was begun.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER IV
+
+                        A SQUALL ON LAKE ONTARIO
+
+
+“IF General Wolfe has suffered a heavy defeat it means a hard blow to
+our cause,” observed Dave, as the two rowboats glided over the water a
+short distance from each other.
+
+“You are right,” answered the backwoodsman named Raymond. “Everybody was
+hoping he would sail right up the St. Lawrence and capture Quebec before
+the French were up to what he was doing.”
+
+“I don’t think this war is over yet,” put in Gilfoy, a round-faced
+Irish-American. “Sure, when you sift it down, the French can fight as
+well as any of us, and they have just as many redskins to help ’em out
+as we have.”
+
+“I think they have more,” put in Henry. “They have been buying up tribe
+after tribe with all sorts of presents and bribes—I heard Sir William
+himself say so.”
+
+“I wish they had sent George Washington to Quebec,” came from Dave. “I
+don’t think he would have failed.”
+
+“What do you know of Washington?” questioned Silvers.
+
+“I used to work for him—when he was a surveyor for old Lord Fairfax—and
+I served under him when we marched against Fort Duquesne, at the time
+Braddock was defeated. It was Washington who saved what was left of us
+from being shot down like so many rabbits, when the redskins surrounded
+us in the forest.”
+
+“Well, I know little of Washington, lad. But I do know it is going to
+take a plucky commander to capture Quebec, which is set up on high rocks
+like a regular fort,” returned the leader of the expedition.
+
+For the first two hours of their journey they kept fairly close to the
+shore of the lake, gliding past long stretches of forest which have long
+since fallen before the axes of the pioneer and the lumberman. Here and
+there was a rocky cove backed up by sweet-scented shrubs and berry
+bushes, loaded down with tempting fruit. The morning calls of the birds
+could be heard, and the occasional howl of a lonely wolf, or the sharp
+bark of a fox.
+
+“No use in talking,” was Henry’s comment, as he cast a longing eye
+shoreward. “It’s a regular paradise for game.”
+
+“Then you like hunting, lad?” came from Shamer. “So do I, and nothing
+would please me better than to land and spend a day running down
+something big. But duty is duty, and we haven’t even a right to linger
+here,” and the tall sharpshooter bent his back to the blade he was
+working, and Henry, who was opposite, did the same.
+
+The sun was now flooding the surface of the lake with a golden sheen and
+the day promised to be a hot one. Several of the soldiers had laid aside
+their coats, and now they took off other garments, in order that they
+might not perspire too freely.
+
+By noon several of the party calculated that they had traveled
+twenty-four miles, and by a vote it was decided to pull into an inviting
+cove, where the shade was dense, and rest for half an hour and dispose
+of the midday meal.
+
+“There is no use of our killing ourselves at the very start,” said
+Raymond. “We want to save ourselves a little, in case we get into some
+tight corner and have to row to save our lives.” And the others agreed
+with him.
+
+The rest and meal on the grassy bank, overhung by the branches of some
+trees which had likely stood there for a century, came to an end all too
+soon, and once again they placed their traps in the rowboats and took up
+the oars. As they glided out onto the lake Silvers gave a look around.
+
+“So far as I can see, not a soul is within sight of us,” he announced.
+“If there are Indians near they are not showing themselves at the water
+front.”
+
+Nevertheless, it was not deemed advisable to hug the shore too closely,
+and they set a course which soon took them at least quarter of a mile
+from land.
+
+It must be confessed that the rowing was now beginning to tell upon both
+Dave and Henry. But as they had enlisted to do their full share of the
+work, neither complained.
+
+“Sure, and it’s no easy job to row hour after hour,” said Gilfoy
+presently. His experiences with a rowboat had been very limited.
+“’Twouldn’t be so bad if the sun wasn’t so hot.”
+
+“Some clouds are coming up,” said Shamer a little later. “And by the
+feeling in the air I shouldn’t be surprised if we had a storm.”
+
+The clouds he mentioned hung low down to the westward, and it was not
+until about four o’clock in the afternoon that they took a turn and came
+up with remarkable rapidity. Then followed a rush of cold air which was
+very pleasant.
+
+“The wind is beginning to blow,” said Henry. “See the whitecaps it is
+tossing up.”
+
+“The wind is all right, if it doesn’t get too strong,” replied Silvers.
+“But to my idea we are going to have more than we want of it presently.”
+
+“Yes, and it’s coming now!” cried Shamer. “Look across the lake.”
+
+They did so, and each saw that he was right. The dense clouds had
+circled around to the northwestward and the wind was coming in short,
+sharp puffs which piled the whitecaps one over the other. Then came a
+sudden rush of air which sent the rowboats careening in a dangerous
+fashion.
+
+“Hi! we can’t stand this!” exclaimed Gilfoy. “Before we know it we’ll
+all be at the bottom. Let us make for shore.”
+
+“Yes, and we can’t be too quick about it,” added Raymond. “This squall
+is going to be a heavy one.”
+
+Silvers admitted that they were right, and without delay the two
+rowboats were headed for shore, at a point where a curving cove seemed
+to promise safety.
+
+All pulled with a will, yet long before the cove was gained, the squall
+struck them, sending a shower of spray in all directions and causing
+each craft to rock violently.
+
+“Oh!” cried Dave, as some water hit him in the ear. “This is as bad as
+was the storm we struck when we rowed from Oswego to Fort Niagara.”
+
+“Don’t say a word—it’s a regular Niagara in itself!” gasped Henry, as a
+downpour of rain followed the gust of wind.
+
+“We can be thankful we are not further out on the lake,” came from
+Raymond. “Now then, all together, and we’ll soon be safe!”
+
+They bent to the oars with a will, two in each boat rowing and the third
+steering. Another gust hit them, giving them a second ducking, and now
+followed a veritable cloud-burst of rain. But in a few minutes the cove
+was gained, and they glided under some overhanging branches and thick
+bushes.
+
+“We are well out of that!” said Henry, when he could catch his breath.
+“Just listen to the wind whistle!”
+
+“It won’t last,” said Silvers. “In an hour from now the sun will be
+shining as brightly as ever.”
+
+The wind whistled through the treetops, but down close to the water the
+breeze did not touch them, and only a few drops of rain entered the
+rowboats. Luckily they had covered their stores and ammunition with
+tarpaulins, so no damage was done in that direction.
+
+“This is something we didn’t bargain for, eh?” came from Raymond. “Had
+we been far out on the lake the chances are we should have been
+swamped.”
+
+As the leader of the little expedition had said, the squall did not
+last, and in exactly three-quarters of an hour after it began the clouds
+shifted, the sun came out, and the rain ceased as if by magic.
+
+“Now, men, we must make up for time lost,” said Silvers. “We’ve all had
+a pretty good rest.”
+
+“This squall has changed its course, but I’ll wager a mug of cider it
+comes back by sundown,” said Gilfoy.
+
+“And I say the same,” added Shamer.
+
+“In that case we want to get as far as possible before it does come
+back,” came from Henry. “The little breeze that is still blowing is in
+our favor.”
+
+Once again the two rowboats were headed down the lake, and each stroke
+sent the craft shooting on their course. The water was still a trifle
+rough, but what they lost by this was more than made up by the breeze
+behind them.
+
+“The air puts new life into a fellow,” said Dave. “I feel fresher than I
+did when we started after dinner.”
+
+By sundown another ten or twelve miles had been covered. The wind had
+now veered around and was blowing strongly from the northeast. The sky
+looked heavy, and despite their best efforts it was impossible to make
+headway down the lake.
+
+“We’ll have to go ashore for the night,” said Silvers. “More than likely
+the wind will die down during the night.”
+
+After their varied experiences of the day, Dave and Henry were not sorry
+to leave the oars and take it easy in a sheltered spot picked out by the
+leader of the expedition. After a careful survey of the location, to
+make certain that no enemies were near, a tiny camp-fire was lit in a
+hollow, and over this were broiled some fish which Henry and Raymond
+caught.
+
+Silvers had been ordered to keep a constant guard both on the lake and
+on the land by Sir William Johnson, and when it came time to lie down to
+sleep he divided the night into watches of an hour and a half each, so
+that all might share in the duty and yet get the benefit of sufficient
+rest for the next day’s work.
+
+Henry was on guard from half-past ten until midnight, when Dave relieved
+him.
+
+“Have you seen anything?” asked Dave, as he arose and stretched himself,
+for he had been sleeping soundly.
+
+“Nothing at all,” answered his cousin, in a whisper, so as not to arouse
+the others. “It looks to me as if a guard is unnecessary; but we have
+got to obey orders.”
+
+But little more was said, and in a few minutes Henry was sleeping
+peacefully, on a mossy bank close to Raymond the backwoodsman. Dave took
+up his musket and began to walk around the camp, to awaken himself still
+more, for he was yet drowsy.
+
+The fire had been allowed to die down, for in spite of the storm nobody
+seemed to desire the heat, and all had been wet a hundred times before.
+
+After a walk lasting several minutes, and feeling that all was safe,
+Dave sat down on a fallen tree trunk to meditate. His thoughts were
+scattered, but presently centered on home. In his mind’s eye he could
+see the big living room of the cabin, with its immense open chimney, its
+rude furnishings, and its neatly sanded floor. In the easy chair in a
+corner sat his crippled cousin, Rodney, doing some work that did not
+require his moving about, and close at hand was his Aunt Lucy, also
+busy, and with a sweet face not easily forgotten. And then he fancied he
+could hear a shout from without, and he could see his aunt catch up the
+gun behind the door in alarm. But the gun fell from her hands when she
+saw it was her husband and Dave’s father approaching, with faithful old
+Sam Barringford and little Nell. And then he fancied he saw little Nell
+give a leap straight into her mother’s arms and then into the arms of
+Rodney.
+
+“I’d like to be there when she gets home,” he thought. “I know Aunt
+Lucy’s cheeks will be wet with tears of joy. And they’ll all be glad and
+the neighbors will come in and there will be a regular jubilee, and——”
+
+Dave stopped his dreamings and leaped to his feet. A noise in the
+brushwood back of the camp had reached his ears. Holding his musket
+ready for use, he strained his eyes to pierce the darkness, but he could
+see nothing.
+
+“Strange,” he thought, after a pause. “I am sure I heard something. It
+must have been a night bird or——Ha!”
+
+He shut his teeth hard. Something was certainly there—a dark form,
+moving slowly along, close to the ground. But whether it was man or
+beast he could not tell, until the form suddenly arose, and then he made
+out that it was an Indian!
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V
+
+                          PERILS OF THE FOREST
+
+
+FOR the instant when Dave made the discovery that the form in the
+darkness was that of an Indian, the young soldier knew not what to do.
+
+He raised his musket to fire, but did not pull the trigger, fearing the
+newcomer might be a friend.
+
+“Halt!” he called out, a second later. “Who comes there?”
+
+But the Indian did not halt. Instead he made a sudden movement to one
+side, and instantly vanished behind a neighboring tree.
+
+“What’s the matter?” came from Silvers, who had heard the young guard’s
+challenge. “What did you see?”
+
+“An Indian!” cried Dave. “He just leaped behind a tree over yonder.”
+
+“An Indian!” was the cry from several, and in a moment everybody was on
+his feet and had his firearm in hand.
+
+“We may be surrounded,” came from Raymond. “Better lie low,” and his
+advice was obeyed. As they scattered to the nearby rocks and bushes,
+Silvers moved cautiously towards the spot where Dave had discovered the
+red man.
+
+“You are certain it was a redskin?” asked Henry, who had placed himself
+beside his cousin. “It’s pretty dark to see anything.”
+
+“I know a redskin when I see him, Henry. But I must admit that he was
+very low, and the way he got out of sight was a marvel.”
+
+“Oh, they can move in a hurry when they have to. One thing is certain,
+he isn’t friendly to the English, or he wouldn’t be afraid to show
+himself.”
+
+The two young soldiers waited with bated breath. Each had put a fresh
+priming on his gun and felt to see that his flint-lock was in good
+condition. Their very lives might depend upon the shots they made.
+
+Presently they heard voices at a distance, that of Silvers and the
+guttural tones of a red man.
+
+“If you are alone, come out here and we won’t shoot you,” they heard the
+sharpshooter say. “Boys don’t shoot this fellow!” he called back to his
+companions.
+
+“We hear you, cap,” answered Raymond, and a moment later Silvers
+appeared from the forest, followed by the Indian, who carried only a bow
+and several arrows.
+
+“Why, it’s White Buffalo!” cried Dave in astonishment. And he stepped
+forward to greet his old Indian friend, while Henry did the same.
+
+“How? how?” said the Indian chief, taking their hands in his own. “White
+Buffalo think it was Dave he see, but was not sure.”
+
+“Do you know this Injun?” demanded Silvers.
+
+“To be sure we do!” cried Dave. “He is White Buffalo, an under chief of
+the Delawares. He has often fought with us against the French, and he is
+well-known to Washington and to Sir William.”
+
+“In that case, I reckon it’s all right,” said Silvers, and lowered his
+musket.
+
+“Are you alone, White Buffalo?” questioned Henry, with interest.
+
+“Yes, White Buffalo is alone,” replied the red chief. “He was out
+hunting and hurt his foot on the sharp rocks.” He showed the injury,
+which he had bound up with a bit of rag. “He could not get back to his
+followers, so walked down to the lake for water.”
+
+“I reckon we can fix up that hurt a little better,” said Dave, and set
+to work without delay. While he did this, the Indian chief told of his
+adventures, and of how he had brought down a big deer with an arrow and
+how his followers had started back to the fort with the game.
+
+“White Buffalo has seen the trail of the French around here,” he went
+on. “The white brothers must beware, or they will fall into a snare.”
+
+“We’ll keep our eyes open,” answered Silvers.
+
+White Buffalo said he would remain with the soldiers until morning, and
+soon the camp settled down once again to rest. His foot was badly cut,
+but when Dave had put on some salve that had been placed among the
+stores, he said it felt much better.
+
+“David is right,” he said, while talking to the youth. “This war is not
+yet in sight of the end. The French agents have been again among the red
+men. They bring valuable presents and much drink, and promise many
+things to the Indian if he will but fight with them against the
+English.”
+
+“But White Buffalo, you will not listen to them,” cried Dave.
+
+“Has not White Buffalo spoken before?” said the Indian chief in a hurt
+tone. “And when he has spoken, his mind is as fast as the rock upon
+which he sits.”
+
+“I knew it!” cried the young soldier. “Oh, I wish all the Indians were
+as trustworthy as you.”
+
+“The red man’s heart is full of trouble,” went on the Indian chief
+sadly. “White Buffalo will stand by the English, but when the war is at
+an end, when the hatchet is buried and the smoke of the pipe of peace
+floats on the evening air, who shall give to the Indian the land that is
+rightfully his own? If the French win they will keep the land, and if
+the English win they will keep the land, and White Buffalo and his
+brethren will have nothing—the maize land and the hunting land will all
+be gone from him.”
+
+“It is a pity, White Buffalo, there is no denying it,” put in Henry.
+“You ought to have the land just as well as the white man. But the
+trouble is, you won’t cultivate it as we do.”
+
+At this the chief drew himself up. “The Indian is a hunter, not a
+farmer,” he said proudly. “He lives by the chase and by what Nature
+grows for him.”
+
+“That’s just what causes the trouble, White Buffalo. A man who plants
+land can live on a few acres, but one who lives by hunting must have
+miles and miles of plains and forests for his roamings. I like hunting
+myself, you know I do, so I can understand some of your feelings. But as
+more people come over here, or are born on the land, we’ll have to do
+less and less of hunting, and more planting and stock raising. In Europe
+there are so many people they couldn’t possibly live by hunting even if
+they wanted to. What would you do if there were so many Indians here?”
+
+“The Great Spirit who rules the happy hunting ground takes care of
+that.” The chief paused. “And then there are wars.”
+
+“Yes, I know you often lose plenty of warriors by your tribal quarrels,”
+said Henry. “But to get back to where we started from. If I have my say,
+you shall never suffer so long as I have a roof over my head.”
+
+“When the war is over, I want White Buffalo to go with me to the
+trading-post on the Kinotah,” put in Dave. “The hunting and fishing
+there will delight him, I know.”
+
+At this the red man looked grateful.
+
+“David and Henry are indeed my brothers,” he said softly. “White Buffalo
+shall be their friend to the death,” and he placed the back of the hand
+of each up to his forehead.
+
+The alarms of the night were not yet at an end. It was still dark, and
+Dave and Henry, along with White Buffalo, had dropped into a light
+sleep, when a cry from Gilfoy, who was on guard, awakened them.
+
+“Some wild beast prowling around,” he announced. “Sounds to me like a
+wildcat.”
+
+“Then I’m going to be on my guard,” said Dave. He had not forgotten how
+a wildcat had once leaped upon him while he was in bathing.
+
+All in the camp were soon on the alert. Each listened, but could hear
+nothing but the gurgle of the tiny stream that poured over the rocks at
+this spot and into the lake.
+
+“Guess you must have been dreaming, Gilfoy,” said Silvers, at length.
+“Was it another Injun?”
+
+“No, it was no redskin, onless he was climbin’ the trees,” answered the
+Irish-American soldier.
+
+“White Buffalo can hear it,” came from the Indian chief, as they all
+listened again. “It comes from over there,” and he pointed with his
+finger to a clump of silver maples twenty feet away. “As the white
+soldier says, it is a wild beast.”
+
+“You must have keen ears,” put in Silvers. “I can’t hear a thing but the
+brook.”
+
+“White Buffalo lives by the hunt.”
+
+“Perhaps you had better go forward and find him then.”
+
+“White Buffalo can do that, too,” was the quick answer.
+
+“I’ll go along,” said Henry and caught up his musket once more.
+
+With extreme caution the two left the circle of the camp-fire which had
+been started after the first alarm. The Indian held an arrow to his bow,
+and the young soldier had his finger on the trigger of his firearm.
+
+The advance was very slow and absolutely noiseless. Henry now showed his
+training as a hunter. Coming to the nearest of the maples, both halted
+without a sound and peered upward.
+
+There was nothing to be seen, and they moved around to the next tree.
+Then both caught the dim outline of some animal, crouching low on a
+thick branch, ready to leap.
+
+There followed the crack of a musket and the whiz of an arrow almost
+simultaneously, and the wild animal raised up, with a scream of pain.
+Then it made a mad leap, striking Henry on the shoulder, and both rolled
+to the ground in the dark.
+
+“Help!” yelled the young soldier, “help!”
+
+The fall had been a peculiar one, and as the youth and beast rolled
+over, the animal got its foreleg entangled in the strap of Henry’s
+musket. It snapped at the weapon, burying its teeth deeply into the
+wooden stock. Then, realizing its mistake, it let the musket go and
+snapped at the young soldier, but by this time Henry had rolled out of
+reach.
+
+Hearing the cry for help, Dave rushed forward, followed by the others,
+Raymond and Gilfoy carrying torches snatched from the camp-fire.
+
+“It’s a catamount!” cried Raymond. “Give it to him, men!” And he opened
+fire with his own musket.
+
+Gilfoy threw his torch at the beast, and it landed on the catamount’s
+head, causing it to turn and roll over in alarm. Then the beast made
+another leap, this time straight for Raymond’s throat.
+
+As the catamount left the ground White Buffalo fired a second arrow. His
+first had grazed the catamount’s back. His second aim was more true, and
+with a snarl the beast fell back with the point sticking deeply in its
+side.
+
+“Good for you, White Buffalo!” cried Henry.
+
+He had scarcely spoken when Dave took a shot at the beast, followed by
+Shamer and lastly Silvers. All three of the shots went more or less
+true, and the catamount whirled round and round, snapping and snarling.
+Then it dropped in a heap, gave a few kicks, and lay still.
+
+“That was a wild one, and no mistake,” said Silvers, after all had
+assured themselves that the catamount was really dead.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  As the catamount left the ground White Buffalo fired a
+  second arrow.—_Page 46._
+]
+
+“He’s large, too,” said Gilfoy, and the Irish-American soldier was
+right. The beast was nearly three feet long, exclusive of the sweeping
+tail, and had heavy-set legs and a powerful, “bullish” neck.
+
+“We had better see if there are any more around,” said Henry, and the
+search was started as soon as the firearms were reloaded.
+
+But no other wild beasts put in an appearance, and at last, worn out by
+the work of the day just past and by the numerous alarms, the soldiers
+lay down once more, to snatch another nap ere the sun came up.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER VI
+
+                        AN UNEXPECTED SEPARATION
+
+
+“I DON’T believe the storms are entirely over yet,” said Dave, on the
+following morning, after a walk down to the lake shore and a look at the
+sky.
+
+“It is going to be cloudy and windy,” answered Henry, as he began to
+wash up in a neighboring pool. “We’ll have to work hard for every mile
+we gain.”
+
+While the two were talking, White Buffalo joined them. His foot was
+still very sore, but he said he intended to turn back toward Fort
+Niagara as soon as the morning meal was finished.
+
+It did not take long for the soldiers to prepare breakfast, and
+immediately after this the traps were loaded on the boats and the young
+soldiers bid White Buffalo good-by.
+
+“Tell Sir William that you met us,” said Silvers, “and tell him how the
+storm made us go into camp;” and this the Indian chief promised to do.
+
+There was a strong, raw wind, and despite the rising sun they were glad
+to keep on their coats as they bent to the oars and sent the two
+rowboats speeding on their way. Once more they hugged the shore, Raymond
+stating that they might run into another squall at any moment.
+
+Although they kept their eyes on the alert, no signs of white man or red
+were seen during the morning. Once they saw an overturned canoe resting
+in the mud, but by the appearance of the craft they came to the
+conclusion that it had been rotting there for several months, if not a
+year.
+
+“The Indians have deserted this territory and the French have all sailed
+to the north shore of the lake,” said Dave. “It will be a long while
+before another village or trading-post is established here.”
+
+But a few minutes later Shamer proved that Dave was wrong. Standing up
+suddenly, he pointed to a spot where the lake shore was thinly fringed
+with trees and brushwood.
+
+“What do you see?” demanded Silvers.
+
+“Redskins—three or four of them,” was the low answer.
+
+“Where?”
+
+“Back of those trees. They are gone now.”
+
+“If that is so, we must be on our guard,” said the leader of the
+expedition, and called to those in the second boat to pull further out
+into the lake.
+
+They watched for a long time, but nothing more was seen of the Indians,
+and presently Silvers asked Shamer if he was sure his eyesight had not
+deceived him.
+
+“I am sure I saw them,” said the backwoodsman.
+
+“I saw one of the Injuns myself,” put in Gilfoy. “Just as I spotted him
+he dodged out of sight.”
+
+Just ahead of the boats the shore made a deep inward curve and Silvers
+decided that they should row directly across the bay thus formed.
+
+“The bay isn’t over a mile across,” he said. “But if the redskins try to
+follow us up they will have a good three or four miles to travel.”
+
+“Unless they put out in canoes,” came from Raymond.
+
+“If they do that we can easily see them and be on our guard,” answered
+the leader of the expedition.
+
+The constant rowing was beginning to tell on Dave’s hands, and he was
+not sorry when it came his turn to steer the craft occupied by himself,
+Henry, and Raymond.
+
+Good progress was being made when, about three o’clock in the afternoon,
+the sky became unusually black and the wind freshed up at a remarkable
+rate.
+
+“Now we are going to catch it,” said Raymond. “And a good deal more of
+wind than of rain.”
+
+The backwoodsman was right, and they had just time in which to reach
+shore when the wind-storm came rushing on them in all of its fury,
+hurling the whitecaps one over another and causing the tall trees to
+groan and bend beneath the blast.
+
+“Don’t catch me under the trees in such a blow,” said Gilfoy, and the
+others agreed that it would be a foolhardy move to look for shelter
+there at such a time. More than one branch came down with a crack like
+that of a pistol, and further off they heard half-decayed monarchs of
+the forest come down with low booms.
+
+The wind continued to blow, at first in irregular puffs and then in a
+steady gale, directly from the east. The raindrops were large and
+scattering and scarcely wet the ground.
+
+“It’s of no use to try rowing in this wind,” said Silvers, after a
+careful look at the sky. “We’ll be blown back and all our strength
+wasted.”
+
+“How far are we from Oswego?” asked Henry.
+
+“I should say about sixty miles.”
+
+“We might tramp that distance,” put in Dave. “But it would take not less
+than two days over this rough ground.”
+
+“It’s out of the question, lad. The ground is rougher than you imagine.
+No, I think we had better rest until morning. This wind can’t last.”
+
+This being decided, the party proceeded to make themselves comfortable,
+moving inland to where a series of rocks formed something of a cliff,
+thickly overgrown with vines and bushes. Here they formed a shelter by
+leaning long branches and saplings against the rocks, and in a hollow a
+fire was lit, where they made something hot to drink.
+
+“We must be on our guard here,” said Silvers. “Those Indians may be
+following us. This cliff——”
+
+He stopped short, having received a violent push from Dave, who stood
+close at hand, under the shelter of a thick tree branch. As the leader
+of the expedition fell an arrow whizzed by his side, and buried itself
+in the dirt between the rocks.
+
+“The redskins!” cried Henry. “They are behind us!”
+
+“They are surrounding us,” put in Gilfoy.
+
+Another arrow and still another whizzed through the air, and Shamer was
+struck in the arm. Then came a fierce yell from the forest, which was
+answered by another from the lake front.
+
+“They must number twenty or thirty,” said Dave.
+
+“We are caught like rats in a trap!” ejaculated Henry. His eyes began to
+blaze. “We’ve got to fight for it—and fight our best, too!”
+
+Another yell sounded out and several Indians appeared, hideous in their
+warpaint. More arrows were fired—one grazing Henry’s hand—and eight of
+the warriors leaped toward the shelter, flourishing their tomahawks.
+
+“Fire on ’em. Don’t waste a bullet!” sang out Silvers, and brought his
+long rifle to bear on the leading Indian. As the weapon rang out the red
+man leaped upward and fell in a heap, the bullet having pierced his
+brain.
+
+The firing now became general and soon the shelter by the rocks was
+filled with smoke, so that but little could be seen. Dave was beside
+Henry, and both discharged their muskets at the enemy, and they saw two
+more Indians stagger and fall back. Then a tomahawk came whizzing
+through the air, and poor Gilfoy went down to rise no more. Shamer was
+also hit in the leg; and the din became frightful.
+
+“We must get out of here,” cried Raymond, catching Dave by the arm.
+“Come on!”
+
+“Come, Henry!” exclaimed Dave. “Follow us!”
+
+“All right,” was the answer, and in a second more the three were running
+for the nearest patch of brushwood, loading their muskets as they ran.
+
+As the new shelter was gained, two tall warriors leaped out to meet
+them. Tomahawks were raised, but Raymond swung his musket over his head
+and sent one Indian reeling to the earth. In the meantime the second
+warrior threw his tomahawk at Dave, but the youth dodged and before the
+red man could recover from his throw Henry was on him with the hunting
+knife he had carried since the breaking out of the war.
+
+“That for you!” cried Henry, wild with excitement, and buried the knife
+in the Indian’s shoulder. The warrior sank with a groan; and in a moment
+more he and Henry were on the ground, in a fierce hand-to-hand struggle
+for life.
+
+Dave was somewhat bewildered by the quickness of the various moves made,
+and when he could recover somewhat he found himself by Raymond’s side
+running up the lake shore. A fierce yell and shouting came from a
+distance, interspersed with gun and pistol shots.
+
+“Whe—where is Henry?” he gasped.
+
+“Reckon he is following us,” answered Raymond.
+
+“Come on, don’t stop here. The Injuns will be after us ag’in in a minute
+or two.”
+
+“But I don’t want to—to leave Henry behind.”
+
+“Don’t worry but what he’ll follow, unless they kill him, Dave. Come,
+it’s suicide to stay here,” urged Raymond, and caught the youth by the
+hand and dragged him forward.
+
+The yells of the Indians now came closer, and fearful of being
+surrounded once more the backwoodsman and Dave plunged into the forest.
+They chose a point where the tall timber was thick, and they did not
+stop in their course until a hundred yards or more had been covered.
+Sheltered by some bushes, they reloaded their muskets, which had been
+discharged four times since the struggle began.
+
+“This attack has been a bad one, lad,” said Raymond, who was breathing
+heavily. “Gilfoy is dead, and I saw Shamer go down, too.”
+
+“And Henry?” panted the young solder. “Oh, do you think——” He could not
+go on.
+
+“Let us hope for the best, lad.”
+
+“If I thought I could help him I’d go back.”
+
+“No, no, lad, don’t you try it. The Injuns are three or four to one, and
+you’ll lose your scalp just as sure as you are born.”
+
+With great bitterness of mind, Dave was forced to realize that this was
+true. Yet, he could not bear to leave Henry to his fate.
+
+“If he is killed I’ll never forgive myself,” he thought.
+
+Listening intently, they heard the Indians moving around the
+neighborhood, evidently trying to pick up the trail the whites had left.
+Gradually they appeared to come closer.
+
+“We must get out of here,” whispered Raymond. “Follow me, and don’t make
+a sound.”
+
+As silently as a shadow he led the way through the brushwood and to the
+open forest once more. Fortunately the coming of night now favored them,
+along with the heavy clouds which still hung low in the sky.
+
+Deeper and deeper they plunged into the growths until they came to some
+rough rocks, back of which was a hollow filled with stagnant water.
+
+“Let us climb over some of the rocks,” whispered the backwoodsman. “That
+will cut off the trail—in case they do happen to strike it.”
+
+With a heavy heart Dave did as advised, and the pair covered another
+distance of a hundred yards. Here the rocks were larger, forming a cliff
+considerably higher than that where the fateful shelter had been
+located.
+
+“I see something of an opening,” announced Raymond presently. “It ought
+to make a good hiding place.”
+
+He pointed to a split between the rocks. The opening was high and just
+wide enough for them to squeeze through. To the rear was located a dark
+cave of unknown depth.
+
+“We’ll rest here,” said Raymond, and threw himself on a rocky seat.
+“Keep your musket ready for use.”
+
+“It is all ready,” answered Dave, and sank beside his companion,
+wondering what had become of Henry, and how this unexpected encounter
+was going to terminate.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII
+
+                          A BEAR AND HER CUBS
+
+
+SLOWLY an hour slipped by. To Dave it seemed an age, and more than once
+he peered up and down the rough rocks to see if there was any sign of
+friends or enemies. From a distance had come two shots, but after that
+all was quiet as a tomb, save for the wind, which still swept through
+the forest, and the occasional patter of a few drops of rain.
+
+“Don’t go too far, lad,” said Raymond, by way of caution, after Dave had
+climbed out on the rocks for the fourth time. “Those Injuns may be
+closer nor you think.”
+
+“I must find out what has become of Henry,” was the half-desperate
+answer.
+
+“Yes, yes, I know, but——”
+
+“Do you think any of our party escaped to the boats?”
+
+“It’s not likely they would expose themselves, lad. If they tried to row
+away some of the redskins would be sure to see ’em and send a shower of
+arrows after ’em.”
+
+“But it is dreadful to think Henry may be killed, or a prisoner!”
+
+“I know that too, lad. Didn’t I lose my brother Dan on the frontier only
+four years ago? I did my best to save him, too, but it was no use. I was
+taken prisoner, and they had just started to torture me when some of the
+Gordon Rangers came up and saved me. That was the fight in which they
+killed old Tom Granby and his son Jabez, and carried off Mrs. Williamson
+and little Ned Ford.”
+
+“Did the prisoners ever escape?”
+
+“All but little Ned. He was carried westward, and they have never heard
+of him since,” answered Raymond, with a sorry shake of his head.
+
+A lump arose in David’s throat and he found great difficulty in
+swallowing it. If Henry was dead how would he ever be able to send the
+news to Mrs. Morris and the others?
+
+“It will ’most break Aunt Lucy’s heart,” he thought. “And Uncle Joe’s
+heart too. With Rodney a cripple they all depended on Henry so much!”
+
+Raymond was about to take a look around, when a curious sound from the
+rear of the cave-like opening caused both the backwoodsman and the young
+soldier to leap up in fresh alarm.
+
+“What was that?” cried Dave, as he brought up his musket.
+
+“Don’t know,” whispered Raymond. “Lay low! The Injuns may be coming on
+us another way.”
+
+Both crouched back into a niche of the wall and waited. Soon the noise
+was repeated, and they heard a scratching on the rocks at the back of
+the opening.
+
+“Reckon I know what that is,” said Raymond at length.
+
+“What?”
+
+“Bear’s cubs.”
+
+“Do you really think so?” cried Dave. “If that is true, this must be a
+bear’s den.”
+
+“More’n likely, lad, and if it is we had better get out.”
+
+“You think the old she bear will be back?”
+
+“To be sure. She won’t leave her cubs over night. She’d be back before
+this, only it’s likely the shots made her timid.”
+
+“It’s queer we didn’t hear the cubs before.”
+
+“They have been asleep and just woke up. Hark!”
+
+They listened and heard the scratching on the rocks again. It came
+closer, but when Raymond made a noise, it sounded fainter and fainter.
+
+“They won’t touch us, that’s sure,” said Dave. “But the old she bear——”
+
+“Something is coming!” interrupted Raymond. “Reckon it’s her!”
+
+He was right—the mother of the cubs—a black bear of good size, was
+coming slowly along at the foot of the rocks. She sniffed the air and
+looked from side to side with keen suspicion.
+
+“Hadn’t we better get out without being seen?” whispered the young
+soldier. “If we kill her, the Indians will hear the shots.”
+
+“Yes, come on,” replied Raymond.
+
+Side by side they started to leave the entrance to the bear’s den. But
+as they stepped out the old she bear uttered a whine, and the cubs in
+the cave gave answer. Then the mother bear saw the intruders in the
+semi-darkness and let out a growl of savage rage.
+
+“She’s going to fight!” cried Dave.
+
+“She thinks we have hurt her cubs!” returned the backwoodsman.
+
+Raymond was right, and before they could take a dozen steps up the rocks
+the black bear was leaping after them, snarling viciously and showing
+her long, white teeth.
+
+“We’ll have to shoot—or be chewed up!” gasped Dave, when the bear was
+less than fifty feet from him.
+
+He had scarcely uttered the words when Raymond’s rifle rang out. But the
+aim of the backwoodsman was poor, and the bullet passed wide of the
+beast. The report stopped the bear but a second, then she came on as
+furiously as ever.
+
+It was now Dave’s turn to shoot, and he lost no time in blazing away. He
+was more fortunate, and the black beast was brought to another halt,
+this time with a bullet in her shoulder. But the fight was not yet
+knocked out of her, and she tried to limp over the rocks, uttering growl
+after growl.
+
+“She won’t give in,” said Raymond, and both started to reload. While
+they were doing this the cubs, two in number, appeared at the entrance
+to the cave-like opening.
+
+On catching sight of her offspring, the wounded bear paused once again.
+She evidently wished to pursue her enemies and at the same time she
+wished to make certain that her cubs were really unharmed. Slowly she
+limped back to her own.
+
+“Now is our chance!” cried Dave, and over the rocks went the young
+soldier and the backwoodsman, scrambling along with all possible speed.
+The route was a rough one, and more than once they had their hands and
+faces scratched and their uniforms torn.
+
+“Those shots will put the Indians on the watch,” said Raymond, as they
+pushed along.
+
+“Perhaps they will bring some of our friends to the vicinity,” returned
+Dave. “If Henry——Oh!”
+
+Dave’s speech ended in a cry of pain. He had slipped on the rocks and
+his left leg had received a severe wrench at the knee. He tried to rise
+and then fell back with a groan of agony.
+
+“What’s the matter, lad?”
+
+“I’ve twisted my knee.”
+
+“Can’t you get up?”
+
+“I’ll try it. Oh!”
+
+Dave stood up on the limb that was uninjured and tried to take a step.
+But the pain was too great and he was forced to sit down on a rock.
+
+“That’s too bad, certainly,” said Raymond sympathetically. “If you can’t
+walk, I really don’t know what we are to do.”
+
+“Perhaps you had better go on alone.”
+
+“No, I shan’t leave you, Dave—it wouldn’t be human.”
+
+“Yes, but—but we left Henry,” said the young soldier bluntly.
+
+“That was in the midst of a fight and a different thing altogether. If
+you can’t walk, can you climb yonder tree, do you think?”
+
+“Perhaps, with your help.”
+
+“Then let us both get up. The bear can’t climb with a wounded leg, and
+if she does I can give her a shot right in the head when she comes up,”
+went on the backwoodsman.
+
+He picked the youth up in his arms and walked over to the tree he had
+pointed out. The darkness of night had now settled down, and it was with
+difficulty that they made their way among the lower limbs. Dave wanted
+to shriek with pain, but gritted his teeth and kept silent.
+
+It was a lonely and never-to-be-forgotten night. In an hour or two the
+wind went down and it began to rain steadily. Dave did not feel like
+stirring, and all he could do was to rub the cords of his limb that had
+become so sadly twisted. Raymond remained on guard, but neither the bear
+nor anything else came to disturb them.
+
+At daybreak it was still raining, but the clouds showed signs of
+breaking away, and before nine o’clock the hot midsummer sun shone as
+brightly as ever.
+
+“We are in a bad plight, no two ways about it,” said the backwoodsman.
+“What is best to do I must say I don’t know.”
+
+“I don’t believe I can walk very far yet,” answered Dave despondently.
+“My knee feels as stiff as if it was in a vise.”
+
+“Perhaps I had better scout around a little, leaving you here. It is
+barely possible I may run across some of the others and find out what
+became of your cousin.”
+
+“Then go, by all means!” cried Dave. “You cannot do me a greater favor
+than to find Henry.”
+
+“But you must lay low, lad. The Injuns may be closer nor you think.”
+
+“I will keep quiet. But I’d like to have a drink before you go,”
+answered the young soldier.
+
+Some water was obtained, and he gulped it down eagerly, and bathed his
+sprained knee with what remained. Then cautioning him once more, Raymond
+left him, the backwoodsman setting off in the direction of the lake
+front.
+
+If the night had seemed lonely, the time now was doubly so to Dave, who
+could do nothing but nurse his bruise and keep a lookout for a possible
+enemy. His thoughts traveled constantly to his cousin, and he wondered
+if Raymond would bring in any news of Henry.
+
+“He ought to learn something,” he told himself over and over. “I am sure
+I could if I was in his place.”
+
+Nine o’clock came and then ten o’clock, and still the silence of the
+forest remained unbroken save for the occasional song of some distant
+bird, and the buzzing of bees around an adjacent bee-tree. The nearness
+of this bee-tree put Dave in mind of that discovered by his uncle and
+himself while on their trip to Annapolis some years before. What great
+changes had occurred since that time!
+
+“This war has been an awful thing, and I shall be glad when it is at an
+end,” he thought. “But unless we win, there will be trouble with the
+Indians and the French for years and years to come.”
+
+It was almost noon when he heard a faint sound in the woods to the north
+of the tree. Instantly he caught up his musket, which had been resting
+in a crotch close at hand.
+
+Slowly the sound came closer, and he could hear the labored breathing of
+some man or animal. He leaned as far down as possible to catch a glimpse
+of the newcomer.
+
+“Shamer!” he murmured.
+
+He called the soldier’s name softly, and Shamer paused in wonderment.
+
+“Who is calling me?” he panted.
+
+“I am, Dave Morris, Shamer. I am up in the tree. Are you alone?”
+
+“Yes, and I can hardly walk,” groaned the soldier. “A bullet struck me
+in the calf of the leg. Any Indians around here?”
+
+“I haven’t seen any. My knee is hurt. Raymond was with me, but he has
+gone down to the shore to take a look around. Do you know anything of my
+cousin Henry and the others?”
+
+“Gilfoy is dead.”
+
+“Yes, Raymond said they had killed him. And the others?”
+
+“The Indians captured both Silvers and Henry and carried them off,” was
+Shamer’s answer, which caused Dave’s heart to sink like a lump of lead
+in his bosom.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VIII
+
+                        IN THE HANDS OF FRIENDS
+
+
+SHAMER was completely exhausted, and reaching the trunk of the tree in
+which Dave was perched he threw himself down to rest and regain his
+breath. His uniform was much torn and covered with dirt and there were
+ugly scratches on his hands and face.
+
+“I had a terrible time of it after we got separated,” he said, after a
+pause. “Four redskins attacked me, and I had to knock over two of them
+before I could get away. Then I ran down to the shore, and got into
+another mix-up with an Indian and some Frenchmen, who had just come down
+the lake in a big flat-bottomed boat.”
+
+“Was that when you saw Henry and Silvers?”
+
+“No, I didn’t see them until two hours later, after the fight came to an
+end. I hid in the rocks down near the lake, and while I was there I saw
+the flat-bottomed boat again. There were six Indians in it and two
+Frenchmen, besides Silvers and your cousin.”
+
+“Was Henry much hurt?”
+
+“I can’t tell you about that. Both he and Silvers were bound with ropes
+and crowded into the bow of the boat, and I couldn’t get a very good
+look at them on account of the others. I might have given the Frenchmen
+and the redskins a shot or two, but I was afraid they would come ashore
+again and catch me, for I was too tired out to run. I went back into the
+woods, and early this morning I got into a fight with another Indian.
+But he was wounded, and I soon got the best of him,” concluded the
+soldier.
+
+“How was the flat-bottomed boat headed?” asked Dave, after another
+pause.
+
+“The last I saw of it it was headed almost due north.”
+
+“Then the Frenchmen and the Indians were bound to Canada with their
+prisoners,” groaned Dave.
+
+“It looks like it, Morris.”
+
+A long spell of silence followed, Dave turning the situation over in his
+mind and Shamer dragging himself to the pool, to drink and to bathe his
+wounds.
+
+It was some time after the noon hour when Raymond came back, skulking
+through the forest as silently as a shadow. On catching sight of Shamer
+he raised his musket, but just as quickly lowered the weapon.
+
+“So you escaped, eh?” said he. “I am glad to hear it. I saw poor
+Gilfoy’s body, scalped, and I was afraid you and the others had shared
+the same fate.”
+
+He sat down and had the German-American soldier tell his story, as it
+had already been told to Dave.
+
+“It’s too bad,” he declared. “And the worst of it is, we are not yet out
+of this trap. The most of the redskins are gone, and I saw no Frenchmen,
+but at least four Injuns are still on guard—two at the lake front and
+two down on a trail leading to Fort Oswego.”
+
+“That means that we are hemmed in,” said Dave, who was leaning down from
+the tree branch listening.
+
+“Yes, lad. How is the knee?”
+
+“I am sorry to say it is just as bad as ever, if not worse.”
+
+Raymond climbed into the tree and inspected the injured limb, which was
+considerably swollen.
+
+“It certainty does look bad,” he said. “One thing is certain, you are
+not able to sneak through the woods now, and it’s doubtful if you can do
+it after sundown.”
+
+“Well, I suppose I can’t remain here forever,” returned the young
+soldier, rather helplessly.
+
+“We can help him along, after I get my wind back,” put in Shamer, who
+had bound up the arrow wound he had received.
+
+During his tour of inspection Raymond had been able to pick up a few
+stores, left near the shelter by the rocks, and he now offered both of
+his companions something to eat. Shamer partook readily of the food, but
+poor Dave was almost choked by it. The young soldier’s thoughts were
+constantly with Henry. Would he ever see his cousin again?
+
+Raymond noticed how downcast the lad was, and did his best to cheer him
+up.
+
+“Don’t take it so hard, Dave,” he said kindly. “Remember, he isn’t
+killed, and many a prisoner has escaped ere this. Besides, if they put
+him in prison, this war is bound to come to an end, sooner or later, and
+then he’ll be set free.”
+
+“That may be true,” returned the young soldier. “But you know as well as
+I do what the French prisons are like—the very worst holes on earth.”
+
+“That may be only evil report, my lad. True it is that some Frenchmen,
+even though they be our enemies, are as good-hearted as any Englishman
+ever dared to be.”
+
+“That is true,” broke in Shamer. “A good man is a good man, and a bad
+one is a bad one, no matter what his nationality. But I have no use for
+an Indian.”
+
+“Well, there are some good Indians,” added Dave quickly. “White Buffalo,
+for instance. If he was here I am sure he would help us out of our
+trouble. But I can’t get Henry out of my mind,” he added, with a sigh.
+
+Dave was glad enough to leave his cramped position in the tree and
+stretch himself at full length on a bed of dry leaves in the sunshine.
+So the balance of the day passed, with nothing coming to disturb them.
+Raymond half expected to see the old she bear, but she did not show
+herself, and he was content to let her remain with her cubs.
+
+“How far is the trail to Fort Oswego from here?” asked the young
+soldier, when the darkness began to gather.
+
+“Not over half a mile.”
+
+“I was thinking I might get that far on a pinch. But even if we got to
+the trail, what then?”
+
+“I’ve got a plan,” said Raymond. “I’ll carry you on my back. We can take
+our time, and we are bound to reach Fort Oswego sooner or later.”
+
+“If we don’t fall into some redskins’ trap,” put in Shamer.
+
+“Well, I suppose we must take some chances,” said Dave. “It is very kind
+to offer to carry me.”
+
+The start was begun a short while later, Shamer carrying the guns and
+what was left of the provisions, and Dave perched on Raymond’s
+shoulders, for that was the manner in which the backwoodsman declare he
+could carry the load most comfortably.
+
+It was a good hour before the trail to Fort Oswego was gained—a rough,
+narrow path, first used by the buffalo of upper New York State and then
+by the Indians and traders. They advanced with caution, Shamer leading
+the way with his musket held before him, ready to fight at the first
+sign of an enemy.
+
+The night proved to be clear, with no moon, but with countless stars.
+Along the trail all was silent—even the night birds failing to utter
+their lonely notes.
+
+After a rest the journey along the trail was begun, Shamer leading the
+way as before. The forest was thick on either side, and in many spots
+there were rough rocks to cross, which made Raymond puff and blow over
+his load. More than once Dave said he would get down and try to walk,
+but the backwoodsman would not allow it.
+
+“I’ve brought in a big deer on my shoulders more than once,” he
+declared. “And you don’t weigh any more.”
+
+By daylight ten or eleven miles had been covered, and all were glad to
+rest again, by the side of a brook flowing into the lake. The journey
+had been no easier for Dave than for the others, and more than once he
+had felt like crying out with pain when Raymond gripped his sore limb
+harder than usual.
+
+“Ours has certainly been an ill-fated expedition,” observed Raymond, as
+he munched a bit of biscuit, while the others did the same. “If we ever
+get out of it alive, it will be a sorry report we’ll have to offer to
+the commander at Fort Oswego and to Sir William Johnson.”
+
+“I can’t see how we are to be blamed,” answered Dave. “We were attacked
+by a superior force and fought as well as we could.”
+
+“Sir William told us to keep to the lake,” put in Shamer. “But of course
+we couldn’t do that with such a wind.”
+
+It had been decided that it would be safest to rest during the day and
+travel at night. Accordingly Raymond and Shamer lay down for a nap of
+four hours, leaving Dave on guard.
+
+The four hours were almost up, and the young soldier was beginning to
+feel sleepy himself, when a noise in the forest on the other side of the
+brook caused him to start up.
+
+“It must be either a man or a wild animal,” he reasoned and placed his
+finger on the trigger of his flint-lock musket, after satisfying himself
+that the priming was in good condition.
+
+Slowly the noise came closer, and presently he heard two men talking in
+English.
+
+“If they are English they must be friends,” thought the young man
+joyfully, but still he continued on guard. He awakened Raymond and
+Shamer by a light touch.
+
+“What is it?” came from Raymond.
+
+“Two men are over yonder. I can hear them talking.”
+
+“Then we had better get out of sight until we are sure of who they are,”
+put in Shamer.
+
+Secreted in the bushes they waited until the two unknown ones came down
+the edge of the brook. They were dressed in the garb of frontiersmen and
+each carried a rifle and a game-bag.
+
+“Game is putty well scart off, Chester,” said one. “The cap’n won’t git
+much fresh meat from us,” and he gave a droll laugh.
+
+“That’s about the size on it, Holden,” was the reply. “Yet I reckoned on
+some b’ar bein’ around here.”
+
+“I am sure they will be friends,” whispered Dave. “They are probably
+from the fort.”
+
+Raymond nodded. Then he called aloud:
+
+“Hullo, there, friends!”
+
+The two frontiersmen started, and each raised his rifle.
+
+“Who calls?” questioned the one named Chester.
+
+“A lost soldier,” answered Raymond, and presented himself to view. “I
+take it you are English,” he added.
+
+“We are. Where are you from?”
+
+Raymond told them, and then Dave and Shamer also presented themselves.
+The two frontiersmen leaped the brook and listened to their story with
+keen interest.
+
+“You’ve certainty had a tough fight of it,” said the man named Holden.
+“I held all along thet them Frenchmen would be over here nosin’ ’round
+an’ thet they’d bring some redskins with ’em.”
+
+“Are you from Fort Oswego?” asked Dave.
+
+“We are. We are attached to Cap’n Neely’s company o’ rangers. We came
+out lookin’ for a bit o’ fresh meat. But now I reckon the best thing we
+can do is to help you to git to the fort, ain’t thet so?”
+
+“If you will be so kind.”
+
+“Aint no kindness; it’s jest plain duty,” said Chester.
+
+The frontiersmen felt certain that no more Indians were left in the
+vicinity. Yet they promised to keep a strict guard, and a little later
+our friends moved off once more in the direction of Fort Oswego, the
+frontiersman named Chester carrying Dave on his back for a mile or two
+and then being relieved by his companion, and later by Raymond.
+
+Thus the march was kept up all of that day and also part of the next,
+and at two o’clock in the afternoon they came in sight of Fort Oswego,
+with the flag of old England floating proudly in the breeze above it.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER IX
+
+                           WHAT BEFELL HENRY
+
+
+LET us now return to Henry, and see what happened to him during the time
+that Dave was making his escape to Fort Oswego.
+
+As we already know, Henry had attacked one of the Indians with his
+hunting knife. In a moment more both were struggling on the ground, in a
+close embrace which was truly desperate.
+
+Henry was strong for his age and during his life had been in more than
+one close encounter with both red men and wild animals. He felt that he
+was fighting for his life and he did not intend to give the Indian the
+slightest advantage.
+
+The young soldier felt the red man’s hand creeping toward his throat,
+but he caught the wrist and bent it backward, until the Indian had to
+squirm to one side to prevent that member from being broken. But then
+the Indian made another twist and got his arm over Henry’s neck,
+pressing him closer and closer.
+
+There was but one way left in which to throw the Indian off, and this
+the young solder used without delay. Drawing up his knee he set it
+against the enemy’s chest and forced it forward, at the same time
+holding the red man across the back by one hand and by the leg with the
+other.
+
+The awful pressure thus brought to bear was more than the Indian could
+stand. Fearful of having his ribs crushed in, he released Henry’s
+throat. At once the youth threw up the leg he was holding and the red
+man went spinning over on his back.
+
+By this time other Indians were at hand, and an arrow hit Henry in the
+fleshy part of the arm. Raising his hunting knife, he struck at one of
+the newcomers, piercing his shoulder. Then he made a leap up the rock
+and another to the bushes beyond, and with the swiftness of a wild
+animal disappeared into the forest.
+
+The blood of the Indian who had been struck was now aroused, as was also
+the anger of the one who had been thrown down, and the pair made after
+the young soldier, followed by two other warriors.
+
+Through the forest went pursued and pursuers, until, having run in
+something of a semicircle, Henry came out on the lake front, at a spot
+some distance above where the two rowboats had been drawn up. Here he
+espied an Indian canoe, and, leaping in, began to paddle out into the
+lake with all speed.
+
+The first intimation he had of the closeness of his enemies was when an
+arrow flew by the canoe, to land in the water beyond. Other arrows
+followed, and then came the report of a gun, but he remained untouched.
+
+The Indians were now running along shore, and soon they came upon the
+two Frenchmen already mentioned in these pages. They belonged to the
+Canadian militia and their uniforms were such in name only. They had
+come to the south shore of the lake for information, having been
+promised a good reward by the Governor-General of Canada if they
+succeeded in bringing back news of importance.
+
+Under the directions of the Frenchmen four of the Indians set off in one
+of the rowboats after Henry, who was still paddling westward with all
+the speed at his command. The red men were ordered to capture the young
+soldier alive if possible, but if not, to kill him.
+
+It was not long before Henry discovered how the pursuit had been
+renewed. He had now reached a good-sized inlet and was still some
+distance from the shore. He turned in with all speed, knowing that a
+fight of four to one on the water could only end in his defeat.
+
+“If I only had my musket,” he said, half aloud, but the firearm had been
+left on the ground at the camp, after the first hand-to-hand struggle.
+
+The shore was almost reached, when the Indians set up a yell, and while
+two of them continued to row the other two rose up and fixed arrows in
+their bows.
+
+“White soldier stop!” cried one, in bad English. “Stop, or be killed!”
+
+“I reckon you’ll kill me anyway,” muttered Henry, and as the canoe
+grated on the shore, he dropped the paddle, caught up his hunting knife,
+and leaped to land.
+
+It is barely possible that the youth might have escaped to the forest
+once more. But as he ran for the trees, two Indians suddenly appeared
+before him. One carried a stout stick, and without warning he struck
+Henry a heavy blow on the head. The young soldier uttered a moan,
+staggered from side to side, and then fell senseless.
+
+In a moment more, and just as the Indian who had struck the blow was
+bending over the unconscious youth to scalp him, the Indians in the
+rowboat came up.
+
+“Rising Moon must stop,” called one of the number. “He must not scalp
+the pale face.” He spoke in his native tongue.
+
+“Why does Falling Waters speak thus?” demanded the other. “It was Rising
+Moon’s hand who laid the English soldier boy low.”
+
+“Rising Moon has earned the scalp,” went on the first Indian. “But
+Falling Waters has orders to bring the soldier back alive.”
+
+At this Rising Moon’s face took on a sour look.
+
+“Who gave the order?”
+
+“The Frenchman, Jacques Volnier. He is here with another. They seek news
+of importance from the English. We have sworn to stand by them, and we
+must obey,” added Falling Waters.
+
+A long and angry discussion arose, but in the end Falling Waters carried
+his point, and Henry was taken to a rendezvous which the Canadian
+Indians had once occupied on the south shore of Lake Ontario.
+
+The fight had by this time terminated, and the Frenchmen and the Indians
+had come out on the lake in a flat-bottomed boat. With his arms bound
+behind him, Henry, who was just recovering from the blow he had
+received, was made to march down to the boat. Here he found Silvers also
+a prisoner, and suffering from several arrow wounds.
+
+“Hullo, are you a prisoner?” cried the leader of the expedition, when
+one of the Frenchmen arose and clapped a hand over his mouth.
+
+“Ze prisonair must not talk now,” he said, in broken English. “Ze
+prisonair can talk when we haf left ze shore.”
+
+“All right,” muttered Silvers, and glad that the Frenchmen had compelled
+the Indians to spare his life, he relapsed into silence.
+
+As for poor Henry, his head was in a whirl and ached as if ready to
+split open. More than this, he felt stiff and sore all over, and he sat
+in the bow of the boat only with the greatest of difficulty.
+
+As Shamer had told Dave, the boat contained six Indians, besides the two
+Frenchmen and the prisoners, so it was heavily loaded. The red men were
+at the oars, and they rowed with a steadiness that showed they had had
+practice in this art as well as with a paddle. The boat shot forward
+with good speed, and soon the south shore of the lake became a dim,
+uncertain line in the distance.
+
+“Now ze prisonairs can tell us who za air,” said one of the Frenchmen,
+evidently the leader of the party.
+
+“I am not ashamed of that,” answered Silvers. “My name is Louis
+Silvers.”
+
+“Ah, Louis—zat ees a good name. And you?” went on the Frenchman, turning
+to the young soldier.
+
+“I am Henry Morris.”
+
+“You belong to ze soldiers at Fort Oswego, not so?”
+
+“We do not,” answered Silvers.
+
+“Zen where from you come?”
+
+“We have been up at Fort Niagara.”
+
+“Ah, I see—you help at ze capture of zat place, eh?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+The Frenchman shook his head thoughtfully.
+
+“Zat was von bad work—zat fight. I no haf been dair, but I hear, yes, I
+hear it all.”
+
+“Who are you?” asked Henry boldly.
+
+“Me? Ah, I am not much, my bold little troopair, I am plain Jacques
+Volnier, a hunter and trappair.”
+
+“Then why have you captured us?” went on Henry curiously.
+
+At this the Frenchman shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“Because—yes, because we want ze company,” he answered, with a smile.
+
+Henry frowned, and so did Silvers, and at this both Frenchmen laughed at
+what they thought was a good joke. Then they talked to each other in
+their own tongue, leaving the prisoners to themselves.
+
+“What do you think they will do with us?” asked Henry, in a low voice.
+
+“Throw us into a French prison, more than likely,” answered Silvers
+gloomily.
+
+“What did you do with Sir William’s message?”
+
+“Hush! I threw it overboard,” said the other, in a still lower voice.
+
+The strong sun was now beginning to tell upon Henry, and he said no
+more. He wanted to keep his senses, but presently all seemed to fade
+from him. He felt himself pitch into Silvers’ arms, and then he knew no
+more for the time being.
+
+“Poor lad,” murmured Silvers.
+
+“What is ze mattair?” demanded Jacques Volnier.
+
+“He has fainted. Won’t you untie me so that I can do something for him?”
+
+“_Oui! oui!_” was the answer, and in a moment more Silvers was free. He
+untied Henry and bathed his forehead, and presently the young soldier
+opened his eyes. But it was not until long after sundown that Henry felt
+anything like himself again, and even then he was almost too weak to
+stand.
+
+The two prisoners wondered where they were being taken, but could get
+nothing from either the Frenchmen or the Indians. The rowboat was headed
+to the northeast, and this showed that the general direction was for the
+mouth of the St. Lawrence. On and on swept the craft, through the dismal
+night and still on when the morning came.
+
+“They are going quite a distance,” said Henry, after he had swallowed a
+piece of bread that had been given to him. “Can it be that they mean to
+move right down the river?”
+
+“It is possible,” answered Silvers. “Montreal, you know, is not so very
+far away.”
+
+At last the boat turned to the eastward, and that evening a landing was
+made near what is to-day Wolfe Island. There had been a small settlement
+here, but this was abandoned, the inhabitants having withdrawn to a fort
+on the mainland.
+
+At the island the Indians left the party and some other Frenchmen
+appeared, one owning a fair-sized sloop, which boasted a small swivel
+gun. The prisoners were made to board the sloop, and now their hands
+were chained behind them. The sloop had a small cuddy and into this they
+were forced, the door being closed and locked after them.
+
+“We are in a pickle now surely!” groaned Henry. “I believe they are
+going to take us down the river.”
+
+It was not until late at night when the anchor was hoisted and the sails
+of the sloop were set. Then the craft slipped by the island, and past
+Fort Frontenac, and stood boldly down the stream in the direction of the
+Thousand Islands.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X
+
+                       IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY
+
+
+THE night passed slowly to the two prisoners confined in the narrow
+space of the sloop’s cuddy. No one came to speak to them, and as hour
+after hour went by first one and then the other dropped off to sleep.
+
+When Henry awoke it was broad daylight, and the sloop was bounding along
+at a rapid rate of speed. Through the one narrow window of the cuddy he
+saw that they were passing a shore filled with waving grass and dotted
+here and there with low trees.
+
+“We are going down the St. Lawrence, that is certain. But to where?”
+
+In vain he asked the question of himself, and then of Silvers. The
+sharpshooter merely shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“I know nothing of these parts, lad,” he said. “We must take what
+comes.”
+
+At noon they received a scanty meal and a drink of lukewarm water. A
+sailor served this, and as he could talk French only they learned
+nothing from him.
+
+It was nightfall when the sloop’s trip came to an end. Cramped and
+stiff, the prisoners were made to march ashore, to where was located an
+old convent, now fallen mostly to decay. Some soldiers were quartered
+here, and the prisoners were turned over to a guard and promptly put
+into what had once been the cell of a monk.
+
+“Worse and worse,” said Henry. “What do you think will happen next?”
+
+Again Silvers shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“I don’t know, lad, unless they march us out to be shot.”
+
+“Would they do that? They did not catch us in French territory.”
+
+“As we are in their power they can do with us as they please.”
+
+Early in the morning the pair were aroused by the roll of a drum. Some
+of the soldiers were getting ready to march away, and the prisoners were
+told that they were to march with them.
+
+“To where?” asked Henry.
+
+“To Montreal, and perhaps to Quebec,” said the officer addressed, who
+could speak excellent English. Henry wanted to ask more questions, but
+the officer had no time to listen to him.
+
+By eight o’clock the soldiers were on the march, with the two prisoners
+in their midst. The way was along the river trail, past many pretty
+farms and handsome French estates, many of which, however, were now
+abandoned. At one point in the road they came upon several ladies on
+horseback, who stared in wonder at the prisoners.
+
+“They seem to think we are wild beasts,” laughed Silvers. He bowed
+politely, but the ladies turned and rode away.
+
+It will be unnecessary to go into the details of the weary march that
+followed the tramp along the river trail. For four days the prisoners
+were kept on the road. Montreal was passed, with only a faraway glimpse
+of its large cathedral and its seminary, and then the course was almost
+straight for Quebec.
+
+So far the prisoners had been treated fairly well, but now came a change
+in the command; and they were given food that was hardly fit to eat.
+
+“We can’t stand this very long,” was Henry’s comment, as he threw away a
+moldy crust that it was impossible to swallow. “I’d choke on such
+stuff.”
+
+The officer in charge of them saw the crust thrown away, and came up
+shaking his fist at them.
+
+“Zat ees ze best you vill git,” he cried. “Of you no eat zat, you
+starve!”
+
+“All right, we’ll starve then,” replied Henry recklessly.
+
+“Bah! you think you are ze brave boy, eh? Ze English za be all grand
+cowards!” And the Frenchman went off in disgust.
+
+“He’s a cheerful dog,” muttered Silvers.
+
+The next day the fare was even worse, and both of the prisoners were on
+the point of open rebellion. At night the French officer brought in an
+aged Englishman to talk to them. The Englishman was a Canadian settler.
+
+“They are bound to make you talk,” said the Englishman. “If you will
+tell all you know they will treat you better.”
+
+“Tell what?” asked Silvers.
+
+“Tell all the plans of the English soldiers.”
+
+“But we know very little,” put in Henry.
+
+“The French captain thinks you know a great deal. He says the man who
+captured you, Jacques Volnier, is certain one of you is a noted spy.”
+
+“He must mean me,” said Silvers. “If so, he is much mistaken. I am
+nothing but a plain soldier.”
+
+“And so am I,” added Henry.
+
+“I am willing to believe that, for your faces are honest ones,” said the
+old Englishman. “But you know how suspicious these Frenchmen are.”
+
+“How come you here?” asked Henry.
+
+“It is a long story. Years ago I married a young lady whose parents
+lived not far from Quebec. When they died, they left her the farm and
+all its fine buildings. We moved to this place and have been here ever
+since. I am seventy-three years old, and so far I have refused to take
+either side in this struggle.”
+
+“Did they send you here to bribe us?”
+
+The old man drew himself up.
+
+“They could not do that. They asked me to talk to you, that is all. I am
+afraid if you will tell them nothing it will go hard with you.”
+
+“We cannot tell what we do not know,” said Silvers.
+
+“That is true.”
+
+The old man asked them their names, and in return said his name was
+Peter Merton. He said he had a son, who had left home at the beginning
+of the war, and what had become of his offspring he did not know.
+
+“I have an idea he joined the English army,” he said. “If so, I
+sincerely trust that no harm comes to him.”
+
+The old Englishman remained with them for the best part of an hour. He
+told them that the camp was located not far from the north bank of the
+St. Lawrence, a few miles above Quebec.
+
+“I cannot tell you what General Wolfe is now doing,” he said. “We get
+very little news.”
+
+“I heard some cannon firing last night,” said Henry.
+
+“Oh, yes, we get plenty of that. But very little damage is done. I do
+not believe that General Wolfe really means to demolish Quebec.” And in
+this surmise the old man was correct.
+
+When the old man was leaving, he shook hands with them. As he did this
+he pressed into the hand of each a piece of gold money.
+
+“You may find it useful,” he whispered. And before they could protest he
+was gone.
+
+“He is certainly a good-hearted fellow,” said Henry.
+
+“He might have helped us to escape,” said Silvers, as he slipped the
+gold piece in his pocket.
+
+“No, I think he was too old for that,” returned Henry, and then glancing
+on the ground he uttered a low cry, for there lay a small and
+exceedingly sharp dagger.
+
+“He dropped that, and most likely on purpose,” exclaimed the
+sharpshooter. “I’ll keep it, for it may come in handy,” and he placed
+the dagger in his bosom.
+
+Henry and Silvers had been confined for the night in an old house. Two
+sleepy French soldiers were on guard. As one of them came in to see that
+they were up to no mischief Silvers motioned to him.
+
+“Do you talk English?” he asked.
+
+“Verra little,” answered the soldier, who was of the peasantry and
+exceedingly stupid.
+
+“We are hungry, and want something to eat and to drink,” went on
+Silvers, and pointed to his mouth.
+
+At this the soldier shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“We will pay for whatever you get us,” went on the sharpshooter, showing
+the gold coin. “You buy us something, and keep half the money.”
+
+The eyes of the peasant opened widely at sight of the gold coin, the
+like of which he had not seen for months, for his pay as a soldier was
+but a few francs per week.
+
+“I no—you——” he stammered.
+
+For reply Silvers made a motion as to cut the coin in half. Then he
+pointed to the soldier’s pocket and then to his own mouth and to Henry’s
+mouth. The peasant comprehended and a dull smile overspread his
+features. He went out to consult the other soldier on guard.
+
+A few minutes later the fellow came back and took the gold coin. Then,
+regardless of army regulations, he left his gun with his companion and
+stole away in the darkness.
+
+“He has gone for the food,” whispered Silvers to Henry. “Now the
+question is, shall we wait for him to get back, or make a dash for
+liberty?”
+
+“Let us try for liberty,” exclaimed the young soldier eagerly. “If we
+can only get away, I am sure we can find something to eat somewhere.”
+
+“I have a plan,” said the sharpshooter. “Do you see yonder chimney?”
+
+“Of course.”
+
+“We might pretend to run away and hide in that. Then, when the soldiers
+disperse to hunt for us, we can cut sticks and off.”
+
+This plan was agreed to, and having examined the chimney and found out
+how they could secrete themselves inside, they both peeped out at the
+single guard, who was walking up and down, humming to himself.
+
+“Now!” cried Silvers, and they made a racket as if climbing through a
+side window, letting the sash fall with a crash. Then both ran to the
+chimney and hid with all possible speed.
+
+The guard gave a cry in French and came running up. One glance showed
+him the empty room and his eyes strayed to the window.
+
+“Gone!” he muttered, in his native tongue. “And through yonder window!
+Oh, the artful rascals! But I shall catch them, or shoot them down!”
+
+He made off, and they heard him start to give the alarm. But then he
+thought of his companion and the gold piece. If the commanding officer
+heard of how the one guard had gone off there would be trouble ahead for
+both. He ran around wildly, at length taking a road leading to the river
+bank.
+
+“Now is our chance,” said Henry, and dropped out of the chimney, covered
+with soot and as black as a negro. Rushing outside, he caught up the gun
+belonging to the guard who had gone for the food. As he did this Silvers
+drew the dagger he had picked up, and thus armed the pair started for
+the nearest patch of woodland, several hundred feet away.
+
+But the alarm was now general, in spite of the guard’s effort to keep
+the affair quiet, and they heard calls from several directions.
+
+“If we get away it’s going to be a tight squeeze,” said Silvers.
+
+“We must get away,” cried Henry. “Come on,” and he set off at a faster
+pace than ever.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XI
+
+                          ABOARD THE FIRE-BOAT
+
+
+THE edge of the woods was gained when a shot rang out, but whether
+directed at Henry or the sharpshooter neither could tell.
+
+“They will be after us hot-footed in another minute,” said the young
+soldier. “How shall we turn?”
+
+“It will be folly to turn to the river just yet,” answered Silvers.
+“They will be sure to hunt for us there. Let us hide in the opposite
+direction until the alarm is over.”
+
+As the pair passed into the wood they saw a man coming along a
+well-beaten path. He carried a bundle under one arm and two bottles
+under the other. As he came closer they recognized the soldier who had
+taken the gold piece. He had brought food and some wine from a chateau
+not far away, where he was well known. He started to yell, but Silvers
+stopped him.
+
+“Silence!” he cried. “Silence, if you value your life.”
+
+But the peasant was too frightened to listen, and yelling loudly he
+dropped his bundle and bottles and ran for the soldiers’ camp as swiftly
+as his slim legs would carry him.
+
+“This may come useful,” said Henry, as he picked up the bundle, which
+was done up in a bit of white cloth.
+
+“Ditto one of these,” added Silvers, and slipped a bottle of wine into
+his coat pocket.
+
+The wood passed they came in sight of the chateau, a pretty place, built
+of stone, covered with ivy, and set in a park of shrubbery. Back of the
+chateau were a barn and several other outbuildings.
+
+A light was burning in an upper room of the chateau, but otherwise the
+entire place was dark.
+
+“Let us make for the barns,” whispered Silvers. “They ought to afford
+some sort of a hiding place.”
+
+Henry was willing, and in a trice they had leaped the fence fronting a
+road and were running to the nearest of the outbuildings, which loomed
+up vaguely in the darkness. The shelter of the structure gained, they
+found an open door and ran inside.
+
+The barn was divided into two parts, one for the horses, of which there
+were four, and the other for hay and grain. Back of the barn were a
+cow-shed and a milk house.
+
+“Shall we get into the hay?” whispered Henry. They could already hear
+the pursuers on the roadway.
+
+“They will be sure to search that,” answered Silvers. “Wait a second.”
+
+The sharpshooter bent down and tried several of the boards of the floor.
+As he had hoped, one was loose, and beneath was an opening of no mean
+size.
+
+“Just the thing. In you go,” he went on, and Henry dropped down,
+followed by his companion, and the board was lowered into place over
+them.
+
+It was a damp, foul-smelling hole, but to this they did not just then
+pay attention. With bated breath they strained their ears to catch some
+sound of those who were after them.
+
+It was a good five minutes before anybody came into the place, to tramp
+loudly directly over their heads. There were four or five soldiers, and
+the two in hiding heard them move among the horses and through the grain
+room and the hay mow. The soldiers spoke in French, so neither Henry nor
+Silvers knew what was said.
+
+Following the examination of the barn, the soldiers looked over the
+other buildings, and even into the water vat of the milk house. Then
+they went outside and looked around the trees in the chateau park, and
+among the bushes.
+
+“They must have gone further,” said the corporal in charge, in French.
+“They were afraid to stay here.”
+
+“Unless we catch them it will go hard with Gaston and Pasmont,” said
+another. “The captain said they must keep a good watch over the sly
+rascals.”
+
+After the French soldiers had gone the barn became as silent as a tomb.
+
+“What an escape!” whispered Henry half joyously.
+
+“Hush, lad,” warned Silvers. “We are not yet out of the woods.”
+
+For half an hour they remained under the flooring of the barn, and then,
+unable to endure the smell any longer, they left the hole and moved up
+into the hay mow, now half filled with the summer crop.
+
+Henry had brought the food in the cloth with him, and, being hungry,
+both proceeded to make a meal in the hay, Silvers drinking from the
+bottle of wine and the young soldier procuring some water from the milk
+house.
+
+“What shall be our next move?” asked Henry, feeling that the
+sharpshooter was the leader.
+
+“Better stay here until to-morrow night,” answered Silvers.
+
+“As long as that!”
+
+“Why not? It’s more comfortable here than in prison, and by to-morrow
+night the excitement will have blown over and we’ll have a much better
+chance to get away than we’ll have now.”
+
+Henry could not help but see the force of this argument. Yet to wait
+twenty-four hours under such circumstances appeared to be a never-ending
+period of time.
+
+Slowly the balance of the night wore away and day came on. A farmhand
+came to feed the horses and hitch one to a cart, and a maid came out to
+milk three cows, but otherwise they did not see or hear a soul. As she
+worked around the milk house the maid sang a gay song in French, as if
+no such thing as a war existed.
+
+“It takes a French girl to do that,” observed Silvers. “No English girl
+could sing so happily with danger at the very door of the home.”
+
+“The French are a gay people,” answered Henry. “But, just the same, they
+can fight when they want to.”
+
+At last the sun went down and night came on. They had eaten the last of
+the food brought along, and Silvers had long since finished his bottle
+of wine. It was somewhat cloudy, which promised to be in their favor.
+
+“Now we’ll see what fate has in store for us,” said Silvers, after a
+long look around the outbuildings. “Shall I carry the musket, or will
+you?”
+
+“As you are the best shot, you had better take it,” answered Henry.
+
+“Then I’ll give you the knife,” went on the sharpshooter, and passed
+over the dagger.
+
+The gun was in the same condition as when taken from the prison, and
+they had taken care to preserve the powder for priming.
+
+They left the barn by a back door and lost no time in crossing a turnip
+and onion lot to a row of berry bushes skirting a ditch. Once at the
+ditch, they crawled along until they gained the shelter of the woods.
+
+“Now we can make for the river,” said Silvers. “But how we are to get
+across remains a problem still to solve.”
+
+“Perhaps we can find a canoe or a rowboat. Or, on a pinch, we can build
+a raft.”
+
+“Not so easy, lad, without tools.”
+
+The woods were thick with underbrush, and it was no mean task to push a
+way through. Soon, however, they came to a well-beaten path, and along
+this they moved faster, Silvers in the lead, and both with eyes and ears
+strained to the utmost, for a possible sign of an enemy.
+
+“There is a building ahead,” said the sharpshooter, after a quarter of a
+mile had been covered.
+
+It proved to be a fair-sized summer house, standing on a rocky cliff.
+Beyond was a series of rough stone steps, leading to the river bank, far
+below. At the shore was a rude dock, and here rested a long,
+strange-looking object, half boat and half raft, piled high with some
+straw and several barrels of pitch.
+
+“Some kind of a craft,” murmured Henry, as he looked forward in the
+uncertain light.
+
+“Be quiet, there may be soldiers on guard here,” whispered Silvers in
+return.
+
+Making certain that they were not observed, the pair stole down the
+rough steps. They were almost at the bottom when a loose stone turned
+under Silvers’ foot and went crashing downward.
+
+The crash of the falling stone was followed by a cry from a sentry
+stationed on the cliff. The cry was answered by another sentry, and soon
+several forms appeared.
+
+“We must hide!” cried Henry, and ran away from the steps.
+
+“To the boat!” answered Silvers, and ran for the rude craft.
+
+The young soldier followed, and just as they gained the boat a shot rang
+out. Then two soldiers came rushing down the rough steps.
+
+“That will keep you back,” muttered the sharpshooter, and fired the
+musket. One of the soldiers was hit in the breast and fell, and the
+other lost no time in seeking cover.
+
+Once on board of the boat, the pair untied the line which held it to the
+rude dock. Poles were handy and they pushed off into the stream. Then
+each took a paddle and did what he could to move the craft to the south
+shore of the St. Lawrence.
+
+“She’s a clumsy one, lad,” observed Silvers, as they pushed the craft
+around only with the greatest of difficulty.
+
+“I never saw such a boat before,” answered Henry.
+
+“It’s a fire-boat, that’s what it is. The straw and pitch will make a
+red-hot fire.”
+
+“A fire-boat? What for?”
+
+“To send out among the shipping. Most likely the French thought to burn
+some of General Wolfe’s ships with it.”
+
+“I see. Hadn’t we better dump the straw and the barrels overboard? She
+will move quicker with no load.”
+
+“No time now, lad. Pull, and pull for all you are worth, if you want to
+get away.”
+
+Both did their best, and as they worked they heard a dozen or more of
+their enemies running up and down the river bank.
+
+“They are looking for another boat,” said Silvers. “I trust to luck they
+find none.”
+
+Suddenly they heard the cry of a number of Indians, who had joined the
+French sentries. Then came several shots, one striking a barrel of pitch
+and causing the stuff to overflow upon the straw.
+
+“Keep out of range, lad,” cried Silvers.
+
+“Yes, and you do the same,” panted the young soldier. He was working
+with might and main to move the fire-boat further from the shore. “Do
+you see anything of another boat?”
+
+“Not yet. But it can’t be that there are none somewhere about,” went on
+the sharpshooter.
+
+Presently they beheld what looked like several torches flashing through
+the night. They were a dozen or more feet apart.
+
+“By Joseph! but I don’t like that!” cried Silvers.
+
+“Don’t like what?” queried Henry.
+
+Scarcely had he spoken when he understood what the sharpshooter meant.
+There was a whizzing, and the flaming arrows—for they were nothing
+less—flew all around the fire-boat. One touched the straw, but Silvers
+caught it instantly and hurled it into the water.
+
+“They mean to fire the boat!” gasped Henry. “If one of them plants
+itself in that pitch——”
+
+He got no further, for at that moment came another flight of the flaming
+arrows, seven or eight in number. Four fell on the boat, one in the very
+spot where the pitch had overflowed upon the straw.
+
+The pair on the craft did their best to put out the flames, and two of
+the arrows went overboard the instant they landed. But the others could
+not be removed, and in two seconds more there was a flash and a roar,
+and the fire-boat burst into flames from end to end!
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII
+
+                          GENERAL WOLFE’S CAMP
+
+
+“WE can’t put out this fire!”
+
+“We must jump for our lives!”
+
+Such were the exclamations which burst simultaneously from the lips of
+Henry and the sharpshooter, as the flames shot skyward from the
+fire-boat.
+
+Both leaped to the stern of the craft, where there was a plank extending
+over the water a distance of a few feet.
+
+“Let us haul the board overboard,” cried Silvers. “That will give us
+something to rest on.”
+
+This advice was followed with difficulty. But at last the plank went
+down with a splash and the two escaping prisoners went with it.
+
+They were none too soon. The fire-boat now blazed up with increasing
+fury, and Henry’s coat was in a flame in two places. But the souse in
+the river saved the young soldier from more than a scorching.
+
+“Whi—which way now?” he sputtered as he came up and caught hold of one
+end of the plank, while Silvers grasped the other end.
+
+“Let us see if we can’t make the opposite shore. It’s our only chance.”
+
+“The night won’t help us much, now the fire-boat is ablaze,” said Henry.
+For the conflagration cast a ruddy glare all around them.
+
+The fire-boat had been located a short distance below Sillery Cove,
+where the St. Lawrence was a little over a mile wide. The tide, which
+had been high in the afternoon, was running out rapidly, and this
+carried both the fire-boat and the plank along with it. Thus the Indians
+who had shot the flaming arrows and the French soldiers who had given
+the alarm were soon left far behind.
+
+Both Henry and Silvers tried to guide the plank towards the south bank
+of the river, but in this they were only partly successful. Yet it was a
+great satisfaction to both to see that they were getting further and
+further away from the shore of the enemy.
+
+“If we are not careful we will be washed right out to sea,” said Henry,
+after a long spell of silence, in which they gazed back in the
+semi-darkness, to see if they were being pursued.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  A short distance away was a broad-sterned brig.—_Page 109._
+]
+
+“We are still a long distance from the ocean, lad,” responded Silvers.
+
+“Are we close to Quebec?”
+
+“A mile or two above it, I think.”
+
+Another spell of silence followed, and then Henry let out a faint shout.
+
+“A ship! We are drifting directly upon a ship!”
+
+His words proved true. But a short distance away was a broad-sterned
+brig, standing slowly down the stream.
+
+“If it’s a French craft we are lost,” whispered Silvers.
+
+In a minute more the plank bumped up against the side of the brig, and
+they could see half a dozen sailors at the rail.
+
+“Hullo there!” cried a rough English voice. “Keelhaul me, if there are
+not two soldiers on a board!”
+
+“Frenchmen! spies!” put in another voice.
+
+“No! no! we are not spies!” called back Silvers joyfully. “We are
+prisoners escaped from the French.”
+
+“Harken to that, mate. Escaped prisoners! In that case we must help ’em
+aboard.”
+
+It was not long before a rope was thrown overboard, and with great
+difficulty Henry and Silvers climbed to the main deck of the ship, where
+they were immediately surrounded by the captain and several other
+officers.
+
+“Who are you?” demanded the captain sharply.
+
+“Royal Americans, sir,” responded Silvers, touching his forelock, while
+Henry did the same. “We were captured by the French and Indians about a
+week ago and made our escape last night.”
+
+“If you are Royal Americans where do you belong? Certainly not in
+General Wolfe’s camp.”
+
+“We belong to the army that was under General Prideaux. But he is dead,
+and Sir William Johnson took command.”
+
+“Prideaux—at Fort Niagara? That is a long distance from here.”
+
+“We were on our way to Oswego when we were taken. The French brought us
+across the lake, and then marched us down the river road to a prison
+near Sillery Cove.”
+
+The captain of the brig listened to their tale with much interest.
+
+“If you have been among the French you ought to be able to tell General
+Wolfe something worth listening to,” he said, when they had finished.
+“Some of the men on board are bound for his camp, and you may go along
+if you wish.”
+
+“Where is his camp?” asked Henry.
+
+“On the upper bank of this river, just below the Falls of Montmorenci.
+The general has been sick, but I heard this morning that he is now
+somewhat better.”
+
+“May I ask if you have been in a fight with the French?” came from the
+young soldier curiously.
+
+“Hardly a fight. We have been ordered to stand up and down the river
+with the tide. This has kept the enemy on the move, watching not only
+this brig, but also a number of other ships, and is gradually wearing
+the French soldiers out. Did you hear anything of their colonists
+deserting?”
+
+“I did,” cried Henry. “Two men who were on guard said that a hundred men
+had left in one day, so he had heard. I didn’t get any particulars.”
+
+“Montcalm will find that this campaign is not yet over,” responded the
+captain of the brig grimly. “He thinks Quebec cannot be taken, but Wolfe
+will teach him a trick or two ere we hoist anchor for England.”
+
+It was an hour later when the brig dropped anchor in the stream, midway
+between the Island of Orleans and the northwest shore of the St.
+Lawrence. Not a battery from Quebec had fired on the ship, and the
+English batteries on the southeast shore were also silent.
+
+“It is my duty to send you over to General Wolfe’s camp under guard,”
+said the captain of the brig. “I do not doubt but that you are to be
+trusted, but duty is duty, you know.”
+
+“We’ll not complain,” answered Silvers.
+
+A boat was soon lowered and the sharpshooter and Henry entered this,
+followed by a coxswain and his crew, and two army officers, who had been
+on the trip of the brig. This boat was followed by a second and a third,
+and then all three headed for the shore below the Falls of Montmorenci.
+
+It did not take long to reach the mud flats below the rocks fronting the
+river bank. Here the party was challenged by the grenadier guards, but
+quickly passed, and Henry and Silvers were marched up the bank by a
+rough trail.
+
+Both the young soldier and the sharpshooter were thoroughly worn out by
+the trials they had endured, and having received some food on the brig,
+and dried their clothing, they did not remain awake long after having
+been assigned quarters.
+
+It was Henry who was the first to stir in the morning. The roll call of
+the long drums aroused him, and gazing out on something of a parade
+ground he saw the grenadiers forming to answer to their names.
+
+“This looks natural,” he observed to his companion, who arose lazily and
+stretched himself. “I must say these soldiers of General Wolfe look as
+if they meant business.”
+
+It was not long after this that a guard came in and told them to prepare
+for an interview with General Wolfe. They at once brushed up as best
+they could, and the guard supplied them with caps, to replace those
+which had been lost.
+
+General Wolfe’s headquarters were in a house some distance back from the
+Falls of Montmorenci. The general had been taken seriously ill about the
+middle of August and was now slowly recovering.
+
+At the time of this campaign, which was to make him famous in the
+world’s history, General James Wolfe was but thirty-two years of age. He
+was tall and slender, with sloping shoulders and with a face that showed
+more of quietness than determination. But his eyes were bright and under
+certain circumstances could flash forth a hidden fire that meant much.
+His hair was red, and worn in a cue, as was the fashion at that time.
+
+James Wolfe came of fighting stock, his father, Major-General Edward
+Wolfe, being a distinguished officer before him. The son entered the
+King’s army at the age of fifteen, and one year later served in Flanders
+as the adjutant of a regiment. From Flanders he went to Scotland, to
+fight gallantly at Culloden, and then at Stirling, Perth, and Glasgow.
+At twenty-three he was a lieutenant-colonel, holding that rank for five
+years, when he obtained leave of absence and spent a long vacation in
+Paris.
+
+With the breaking out of the war with France Wolfe was again in his
+element. He sailed on the expedition against Louisburg, where he served
+with great honor to himself. Because of this service he was chosen by
+Pitt to command the expedition against Quebec. He sailed on the 17th of
+February, his fleet consisting of twenty-two ships of the line, and also
+numerous frigates, transports, and other craft. We have already seen how
+he landed on the Island of Orleans and at other points, and how he tried
+to break in upon the almost impregnable French position at the Falls of
+Montmorenci.
+
+Henry had heard much about General Wolfe and of what a sturdy and
+well-trained army officer he was, and the young soldier was rather
+surprised to find himself ushered into the presence of one who looked so
+young and mild. Wolfe’s sickness had left him pale and weak, yet he soon
+showed that he had all his old-time determination to win still in him.
+
+“You may tell me your story, but be brief,” he said, to Henry, who had
+been brought in first, and then settled back in his chair to listen. He
+did not interrupt the recital, but when the young soldier had finished
+he asked a number of questions, all of which Henry answered as clearly
+as he could.
+
+“You have certainly had your share of adventures,” said General Wolfe.
+“I imagine you did not expect to find yourself here when you started out
+for Oswego.”
+
+“That is true, sir,” answered Henry.
+
+“And you wish to get back at once? That will be rather difficult, I am
+afraid.”
+
+“I do not care so much about getting back, sir. But I should like to
+know what has become of my cousin, David Morris, and the others.”
+
+“You had better rest for a few days, and then I will have one of my aids
+see what can be done for you.”
+
+“Thank you, general,” said Henry, and with a salute he withdrew.
+
+The interview accorded to Silvers was similar to the foregoing,
+excepting that the sharpshooter was questioned in regard to such French
+defenses as he had seen along the river front. Then both were told that
+they were no longer under guard, and could come and go, within the
+limits of the camp, as they pleased.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIII
+
+                     SCALING THE HEIGHTS OF QUEBEC
+
+
+BOTH Henry and Silvers were much interested in the inspection of the
+camp General Wolfe had established near the Falls of Montmorenci and
+along the St. Lawrence River.
+
+The falls at this point were a grand sight, tumbling over the rough
+rocks that lined the gorge with a thunder which to the young soldier
+seemed a second Niagara. Below the falls was a stretch of smooth water,
+and here was a succession of shoals, dry, or nearly so, during low tide.
+
+The French camp was within sight between the trees, and it is said that
+the English and French guards occasionally spoke to each other further
+up the small stream, where the noise was not so loud. But men as well as
+officers had to be careful, for each army had its sharpshooters posted,
+ready to bring down any enemy who showed himself.
+
+During the time spent near the falls General Wolfe had not been idle. He
+had tried his best to draw General Montcalm from his secure position by
+making moves up and down the St. Lawrence and by sending detachments
+hither and thither, to attack and destroy various villages, towns, and
+isolated chateaux and farmhouses. All were given over to the flames, and
+night after night the sky was lit up by the conflagrations.
+
+All of these deeds made the Marquis de Montcalm very angry, but he was
+too wily a general to be drawn into any trap. “Wolfe cannot dislodge
+me,” he said. “And soon his supplies will give out, winter will be on
+him, and he and his fleet will have to sail for home.”
+
+His remarks were not mere guesswork. From various sources he learned
+that the English supplies were running low, and that many of the British
+soldiers were sick. Those on the fleet were growing tired of drifting up
+and down the river, and the admiral in charge knew that winter came
+early around Quebec.
+
+“Something will have to be done between now and the first of October,”
+said the admiral. “To remain in these waters after that would be a
+hardship.”
+
+“Something shall be done,” said General Wolfe, and, still weak from his
+spell of sickness, he began to lay new plans to force Montcalm into a
+battle.
+
+Several days slipped by, and Henry was glad enough to take the rest thus
+afforded. On the fourth day a messenger appeared bringing in news from
+Fort Oswego.
+
+“Hurrah!” shouted Henry, as he ran up to where Silvers sat smoking on a
+rock. “Dave is safe, and so are Shamer and Raymond. Oh, how glad I am!”
+
+“That is good news!” returned the sharpshooter. “Wonder how they managed
+to escape?”
+
+“The messenger didn’t know the full particulars. He says each was hurt a
+little, but not of any account. I can tell you, I feel much relieved”
+
+“I don’t doubt it, Henry. I know you think a good deal of your cousin.”
+
+“And why shouldn’t I? We have been playmates for years, and we have
+hunted and fished and fought together for ever so long, too. Dave is as
+close as a brother to me.”
+
+“Well, now you know he is safe, I reckon you won’t be so anxious to get
+to Fort Oswego as you was.”
+
+“No, I am going to send word to him that I am here, and then stay a
+while.”
+
+“So am I going to stay,” went on Silvers. “I feel it in my bones that
+there will be a big fight here before this campaign closes.”
+
+General Wolfe had under him three brigadiers, Murray, Monckton, and
+Townshend. He now called them to him for consultation and submitted
+several propositions. A debate lasting a long time followed, and at last
+it was decided to attack the French at a point some distance above the
+city of Quebec. By doing this, Montcalm would be cut off from his base
+of supplies and compelled to either fight or surrender.
+
+The task which General Wolfe had set for himself and his men was an
+exceedingly difficult one. As already mentioned, the river was fronted
+by a high wall of rocks, and to scale these seemed next to impossible.
+Besides, the French were on constant guard, and would be sure to sound
+the alarm quickly and pour a hot fire into the advancing British.
+
+In order to carry out the plan decided upon General Wolfe had first to
+abandon the camp at the falls. He knew the French would harass him as
+much as possible, and so sent Monckton from Point Levi with a number of
+soldiers, under pretense of attacking Beauport, midway between the falls
+and the city. Montcalm looked on this with new alarm and sent his troops
+in that direction; and Wolfe withdrew without further trouble.
+
+Henry and Silvers were with the soldiers who abandoned the Montmorenci
+and soon found themselves at Point Levi, where they joined a handful of
+other Colonial English mixed in with the Royal Grenadiers. This was
+early in September, and a few days later the troops were transferred to
+the ships under Admiral Holmes, and here General Wolfe joined the
+expedition.
+
+To the French it looked as if the English were going to give up the
+campaign, and Wolfe and his officers, as well as the admiral of the
+squadrons, did all in their power to make the deception more real.
+Cannon were taken up and placed aboard the vessels in the most open
+manner, and soldiers were made to pack away the camp outfits as if
+getting ready for a long voyage. “The English are going to sail!” cried
+the people of Quebec and vicinity, and their hopes arose, to think that
+they would at last be free from the grim terror which had hung over them
+so long.
+
+But Wolfe was not yet ready to force the attack. The plan of action was
+still in the rough. There was a high stone bluff, or cliff, to scale,
+and how to do it in comparative safety was a delicate problem to solve.
+The general listened patiently to what several who were acquainted with
+the locality had to say, and then surveyed the north shore with a
+telescope. Near what was then Anse du Foulon, and now called Wolfe’s
+Cove, he discovered a narrow path running between rocks and bushes from
+the water’s edge to the top of the bluff.
+
+“That is our course,” he said, quietly but firmly. On the bluff at this
+point were but a dozen soldiers’ tents, so he concluded that the French
+guard there could not be a heavy one.
+
+But to have given the French an inkling of what was in his mind would
+have ruined everything, so once again Wolfe set to work to fool the
+enemy. His ships sailed still further up the river, as if looking for a
+landing, and the French batteries opened with vigor, but without doing
+any harm.
+
+A heavy downpour of rain now made further operations impossible for two
+days. It was a cold, raw storm, and the soldiers in the transports could
+not stand it, and had to be landed once more on the south shore, where
+they built camp-fires, sought such shelters as were handy, and did what
+they could to make themselves comfortable. The weather was very trying
+on General Wolfe, but he refused to take again to his bed, declaring
+that he was now going to see the campaign to a finish.
+
+On the 12th of September all seemed in readiness for the attack. The
+French soldiers were worn out through following the passage of the
+English ships up and down the river, while the stay on the south shore
+had rested the grenadiers and others in the English ranks.
+
+For the daring expedition Wolfe selected forty-eight hundred men. He
+knew that the enemy must be at least twice as strong, and to engage
+Montcalm’s attention once again in a different direction, he had Admiral
+Saunders make a move as if to land at Beauport. This deception was
+carried on in grand style, with signals flashing from ship to ship,
+cannons roaring, and boatload after boatload of sailors and marines
+putting off as if to dash upon the mud flats. In great haste Montcalm
+massed his men at the Beauport batteries, satisfied at last that this
+was to be the real point of attack, while the movement up the river was
+only a blind.
+
+Fortune now seemed to be at last in Wolfe’s favor. He was ten miles away
+from the din at Beauport, with nearly five thousand of his soldiers, and
+creeping upon the north shore of the river with the silence of a shadow.
+There was no moon, but otherwise the night was clear. Wolfe occupied a
+place in one of the foremost boats. Behind him came a long procession,
+containing the Highlanders and grenadiers and also a handful of
+Colonials, including Henry and Silvers, who had been armed, and who were
+just as anxious to aid in the taking of Quebec as anybody.
+
+Once or twice from out of the darkness came a challenge.
+
+“Who comes?” was the question, put in French.
+
+“France!” was the answer, of one who could speak the language well.
+
+“What boats are those?”
+
+“The provision boats. Hush, or the English will hear. They are not far
+away.”
+
+The sentry knew that some provision boats were expected along that
+night, so said no more. As a matter of fact, the order to send the
+provisions down the river had been countermanded but a few hours before,
+but without the sentry’s knowledge. Thus fortune again favored the
+English.
+
+At last the headland above Anse du Foulon was gained. Here the tide
+swept along rapidly and some boats were carried partly past the cove.
+
+“No guard in sight,” whispered one of the lookouts.
+
+“It is well,” murmured Wolfe.
+
+Only the sound of a gurgling brook as it rushed into the St. Lawrence
+broke the stillness of the night. Before the boats lay the dark,
+frowning bluff, with its loose rocks, and its straggling cedars, other
+trees, and brushwood. The path was there, doubly uncertain in the
+darkness.
+
+Twenty-four volunteers, picked men, good shots, and with nerves of iron,
+led the way. In the meantime those in the other boats waited by the
+shore, for the signal to land if it proved safe, or to pull away with
+might and main should the French have led them into a trap.
+
+“Tell you what, Henry, this is a ticklish task,” whispered Silvers, as
+he examined the new firearm he had received.
+
+“It certainly is that,” answered the young soldier. “But I reckon
+General Wolfe knows what he is doing.”
+
+“Silence there,” came the low command, and the two said no more.
+
+A painful period of waiting followed. Far up the bluff they could hear
+the volunteers climbing along. Then came a shot, followed by others, and
+then a ringing English cheer.
+
+“We have them! We have them!” was the cry. “Come up!”
+
+“Hurrah!” came a mighty cry. “_Up we go!_” And in a twinkle the soldiers
+were out of the boats and scaling the rocks as best they could, some by
+way of the path and others by rocks and bushes.
+
+It was a climb that Henry never forgot. The path was choked with
+grenadiers, each with his gun slung over his back and each loaded down
+with knapsack and blanket.
+
+“We can get up this way just as well,” said Silvers, and up they went,
+side by side, over some rough stones, and then hauling, pushing, and
+pulling themselves from one point of vantage to another, until, fairly
+panting for breath, they reached the top and joined the forces gathering
+on the field above, known as the Plains of Abraham.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIV
+
+                       WOLFE’S VICTORY AND DEATH
+
+
+A SLIGHT shower of rain was falling when Henry and Silvers, still
+panting for breath, followed the grenadiers and Highlanders to the
+Plains of Abraham, so called after Abraham Martin, a Canadian pilot who
+had once owned a stretch of land in that locality. The plains were
+tolerably level, covered here and there with grass and brushwood. To the
+southward stretched the St. Lawrence, and to the north and east the
+River St. Charles. Quebec stood at the extreme southeast point, hidden
+from view by a series of rocks and low hills, and partly protected by
+the city wall.
+
+“This is surely a surprise to the French,” remarked Henry, as a distant
+cannon roared forth a warning. “Outside of the guard that was routed not
+a soldier has come into view.”
+
+But it was not long before a detachment of the French appeared on the
+ridge before the city. They were a battalion sent forward from an
+encampment on the St. Charles. The soldiers were in their showy white
+uniforms, in strong contrast to the red of the British. Drums beat, the
+Highlanders piped bravely on their pipes, and a skirmish ensued which
+quickly forced the French to retire for consultation. An attack was also
+made on the rear, by Bougainville’s forces, but this was likewise
+repulsed.
+
+Hearing the distant firing, Montcalm rode forward in hot haste to learn
+what it meant. He still imagined it might be a ruse, and that the main
+attack would be at Beauport, but one glance at the long and solid ranks
+of the English made him realize the bitter truth—that Wolfe had
+outwitted him, and that the English were now between him and his
+supplies. He must either fight and win or surrender.
+
+The French commander knew that he must act quickly, for the English
+might start to intrench themselves, or, worse yet, march on the city, at
+any moment. Orders were rushed furiously in all directions, and the
+troops came up pell-mell, some over the plains, some by the St. Charles
+bridge, and some by way of the city’s gates, the regulars in white, the
+French Colonials in their nondescript tatters, and the Indians in their
+savage warpaint. Drums beat, trumpets blared defiance, and proud banners
+waved through the rainy air. But the English ranks stood silent, the
+grim look on the men’s faces telling how they were prepared to meet any
+shock that might come.
+
+The battle was not long in starting. The French took possession of
+several rises of ground and of some cornfields, and a scattering fire
+began, gradually growing stronger and stronger.
+
+“Be calm, men!” cried Wolfe, riding up and down, in front and beyond his
+men. A short while later a bullet struck him in the wrist, but he bound
+the wound up with a handkerchief, and refused to quit the field.
+
+Henry and Silvers were firing with the rest. Soon the fight caused them
+to drift apart. Henry was with some grenadiers, tall, strong-looking
+soldiers, who fought with a rare courage that nothing could daunt. With
+Henry were fifteen or twenty Royal Americans, who had been at first
+guarding the boats at the landing, but who had now come up to do their
+share of the fighting.
+
+There was a constant rattle of musketry, punctuated occasionally by
+heavy artillery. Montcalm’s army was now at hand, and a fierce onslaught
+ensued, the French general himself leading his men and urging them to do
+their best.
+
+“Forward!” was the cry on the English side, and the soldiers advanced a
+couple of hundred feet. Then the French rushed to the front, while the
+English reloaded their pieces. A solid volley was delivered which
+created terrific havoc in the ranks of the wearers of the white uniform,
+who were seen to pitch in all directions, dead and dying.
+
+“The day is ours!” was the British cry. “At them! At them, Britons! At
+them!” And another advance was made.
+
+Begrimed with dirt and smoke, and perspiring freely, Henry went on with
+the rest. He had fired his musket several times, and now came the order
+to fix bayonets. Bullets were whistling in all directions, and the young
+soldier saw more than one companion go down, several to their death. He
+himself was “scotched” in the arm, but did not notice the hurt until
+long afterward.
+
+Slowly the French gave way, first in one direction and then another.
+Then came the order to charge, and a mighty yell went up as the
+grenadiers and others ran over the field on the very heels of the
+retreating French. To one side was a field in which were stationed a
+number of French sharpshooters.
+
+“They must be dislodged,” cried Wolfe, and led the charge. Back of him
+came the Louisburg Grenadiers, those men who had made such a record for
+themselves in other campaigns. With these grenadiers was Louis Silvers,
+running with many others into the very jaws of death.
+
+Again the bullets whistled around them, and again General Wolfe was hit.
+He was seen to stagger, but kept on, when a third bullet took him in the
+breast.
+
+“The general is killed!” was the cry, and Silvers ran to support him.
+But ere the brave sharpshooter who had been Henry’s companion through so
+much of peril could gain the general’s side, a bullet hit him in the
+side of the head, and he fell over on his face, dead.
+
+Several officers and solders had seen General Wolfe’s condition, and a
+lieutenant and two privates ran to support him and carry him to the
+rear.
+
+“Le—let me down, men,” he murmured. “Don’t take me from the field.”
+
+“General, you must have a surgeon,” said one.
+
+“There is no need; it is—is all over with me,” he gasped, and sank as in
+a faint.
+
+“Run for a surgeon,” said another, and two privates sped away on the
+errand.
+
+At that moment came another yell from the end of the field, some
+distance away:
+
+“They run! They run! Hurrah! See them run!”
+
+Breathing heavily, Wolfe raised himself up.
+
+“Who—run?” he murmured.
+
+“The enemy, general; they are giving ground in every direction,”
+answered the officer who knelt beside him.
+
+Instantly the face of General Wolfe took on a look of quiet
+satisfaction.
+
+“Tell”—he murmured,—“tell Colonel Burton—march regiment—Webb’s—Charles
+River—cut off retreat!” He breathed heavily, and then with a long sigh
+continued: “Now, God be praised, I will die in peace!”
+
+And but a short time later he expired.
+
+The fall of Wolfe was disheartening to the English, but victory was
+already in their grasp, and on the French side General Montcalm had also
+been hit, as he was riding in the midst of the soldiers who were
+retreating toward the city. A shot passed through his body and he was
+supported through the St. Louis gate, now a place of intense excitement.
+Those who were in the city became panic-stricken, and many sought to get
+together their worldly possessions and fly for their lives.
+
+There was one body of the French soldiery that had not as yet been
+defeated. These were the colonists, who had been held at and near the
+city. They now went forward and took possession of a hill and a
+cornfield, from which they were dislodged only after a heavy loss by the
+English.
+
+In the meantime the French general further up the river did his best to
+gather together his scattered guards and attack the British from the
+rear. But by the time he came up General Wolfe’s army, now under the
+command of Townshend, for Monckton had also fallen with Wolfe, was
+safely intrenched. From Beauport also came the Governor-General,
+Vaudreuil, amazed and bewildered, and able to do little but look on
+helplessly. He was met by half of the demoralized French army, who
+insisted upon it that all was lost.
+
+In the city the confusion was tinged with a sadness hardly to be
+described. Montcalm, the well-beloved, was dying, and his second in
+command, Brigadier Senezergues, was also mortally hurt. What was to be
+done? Another day would find the English strongly intrenched, for in the
+darkness they were already bringing up cannon and training them on the
+city walls.
+
+“We must retreat—nothing more is left to us,” said more than one French
+officer, and the word swept the rounds with incredible swiftness.
+“Retreat! retreat, ere it is too late!” was the French cry, and away
+fled regulars and colonists, in a mad rush that was little short of a
+panic. The red men, who before the battle had boasted of what they would
+do, disappeared as if the ground had opened and swallowed them up.
+
+That night the Marquis de Montcalm, as brave a soldier as ever lived,
+breathed his last. There was no coffin at hand in which to bury him, and
+his remains were placed in a rude pine box and deposited under the floor
+of the Ursuline Convent. As one historian has fitly said, the funeral of
+Montcalm was the funeral of New France.
+
+Wolfe and Montcalm! brave, generous soldiers both of them. Is it a
+wonder that the people of Canada, French and English combined love their
+memory, and that on what was the Plains of Abraham there stands to-day a
+pyramid raised in their combined honor?
+
+Ramesey was in command of Quebec, but under the orders of the
+Governor-General. From a safe distance Vaudreuil wrote to the commandant
+telling him not to let the English carry the place by assault.
+
+“As soon as provisions fail, raise the white flag, and make the best
+terms you can,” wrote the Governor-General, and Ramesey prepared to
+obey. At one time he hesitated, hoping to be relieved by General Lévis,
+who wanted the army to march back. But in a day or two matters grew
+worse, and at last the white flag was raised, and Quebec capitulated.
+
+“The city is ours!” cried Henry. “What a victory!”
+
+It was indeed a victory, but one tinged with sadness, for General Wolfe
+was loved by all. The remains of the officer were tenderly cared for,
+and, later on, sent to England, where another monument to his memory was
+erected in Westminster Abbey.
+
+It was a great shock to Henry to find that Silvers had been shot and
+killed. The man was comparatively a new acquaintance, yet their mutual
+experiences of the past few weeks had made them feel more like old
+friends. Silvers was buried in a trench outside of Quebec, along with
+many others who had fallen, and Henry was a sincere mourner at the brief
+funeral. Later on, the young soldier carved out a rude slab with his
+jackknife which he erected over the mound. Fortunately Louis Silvers was
+a bachelor, so there remained no wife or children to mourn his loss.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XV
+
+                             NEWS FROM HOME
+
+
+“LETTERS! letters! letters!”
+
+This was the cry which circulated around Fort Oswego one morning some
+weeks after Dave had reached the stronghold, in company with Raymond,
+Shamer, and the two hunters the party had met in the forest.
+
+Dave was slowly recovering from his hurt knee. The twist had proved more
+severe than at first anticipated, and he had found it necessary to go to
+the hospital more than once, to have it examined and dressed.
+
+A courier from Albany had come in, with saddle-bags filled with letters
+of all kinds, written on the thinnest of paper, so that they should not
+weigh too much, for postage went by weight and was very high.
+
+“A letter for me!” cried Dave, as it was handed to him. It was addressed
+to Fort Niagara, but as some of the soldiers of that place were now
+coming down to Oswego all the mail was sorted at this point before any
+was forwarded further.
+
+The letter proved to be one written by Dave’s father, and filled four
+closely written sheets. In it James Morris said that the summer had been
+a fairly prosperous one at the homestead. The new cabin, built to take
+the place of that burnt by the Indians, was now in a comfortable
+condition, and both he and his brother had had a large crop of corn and
+hay, while garden vegetables had never done better. Rodney, the cripple,
+had gone out considerable during the warm days, and had on one occasion
+shot a deer drinking at the brook below the cabin, and had also brought
+in more than one acceptable string of fish.
+
+    “Your Aunt Lucy is real well,” [the letter continued]. “She
+    awaited the coming of Nell with Sam Barringford with tremendous
+    anxiety, and when the two appeared on the trail, Sam on a horse
+    he had borrowed at Winchester and Nell on a pony, the good woman
+    almost fell dead with joy. We were all affected, and although
+    they came at ten in the morning, no more work was done that day,
+    excepting such as was necessary to make them comfortable. Sam
+    told his story in detail and then we listened to Nell, and I
+    must confess there was not a dry eye among us when she told of
+    the hardships among the redskins, and of how Jean Bevoir had
+    treated her. I sincerely hope that scoundrelly trader is sent to
+    prison for a long term of years, for he has earned it.
+
+    “The news that Fort Niagara was taken was hailed with joy by all
+    of us, and we are proud of the part you and Henry played. Both
+    of you must be careful and not run into needless danger. Now if
+    Generals Wolfe and Amherst can only do as well this cruel war
+    will soon come to an end, and then I can go and re-establish the
+    post on the Kinotah, where, so I have been told by an old
+    frontiersman, the game is now more plentiful than ever, since
+    the Indians have left the hunting ground to go to war with the
+    French.
+
+    “Sam wishes me to say that he is going to remain here and at
+    Winchester only about a week longer. Then he is going to rejoin
+    the army at Lake Ontario, to keep his eye on you and Henry.
+    Henry will be sent a letter by his father in this same mail.”
+
+Dave read the letter over three times before he allowed it to drop in
+his lap. In his mind’s eye he could picture the new cabin, and the joy
+of the inmates over the safe arrival of little Nell and honest Sam
+Barringford. And then a spasm of pain shot across his heart as he
+thought of Henry.
+
+“If he was killed what a shock it will prove!” he murmured with downcast
+face. “Poor Henry! I’d give my right hand to know he was alive and
+safe!”
+
+“Bad news?” came from Raymond, who came up at that moment.
+
+“No,” answered Dave, and went on: “It is a letter from home. They are
+all well and send best wishes to me and to my cousin Henry. I was
+thinking of how they will feel when they learn that—that——”
+
+“Don’t take it so hard, Dave,” said the backwoodsman sympathetically.
+“He may have escaped, after all. Just as strange things have happened.”
+
+The young soldier shook his head doubtfully. “He had a hot fight—I don’t
+see how he could escape if he was wounded. He is either dead or a
+prisoner in some foul Canadian prison.”
+
+Dave had been told to come to the hospital that afternoon at four
+o’clock and have his knee looked after again. He was on hand promptly,
+and the surgeon gave it a careful examination.
+
+“It is doing nicely,” he said. “Be a bit careful of it for a week
+longer, and it will be as well as ever.” And then he gave the young
+soldier a box of salve to be used each night and morning.
+
+Dave was about to leave the hospital when his attention was attracted to
+a number of patients who had just been brought down in boats from Fort
+Niagara. One of the men lying on a cot looked familiar, and drawing
+closer he recognized Jean Bevoir.
+
+The French trader looked pale and thin, for he had suffered not a
+little. He looked at Dave curiously, and when the young soldier got the
+chance he went up and spoke to the man.
+
+“I suppose you know me, Bevoir?”
+
+“Yees,” was the low reply. “You air Daf Morris, not so?”
+
+“Yes, I am Dave Morris, a cousin to little Nell Morris.”
+
+At these words the wounded man winced a little. Being a prisoner and in
+the hospital had taken a good deal of his former bravado out of him.
+
+“You haf made von great mistake,” he whined. “I am not ze bad man you
+think, no.”
+
+“I know all about that,” returned Dave coldly.
+
+“Must I stand ze trial when I am well?”
+
+“Certainly.”
+
+“It ees verra hard on a poor man, yes, verra hard.”
+
+“You brought it on yourself, Bevoir. You have caused our family a good
+deal of trouble.”
+
+“You are ze son of James Morris, not so?”
+
+“I am—the same James Morris that you tried to rob of a trading-post on
+the Kinotah,” answered the young soldier, bound that Jean Bevoir should
+understand the situation fully.
+
+“Zat was ze bad bus’ness, yes. I think ze tradin’-post mine. I haf ze
+papairs to show of it.”
+
+“The grant is my father’s, and always was,” retorted Dave.
+
+“Do not be too sure,” answered the trader craftily. “I can bring ze men
+to swear it ees mine—two, t’ree men.”
+
+“Your title is no good.”
+
+“We vill see ’bout zat. If I bring ze men ze court will say it ees mine,
+and why not? I haf been dare long before your fadder, yes.”
+
+There was a pause, for Dave did not know how to reply to this speech.
+The French trader looked at the youth’s face searchingly.
+
+“You listen,” he whispered, so that those around might not hear. “I tell
+you something, yes.”
+
+“What?” questioned Dave, wondering what was coming next.
+
+“If you send me to ze prison for two, t’ree year what goot haf dat been?
+Nodding, no nodding to you! I go and I come out, and ze trading-post
+still belongs to Jean Bevoir, not to your fadder.”
+
+“I don’t believe it.”
+
+“Still it ees so. But now listen—I haf ze gran’ plan—ze plan to do you
+goot! Ze tradin’-post ees mine, but I gif it to you and your fadder,
+yes, efery-t’ing, if——” And here the French trader paused.
+
+“If what?” questioned Dave, although he guessed what was coming.
+
+“If you say noddings ’bout me here—if you help me to get away,” answered
+Jean Bevoir, in a still lower whisper.
+
+“Help you to get away?” cried Dave.
+
+“Sh-sh! Not so loud. Yes, help me. It vill be easy to do zat. An English
+uniform, a dark night, and it ees done. You haf ze tradin’-post, and I
+also gif you dis.”
+
+As Jean Bevoir spoke he drew from his bosom a small bag tied with a long
+string. Opening the bag he produced half a dozen English and French
+pieces of gold, worth probably a hundred dollars all told.
+
+“You will give me that money if I help you to get away?” said Dave
+slowly.
+
+“Yees, efery piece of it. Now vat you say? Am I not ze goot-hearted
+man?”
+
+“Good-hearted?” said Dave scornfully. “I think you are a first-class
+villain, and if you weren’t in the hospital I’d do my best to knock you
+down for your impudence.” Dave was speaking loudly. “You can keep your
+dirty gold, and I shall do my best to put you in prison. And as for the
+trading-post——”
+
+“Here, here, what is the trouble?” burst in the voice of a surgeon, as
+he strode up. “We allow no quarreling in this ward.”
+
+“This rascal has been trying to bribe me into helping him to escape,”
+answered Dave, his eyes flashing. “He wanted me to get him an English
+uniform on the sly.”
+
+“What! Is this true?” ejaculated the surgeon. “If it is, he deserves a
+flogging instead of medical care.”
+
+“No! no!” shrieked Jean Bevoir. “It ees all von gran’ mistake.” He
+hurriedly stowed the gold in his bosom. “How can I escape ven I haf ze
+shot in ze leg——”
+
+“It is getting better fast,” responded the surgeon. “I fancy we had
+better keep an eye on you, and by the end of the week I’ll pass you over
+to the prison guard for safe keeping.”
+
+“I hope you do, sir,” said Dave. “He is a great criminal as well as a
+prisoner of war,” and he told a few of the particulars of Jean Bevoir’s
+doings.
+
+“I am glad you did not let him tempt you,” said the surgeon. “He is
+certainly a rascal of the first water. But I don’t want you to talk to
+him any longer. A quarrel will only excite the other patients here,” and
+he led the way from the building. As he was going out, Dave looked back
+to see what Bevoir was doing. The French trader scowled at him and shook
+his fist in rage.
+
+“He will hate me worse than ever for this,” reasoned the young soldier.
+“But I am glad I showed him up to the surgeon. It would be a great pity
+if he was allowed to slip away unnoticed.”
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVI
+
+                          A FIRE AND AN ESCAPE
+
+
+THE next day was an exceedingly hot one in and around Fort Oswego, and
+Dave was content to remain in the shade of some trees and take it easy.
+
+Early in the morning a detachment of soldiers from Fort Niagara arrived,
+having been sent down by General Gage, who had now superseded Sir
+William Johnson in command.
+
+These soldiers were followed by others, who had scouted through the
+woods lining the lake shore and who declared that all the French and
+unfriendly Indians had left the locality.
+
+The soldiers brought with them two barge loads of powder which the
+commandant at Oswego desired. The powder did not come in until almost
+dark, but it was decided to place it in the powder house that night,
+rather than leave it on the lake until morning.
+
+For the want of something better to do, Dave walked down to the powder
+house and watched the soldiers bring in the kegs of powder, and also
+several boxes of flints. It was rather hard work, in such warm weather,
+and it caused more than one soldier to grumble.
+
+“I didn’t enlist for this,” grumbled one pioneer. “Between such work and
+working on the fort at Niagara, I’ve toiled harder than when I built my
+cabin on the Mohawk.”
+
+“Never mind,” said another, who was more cheerful. “Remember, it’s all
+for the good of the cause.”
+
+“Yes, the good of England,” growled the first speaker. “After this war
+between England and France is over, the Canadians will still be our
+neighbors, and do you think they’ll like it because we walloped them?
+Not to my style of thinking.”
+
+One of the kegs of powder had burst open, and this left a train of
+grains running from the lake front almost to the powder-house door. Some
+of the powder was spilt on a rough rock, but nobody noticed this, until
+a soldier in passing scraped his foot on the rock, when there was a
+flash which made him jump high in the air and drop the keg he was
+carrying.
+
+“It’s powder!” he roared, and ran for his life.
+
+A dozen others saw the flash, including Dave, and many leaped back,
+while half a dozen other spurts of flame went up from the long grass,
+which was now on fire. The keg the soldier had dropped rolled into this
+long grass, and might have exploded had not Dave rushed forward.
+
+“Hi! what are you up to?” roared one soldier. “Look out, or you will be
+killed!”
+
+“I’ll risk it,” muttered the young soldier, and sprang beside the keg.
+He gave it a vigorous kick, which sent it spinning away from the
+dangerous spot.
+
+The train of fire had burnt backward as well as forward, and it reached
+another patch of grass close to where two half-kegs of powder rested,
+the last taken from one of the barges. Nobody cared to go near these,
+and a minute later one exploded with a loud report, hurling stones,
+dirt, and the other half-keg into the lake.
+
+The sound of the exploding powder caused an alarm in and around the
+fort, and soldiers came hurrying from all directions.
+
+“The grass is on fire in a dozen places!”
+
+“It is creeping up to the powder house!”
+
+“If the house goes up we had best all take to the woods!”
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  He gave it a vigorous kick, which sent it spinning away
+  from the dangerous spot.—_Page 146._
+]
+
+These and other cries rang out, and for the moment nobody knew what to
+do. A few began to stamp on the grass and thereby burnt their shoes, but
+the majority felt like retreating in short order.
+
+“Form a bucket brigade!” at last shouted an officer, and a rush was made
+for the leathern buckets, while other, coming suddenly to their senses,
+ran for picks and shovels, with which to dig away the burning grass.
+
+It was perilous work, for there was no telling how soon the flames might
+leap to the powder house and blow everything for rods around sky-high.
+
+In the excitement Dave forgot all about his sore knee, and catching up a
+bucket, he worked as manfully as anybody to bring water. Two lines were
+formed, one passing up the water and the other returning the empty
+buckets, and soon the work began to tell in spite of the dryness of the
+grass, which seemed to burn like so much tinder.
+
+It was a good hour before the excitement came to an end, and to make
+sure that there should be no more danger of fire, the grass all around
+the powder house was dug up and cast to one side, and the ditch thus
+formed was filled with water. Then the remaining grass was thoroughly
+saturated; and the danger was over.
+
+“Rather a close call, Dave,” remarked Raymond, when the two were washing
+up, later on. “I thought sure we’d all be blown to kingdom come.”
+
+“I thought that, too,” put in Shamer. “I felt more like running than
+like trying to put out the fire.”
+
+“It was certainly exciting enough,” answered Dave. “I forgot all about
+my knee,” and he rubbed that member tenderly, for it had now begun to
+assert itself once more.
+
+“They tell me that two of the sick prisoners in the hospital are
+missing,” came from a soldier standing near. “They took French leave
+during the confusion.”
+
+“Two prisoners missing?” queried Dave with interest. “Do you know who
+they were?”
+
+“I do not.”
+
+“I’m going to find out.”
+
+“Do you think one was that rascal of a Bevoir?” asked Raymond.
+
+“It would be just my luck if it was,” answered Dave, as he hurried away.
+
+At the hospital the guards could give no information, for they had been
+ordered to keep silent. But a little later Dave found the surgeon who
+had caught him talking to the French trader.
+
+“Yes, one of the missing ones is Jean Bevoir,” said the surgeon. “The
+explosion of the powder, and the fire, upset both the nurses and the
+guards, and in the excitement Bevoir got away, with another Frenchman
+named Chalette.”
+
+“It’s too bad.”
+
+The surgeon gazed at Dave sharply.
+
+“You are quite sure you didn’t change your mind about helping that man?”
+he demanded.
+
+“Me? Not much, sir. Why, I’ve been out fighting the fire.”
+
+“He kicked away one of the kegs of powder,” said a nurse, who had
+chanced to see the brave act. “He couldn’t have been around here when
+the men got away.”
+
+A detachment of soldiers was sent out to roam the woods and watch the
+lake front, in an effort to locate Bevoir and his companion. But though
+the search was kept up for four days, nothing was seen or heard of the
+escaped prisoners.
+
+“This is certainly too bad,” said Raymond to Dave, when the search was
+practically given up. “I suppose you reckoned on sending him to prison.”
+
+“Yes, and he deserved it.”
+
+“You want to be on your guard against such a man, Dave. He will not
+forget you, remember that.”
+
+“I only wish I could meet him!” burst out Dave.
+
+“He will probably get over to Canada just as fast as he can. He knows he
+won’t dare to show himself around any English camp, or at that
+trading-post again.”
+
+Dave was still on the sick list, and to spend the time went fishing the
+next day. He had just pulled in a fine perch when a well-known voice
+reached his ears, causing him to leap up from the rock on which he was
+fishing and drop his pole.
+
+“So here ye air, eh?” came to his ears. “Jest as nateral as ever, bless
+my eyes if ye aint!”
+
+“Sam Barringford!” exclaimed Dave, and caught the old frontiersman by
+both hands. “Oh, how glad I am to see you again! I’ve been looking for
+you for several days.”
+
+“Have ye now? Waal, it’s good to be looked fer—better’n when folks hopes
+ye will stay away.” Barringford winked one eye. “I had to stop at Albany
+on business. How air ye, an’ where is Henry?”
+
+“Henry—oh, Sam, how can I tell you. He——”
+
+“Don’t say Henry is dead, lad—no, no, not that!” And all the color in
+the honest hunter’s face seemed to die away. “He’s alive, o’ course he
+is.”
+
+“I—I hope so. But I don’t know. We had a fearful fight with the Indians,
+and Henry was captured by them, and by some Frenchmen, and taken away in
+a boat.” And Dave told the whole story, just as it has been written in
+these pages.
+
+Sam Barringford listened in utter silence, shaking his head from time to
+time, to show that he understood. Henry was very dear to him, as old
+readers of this series know, and the pair had been on many a hunting
+expedition together.
+
+“I don’t think the Frenchmen would kill him,—not in cold blood and they
+wearing the army uniform,” he said slowly. “But the redskins are the Old
+Nick’s own, and if they got Henry to themselves——”
+
+“That is what I am thinking, Sam. Oh, it is awful.”
+
+“Ye got no news at all?”
+
+“Not a word.”
+
+“Have ye been back to the spot?”
+
+“I couldn’t go. My knee——”
+
+“Oh, yes, I forgot. How is the knee now?”
+
+“A good deal better.”
+
+“I’ll go up to thet spot to-morrow,” said Barringford with sudden
+determination.
+
+“But they went off in a boat.”
+
+“Perhaps thet was a blind, lad.”
+
+Barringford had but little to tell outside of what Dave had already
+learned through the medium of Mr. Morris’s letter. The journey to Wills’
+Creek with little Nell and the Rose twins had proved uneventful, but the
+neighbors had flocked from far and near to see the restored children.
+
+“It would have done your heart good to have seen your aunt,” said the
+old hunter. “She nearly went crazy, laughin’ one minit an’ cryin’ the
+next, and little Nell and Rodney laughed and cried too. Your father and
+Uncle Joe and me couldn’t stand it nohow, and we went down to the barn
+and blubbered too. Never felt so queer in my hull life afore.” And
+Barringford rubbed his coat sleeve over his eyes. The tears were in
+Dave’s eyes too, and he was not ashamed of them either.
+
+“I know I ought to write home about Henry,” said the young soldier, when
+he could trust himself to speak. “But, somehow, I can’t bring myself to
+do it, although I’ve tried a dozen times. Every day I live in the hope
+that the next day will bring good news.”
+
+“Wait until I’ve made thet trip I spoke about, Dave.”
+
+“Shall I go along?”
+
+“Best not, with that hurt knee. A hurt knee aint to be fooled with. Jack
+Pepper twisted his knee onct, and walked lame the rest o’ his nateral
+life.”
+
+“Oh, I hope I won’t have to do that!” cried Dave. “I’ll take the best
+care I can of it.” And he did.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVII
+
+                          THE HOLE IN THE ICE
+
+
+SAM BARRINGFORD kept his word, by starting on his search early the next
+morning. Dave begged to go along, but the old frontiersman shook his
+head.
+
+“No, lad, I’d like your company, ye know that, but I can make time by
+going it alone,” he said.
+
+The week to follow was an anxious one to the youth. Day after day he
+looked for Barringford’s return. In the meantime, he nursed his twisted
+knee faithfully, until that member seemed as strong and limber as ever.
+
+The young soldier was now back in the ranks, and it was whispered about
+that he would soon be made an officer. But this honor he declined.
+
+“Give the older heads a chance,” he said. “I am content to do my duty as
+a private,” and Raymond was elected in his stead.
+
+On the eighth day Sam Barringford came back, thoroughly tired out by a
+tramp that had taken him over many miles of the territory covering the
+lake front.
+
+“Didn’t see anybuddy but a couple o’ redskins,” he said. “They were old
+men and could tell nuthin’.”
+
+“And you found no trace?” faltered Dave.
+
+“Nary a trace, lad. It’s too bad, but it can’t be helped.” And
+Barringford’s voice almost broke in spite of his effort to control it.
+
+Drilling was now going on every morning and afternoon, for it was felt
+that the Colonial militia must be brought up as far as possible to the
+standard of the royal troops. In the militia men were constantly coming
+and going, suiting their own convenience in spite of all the officers
+could do to restrain them.
+
+“We’ll not be able to do much more this season,” remarked Barringford to
+Dave, one day. “It won’t be long before winter is on us and then the
+campaign will have to come to an end.”
+
+One day there came the glorious news of Wolfe’s victory on the Plains of
+Abraham, followed almost immediately by the news that Quebec had been
+taken.
+
+The soldiers went wild with excitement, and the officers did not attempt
+to restrain them. In the evening bonfires were lit and the general
+jollification lasted until the next morning.
+
+“That is the end of French rule in America,” said Raymond. “Now if
+Amherst can only advance we’ll soon have the garlic-eaters on the run.”
+But, as already mentioned in these pages, Amherst’s advance was so slow
+that the storms of early winter drove his ships on Lake Champlain back
+and he was compelled to go into quarters for the season at Crown Point,
+leaving the British army at Quebec to take care of itself.
+
+“I must write home and tell of this victory,” said Dave.
+“But—but—Henry——”
+
+“Better wait a bit longer, Dave,” said Barringford. “If the French are
+licked we may learn somethin’ o’ their prisoners, an’ Henry may be among
+’em.”
+
+Two days later came a pony express with letters for many of the
+soldiers, some from home and some from others in the various armies of
+the English.
+
+“A letter from Quebec!” murmured Dave, as he received the epistle. His
+hand shook so that he could scarcely read the address. That handwriting
+looked familiar. Oh, if only it was from Henry! He breathed a silent
+prayer, and then broke the seal.
+
+“Who is it from?” questioned Barringford, who was standing near.
+
+“Oh, Sam, it’s from Henry! He is alive! Think of it!” The tears of joy
+stood in the young soldier’s eyes. “He was with Wolfe—after escaping
+from the French—he and Silvers. But Silvers, poor man, was shot dead in
+the battle,” he went on, reading rapidly.
+
+“Is Henry all right?”
+
+“Yes, and he says he has learned that I am safe, too. A messenger from
+Oswego brought the news some time ago.”
+
+“Lad, ye can thank God for His many marcies,” said Barringford
+reverently.
+
+“Yes, Sam, and I do, from the bottom of my heart,” returned Dave.
+
+The letter was a long one, and the two walked to an out-of-the-way spot,
+where Dave read it aloud, while the frontiersman listened with close
+attention. Henry gave many of the particulars of his capture and escape,
+and also mentioned that he was now doing guard duty in Quebec. He added
+that he had sent home a letter, telling of his safety, and that for the
+present he was going to remain where he was, and hoped that sooner or
+later Dave and the command to which he was attached would join him.
+
+“This is the best news yet,” cried Dave, after the letter had been read
+twice. “Sam, my heart is as light as air!”
+
+“So is mine, Dave. It’s a heavy weight removed, eh? I could ’most dance
+a jig.”
+
+“What a big fight it must have been, and how sad to think that General
+Wolfe had to die just as he accomplished what he had planned so many
+months.”
+
+“’Twas better to die thus than to have the fate of General Montcalm,”
+replied Barringford. “To die in victory is nothing to dying in defeat.”
+
+“I guess you must be right.” Dave paused for a moment. “Now Quebec is
+taken, what do you think will be the next move for our army to make?”
+
+“That is hard to say, lad. Maybe the French will come back at Quebec
+before long. But come, let us get back to the camp-fire. It is too cold
+to stay here, even while discussin’ such good news.”
+
+Barringford was right about it being cold. It was the middle of
+September and the air was nipping. A few days later came a cold rain
+that seemed to penetrate to the very marrow of Dave’s bones, for the lad
+from Virginia was not used to such a climate as that of upper New York
+State.
+
+“Ugh, but it’s awful!” he said, as he came in from two hours of guard
+duty, with his clothing soaked. “It’s enough to give one his death of
+cold.”
+
+“Strip yourself, and rub down good,” said Barringford. “It certainly is
+rough on a fellow o’ Southern blood.”
+
+“I hope the rain don’t last.”
+
+“This is what we call a pond-filler, Dave. As soon as all the ponds fill
+up it will git colder, mark what I tell ye.”
+
+Barringford’s prediction was correct. The rain came down until all the
+ponds and streams were overflowing and then the storm came to an end. A
+week after this came a flurry of snow, followed by a high wind which
+blew down several old trees in that vicinity.
+
+“Winter’s coming now,” said more than one, and the officers lost no time
+in giving the soldiers directions for going into winter quarters. It was
+felt by all that military operations must, for the time being, come to
+an end.
+
+At first Dave had thought to return home for the winter. But Barringford
+did not care to make another trip to Wills’ Creek and the young soldier
+was not in the humor to go alone or in the company of strangers.
+
+“Might as well settle down right here,” said Barringford. “We can fix
+ourselves a putty comfortable hut, and there will be sure to be plenty
+o’ huntin’ and fishin’ for whomsoever wants it.”
+
+Many of the soldiers were quartered in the fort and in the trading-posts
+scattered about, but there was not room for all, and the others had to
+build themselves shelters of boards and canvas. Barringford, Raymond,
+and Dave formed a party by themselves, and it was not long before the
+trio completed a shelter of which they were justly proud.
+
+The hut was about twelve feet square, of rough logs and tree branches,
+interlaced with willow withes. On one corner were several rocks and an
+opening, where they could build a camp-fire, if they wished, and three
+couches of cedar branches were also provided, filling the air of the
+shelter with a sweet and wholesome smell.
+
+“Now we are about fixed fer the winter,” said Barringford. “When the
+snow comes, we can bank some up against the sides, to keep out the wind,
+and then we’ll be as snug as bugs under a hearthstone.”
+
+“I don’t believe provisions will be any too plentiful, with so many of
+the soldiers coming in from Fort Niagara and other points,” said
+Raymond. “But as we are all good shots, and know something about fishing
+through holes in the ice, we ought not to go hungry.”
+
+It was not long after the shelter was completed that winter came upon
+them in earnest. One evening a light snow began to fall and in the
+morning it was snowing more heavily than ever. This kept up for two days
+and nights, leaving the ground covered to the depth of a foot and a
+half.
+
+“Now we can bank up the sides of the hut,” said Barringford, and this
+was done without delay. They also went into the woods and helped to cut
+large quantities of firewood, which was brought to the fort and the camp
+on drags drawn by horses.
+
+The snow was followed by a spell of clear, cold weather, which to Dave
+was far more acceptable than the rain had been. The streams in the
+vicinity were now frozen up and also a good part of the lake front.
+
+“I’d like to try fishing through the ice,” said Dave, one morning when
+there was nothing for him and Barringford to do.
+
+“Jest the thing, Dave,” replied the old frontiersman. “I’ve an idee
+they’ll bite well to-day.”
+
+Preparations were soon made, and they passed along the Oswego River to
+where there was something of a sheltered cove. Here the ice was not more
+than six inches in thickness, and they made good-sized holes without
+much trouble.
+
+Barringford knew exactly how to go about fixing their lines, and Dave
+stood by while the frontiersman baited to his satisfaction.
+
+“You take the upper hole and I’ll take the lower,” said Barringford,
+when the lines were ready. “We’ll see who can ketch the fust one.”
+
+David did as told, and having allowed his hook to go down almost to the
+bottom, waited patiently for a bite.
+
+“Ye want to keep movin’ it around a bit!” shouted Barringford. “A fish
+likes to snatch a bait on the fly. Ef ye——”
+
+The rest of the sentence was lost in a pull and a splash, followed by a
+flopping on the ice. The fish tried its best to get back into the hole,
+but Barringford was too quick for it and speedily strung it on the end
+of a twig he had cut while coming over to the cove.
+
+From that time on fishing went forward with more or less success for two
+hours, when each had a mess of about twenty, mostly of fair size.
+
+“Not bad by any means,” declared Barringford, as he surveyed the catch.
+“But they’ll be fatter in a month or six weeks more, an’ sweeter, too.”
+
+“Whoop! I’ve got another!” cried Dave, a second later. There came a
+savage tug on his line. “Must be a big one, Sam!”
+
+“Perhaps you had better play him a bit,” suggested the frontiersman, but
+just then Dave brought the catch to light—an ugly water snake of a
+darkish color and with cold, staring eyes.
+
+“My stars!” ejaculated Dave, and as the snake whipped toward him, he
+stepped back. Then the snake, somewhat dazed at being brought to the
+surface at this season of the year, made another turn, and struck at
+Dave’s foot. The young soldier gave a jump, and, like a flash, slipped
+into the hole in the ice. He tried to clutch the edge of the hole with
+his hands, but it was too slippery, and before Barringford could grab
+him, he had disappeared from view, and the water snake behind him.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVIII
+
+                            WINTER QUARTERS
+
+
+FOR the instant after Dave disappeared under the water of the river he
+gave himself up for lost. The fearful chill struck him to the very
+heart, and he could think of nothing to do to save himself.
+
+As mentioned, the snake came down after him, dragging a good part of the
+line, until the upper end was stopped by Barringford. Then, by a chance
+turn, the reptile loosened itself and lost no time in sinking away to
+parts unknown.
+
+Dave gave a gasp and the icy water filled his mouth and some entered his
+lungs. Then his presence of mind returned and he floundered around,
+trying to reach the surface once more.
+
+He came up, but not at the hole. Instead his head bumped with
+considerable force against the under side of the icy covering of the
+stream.
+
+“I am lost! I shall die for the want of a breath!” was the horrible
+thought that crossed his mind. And then he prayed that his life might be
+spared to him.
+
+It was by the merest chance that his hand came in contact with part of
+the fishing line. The sharp hook pricked his thumb and he at once
+recognized what it was.
+
+“The line,” he thought. “I must follow that back to the hole!” And as
+well as he could he felt along the line foot by foot, swimming and
+holding on at the same time.
+
+His senses were fast leaving him and he was still some distance from the
+hole when he felt a jerk on the line. He gave a jerk in return and then
+half a dozen in quick succession. Then, as in a dream, he wound the line
+around his wrist.
+
+Dave could never tell, afterwards, what happened directly after this. He
+felt himself drawn along, and felt the ice scratch his nose and his
+chin. Then a hand grabbed him by the hair and by the arm, and he was
+lifted up, dripping like a drowned rat, and too weak to open his eyes or
+make a move.
+
+“Got him, thanks to Heaven!” burst from Sam Barringford’s lips. “An’ he
+aint dead nuther! But I’ll have to hustle back to camp or he’ll be
+frozen stiff!”
+
+Leaving the lines and the catches where they lay, he took Dave by the
+heels and held him up head downward. A little water ran from the young
+soldier’s mouth and he gave a gasp and a shiver.
+
+“Breathin’ yet,” muttered the old frontiersman. “Wot he wants now is a
+hot blanket an’ a hot drink, and he shall have it too, in jig time.”
+
+With Dave slung over his shoulder, he set off on a run through the woods
+for the fort, a distance of nearly half a mile. The way was rough and
+the jouncing helped to keep up the youth’s feeble circulation.
+
+Soon Barringford came within sight of some of the soldiers. They wanted
+to know what was wrong, but he would not stop.
+
+“Who has got the hottest fire here?” he demanded, as he rushed into the
+camp, and being directed to the spot, he requested some soldiers to heat
+up a pair of the thickest blankets to be found. He also asked for some
+steaming coffee, knowing Dave would not touch liquor.
+
+A short time later found Dave stripped and between the hot blankets, and
+with jugs of hot water placed at his feet and over his heart. He had
+also been given some of the smoking coffee, and these various
+applications soon put him into a perspiration.
+
+“Sam, you are very, very good,” he managed to whisper, for he was almost
+too weak to speak. “If it hadn’t been for you I wouldn’t have come——”
+
+“Never mind now, Dave,” interrupted the backwoodsman. “Jest you keep
+quiet an’ git back your strength. Yes, I know it was a close shave.”
+
+Barringford’s quick work saved Dave from serious sickness, and the young
+soldier suffered nothing more than a slight cold and a few pains in the
+knee that had been wrenched. The frontiersman went back the next day for
+the lines and the fish that had been caught, and by Dave’s advice the
+fish were distributed among those who had given their aid to him.
+
+After this the winter passed without special incident. During the heavy
+snows the fort and the camp were cut off for several weeks at a time
+from communication with other points. Time often hung heavily on the
+soldiers’ hands and they did what they could to amuse themselves. One
+favorite sport was to shoot at a target, and as the commander was
+anxious to have all his soldiers good shots he allowed his men to use
+more powder and bullets than would otherwise have been the case.
+
+Dave was interested in the shooting, and went into one of the contests,
+the captain of the company having put up three prizes—a new pair of
+boots, a silk neckerchief, and a jackknife.
+
+“I don’t suppose I’ll win a prize,” said the young soldier. “But I am
+going to make all the points I can.”
+
+Each man was allowed three shots, and each shot could count on the
+target from 1 to 5 points. On his first shot the young soldier made 4
+points.
+
+“Not bad, lad,” said Barringford. “Be a leetle more careful the next
+time and you’ll make it a 5.”
+
+When Dave’s turn came again he did make it a 5. This was followed by
+another 4—giving him a total of 13 points out of a possible 15 points.
+
+The best shots of the company took their turns last, among them Raymond
+and Barringford. Each of these scored 15 points, and so did two other
+old riflemen. Two scores of 14 were made, three of 13, including Dave’s,
+and the others ranged from 12 down to 6.
+
+“Thirteen isn’t bad, Dave,” said Barringford encouragingly. “There are
+twice as many that are worse than those that are better.”
+
+“Henry could do better,” answered Dave. “But then he’s a natural-born
+marksman and I am not.”
+
+Much interest was displayed in the shooting-off of the tie between the
+four who had made a full 15 points. The target was placed at twice the
+distance it had before been and each man was allowed two shots.
+
+Raymond was the first to shoot and scored a 4. He was followed by a
+sharpshooter named Russell, who also made a 4; and then came an old
+hunter named Bauermann, who made a 3.
+
+“Now, Sam, you must make a bull’s-eye,” whispered Dave, and the old
+frontiersman did so, hitting the target squarely in the center.
+
+It was now Raymond’s turn to try his second and last shot, and he took
+it with great care, making a 5, giving him a total of 9. Then came
+Russell with a 2, and Bauermann with a 4.
+
+“Now, Sam, another bull’s-eye,” cried Dave, who was more excited than
+was the old frontiersman.
+
+“Not so easy,” answered Barringford, but there was a quiet smile on his
+face. Up came his musket, and on the instant there was a crack, and his
+second bullet landed directly on top of his first.
+
+“What’s the total score?” was the cry from a dozen throats.
+
+“Total score as follows,” sang out the man at the target. “Barringford
+10, Raymond 9, Bauermann 7, and Russell 6. Barringford, Raymond, and
+Bauermann take the first, second, and third prizes in the order named.”
+
+“Hurrah for Barringford!” cried Dave, and led in the cheering. Then
+there was a call for a speech, and the old frontiersman was hauled
+forward and made to mount a flat rock.
+
+“I don’t know what ye want me to say,” he remarked half sheepishly.
+“I’ve done my best to win them boots, and I guess I won ’em. They’ll
+keep my feet warm, while Raymond, he kin keep his neck warm with the
+kerchief, an’ old man Bauermann kin sit by the fire and whittle sticks
+to his heart’s content. I thank ye for your kindness, and I vote we all
+thank the cap’n for the prizes an’ the good time——”
+
+“Whoop! Huzza!” cried the crowd. And then somebody added: “All in favor
+of thankin’ the cap’n will please march up and present arms to him!” And
+then the crowd caught up their guns and marched past the officer in a
+long line, each presenting arms as he passed. And thus the shooting
+match ended very pleasantly.
+
+During the winter Dave and Barringford, and occasionally Raymond, went
+out in the forest to hunt. They brought in several small deer and two
+bears, as well as a large quantity of rabbits and not a few wild birds.
+Others went fishing through holes in the ice, but Dave declared that he
+had had enough of such sport.
+
+Only once came a letter from home. This was around New Year’s, and
+brought the information that all were doing well, excepting Rodney, who
+was worse and who must now submit to another operation by the surgeon.
+The folks had heard from Henry and were glad to learn that he had
+escaped from the French. In the letter Mr. James Morris said he was
+sorry to hear that Jean Bevoir had gotten away.
+
+“He will surely try to make more trouble for us,” he wrote. “You must
+beware of him. He is worse than a snake in the grass.”
+
+But Dave was more disturbed about Rodney than he was just then about
+Jean Bevoir.
+
+“It is too bad he must submit to another operation,” he told
+Barringford. “I am afraid he will get so he can’t walk at all.”
+
+“It hurt him to travel when the old cabin was burnt down,” answered the
+frontiersman. “He told me so privately, but he didn’t want to say
+nuthin’ afore his folks, cause, ye see, it wouldn’t do no good. That was
+a hard journey.”
+
+“I have always suspected as much,” answered Dave. “Rodney is a good deal
+of a hero, and I know he won’t let folks know how much he suffers. And
+it pains him, too, to think that he must sit still or at the most
+shuffle around a little, while Henry and I can come and go as we please.
+I can tell you what, Sam, a person’s health is a good deal to him.”
+
+“My lad, health is the greatest blessing ever God give to ye, an’ don’t
+ye never forgit it, nuther. Wot’s riches, if ye can’t live to enj’y it?
+Onct, when I was down in the mouth because I hadn’t so much as a
+farthing in my pocket, I was in Annapolis. There I met a rich old
+merchant in his lordly coach, with a driver and footman, an’ I don’t
+know what all. Did he look happy? No, siree! He was bent almost double
+with gout an’ rheumatism an’ other diseases an’ sufferin’ tortures
+uncounted. Sez I to myself, sez I: ‘Sam Barringford, you’re a fool to be
+down in the mouth! You’ve got your health an’ strength, an’ you’re
+richer ten times over nor thet feller with all his hoard o’ gold. Go
+back to the woods an’ scratch fer a livin’ an’ bless God you kin walk
+an’ run, an’ jump, and eat an’ drink as ye please, an’ enj’y life.’ An’
+back to the woods I come, an’ been happy ever sence. Yes, Dave, health
+is the greatest blessin’ a man ever had.”
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIX
+
+                            LOST IN THE SNOW
+
+
+ABOUT the middle of February news came to the camp that a French soldier
+and two French traders had been captured at a post on Lake Ontario some
+twenty miles to the northeast of Fort Oswego. There had been a sharp
+fight between a detachment of Colonial militia and the French, who had
+been in the act of removing some stores which they had left hidden in
+the woods months before, and one of the enemy had been killed and two
+militiamen badly wounded.
+
+“I wonder if one of the traders can be Jean Bevoir,” said Dave, when he
+heard of the affair.
+
+“It is not impossible, Dave,” answered Barringford. “He was around these
+ere diggin’s a long time, when he was holding little Nell a captive, and
+he must have brung some things with him when he scooted away from your
+father’s post on the Kinotah.”
+
+“I’m going to try to find out who they are,” went on the young soldier,
+and lost no time in seeking the officer who had received the report.
+
+From this person Dave learned that the French soldier’s name was
+Hildegard. The traders were sullen and refused to talk.
+
+“Will they be brought to this fort?” asked Dave.
+
+“Why are you so interested?”
+
+Upon this Dave told a part of his story.
+
+“Ah, yes, I remember now, Morris. No, I am sorry to say we have sent out
+orders that they be taken down to Fort Stanwix. Some soldiers were bound
+for that post, and we decided that the prisoners should accompany them.
+You see, if we keep them here, and they escape, it is too easy a matter
+for them to get to Canada.”
+
+“I would like to make sure that one is not Jean Bevoir,” went on Dave.
+
+“Well, you can take a run up there if you want to and see. They will not
+start for Fort Stanwix until day after to-morrow.”
+
+“Then I will go by all means. Can I take Sam Barringford with me? He is
+a member of our company, and an old friend of mine.”
+
+“Very well, you can take him. I will give you four days’ leave of
+absence. Do you know the road?”
+
+“I know something of it. But Barringford is an old hunter and trapper,
+so we won’t have much trouble keeping to the trail,” answered Dave.
+
+Barringford was glad enough to get away from the camp for a few days,
+and the preparations for the journey were completed in short order.
+
+“Like as not we’ll scare up some game on the way,” he said. “So be
+prepared.” And each took with him as much powder as could be spared and
+also a new flint for his musket.
+
+It was a clear, cold day, and the sun made the ice and snow glitter like
+diamonds. There was no wind, and in the forest all was as silent as a
+tomb. They picked their way with care, Barringford taking the lead.
+
+“It’s as good as a holiday,” said Dave. “Now, if we only had skates we
+could skate along the edge of the lake for quite a distance.”
+
+“Never mind, Dave; if we stick to land there won’t be no danger of ye
+going into another hole in the ice.”
+
+Dave gave a shiver.
+
+“You’re right, Sam; once is enough.”
+
+For several miles the trail was a smooth one and easily followed. But
+after that they had two gullies to cross, and some rough rocks, a task
+by no means easy. In one of the gullies the snow lay to a depth of
+twenty or thirty feet.
+
+“If we fell in there it would be no easy task getting out,” remarked
+Dave.
+
+At noon they rested for an hour, building a camp-fire in a sheltered
+spot. They carried some provisions, and on the way Barringford had
+brought down a fat rabbit, which was speedily done to a turn, and as
+quickly eaten up.
+
+“We have covered more than half the distance,” said the old
+frontiersman. “But I don’t know if we’ll be able to cover the balance o’
+the way afore nightfall.”
+
+“Well, we can try,” answered Dave, and once more they set off, at a
+brisk pace, for the nooning had rested them greatly.
+
+But now the trail was very rough, and more than once they had to
+consider how to get around a certain spot. It took Dave’s wind to climb
+up some of the slippery rocks; and once, when the pull was extra hard,
+he called on Barringford to halt.
+
+“Got—got to—to get m-m—my wind!” he gasped.
+
+“We had better call it a day,” announced the old hunter.
+
+It was four o’clock, and already growing dark. A nook was found where
+some bushes grew between the rocks. The bushes were cut down and piled
+on top of the opening, and soon they had a fairly comfortable “corner,”
+as Dave called it, with a roaring fire to cheer them as they rested.
+More rabbits had been brought low, and Barringford fixed up supper in
+his own particular style. If the cooking was not of the best, neither of
+the travelers grumbled, for fresh air and hunger, real hunger, are the
+best sauces in the world.
+
+In such a lonely spot it was not considered necessary to remain on
+guard, and after fixing the fire so it would burn for a long while, they
+turned in, and slept “like rocks” until daybreak.
+
+A loud whistle from Barringford made Dave leap from his couch of pine
+boughs. The old frontiersman had breakfast ready, and this was quickly
+eaten, and soon they were on the way once more. Dave was a bit stiff,
+but did not complain.
+
+“We’ll make it by noon,” said Barringford, and it lacked a good hour of
+that time when they came in sight of the post, flying its colors of the
+King as bravely as did Fort Oswego. A guard stopped them, but matters
+were quickly explained, and they were conducted to the captain in
+charge.
+
+“I don’t know the prisoners,” said Captain Wilbur, “although I have
+heard about Hildegard. You can look them over.” And he called an aid.
+
+The two traders were confined in a hut just outside of the camp. They
+were chained to a stake, so escape was next to impossible. They scowled
+darkly at Dave and Barringford.
+
+“A fool’s errand,” said Dave, after a glance at the men. Neither of the
+prisoners was Jean Bevoir.
+
+“That’s true,” returned Barringford. “But it may be they can tell you
+something about Bevoir, Dave.”
+
+“If they can speak English,” returned the young soldier.
+
+It was speedily learned that neither of the traders could speak English.
+Then an interpreter was called in; but the Frenchmen refused to say
+whether they knew Bevoir or not.
+
+“Never saw such stubborn men,” said the interpreter. “They won’t tell a
+thing. We’ve tried to starve ’em into speaking; but it’s no use.”
+
+The commander of the post was glad to listen to what little news Dave
+and Barringford had to tell, and treated them to the best dinner the
+post afforded.
+
+It was ten o’clock of the following morning when Dave and the old hunter
+started to return to Fort Oswego. The day was a gloomy one, with a
+promise of more snow.
+
+“We don’t want to lose any time,” said Barringford. “If we do, we may
+git snow-bound.”
+
+Some hunters from the post went with them a distance of a mile, but
+after that the pair were allowed to shift for themselves. They took the
+trail by which they had come, although they were told they could save a
+mile or two by going a different way.
+
+“We know this one,” said Barringford. “And it aint no use to take risks,
+‘specially ef it’s goin’ to snow.”
+
+It was not yet noon when the first flakes of the coming storm floated
+lazily down upon them. The flakes were large, and soon they increased so
+thickly that it was impossible to see a dozen yards in any direction.
+
+“I am afraid that is going to be serious, Dave.”
+
+“Big flakes can’t last very long, can they?”
+
+“No, big flakes can’t, but we’ll have more snow, even so.”
+
+Barringford was right, the large flakes presently gave way to smaller
+ones, and then the snow became like salt, which the rising wind blew
+directly into their faces.
+
+“It’s goin’ to be a hummer!” exclaimed Barringford, as the wind suddenly
+rose with a shriek. “Reckon as how we wuz fools to leave the post.”
+
+“What shall we do, Sam? We can’t very well go back.”
+
+“True, lad, but——By gum!”
+
+A wild animal of some kind had leaped up almost in front of them. Around
+came Barringford’s musket, and he blazed away, and then Dave did the
+same. There were a roar and a snarl, and over in the snow tumbled a
+small bear, clawing viciously at everything around it.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  “B’ar meat!” yelled Barringford.—_Page 180._
+]
+
+“B’ar meat!” yelled Barringford, and ran forward, drawing his hunting
+knife. Watching his chance he drove the knife into the wounded beast’s
+throat, and soon the game breathed its last.
+
+The wind was now blowing a regular gale, causing the tree boughs to snap
+and crack in all directions. Try their best they could scarcely locate
+themselves, for every part of the trail had been obliterated.
+
+“We are lost in the snow!” exclaimed Dave blankly. “And the storm is
+growing worse every minute!”
+
+“We must make some sort o’ shelter, Dave,” returned the frontiersman.
+And then he added: “It’s a rare good thing we shot the b’ar. It may save
+our lives.”
+
+“You mean for food?”
+
+“Exactly. Come with me, and ketch holt.”
+
+Dragging the game between them, they pushed forward until they reached
+the shelter of some rocks. Here were several clumps of bushes and some
+tall timber, and they lost no time in starting up a fire, for the
+temperature had fallen greatly, so that both were in danger of freezing
+to death. With a hatchet they cut a quantity of firewood, and made a
+lean-to against the tallest of the rocks. They worked hard, and this
+helped to keep up the circulation of their blood.
+
+Hour after hour went by, and the storm showed no signs of abating.
+Barringford skinned the bear, and the pelt was hung upon the boughs of
+the lean-to to keep off a portion of the wind. In the hollow the snow
+was damp and could be packed, and this they used to build a sort of
+house, of snow, boughs, and bearskin combined. It was by no means a
+comfortable dwelling but it was far better than nothing. The fire was
+close by, and gave them not only warmth, but also a good deal of smoke,
+when the wind chanced to veer around, as it often did.
+
+Slowly the balance of the day went by, and the night to follow was one
+Dave remembered for many a year after. It was bitterly cold, and they
+could do but little more than pile the wood on the fire, and crouch by
+it, so closely that more than once their clothing was singed. They
+cooked a huge chunk of the bear’s meat, and ate of it several times; and
+added some of the fat to the fire, in the hope of gaining additional
+heat. Once, a lean and hungry wolf came close, snarling viciously, and
+looking wistfully at the meat, and Dave brought it down with a bullet
+from his musket.
+
+But morning came at last, and with it the end of the storm. As the sun
+arose it became slightly warmer, and by ten o’clock they were again on
+the way, each carrying a load of bear meat, and Barringford the pelt
+also. The walk was a tiresome one, and it was two days ere they came in
+sight of Fort Oswego.
+
+“I am glad the trip is over,” muttered Dave. And Barringford echoed the
+sentiment. Soon they were among their friends, where they related their
+experiences, and then took a long and much-needed rest.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XX
+
+                        THE SITUATION AT QUEBEC
+
+
+IMMEDIATELY after the fall of Quebec, the English resolved to hold the
+city at any cost, and to that end every defense was strengthened without
+loss of time.
+
+As Wolfe was dead and Monckton wounded and unable to act, the command
+fell upon General Murray. Under his directions the soldiers leveled the
+breastworks erected on the Plains of Abraham, so that they might give no
+shelter to any advancing French army, and strengthened the defenses of
+Quebec proper. The men also cut and brought in large quantities of
+firewood, for use during the winter, which all felt would be long and
+bitter, and likewise aided in storing the provisions sent ashore from
+the fleet.
+
+The ships could not winter very well in the river, and it was not long
+before they left, taking with them also a portion of the grenadiers and
+rangers. At Quebec were left ten battalions of grenadiers, one company
+of rangers, a strong force of the artillery, and likewise a sprinkling
+of Colonial free lances and friendly Indians—the latter to be used
+chiefly as scouts, spies, and messengers.
+
+The city had suffered much from the bombardment of the artillery. The
+cathedral was honeycombed with cannon balls, and many public buildings
+and private houses and shops had been completely wrecked. The people who
+were left in the place were almost terror-stricken, and it was a long
+time before quiet, and even a semblance of order, could be restored.
+
+For over a week Henry was kept at work on the outer defenses of the
+city. It was hard labor, but he did not grumble, having already realized
+that the path of the soldier is not one simply of glory. The death of
+Silvers made him unusually sober, and in his heart he was sincerely
+thankful that an all-powerful Providence had spared his life.
+
+The middle of the winter found Henry on guard at the lower end of the
+city. Here were a number of stores which had been broken down by the
+bombardment, and some of the owners were missing. A quantity of goods
+had been stolen, and Henry and four other soldiers were set at the task
+of guarding the property.
+
+On the second day that Henry was on guard he noticed something which did
+not at all please him. Two of the soldiers, named Fenley and Prent, were
+unusually friendly, and, when they supposed they were not being watched,
+one or the other would slip into one of the stores. When the fellow
+would reappear, he would have something concealed under his coat, and
+this, later on, he would pass over to another soldier, named Harkness,
+who had charge of a watch-house a square away.
+
+“I believe that those fellows are up to no good,” thought Henry, after
+he had watched the movements of the three soldiers several times. “They
+act like a regular pack of sneaks.”
+
+But Henry was too open-hearted and square to suspect the trio of
+deliberate wrongdoing, until one day Prent accosted him and asked him
+how he liked his pay as a soldier.
+
+“I think we get mighty little for what we do,” said Prent. “And Fenley
+and Harkness think the same.”
+
+“It is certainty not much,” answered Henry, totally unsuspicious that he
+was being “sounded.”
+
+“Wouldn’t you like to have the chance to make a bit more?” went on
+Prent, in a lower voice, and with an anxious look around.
+
+“What do you mean, Prent?”
+
+“Oh, nothing much, only if you’d like to make some money on the outside,
+perhaps I can place you in the way of it.”
+
+“I am out to make any money that I can make honestly,” answered the
+young soldier.
+
+“Oh! Well, this isn’t—well, it isn’t just work, you know. But you can
+make a neat sum if you want to stand in the game.”
+
+“I’ll stand in no game that isn’t strictly honest,” burst out Henry, and
+now his suspicion was aroused.
+
+“Oh, all right!”
+
+“What have you in mind to do?”
+
+“Nothing—if that’s the way you feel about it,” retorted Prent, and
+turning on his heel, he walked rapidly away.
+
+After that the other soldiers were more careful than ever of their
+movements. But Henry could not get the talk out of his mind, and he at
+last resolved to play the spy, and see what they were doing, or proposed
+to do.
+
+One day Henry was on guard, from two in the afternoon until six. At that
+hour Fenley came to relieve him, while Prent came to relieve another
+soldier named Groom. Groom at once retired to his quarters, but Henry
+merely walked around the corner, where he secreted his musket in an
+out-of-the-way place, and then crawled back in the darkness, for the
+winter day was now at an end.
+
+From the broken stonework of a house steps, Henry saw Prent walk up and
+down his beat several times, meeting Fenley at one end. Then Prent gave
+a low whistle, to which Fenley instantly responded. A moment later Prent
+disappeared into one of the stores he had been set to guard.
+
+“He is up to no good, that is certain,” reasoned Henry. “I wish I could
+see just what he is doing.”
+
+Watching his opportunity, he sped quickly across the street, which at
+this point was not very wide. The store, or shop, stood on a corner, and
+on the side was a broken window, partly boarded up. A board was loose at
+its lower end, and, lifting it up, Henry crawled through the window.
+
+All was dark around him, and, standing on the floor, near some boxes, he
+listened intently. He knew that Prent could not be far away.
+
+Presently he heard a foot bang against a box or barrel. “Hang the luck!”
+came in Prent’s voice. “It’s as dark as the River Styx! I’ll have to
+make a light, or I’ll break my neck.” The striking of a flint in a
+tinder-box followed, and soon Henry saw the faint light of a tallow dip.
+
+Prent was moving toward a stairs leading into a cellar, and this brought
+him to within a few feet of where Henry was crouching. But the young
+soldier remained undiscovered, and in a moment more he heard the other
+soldier shuffle carefully down the stairs and walk across the cellar
+floor.
+
+Henry’s curiosity was now aroused to a high pitch, and he resolved to
+see what was taking place in the cellar, no matter what the risk to be
+run. He tiptoed his way to the stair, and went down step by step on his
+tiptoes.
+
+The stairs creaked, but the sound was not heard by Prent, who was
+rummaging around a score of small boxes, all of hard wood, bound with
+iron. One of the boxes was open and showed that it was filled with
+surgical and mathematical instruments.
+
+“Bah! I cannot do much with that truck!” Prent muttered, after looking
+some of the articles over. “The other boxes probably contain things more
+to my liking.”
+
+The fellow had brought a hatchet and chisel with him, and was soon at
+work prying open another iron-bound box. Occasionally he paused to
+listen, as if waiting for a signal from Fenley, but none came, and he
+continued his work.
+
+When the second box came open, Henry could scarcely repress a cry of
+amazement. The box was filled with silverware, for the shop was one
+which had been used by a gold and silver smith. There were silver
+drinking cups and decanters, and also half a dozen silver trays, and
+frames for miniatures.
+
+“Ha! Now we have the right thing!” muttered Prent, gazing at the
+collection with satisfaction. “If we can only get it away without being
+discovered we will be rich.”
+
+“He has turned thief!” thought Henry. “What a rascal! And I thought he
+was an honest soldier!”
+
+He watched Prent examine the various silver things, and place some in
+his pockets and his breast. Then the fellow started to open up another
+of the iron-bound boxes.
+
+Henry was in a quandary, not knowing what to do. He felt that it was his
+duty to report Prent, and have the man arrested. But then he remembered
+the order that had but recently been issued by General Murray—that any
+man caught plundering in Quebec should be hanged.
+
+“I can’t see the fellow strung up,” thought the young soldier. “That
+would be too horrible. Perhaps if I talk to him he’d get out and leave
+the things alone.”
+
+At first Henry decided that he would talk to the would-be thief when he
+left the building. But then he remembered that it would be best to have
+Prent put the things back in the boxes and nail the latter up. A few
+steps took him to the stairs, and once there he called softly:
+
+“Prent!”
+
+Had a gun gone off at his ear the evil-doer would not have been more
+astonished. He dropped the silver mug he was examining and leaped back a
+step.
+
+“Wh—who calls?” he gasped.
+
+“Prent, I have caught you fairly and squarely, and I want you to leave
+those things alone.”
+
+“Ha, so it is you, Henry Morris!” burst from the other soldier’s lips.
+And then he added quickly: “Are you alone?”
+
+“I am.”
+
+“What brought you here?”
+
+“I came to find out what your little game was. I reckon I know the
+truth.”
+
+“You don’t know anything,” blustered Prent. The exposure had come so
+unexpectedly he knew not what to say.
+
+“I know you are here for no good purpose. If it were otherwise you would
+not come here like a thief in the night.”
+
+“Are you going to expose me?”
+
+“That depends on yourself. I have no desire to see you hanged.”
+
+At these words Prent gave a shiver, for he was at heart a coward.
+
+“I—I—you——” he stammered, and could not go on.
+
+“Listen to me, Prent, and you may save yourself a whole lot of trouble,”
+went on Henry, as calmly as he could. “I hate to play the spy on a
+fellow soldier, but I felt that it was necessary, after what you had
+said to me. You wanted to draw me into this robbery. Now, as I said
+before, I don’t want to see you hanged, or even sent to prison. But I am
+not going to allow you to rob this place, either.”
+
+“I haven’t said I was going to rob it yet,” burst out Prent. “I—I
+haven’t taken a thing.”
+
+“You have. Your pockets and your breast are full of silverware. Now I
+want you——”
+
+At this moment came a loud whistle from outside, followed by the
+pounding of a musket butt on an outer cellar door.
+
+“An alarm! Let me get out of here!” yelled Prent and made a leap for the
+stairs, which were narrow and old.
+
+Before Henry could stand on guard he found himself in the other
+soldier’s grasp. Then Prent gave him a shove which sent him over the
+side of the steps head first. Henry tried to save himself, but went down
+between two barrels with a crash. Before he could extricate himself from
+the tight position his assailant had fled. Then the tallow dip
+spluttered up and went out, and the young soldier was left in total
+darkness.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXI
+
+                              UNDER ARREST
+
+
+FOR the moment after the tallow dip went out, Henry, half stunned by his
+tumble, knew not what to do.
+
+“Hi, Prent!” he called out. “What do you mean by knocking me over and
+leaving me?”
+
+No answer came back to his query, and a few seconds later he heard a
+crash of woodwork, followed by several exclamations.
+
+“What’s the meaning of this?” he heard a rough voice demand.
+
+“A thief is here,” answered another voice, which, somehow, sounded
+familiar.
+
+“A thief? Where?”
+
+“I believe he is in the cellar.”
+
+“After him, men. He must not escape. There has already been too much
+looting here.”
+
+There was the tramping of half a dozen soldiers on the floor overhead,
+and then the flash of a bull’s-eye lantern. As the light reached Henry
+he staggered up the cedar stairs.
+
+“Ha! here he is!”
+
+“Up with your hands, you rascal, or we’ll fire on you!”
+
+“Don’t fire,” gasped the young soldier. “I—I am no thief.”
+
+“Then what are you doing here?”
+
+“I was after a thief. I followed——”
+
+Before Henry could finish he saw Prent push his way forward and catch
+the English officer of the guard by the arm.
+
+“That’s the man!” he bawled. “That’s the rascal! Look out, I think he’s
+a desperate fellow!”
+
+“Is this the man you saw sneaking around?” demanded the officer.
+
+“The same, sir.”
+
+“If that’s the case, we’ve caught you red-handed, fellow.”
+
+“Caught me?” faltered Henry. He was so amazed he could scarcely speak.
+
+“Does it not look like it?”
+
+“But I am no thief.”
+
+“Then why are you here?”
+
+“I came down after that man”—pointing to Prent.
+
+“Do hear that!” ejaculated the would-be thief in well-assumed surprise.
+“After me—when I’ve been on guard outside this last hour, and can prove
+it by the next guard.”
+
+“This soldier told us you were here,” said the officer of the guard. “He
+wasn’t here himself.”
+
+“He was here!” cried Henry. “I saw him sneak in, and I came after him,
+to see what he intended to do. Then he knocked me over and ran away.”
+
+“False! utterly false!” roared Prent. He strode forward. “Say that again
+and I’ll knock you down in truth. I am an honest man.”
+
+“I’ve told the truth,” answered Henry doggedly.
+
+“But we found you here, while he was outside,” insisted the officer.
+
+“He ran away, as I said, after knocking me down. If you’ll search him
+you’ll find his pockets full of stolen things.”
+
+“Search me, by all means,” cried Prent, who had thrown the stolen
+articles into a corner when leaving the building. He pulled out several
+of his pockets. “I haven’t a thing that is not my own.”
+
+“Men, make that fellow a prisoner,” cried the officer of the guard,
+raising his finger and pointing to Henry.
+
+“But sir——” gasped the young soldier, with a sinking heart.
+
+“And now answer my questions. What is your name?”
+
+“Henry Morris, sir. But——”
+
+“To what command do you belong?”
+
+“To Captain Werrick’s detachment, Royal Americans. But, sir, if you’ll
+only listen——”
+
+“Are you stationed anywhere?”
+
+“I have been on guard here for the last week.”
+
+“On guard here?” repeated the officer of the guard. He turned to Prent.
+“And you are on guard here, too?”
+
+“Yes, lieutenant. He went off when I came on. But he did not go to
+quarters, but hung around, and so I suspected him. In fact, he tried, I
+think, to get me into some of his plans day before yesterday.”
+
+“How was that?”
+
+“He came to me and said he could show me a way to make money if I could
+keep my tongue from wagging. He said——”
+
+“You miserable wretch!” interrupt Henry. “You know you are telling a
+falsehood.” He turned to the officer of the guard. “As a matter of fact,
+he came to me and wanted me to go into his dirty game——”
+
+“Stop!” interrupted the officer of the guard. “We will examine into the
+details of this later. Men, make a search, and see if any other thieves
+are about. But don’t let either of these men get away.”
+
+At once two of the soldiers stood guard over Henry and Prent, while the
+others scattered through the cellar, which was long and narrow. They had
+but two lanterns, both small, so the search was made under difficulties.
+
+As one of the guardsmen reached the back end of the cellar there was a
+slight scraping sound, followed by the fall of a trap door. The men
+started forward to investigate, but could see nobody.
+
+“What was that, Jameson?”
+
+“Flog me, if I know, Lowder. Somebody went through a door, I think.”
+
+“Exactly my notion. But where is the door?”
+
+It was not long before they found the door, a small, heavy oaken affair,
+leading to a shaft-like opening, dark and dismal. A lantern was brought
+forward and on the damp ground the footprints of a man could be seen
+plainly.
+
+“Another thief, and he has escaped!” cried the officer of the guard.
+
+The officer sent three men into the passageway, the leader with one of
+the lanterns. They were gone the best part of ten minutes, and when they
+returned they reported that the passageway led to the cellar of a house
+on the next street.
+
+“Was anybody in the house?” demanded the officer of the guard.
+
+“The place was deserted,” answered one of the soldiers. “A back window
+was wide open and on the window sill was some mud, the same as that of
+the passageway down here.”
+
+“Was anybody with you?” demanded the officer, turning to Henry.
+
+“No, sir. But there may have been somebody down here with Prent.”
+
+“At it again!” howled the soldier mentioned. “I was never down here
+until now. I am an honest man.”
+
+“We will see about that later. At present I arrest you both and will
+have you taken to the guard-house. We must find out something about the
+rascal who escaped—if we can.”
+
+The officer of the guard was obdurate, and inside of half an hour Henry
+found himself at the guard-house, which, in this case, was a small
+private dwelling, from which the owner had fled when first Quebec was
+bombarded. He was placed in one room, while Prent was placed in another.
+
+As luck would have it, Prent was well acquainted with one of the guards
+at the house, and through this fellow he managed to send a message to
+Fenley and Harkness, in which he asked to see one or the other. Fenley
+came, and saw him for a few minutes on the sly, and a scheme was
+concocted by which all promised to stand by Prent in the affair,
+declaring Henry the sole guilty one.
+
+It is easy to imagine that Henry felt thoroughly miserable when he found
+himself in solitary confinement in the temporary prison.
+
+“Instead of taking chances with Prent, I should have had him arrested on
+the spot,” he thought dismally. “Now he has turned the tables on me, and
+how I am to clear myself I do not know.”
+
+The search for the man who had escaped through the narrow passage was
+continued for several days, but without success. In the meantime Henry
+was held without examination.
+
+But at last he was told that he was appear before General Murray and a
+board of officers, and the next day he was marched off to where the
+general and his staff had their headquarters.
+
+He could not help feeling nervous, and when he saw the general and his
+fellow officers, sitting at a long table, each in full uniform, his
+peace of mind was not increased.
+
+“Henry Morris, you are charged with attempted robbery,” said one of the
+officers. “General Murray wishes to hear what you have to say for
+yourself. Tell your story in as few words possible.”
+
+As well as he was able, Henry told of his duty as a guard, told of what
+Prent had said to him, and of how he had followed the soldier to the
+cellar and tried to get him to come away without taking anything. Then
+he spoke of the alarm, and of how Prent had knocked him from the stairs,
+and of how the officer of the guard had come and placed him under
+arrest.
+
+The officers listened in silence, each watching his face closely. All
+were evidently impressed by his sincerity.
+
+“Do you not know it was your duty to report Prent when you saw him go
+into the building?” questioned General Murray.
+
+“I wanted to make sure of what he was doing, sir. Besides, I didn’t want
+to see him turn thief and be hanged for it.”
+
+Henry was then removed, and Prent was called in, followed by Fenley and
+Harkness. All three of the conspirators told of how they had suspected
+Henry for several nights and of how they had seen him on one occasion
+carrying away something bulky under his coat.
+
+“Why did you not have him searched?” questioned General Murray.
+
+“We couldn’t make ourselves believe that such a young fellow could be a
+thief,” answered Fenley glibly.
+
+“We can’t say that he was a thief, exactly,” put in Prent. “He may have
+been only looking at the things.” Bad as the soldier was, he did not
+wish to see Henry hanged.
+
+“But what of that bundle you saw him carry under his coat?”
+
+“That might have been something else,” said Fenley.
+
+“Do you want to shield him?”
+
+“Oh, no, general!”
+
+“Do you know anything about this other man who was in the cellar?” asked
+another officer, after he whispered to General Murray. He addressed
+Prent.
+
+“No, sir.”
+
+“Then you don’t know he was caught last night?”
+
+At this Prent’s knees began to knock together.
+
+“Wh—who is he?” he faltered.
+
+“Never mind just now. As he was in the cellar he, of course, heard all
+that went on there.”
+
+Prent grew white and it was with difficulty that he kept his knees from
+sinking beneath him.
+
+“I—I—he didn’t hear anything—that is, he doesn’t know anything about
+me,” he said weakly. “He must be in league with Henry Morris.”
+
+“Perhaps,” said the officer dryly. “But I imagine not.”
+
+At this moment an aid came in hurriedly, and asked permission to deliver
+a message.
+
+“What is it, Lieutenant Caswell?” questioned General Murray.
+
+“We have information that the French intend to attack the post at
+Lorette this afternoon,” said the aid.
+
+“In that case, this hearing is postponed indefinitely,” said General
+Murray. “Let the guards remove the prisoners.”
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXII
+
+                           IN PRISON AND OUT
+
+
+THE man who had been in the cellar and who had escaped, had not been
+caught, as one of the officers of the court-martial had intimated. But
+he had been heard from, and in the most unexpected manner.
+
+Late the evening before, an old Canadian, living in the most wretched
+quarter of Quebec, had appeared at the headquarters of the officers with
+a note, which he said had been given to him by a man, muffled up in a
+military cloak, whom he had met outside of the city, while bringing in a
+load of firewood.
+
+“The man gave me no time to speak with him,” said the Canadian, in
+French. “He thrust this into my hand, made me promise to deliver it here
+to-night, pressed this silver piece in my palm, and then rode off on
+horseback at a wild gallop.”
+
+“Was he a French soldier?”
+
+“I believe, sir, he was,” answered the old Canadian. “But he was dirty
+and unshaven and looked as if he had not eaten his fill for a week or
+more.”
+
+The note thus strangely brought to light ran as follows, although
+written in French:
+
+    “TO GENERAL MURRAY:
+
+    “I am a Frenchman leaving Quebec, an honest man, but your enemy
+    in war. I write this to save the young soldier who was caught in
+    the cellar of the goldsmith’s shop. He is innocent and the man
+    who knocked him down is guilty. I write this at my own peril,
+    because I cannot stand idly by and see the innocent suffer.
+
+                   “Yours in truth,
+
+                             “L. C. G.”
+
+The note was a mere scrawl, written on a bit of coarse paper and
+unsealed.
+
+General Murray was much mystified by the communication, and spoke of it
+to several of his brother officers.
+
+“I believe it is genuine,” said one. “The man was probably a French
+spy.”
+
+“It is more likely a fraud,” said another. “A fraud gotten up by one of
+Morris’s friends to clear him.”
+
+Here were the two sides of the matter, and General Murray did not know
+which side to believe. The examination of Henry threw no new light on
+the affair, and it was then that one of the officers suggested, in a
+whisper, that Prent be made to believe that the stranger in the cellar
+had been caught. The outcome of this the reader already knows.
+
+Henry had been removed before the stranger was mentioned, and he knew
+nothing of how nearly Prent had come to breaking down and exposing
+himself.
+
+From the sounds which reached him in his prison, Henry knew that
+something unusual had occurred to break the quiet monotony of army life
+in the captured city. Soldiers were hurrying in various directions, and
+he heard some artillery being dragged down the street by six or eight
+horses. Drums were rolling, and from a great distance he imagined he
+heard the sound of firing through the clear, nipping air.
+
+Ever since the English had taken Quebec and signified their intention of
+holding it, at any cost, there had been rumors that the enemy were
+coming to the attack before the winter was over. The alarm came in
+November, when the news went flying in all directions that General Lévis
+was marching toward the city, at the head of fifteen thousand men.
+
+“He means to capture the city, and has sworn to dine here with his army
+on Christmas day,” was the report.
+
+The guard was strengthened, and the watchfulness of the outposts
+increased. But Lévis failed to appear, for the simple reason that he was
+by no means ready to make an attack. Then the holidays came and went
+quietly, and for a few weeks the alarm subsided.
+
+The main outposts at this time were at St. Foy, and at Old Lorette. At
+each place a strong guard was placed, for the French were not far
+distant, and bent on doing all the damage possible to the English.
+
+Old Lorette had now been attacked by a body of French regulars, who came
+up when least expected, and drove off a large herd of cattle upon which
+the British had levied. This made the rangers in that vicinity very
+angry. A hasty plan against the French was arranged, and just as hastily
+carried out, and the enemy fell back with one or two men wounded,
+leaving the rangers to re-gather the cattle, that had in the meantime
+strayed away in various directions.
+
+But it was not this firing that Henry heard. The French had come up
+during a storm and taken possession of Point Levi, on the south shore of
+the St. Lawrence. They dared the English to come out and meet them, and
+a detachment under Major Dalling was sent over the river on the ice,
+which was now thick enough to bear almost any weight. A sharp skirmish
+followed, and the French were beaten back. A few days later there was
+another encounter, in which General Murray himself took part, and also a
+detachment of the Highlanders, and this time the enemy fled in terror,
+leaving a handful of their men to be captured.
+
+During these exciting days nobody came near Henry but the prison guards,
+and the majority of these soldiers were rough fellows who had neither
+sympathy nor pity for the youthful prisoner.
+
+“It’s a bad hole ye have got yourself into,” said one. “An’ if ye are
+hung ’twill but serve ye right.”
+
+“’Tis hung he should be,” said another. “A thief is no better than a
+murderer.” This fellow had charge of the food served to Henry, and he
+gave the youth stuff which was scarcely fit to eat.
+
+As the days went by Henry grew more miserable, and to tease him one of
+the guards told another, in Henry’s hearing, that he had heard the
+prisoner was soon to dance upon nothing, as a warning to other thieves.
+
+It was a cruel joke, and gotten off so seriously that Henry was much
+inclined to believe the report. That night he could not sleep, and when
+he arose in the morning his face wore a cold, calculating look that had
+never been there before.
+
+“They shan’t hang me,” he thought bitterly. “I am innocent and I won’t
+suffer—not if I can help it. What will mother and the others say, if
+they hear I was hanged for a thief?”
+
+A day later it snowed heavily, and the guards around the house were more
+out of humor than ever. They were not allowed to smoke, but did so on
+the sly, and one man drank liberally of some rum which one of the detail
+brought in from somewhere.
+
+Henry was watching his chance as a hawk watches young chickens, and late
+that afternoon noticed that the guard seemed unusually drowsy. The man
+sat on a bench in a front room of the improvised prison, and if he did
+not sleep he was certainly far from being wide awake.
+
+There was a window in Henry’s room. It had been nailed up, but one
+window pane was broken, letting in cold air that nearly froze him to
+death during the night time. Outside several slats of wood had been
+placed across the window, which happened to be without the heavy wooden
+shutters so common at that period.
+
+Through the broken window pane Henry had worked at two of the slats and
+now had them much loosened. As night came on he noticed that the guard
+still dozed. The man’s cap had fallen on the floor, and his heavy coat
+had slipped beside it.
+
+“If I could only get that cap and coat,” thought the young prisoner. The
+door to the next room was unlocked,—indeed, it had never had a lock on
+it,—and it was an easy matter to step up to the guard. In a moment more
+Henry had the articles he desired. Then he turned back, for he knew that
+another guard was in the street, near the door leading to the
+thoroughfare.
+
+“Hullo! How cold it is!” Henry heard the guard mutter. He waited to hear
+no more, but as the man stretched himself he ran to the window, smashed
+out what remained of the glass, pushed aside the loosened bars, and
+leaped out into the snow of the yard.
+
+There was now an alarm, and the youth knew that in another moment three
+or four guards would be after him, each with a musket, ready to shoot
+him on sight. He leaped for the shelter of a nearby woodshed, donned the
+cap and military overcoat, and then continued to the back of the yard,
+where he hopped over a fence, and darted into an alleyway leading to
+another street.
+
+As Henry gained the alleyway the report of a musket rang out on the
+early night air, and soon the commotion in and around the prison
+increased.
+
+“What’s the rumpus?” demanded the officer of the guard, running up.
+
+“Morris has escaped!”
+
+“He attacked me like a savage beast,” said the guard, who had been
+dozing. “He—he complained of being half frozen, and then he turned on me
+like a fury.”
+
+“You’re a set of numskulls!” roared the officer of the guard, in great
+wrath. “After him, and if you do not bring him back, dead or alive,
+somebody shall pay dearly for this blundering.”
+
+One thing prison life had given Henry. That was plenty of rest, and now
+as he ran through the alleyway and out on the next street he felt as if
+he could cover ten or twenty miles without stopping.
+
+“They shan’t catch me,” he told himself. “I’ll show them what an
+American can do when he is put to it.”
+
+On account of the darkness and the cold the street was almost deserted,
+and the few people he met hardly noticed him; doubtless thinking he was
+merely some soldier hurrying to his quarters after a chilling tour of
+guard duty on the ramparts.
+
+During the time Henry had been free to come and go in Quebec he had
+visited nearly every part of the city, which in those days was far from
+large. Consequently, he knew where he was and how to turn to get to
+where he wanted to go.
+
+“I’ll have to leave the city to-night, that is certain,” he told
+himself. “In the morning there will be a warning sent out, and to pass
+any of the guards will be impossible.”
+
+But how to get out was a serious problem until he caught sight of a
+covered wagon drawn by a team of horses, moving slowly toward the gate
+of St. John. This wagon contained supplies for the hospital, located to
+the northward, on a bend of the St. Charles River. The supplies were
+needed at once, hence they were being sent out at night instead of
+waiting until morning.
+
+Climbing upon the wagon from behind, Henry secreted himself between
+several boxes and bundles. Neither the driver of the wagon nor his
+assistant noticed the movement, and in a moment more the wagon was at
+the gate.
+
+“What wagon is that?” Henry heard a guard call out.
+
+“General Hospital Wagon No. 4,” was the answer from the driver. And he
+showed a slip of paper.
+
+“Right; pass on,” answered the guard, and the gate was opened, the wagon
+passed through, and then the gate was closed again.
+
+Hardly daring to breathe, the young soldier remained crouched between
+boxes and bundles, as the wagon jounced over the rough road, deep with
+snow in some places, and swept bare by the wind in others. Then, when he
+calculated that half the distance to the hospital had been covered, and
+they came to another road leading westward, he dropped off behind, and
+the hospital wagon rolled out of sight without him.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXIII
+
+                    FACE TO FACE WITH THE UNEXPECTED
+
+
+SO far Henry had given but scant thought to where he was going. His
+whole mind had been concentrated on getting away from Quebec, and from
+those who wished to make him suffer for a crime which he had not
+committed.
+
+But now, as he stood in the middle of the deserted roadway, with the
+gloom of night on every side of him, and with a cutting wind blowing the
+drifting snow into his face, he realized that he must find shelter, and
+that quickly. He was not accustomed to such a severe winter, and the
+cold seemed to pierce him like a knife.
+
+At a corner of the roadway stood a signboard, a rough affair, with an
+arrow pointing to the northeast, and under this the name St. Foy.
+
+“That must lead to one of the outposts,” thought the young soldier. “I
+can’t go there. I wonder if there isn’t some French farmhouse in this
+vicinity where they will give me shelter for the night, and some food?”
+
+To keep warm he began to tramp along the road. He had gone but a short
+distance when he came to a cross road. Here everything was covered with
+snow, and half blinded by the whirlings of the wind he got onto the
+cross road without knowing it.
+
+Two miles were covered, and poor Henry was almost exhausted. More than
+once he thought to sit down and rest. But he realized that this would be
+madness. “I’d never get up again,” he told himself. “It would be the
+sleep of death!”
+
+At last, when he could scarcely drag one limb after the other, he espied
+a light shining from the upper window of a small house some distance
+away. He fairly staggered toward this, and, reaching the house, knocked
+loudly on the door.
+
+After a moment of silence an upper window was opened, and an old woman
+peered down from out of her night-cap.
+
+“Who is there, and what is desired?” she asked in French.
+
+“I am freezing!” said Henry in English. “Let me in.”
+
+The old women did not understand his words, but she seemed to understand
+the situation, and soon hobbled downstairs and threw open the door.
+Henry almost fell into the kitchen, and sank into a heap before the fire
+which smoldered in the big chimney-place.
+
+“Poor fellow—and so young!” murmured the old French woman. “He is almost
+frozen.” And she bustled about, stirred up the fire, and put on some
+fresh sticks of wood, and then made him some hot tea to drink.
+
+It was a good half-hour before Henry felt anything like himself. He was
+given some bread and butter, and some warmed-up meat and another cup of
+tea. The old woman plied him with questions, and he had a hard task to
+make her understand that he wished to remain at the house until
+daylight. But when he pointed to the fire, and then at himself, and made
+out as if he was sleeping and snoring, she smiled and nodded her head in
+assent.
+
+It must be confessed that Henry slept but little that night, even though
+his couch on a blanket before the smoldering fire was a fairly
+comfortable one. His brain was racked with the question of what to do on
+the morrow. Traveling during the daytime would be extremely hazardous,
+so long as he remained in the English lines, and when he crossed into
+the French lines the situation would be just as bad.
+
+“And it’s too cold to travel at night,” he thought dismally.
+
+The morning found the snow coming down at a furious rate, so that the
+landscape was blotted out on every side. The roadway was drifted high
+with snow, which lay against the kitchen door to a depth of three feet.
+
+“I reckon I am safe here for the present,” thought the young soldier.
+“Nobody will think of visiting this house during such a snow-storm.”
+
+The old woman came down as soon as it was light. She found Henry fixing
+the fire, and he had already set the pot of water for boiling.
+
+“You are snow-bound,” she said, but of course he did not understand her.
+He gazed thoughtfully out of one of the windows, while she prepared a
+simple morning meal from her scanty stock of provisions. He wished he
+could pay her, but could only point to his empty pockets, at which she
+smiled again, as if that did not matter.
+
+“A good, motherly sort,” he told himself. “Mother at home couldn’t treat
+a French soldier any better than this woman is treating me.”
+
+The snow-storm kept up for several days, and after that there were
+fierce high winds, which sent the snow flying and drifting in half a
+dozen directions at once.
+
+During those days Henry and the old woman were left entirely alone. By
+an effort on the part of both he learned that she was a widow with a son
+somewhere in the French army, and that her name was Garrot. She deplored
+the war, and wished only for peace, no matter which side won.
+
+“And at her age I cannot blame her,” thought Henry. “Probably she has
+lost a great deal by the forages of both armies.” And his surmise was
+correct.
+
+On the morning of the fourth day at the cottage, the young soldier heard
+firing at a distance. The sounds seemed to come closer at noon, but
+shortly after that died away utterly.
+
+“Some sort of a skirmish,” thought the youth. “Can it be that the French
+have attacked Quebec?”
+
+On the day following, the sun came out, and the weather moderated
+greatly. Henry now thought he must set off once more, fearing that some
+French troopers might appear at any moment. As best he could he thanked
+Madam Garrot for what she had done for him, and then trudged off.
+
+The young soldier had in mind to move up the river bank a distance of
+several miles, and then cross the St. Lawrence on the ice. Once in
+English territory, he would strike out southward, trusting to luck to
+reach some settlement. He carried a small stock of provisions, and also
+a pistol and some powder, which he had begged of the old woman, who
+seemed, strangely enough, much interested in him.
+
+Henry found walking through the snow as difficult as ever. But after
+trudging along for half a mile he reached a long stretch which the wind
+had swept clear, and which he covered with ease. He kept his eyes and
+ears on the alert, but neither French nor English soldiers appeared to
+challenge his progress.
+
+That night found the young soldier a good many miles up the St.
+Lawrence, at a place which had in years gone by been a combined French
+and Indian settlement. Most of the buildings were burnt down, and the
+place was entirely abandoned. In searching around he found one part of a
+log cabin which could be used as a shelter, and into this he crawled,
+and built a small fire in the half-tumbled-down chimney-place.
+
+“Not much of a tavern,” he thought grimly. “But I can be content if I
+fare no worse during this journey.”
+
+His physical distress, even though great, was nothing compared to the
+trouble he suffered in his mind. He was branded as a thief, and even if
+he escaped to his home, how was he to clear his name, and how escape the
+military judgment meted out to him for the crime? Even if he was allowed
+to go free, folks would point the finger of scorn at him. And then his
+mother—he hardly dared to think of her.
+
+“This news will almost kill her,” he said to himself. “She always
+expected so much of me!”
+
+The next day he continued his journey up the river bank. He had now
+crossed a road where the tracks of several sleighs could be plainly
+seen, and was on his guard constantly.
+
+It was almost nightfall when Henry reached a large barn located in the
+middle of a field which was deep with snow. A house had stood near by,
+but this had been burnt down by the Indians at the outbreak of the war.
+But some half-burnt sticks of timber were still visible, and some of
+these he gathered, and built himself a fire at which to thaw out his
+half-frozen limbs.
+
+The fugitive was utterly worn out, and, having consumed the last of his
+scant stock of provisions, he wrapped himself up in some hay in the
+barn, and soon fell asleep.
+
+How soundly he slept Henry did not know until nearly daylight, when the
+kicking of a horse’s hoofs on the side of a stall below awoke him. He
+listened intently, and heard several steeds moving about.
+
+“Some French troopers must be around,” he reasoned, and his heart almost
+stopped beating at the thought. With extreme care he peered below. He
+could see two forms stretched out in the semi-darkness. Listening, he
+heard snoring from another quarter. Not less than six men were below
+asleep.
+
+“Now I’m as good as caught,” he thought, but an instant after set his
+teeth hard. No, he would not give in thus easily. He would fight first.
+
+“They must have come in too late to notice the fire I built,” he told
+himself. “But they’ll see it when they awaken and start on a tour of
+discovery. I must get away if I wish to save myself.”
+
+There was a small window at one end of the barn, and he found he could
+drop out and into the snow with ease. But just as he was climbing out
+another thought came to him—one that amazed even himself, at the risk
+involved. Why not try to appropriate one of the French troopers’ horses,
+and perhaps a saber and some food as well?
+
+The exposure had made Henry reckless and he did not stop to consider the
+plan twice. Turning, he found the rude ladder leading to the lower floor
+and went down to the bottom.
+
+There were exactly seven of the troopers, all burly fellows, and one an
+under-officer, who was snoring lustily on the top of a feed box.
+
+Henry’s first move was to untie the horse nearest to the stable door.
+The snow had drifted in beneath the door, and this helped to deaden the
+sounds of the animal’s hoofs as it was led outside. Then the young
+soldier returned and picked up the officer’s saber, and also a pistol
+and a horn of powder and balls. A knapsack was handy, and into this he
+stuffed a mass of provisions taken from three other knapsacks. The
+provisions were only army rations, but they were vastly better than
+nothing.
+
+As Henry slipped from the stable a second time one of the men stirred
+uneasily and opened his eyes.
+
+“Who is there?” he asked sleepily, in French.
+
+Of course Henry did not answer. Instead, he swung himself into the
+saddle, which had been left on the steed, and started away from the
+stable on a gallop. Reaching the rude stone wall of the field, he made
+the horse take it at a bound, and then continued on his way along the
+river road.
+
+He had not yet reached some timber ahead of him, when a shot rang out,
+followed by another, showing that he was discovered. The bullets,
+however, flew wide of the mark, and soon he felt that he was practically
+out of range, for the muskets and pistols of those days did not carry as
+far, nor as accurately, as do those of modern construction.
+
+“They will be after me,” thought the young soldier, as he continued to
+urge the horse onward, and at the same time fastened the knapsack to his
+back and the saber to his waist. “Well, if they come, I reckon I can
+fight for it,” he continued, and set his teeth together more firmly than
+ever.
+
+The timber was gained a few minutes later. Just before passing out of
+sight between the trees he looked back. Four troopers had left the barn
+on their horses and were in hot pursuit.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  Four troopers were in hot pursuit.—_Page 222._
+]
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXIV
+
+                        A GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK
+
+
+FORTUNATELY for Henry, the road through the timber was on a slight
+ridge, which the wind had swept almost free of snow. Here and there the
+elements had torn down branches, and even trees themselves, but the
+horse the young soldier rode appeared to know something of
+steeplechasing and took every obstruction without difficulty.
+
+For a distance of half a mile the way was straight, and looking back he
+saw the four troopers plainly. They were riding about as fast as
+himself, but no faster.
+
+“They won’t catch me just yet,” he reasoned, as he sped onward. “And
+perhaps I’ll soon come to some cross-roads, where I can give them the
+slip.”
+
+Once came another shot but it did not reach the fugitive, and only made
+him urge his steed along at a better speed. Then the road began to lead
+downward from the ridge, and soon Henry found his horse plowing and
+panting through snow a foot deep, and steadily growing deeper.
+
+Here was cause for fresh alarm, and now the youth’s heart beat
+anxiously. A turn had hidden the troopers from view, but he could hear
+them shouting to each other, for the horse of one had stumbled over a
+log, and thrown his rider headlong into a snowbank.
+
+“They’ve got a chance to get up to me now,” thought Henry, as he gazed
+at his almost exhausted animal. “Oh, if only we could get to some spot
+where there wasn’t so much snow!”
+
+Another turn was ahead, and Henry made for this, hoping it would
+disclose something to his advantage. It did, for here were three other
+roads, running in as many different directions.
+
+“Too bad to give up the horse, but I guess it has got to be done,” he
+thought. He turned the horse up one of the side roads and brought him to
+a standstill under a low-hanging tree. Then he leaped into the branches
+and gave the steed a smart slap with the flat side of the sabre. “Up
+with you!” he cried. “Get along!”
+
+Stung by the blow and urged on by the words, the horse gave a leap
+forward, and started off at a good pace that soon took him out of sight.
+Then Henry climbed up into the tree and lay among the branches, hardly
+daring to breathe.
+
+It was not long before the young soldier heard the French troopers at
+the cross-roads. They came to a halt, examined the ground, and then put
+on after the riderless horse, passing directly beneath the tree in which
+the fugitive was hiding.
+
+“That was a lucky idea,” thought Henry, and as soon as the party had
+passed he slid down out of the tree. He did not take to the road at
+once, but made a détour through the brushwood, to a point on one of the
+other roads a quarter of a mile away. Then he struck out bravely once
+again in the direction of the river.
+
+Henry found trudging along with a knapsack on his back far from easy,
+and at the end of an hour he was glad enough to seek the shelter of some
+rocks and trees and rest. The sun was shining brightly, and at a long
+distance he could make out the frozen surface of the St. Lawrence,
+glistening in patches like a mirror.
+
+“I suppose I may as well make for the river and cross it here, instead
+of farther up,” he mused. “I’ve got to get to some place before all my
+supplies give out.”
+
+He took his time over the rations which the knapsack afforded, keeping
+his eyes and ears open for the possible sound of pursuers. But nobody
+came near him, and the country for miles around looked absolutely
+deserted.
+
+The distance to the river was fully as far as it looked, and before half
+the space was covered Henry was almost exhausted. He had found a
+deserted farmhouse, and here he rested again, and then resolved to
+remain at the farmhouse over night.
+
+“One day won’t make any difference,” he reasoned.
+
+The farmhouse had been looted of all of value, yet a rude table, two
+benches, and a few old cooking utensils remained, and close at hand was
+some firewood ready for use. Growing reckless again, the youth started
+up a fire, and warmed up some of his rations, and also his
+half-stiffened body.
+
+Slowly the day faded from sight and the stars began to glitter in the
+sky. It was clear and quiet, and never had the young soldier felt so
+lonely. His thoughts traveled to home and then to Dave. What would his
+cousin think of him when he heard of what had happened?
+
+“I’m sure Dave won’t think I turned thief,” he reflected. “But that
+won’t help me any. Oh, was ever a fellow in such a fix before!”
+
+It was nearly midnight when Henry heard a strange noise outside of the
+old farmhouse. He leaped up from his position in front of the fire and
+gazed out of a window. In the dim light he saw three men approaching on
+horseback.
+
+“The troopers!” he told himself. He wanted to flee, but there was not
+time. Gathering up his pistol and saber he fled up the narrow stairs
+leading to the sloping room above.
+
+In a few minutes the door below was thrown open, and the three men
+entered. They were talking earnestly, but the sight of the smoldering
+fire cut short the conversation. Some excited questions followed, and
+presently one of the men opened the door leading to the stairs.
+
+“Is anybody up there?” he demanded in French.
+
+Instead of replying, Henry tiptoed his way to a corner of the room. Here
+was a sheltered nook, between the chimney and the sloping roof, and he
+squeezed himself into this.
+
+“I say, is there anybody up there?” demanded the Frenchman once more.
+
+He waited a moment and then slammed the door shut. More talking
+followed, but only an indistinct murmur reached Henry’s ears. The young
+soldier scarcely dared to breathe, and he tried in vain to think of what
+would be best to do next.
+
+“I reckon I’ll have to drop from the window, just as I was going to do
+at the barn,” thought the youth, but before he could put the plan into
+execution, the door below was thrown open once more and the Frenchman
+reappeared, this time with a torch taken from the fire, which he and his
+companions had started up again.
+
+“I’m in for it now,” Henry told himself, and he was right. In a moment
+more the Frenchman discovered him and drew a pistol.
+
+“Who are you?” he demanded, in his native tongue.
+
+“Don’t fire,” answered Henry.
+
+“Ha, you are von Englishmans, hey?” cried the Frenchman, and now Henry
+saw that he was dressed in civilian’s clothes.
+
+“Yes, I am an English soldier,” answered Henry recklessly. “What do you
+want of me?”
+
+“You come de stairs down, an’ you make me no trouble,” was the reply.
+
+As there was no help for it, Henry descended to the ground floor of the
+farmhouse. The talking had brought the others to their feet and each
+Frenchman had a pistol drawn as he appeared.
+
+“Jean Bevoir!” gasped Henry, as his eyes rested on one of the newcomers.
+
+“Ha, you know me?” came in return. The trader gazed at Henry sharply,
+and uttered an imprecation in French. “It ees zat Henry Morris!”
+
+“Henry Morris?” repeated the man who had remained below with Bevoir.
+
+“_Oui_, Chalette;” and then he continued in French: “Do you not remember
+seeing him at Fort Niagara?”
+
+“Yes. But he is not the Morris who came to the hospital,” answered
+Chalette, who was the prisoner who had escaped with Jean Bevoir, during
+the powder-house excitement.
+
+“No, this is a cousin—the brother to that little Nell Morris.”
+
+“Ah, I see. Is he alone? If he is, we have made a fine haul,” was
+Chalette’s comment.
+
+“He is the only person I saw,” said the third Frenchman, a hunter named
+Gasse. “I will look again. You watch this fellow.”
+
+“To be sure we shall watch him,” cried Jean Bevoir, and at the point of
+the pistol he disarmed Henry and made him stand up in a corner, facing
+the wall. The young soldier wanted to fight for his liberty, but saw it
+was useless, for Chalette also kept his pistol ready for use.
+
+It was not long before Gasse returned, saying that nobody else was
+anywhere around. Then Henry’s hands were bound behind him and he was
+tied fast to a bench, which was stood up on end for that purpose.
+
+“Now, my fine fellow, you vill tell me how it ees zat you came here,”
+began Jean Bevoir.
+
+“I rode part of the distance and walked the rest,” answered Henry, as
+lightly as he could. He felt it would do him no good to “show the white
+feather.”
+
+“Where did you come from, tell me zat and tell ze truf.”
+
+“I came from Quebec, if you want to know so bad.”
+
+“Ha, Quebec! You march all ze way from Fort Niagara to Quebec?”
+
+“No, I came part of the way by boat.”
+
+“’Tis mooch ze same. Vat ees it zat you do here?”
+
+“That is my own affair.”
+
+“You play ze spy on ze French, not so?”
+
+“No, I am not a spy.”
+
+“But ze English air not here—za know enough to stay near to Quebec.”
+
+“If you must know, I am trying to get home,” answered Henry.
+
+“Geet home? You leaf ze army?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“For vat?”
+
+“I have my reasons.”
+
+“You geet afraid of ze French bullets, hey?”
+
+“Perhaps.”
+
+“Maybe you haf deserted ze army?” burst out Jean Bevoir, and gave the
+young soldier a shrewd look from his wicked eyes.
+
+“If I have it is none of your affair, Jean Bevoir. Now let me ask a few
+questions. How did you get here? Did General Johnson let you go?”
+
+“Yees,” answered Bevoir, without hesitation. “He examine me an’ say I am
+free.”
+
+The falsehood was told so readily that Henry was staggered by it.
+
+“General Johnson made a mistake to let you free!” he cried. “If this war
+ever comes to an end, you shall suffer for what you have done.”
+
+“Ha, you threaten me, you, von prisonair!” roared the French trader,
+shaking his fist in Henry’s face.
+
+“You don’t deserve your freedom, and you know it.”
+
+Bevoir drew a long breath. “Ve vill not talk about zat,” he said. “I
+shall tell ze French commander zat you are von spy—an’ Chalette an’
+Gasse shall tell ze same. You vill soon learn zat ze French know vat to
+do to ze spy, ha! ha!” And he laughed wickedly.
+
+At these words Henry’s heart sank within him. He realized only too well
+what Bevoir’s words meant. If taken into the French camp as a spy he
+would most likely be shot.
+
+Truly in breaking out of the guard-house in Quebec and coming to this
+place he had leaped “out of the frying-pan into the fire.”
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXV
+
+                             TAKEN AS A SPY
+
+
+THE Frenchmen now began an earnest conversation in their native tongue,
+and they spoke so rapidly that Henry could understand little of what was
+being said. But he knew that they were talking about him, and more than
+once he heard his own name and that of Dave, and of his Uncle James
+mentioned, and once he heard them mention the trading-post on the
+Kinotah.
+
+“Jean Bevoir is going to square accounts if he possibly can,” thought
+the young captive dismally. “He is going to make me suffer for all his
+troubles. How General Johnson could let such a rascal go is more than I
+can understand.”
+
+At length the Frenchmen turned to prepare themselves something to eat,
+and one went out to care for the horses, which were stabled in a lean-to
+of the farmhouse. Then Henry’s bonds were examined and an additional
+strap passed over his lower limbs, after which the bench was let down,
+that he might lie at full length.
+
+“Now, if you can sleep, you sleep,” said Bevoir roughly. “But do not try
+to get away, or ze bullet from a pistol shall find you verra soon.”
+
+The Frenchmen laid down after this, and once again the farmhouse became
+quiet. Henry tried several times to free himself, but found the task
+impossible. At last worn out by the struggle, he too, passed into the
+land of dreams.
+
+When the captive was released at daybreak he found himself so cramped
+that he could scarcely stand. His hands were now untied that he might
+eat the little breakfast allotted to him, and were then refastened in
+front of him.
+
+Soon after this the farmhouse was left behind, and the whole party
+started down the river road single file, Henry taking turns in riding
+with each of the others. It was still cold and clear, and traveling was
+by no means easy. Yet the horses were of large build and covered many
+miles before being halted for midday lunch.
+
+It was nightfall when the camp of a French outpost was discovered,
+quarter of a mile back from the St. Lawrence, and close to a settlement
+named Girot, since entirely abandoned. Here some fur traders, well known
+to Jean Bevoir, had erected something of a fort and stockade, and the
+French soldiers had taken possession.
+
+The flare of several camp-fires lit up the outside of the fort, as the
+prisoner and his captors rode through the stockade gate. Here were
+assembled several companies of foot soldiers, and half a troop of French
+cavalry, under the command of Captain Rachepin, a burly fellow, who had
+won his position by daring work in the campaigns gone by.
+
+“An English prisoner, eh?” he said, as he gazed at Henry. “That makes
+the third this week. Well, the more the merrier.” And without further
+ado Henry was thrown into a low, dirty hut, that did duty as a prison.
+
+Two other prisoners were already in the hut, one an English grenadier,
+and the other a ranger from New Hampshire. Both were half-starved, and
+each had been captured while miles away looking for game for their own
+camp larder.
+
+“Hit’s ’ard luck, my boy,” sighed the grenadier gloomily. “Hi didn’t
+hexpect nothink like hit when I took the King’s shilling, Hi can tell ye
+that.”
+
+“Never seed nothin’ like them pesky garlic-eaters,” said the ranger.
+“Neow deown ter our camp we treated the prisoners fair an’ square, but
+here—gee shoo! Why, the eatin’ aint fit for hogs, let alone human
+critters!”
+
+“Perhaps they haven’t enough for themselves,” answered Henry.
+
+“They ’ave that,” put in the grenadier. “Hi ’ave seen hit with my hown
+blessed heyes. But the bloomin’ tykes are selfish. They ’ave flip and
+spruce beer galore, but hit is nothink but cold water fer us, with stale
+bread an’ salt pork as is worse than stale!” And the grenadier heaved a
+long sigh. “Hif ever Hi git ’ome again, strike me dead hif Hi leave a
+second time!”
+
+“An’ thet aint the wust on it, not by er jugful,” continued the ranger,
+who rejoiced in the name of Pity-All-Sinners Skinner, but was called Pit
+for short. “When I got ketched I had a’most seven shillin’s in my
+pocket, an’ neow I aint got a smell on’t, flay ’em!”
+
+“I don’t suppose you gave them the money,” remarked Henry.
+
+“Gave it to ’em? Not by er jugful! I’ll see ’em all drawn an’ quartered
+fust! They took it—stole it plain and simple. But yeou jest wait! This
+here war aint done yet—an’ Pit Skinner aint dead yet nuther!” concluded
+the ranger, with a wrathful shake of his head.
+
+For several days nobody came near Henry outside of the guard who brought
+in the miserable prison fare, already mentioned by the grenadier and the
+New Hampshire ranger. It was certainly food scarcely fit to eat, and it
+was a whole day before the young soldier could touch it. But a keen
+appetite can overcome many objections, and at last he ate just enough to
+satisfy the intense craving of his stomach. Even the drinking water was
+poor, and, as Pity-All-Sinners Skinner said, hardly fit for washing.
+
+On the Monday following Henry’s arrival at the post a messenger came in
+with some important dispatches. Following this there was a good deal of
+bustle and excitement, and soon some guards appeared and told the
+prisoners to get ready for a journey.
+
+“Where are we going now?” asked Henry, but the guard addressed either
+could not, or would not, answer the question.
+
+Chained together, hand-to-hand, the three were made to march from the
+fort. The foot soldiers of the French were already in the ranks and the
+prisoners were placed in their midst. Then the little column moved off
+by fours, up the St. Lawrence, in the direction of Montreal.
+
+“Something has happened, thet’s certain,” said Skinner. “Looks ter me
+like a retreat.”
+
+The march of the soldiers with their prisoners was kept up for three
+days, when the outskirts of Montreal were reached. Then came other
+dispatches for the commander of the little column, and the prisoners
+were sent into the city under a guard of six men, while the main body of
+the soldiery moved eastward again.
+
+At the time of which I write, Montreal, now a large and flourishing
+city, was but a small town, consisted principally of low one- and
+two-storied houses, of logs and stone. There were several stores, or
+rather trading shops and some little shipping during the summer time,
+along the waterfront. The people, mostly Catholics, were very religious
+and had three churches and also a seminary, which, on account of its
+towers, could be seen from a great distance.
+
+The defenses of the town were not many and the place had suffered much
+from having quartered the army of Montcalm on more than one occasion.
+During those times the French soldiers had eaten very nearly all the
+food in sight, leaving the town people to famish. Business and trading
+were almost at a standstill, and at times even money could not procure
+the necessities of life.
+
+On entering Montreal Henry saw but little of the place, for he was
+hurried without ceremony to a stone building which the French had turned
+into an army prison. In this building were huddled over a score of
+prisoners of all descriptions—a motley, half-dressed and half-starved
+crowd, some grenadiers, some rangers, and some civilians. Everybody in
+the crowd was out of humor, and groans and curses were frequent. But the
+prisoners did not dare to talk too loudly, for if they did, a guard
+would appear and threaten them with solitary confinement in a stone cell
+under one of the churches.
+
+“What an awful place to stay in,” was Henry’s mental comment. He found
+himself pushed hither and thither, while the stench of the prison made
+him literally sick. “This is Jean Bevoir’s work. He will make me suffer
+as much as he possibly can.”
+
+After a good deal of pushing and shoving, Henry found himself in
+something of an alcove, and here dropped on the bench which was built
+around two sides of the room. Beside him sat an old soldier, who was
+suffering from a heavy cold, and who coughed continually.
+
+“It is not fit for a dog here,” said the old soldier. “I have been here
+two weeks, and I know. They mean to kill us all off.”
+
+“Two weeks—in this hole!” cried Henry.
+
+“Yes, and that is nothing. Some of the poor fellows have been here three
+months.”
+
+“I couldn’t stand it—I’d—I’d die for the want of fresh air.”
+
+“And that is what they want you to do. When you die they won’t have to
+feed you any more.” The cough of the old soldier grew steadily worse,
+and, although, at the last moment a surgeon came and gave him a little
+medicine, he died eight days later, and was carried away for burial in a
+trench outside of the town.
+
+Henry had been separated from Pity-All-Sinners Skinner and from the
+English grenadier, and so knew absolutely nobody in the prison. More
+than this, no one seemed to care for him, and, if the truth must be
+told, he likewise cared for nobody. Everybody felt miserable and it was
+in very truth a struggle to keep body and soul together and to keep from
+catching some fatal disease.
+
+The young soldier was in the prison over a month before Jean Bevoir came
+to see him. The French trader could only speak to him through the rudely
+slatted door and in the presence of the other captives.
+
+“I trust zat you like ze surroundings,” said Bevoir, with a sickly grin.
+“It ees just suited to you, hey?”
+
+“You’re a miserable scoundrel, Bevoir!” burst out Henry. “What have you
+told the commander about me?”
+
+“I haf tole him zat you are a spy an’ a verra deep one, too! Some day,
+ven he has ze time, he vill bring you up before ze military court.”
+
+“And then?” questioned the young soldier.
+
+Jean Bevoir shrugged his lean shoulders.
+
+“Zen you can die ze death of ze spy, and it ees vat you an’ all your
+familee deserve. Ees not zat von pleasant thought, hey?”
+
+And with a sinister leer the French trader moved away from the slatted
+door and left the prison as rapidly as he had entered it.
+
+As for poor Henry, his feelings can be better imagined than described.
+Walking to a corner of the cell he threw himself down on the bench,
+almost overcome. The last door of hope seemed to be shut against him.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXVI
+
+                        DAVE’S JOURNEY TO QUEBEC
+
+
+IT was not long after he was lost in the snow, that Dave heard news from
+Quebec that disheartened him greatly. This was that Henry had been
+arrested for stealing and was likely to be hanged for the offense.
+
+The news came in through several messengers who arrived at Fort Ontario
+on important business for General Murray. One of the messengers knew Sam
+Barringford well, and it was this man who gave the news, first to the
+old frontiersman and then to Dave.
+
+“Henry arrested for stealing!” exclaimed the young soldier. He could
+scarcely believe that he heard aright.
+
+“Sorry for you, young man, but it’s the truth,” was the reply of the
+messenger, and he gave what few particulars he knew. He had left Quebec
+before Henry ran away, so knew nothing of this new turn of affairs.
+
+It was to Barringford that the messenger told how Henry was in danger of
+hanging. “General Murray is bound that looting shall stop,” said he. “So
+some time ago he had notices posted up giving warning that a thief
+caught in the act would be hanged.”
+
+“I’ll wager my life on it, Henry aint no thief,” said Barringford
+warmly. “Thet boy is as honest as the day is long.”
+
+“I know nothing of that. He is now in prison, or, for all I know, he may
+be dead.”
+
+Barringford considered it his duty to tell Dave of the fate that
+overhung his cousin, and the two talked the matter over for the best
+part of a night.
+
+“If I could get to Quebec I’d go,” declared Dave. “Perhaps I could do
+something—if—if——” He wanted to say if it was not too late but the words
+stuck in his throat.
+
+“Say the word an’ I’ll go with ye, Dave,” responded Barringford. “Thar
+don’t seem to be no ust o’ stayin’ here.”
+
+“Can we make it, Sam? Quebec is a long distance from here.”
+
+“I aint afraid to try it, Dave. I allow as we are goin’ to have a spell
+o’ good weather.”
+
+“But the Indians?”
+
+“The Injuns don’t stir much in the winter. An’ if we have our muskets
+an’ a pistol or two I reckon we kin hold our own ag’in ’em.”
+
+The upshot of this conversation was that both Dave and the old hunter
+went to lay the case before their commander the next morning. The
+general listened patiently to what they had to say.
+
+“To me such an undertaking is foolhardy at this season of the year,”
+said the general. “But if you feel that you really want to go, you have
+my permission, and I will give you each a paper to that effect. But if
+you lose your lives in the attempt your friends must not blame me.”
+
+Dave and Barringford set off the very next day, in company with two of
+the messengers, named Grassbrook and Heppy. Both of the messengers were
+old hunters who knew the trails well, and it was said that Heppy had a
+trace of Indian blood in him.
+
+The party was two days on its way when they came to the Indian village
+of Kanankee, presided over by an old chief named Leaping Elk. The
+Indians were friendly, and the travelers were glad enough to remain with
+them over night.
+
+In the morning an agreeable surprise awaited Dave. During the night six
+warriors of the Delawares had come in, under the command of White
+Buffalo.
+
+“White Buffalo!” cried the young soldier. “Where did you come from?”
+
+“From the southward,” answered White Buffalo. “And where goes White
+Buffalo’s young friend David?”
+
+“To Quebec—if we can get that far.”
+
+“It will take many days to make the journey.”
+
+“I suppose so—but that cannot be helped.”
+
+Dave then told the Indian chief why he was making the journey. White
+Buffalo listened attentively and his eyes flashed fire when he heard
+that Henry had been arrested as a thief.
+
+“The English chief at Quebec is a fool,” he said. “My white brother
+Henry is no thief. I will tell the English chief that to his face. He is
+a fool.”
+
+“I want to save Henry if I possibly can,” answered Dave.
+
+“What will David do?”
+
+“I don’t know yet. But I have some letters that tell of Henry’s bravery
+in battle, and those may help him.”
+
+White Buffalo was silent after this and had but little to say while
+supper was being prepared and eaten. But before he retired for the night
+he came to Dave again.
+
+“Would my white brother like White Buffalo to go with him to Quebec?” he
+asked.
+
+“Oh, White Buffalo, that is asking a good deal of you!”
+
+“Then White Buffalo may go?”
+
+“If you want to go, certainly. But—but—haven’t you anything else to do?”
+
+At this the Indian chief shook his head sadly.
+
+“No, White Buffalo has nothing much left. His tribe is split and broken.
+Some have gone to the French, many are dead, or wounded, or sick. Six
+warriors only remain, but they are of the best, and they have sworn by
+the Great Spirit to stay with their chief to the finish. Let us go with
+you, and if we meet unfriendly Indians, or the French, we will do what
+we can to defend you.”
+
+“Now ye air talkin’ right from the heart!” cried Sam Barringford, as he
+caught White Buffalo’s hand. “Come on by all means. Ye air the whitest
+Injun I ever seed!” And his face glowed with satisfaction, which pleased
+White Buffalo greatly.
+
+The journey was resumed as soon as the sun was fairly up. White Buffalo
+now took the lead, in company with Heppy, and the others followed on
+behind in close order.
+
+White Buffalo had been over this ground but a short time before, and
+knew even a better trail than did the messengers from General Murray. He
+also knew where the snow was lightest, and took them along a ridge where
+the walking was by no means bad.
+
+For several days the journey proceeded without interruption. Not a sign
+of Indians or French was seen, and the landscape at times looked utterly
+deserted. Occasionally when they passed through a patch of woods, or
+through the forest, they would stir up some wild animal, and they were
+never without game for a meal all the time they were on the trip.
+
+Half the journey to Quebec was accomplished when there came a light fall
+of snow, followed by a wind that for twenty-four hours constantly
+increased in violence. For several hours they kept on in this wind, but
+as last both the whites and the Indians called a halt.
+
+“White Buffalo knows of shelter close to this spot,” said the Indian
+chief. “We had best go there, and wait until the mighty wind has
+fallen.”
+
+All willingly followed White Buffalo to the shelter, which was the under
+side of a hollowed-out cliff, fronted by some heavy brush and a row of
+saplings. Here all set to work to clear out a space for themselves and
+another for a camp-fire, for the wind made the air seem much colder.
+
+Several of the men were taking it easy on some boughs they had cut,
+while the others were huddled around the camp-fire, warming up, and
+preparing something to eat, when the wind arose with greater violence
+than ever. It was a winter “fall,” as it is called in that territory and
+it whistled and shrieked with a fury that caused more than one in the
+party to spring to his feet in alarm.
+
+“By gum! This aint no June zephyr!” declared Barringford, as he gazed
+from the shelter with an anxious look on his bronzed face. “It’s a
+reg’lar fall, thet’s wot it is!”
+
+“High wind, truly,” put in White Buffalo. “Great Spirit knock down many
+trees that are proud.”
+
+The Indian chief had scarcely spoken when there came another whirl,
+which caused the camp-fire to fly in several directions. Then, before
+anybody could run away, there followed a crash on top of the cliff and
+then one in front of it.
+
+“The trees are coming down!” yelled Dave.
+
+“We must git out—we’ll be buried under the cliff!” came from
+Barringford.
+
+As both spoke they tried to leave their dangerous quarters. But the
+movement came too late. With a thud the tree that had stood above them
+came down in front of the opening, and an instant later another tree
+before the cliff landed on top of the first.
+
+A huge branch caught both Dave and Barringford and hurled them flat.
+Then came another crash, and Dave found himself buried under small
+stones and dirt, and for the moment he felt as if the end of the world
+had come.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXVII
+
+                        THE ATTACK OF THE FRENCH
+
+
+“DAVE! are ye alive?”
+
+“I—I—reckon so, Sam—bu—but I am not sure!”
+
+“We must git out o’ here, or we’ll run the danger o’ being burnt up!”
+
+Barringford was right; already the scattered camp-fire, aided by the
+high wind, was commencing to set fire to the tree limbs that rested
+under the cliff.
+
+On Dave’s breast was a mass of small stones, dirt, and snow, and it was
+with difficulty that he managed to sit up. Then he discovered that one
+leg was held down tightly by a branch of one of the fallen trees.
+
+“I’m in a regular bear trap,” he panted.
+
+“Both legs, lad?”
+
+“No, only the left.”
+
+“I’ll free ye,” answered the old frontiersman, and set to work
+immediately.
+
+He was still laboring when White Buffalo crawled over the fallen trees
+toward them. Close at hand the flames were springing up, but the Indian
+stamped them out. Then he chopped away at the limb, and soon Dave was
+released.
+
+“Are the others safe?” asked the young soldier. “I had an idea we would
+all be killed.”
+
+All were out of the wreckage but one Indian and Heppy the messenger.
+These two had been lying under a large rock, which had loosened, and it
+was at first supposed that both were dead, but then came a faint cry for
+help.
+
+“They are in a hollow tree under the rock,” said Grassbrook.
+
+Such proved to be the case, and then arose the question of how the
+unhappy pair might be released.
+
+“We must put out all the fire first,” said Barringford, and this was
+done, the flames being fought with flat sticks and with chunks of snow
+and dirt.
+
+As soon as the last of the fires were extinguished, the large rock
+resting over the hollow was examined. There was an opening to the space
+below, so the prisoners beneath did not suffer from the want of air.
+
+“We are both all right,” announced Heppy. “But we want to get out.”
+
+“We must pry the rock off the hollow,” said Barringford.
+
+Two long and heavy poles were cut for that purpose, and despite the wind
+and the cold, the whole party set to work to move the big rock from its
+resting place. The poles were placed under other rocks, acting as
+fulcrums, and all of those who could “get in line” were pressed into
+service.
+
+“Hurrah! it is moving!” cried Dave.
+
+He was right, and after straining for a minute more the huge rock rolled
+over and went crashing into another hollow below.
+
+When Heppy and the Indian came out of the hole it was found they were
+somewhat bruised, but otherwise all right.
+
+The wind still blew strongly, but the fury of the blast had spent
+itself, and they easily made themselves safe under the fallen trees,
+after looking to it that the giants of the forest were in no danger of
+rolling over and crushing them.
+
+The next day found them again on the journey. They now skirted a valley
+where, in a sheltered spot, they saw a herd of deer. Two of the animals
+were laid low by Barringford and White Buffalo, and these gave them meat
+until the trip came to an end.
+
+It was nearly the last of March when the party came in sight of the St.
+Lawrence, almost opposite to Quebec. An English outpost was not far
+distant, and they marched to this, where they were promptly challenged
+by a sentry, and escorted under guard to the officer in command.
+
+“You have come a long distance, truly,” said the officer, after
+examining the passes they carried. “It is more of a journey than I
+should wish to take in such weather as this.”
+
+“May I ask if you have had any battles with the French since Quebec was
+taken?” asked Dave.
+
+“Not of much account. They tried to rout us out once or twice, but we
+beat them off easily. There is, however, a rumor that they intend to
+descend upon us in force early this spring, so if you remain here a
+while you may see more fighting.”
+
+The ice on the river was now breaking up, and Dave and the others, after
+bidding a temporary farewell to White Buffalo and his followers, crossed
+the stream in a bateau which the English officer loaned them. They were
+soon on the opposite shore, and half an hour later found them in Quebec,
+and on the way to General Murray’s local headquarters.
+
+Dave and Barringford had a good hour to wait before they could see the
+English commander, for General Murray had just received additional news
+concerning the expected attack by the French.
+
+“Who are you and what do you wish?” demanded the general, tersely, as
+they came in.
+
+Dave speedily introduced himself and Barringford, and handed the
+commander the letter he had brought from Fort Oswego, which Murray
+glanced over hastily.
+
+“You are a cousin to Henry Morris, eh?” he said slowly.
+
+“Yes, sir. May I ask have you—is he—he—still in prison?”
+
+“Why shouldn’t he be in prison?” questioned the general keenly.
+
+“I thought perhaps that you—you had punished him. They told me, sir,
+that you had issued an order——” Dave tried to go on, but could not. “Oh,
+sir,” he burst out, “he is not guilty! I am sure he is no thief!”
+
+“Were you afraid I had put that order of mine into execution against
+him?” questioned General Murray, and now his tone was kindlier.
+
+“I was, sir! That is why I came here—to save him if I can! He is such a
+good fellow—he wouldn’t steal from anybody.”
+
+“That’s the truth, general,” put in Barringford. “I’ve known him from a
+babby, an’ he’s as honest as they grow ’em. Thar must be some mistake
+somewhar. Can’t Henry explain himself?”
+
+“He has not tried,” answered General Murray dryly.
+
+“Hasn’t tried?” ejaculated Dave. “Why, what——”
+
+“He escaped from prison and left Quebec some time ago.”
+
+“Is it possible!” came from Dave, his face full of conflicting emotions.
+
+“Do you mean to say the boy up an’ run away?” came from Barringford.
+
+“Yes.”
+
+Both Dave and the old frontiersman shook their heads at this. The news
+was so unexpected it stunned them.
+
+“I am half inclined to believe that he was not guilty,” went on General
+Murray. “I have learned that one of the fellows mixed up in the affair,
+a soldier named Prent, has a bad reputation, and one of Prent’s friends,
+Harkness, is a man who once served time in a Scotch prison. More than
+this, I received a letter from some party unknown, which would tend to
+prove that Henry Morris was the victim of circumstances or a plot.” And
+here the general drew out the letter already given in full in a former
+chapter.
+
+“And nothing has been seen or heard of Henry since he ran away from
+here?” asked Dave.
+
+“Nothing. How he got out of Quebec is unknown, and it is barely possible
+that he may be in hiding here, although I do not think so. He was
+foolish to run away.”
+
+“But wouldn’t you run away if you were afraid of being hanged?” asked
+Dave quickly.
+
+At this a faint smile crossed General Murray’s face. He was still a
+young man, and he could understand Dave’s feelings fully.
+
+“It would be better to stay and face a trial—especially if innocent,” he
+said evasively; and after a few words more they were excused.
+
+“I don’t know whether to be glad or sorry,” remarked Dave, as he and
+Barringford walked down the street. “What do you say, Sam?”
+
+“I’d rather see Henry run than be hanged,” was the answer. “But it gits
+me whar he went, especially in the freezin’ cold weather. I hope he
+didn’t git lost in the snow and froze to death.”
+
+Both Dave and Barringford soon found that Quebec was in a state of
+suppressed excitement. Alarms had been frequent, and now General Murray
+felt certain that an attack by the French would not be long delayed.
+
+In this the young commander was correct. The French leader, Lévis, angry
+to think that Vaudreuil, the Governor-General, would not march on the
+city immediately after the English took possession, chafed all winter
+with his troops to do the enemy battle.
+
+But the Governor-General was cautious. He knew that General Amherst, at
+Crown Point, only wanted a chance to fall upon Montreal, and so it was
+at Montreal that the French army gathered, and here the majority of them
+remained until early in April.
+
+Presently came in reports that the English had lost many men by
+desertion and through sickness, and that Amherst at Crown Point could
+not yet think of moving, and Vaudreuil at length consented to listen to
+Lévis.
+
+“We shall never have a better opportunity than now,” said General Lévis.
+“Murray is at present cut off from all outside supplies. If we wait
+until summer comes he will obtain re-enforcements from England, Boston,
+or New York, and then we will have a task that may be beyond us.”
+
+Lévis had his way, and at once the sleepy town of Montreal awoke to
+life. The colonists who had been allowed to go home on furlough were
+recalled, drills were had daily, and large quantities of army stores
+were collected. Some troops demurred at what was required of them, but
+Vaudreuil was firm, and told them that they must either fight or suffer
+death.
+
+It was decided to descend upon Quebec by way of the river, and for this
+purpose two frigates, two sloops-of-war, and a perfect swarm of bateaux
+and other small craft were pressed into service. The army numbered about
+six thousand men, and was, further down the St. Lawrence, increased to
+over eight thousand.
+
+Some distance above Quebec is the small stream of Cap-Rouge, which flows
+into the St. Lawrence, and just beyond this is the settlement of St.
+Augustin. Amid much difficulty, for the river was still full of floating
+ice, the army, half perished with the cold, landed at St. Augustin,
+built a temporary bridge over the Cap-Rouge, and marched forward on the
+English outpost at Old Lorette.
+
+It is likely that the outpost was taken somewhat by surprise, and after
+a lively skirmish the English garrison fell back to St. Foy, where
+active preparations were made to combat the French as soon as they
+should appear.
+
+Had nature permitted it, it is possible that St. Foy would have fallen
+as quickly as did Old Lorette, for the marching enemy was strong in
+numbers. But as General Lévis advanced, through a long stretch of
+dangerous marshland, a heavy thunderstorm came on, and the rain
+descended in torrents. To this difficulty was added the darkness at
+night, and foot soldiers and troopers floundered about, scarcely knowing
+where they were going.
+
+The delay had aided the English, and when, the next morning, the French
+appeared in front of St. Foy, they found the village fortified with
+cannon. There was an assault, and the French were driven back, and then
+Lévis, not knowing how few English soldiers were really intrenched
+before him, determined to wait until night before meeting the English
+again.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+                         IN THE RANKS ONCE MORE
+
+
+DAVE and Barringford had found quarters with some rangers down near the
+river front, and here the two remained day after day, each wondering
+what they had best do next.
+
+“I don’t feel much like returning to Oswego,” said the young soldier. “I
+want to hear something from Henry before I do that.”
+
+“That’s jest my way o’ looking at it, Dave,” answered the old
+frontiersman. “But it don’t seem like we was to hear a word, does it?”
+
+“I can’t imagine where Henry went to, Sam. If he left Quebec he would be
+almost certain to fall into the hands of the French or their murderous
+Indian allies.”
+
+Several of the rangers had work to do along the river front, and this
+lasted until late one Saturday night. Dave and Barringford had been
+helping the men at their task, but when it was finished the young
+soldier did not feel in the humor to retire, and he and Barringford sat
+in a little watch-house, the frontiersman smoking and both talking over
+the past, until it was well after midnight.
+
+Down the dark stream floated huge cakes of ice and masses of driftwood,
+for the day had been rather warm and had freed much that had before been
+ice-bound. As the two gazed out at this they were suddenly aroused by a
+faint cry for help.
+
+“What’s that?” asked Dave.
+
+“Somebuddy callin’,” answered Barringford, peering forth on the river.
+
+The cry was repeated, in a French voice, and then, at a great distance
+from shore, they made out the form of a man stretched flat on a big mass
+of drifting ice.
+
+“Some soldier!” ejaculated Dave. “More than likely he is half dead from
+the cold.”
+
+“If we had a boat we might save him,” said Barringford.
+
+Both rushed around to see if a boat was handy, and their actions aroused
+a number of others near the watch-house.
+
+In the meantime the mass of ice had drifted further down the St.
+Lawrence, to where the frigate _Racehorse_ lay in her dock. The watch on
+the deck of the frigate also heard the sufferer and saw him put up an
+arm pleadingly.
+
+“A castaway, sir,” said the sailor, running to Captain Macartney.
+
+“Where?” demanded the master of the _Racehorse_.
+
+“On a cake of ice, sir. He is about frozen.”
+
+Captain Macartney wasted no time in ordering a small boat to the rescue,
+and, running along the shore, Dave and Barringford saw the man brought
+in and taken aboard of the frigate.
+
+The man who was rescued proved to be a French cannoneer. At first he
+could not speak, but after being warmed up he let out the information
+that, while trying to land at Cap-Rouge with a number of others, the
+boat had been upset. He was closely questioned, and the news was
+obtained that General Lévis was marching upon Quebec with all possible
+speed, with a view to catching Murray unawares.
+
+“Our commander must know of this at once,” said the master of the
+_Racehorse_, and he had some of his sailors carry the rescued Frenchman
+on a litter to General Murray’s headquarters at three o’clock Sunday
+morning.
+
+Soon the drums and bugles were sounding, and Dave and Barringford, who
+had retired to sleep after seeing the Frenchman rescued, leaped up with
+the other soldiers. “The French are marching on Quebec!” was the cry.
+“They have already attacked the outposts at Lorette!”
+
+By daybreak Murray was on the move, with about a thousand men and
+several pieces of cannon. Most of the field-pieces had to be pulled by
+the soldiers themselves, and when Dave and Barringford asked for
+permission to join the outgoing army, a captain of artillery immediately
+pressed them into service.
+
+“Ye can’t go as soldiers,” he said, with a grin. “But come on as horses,
+and welcome.”
+
+“I’m not afraid to do it,” responded Dave quickly, and caught hold of
+the long rope, and seeing this Barringford did the same.
+
+A nasty, cold rain was falling, and though sixteen men were dragging at
+the rope of each piece of artillery, it was all they could do to move
+the cannon through the mud and slush. Sometimes some of the soldiers
+would drop out and others would take their places, but Dave and
+Barringford stuck to their posts.
+
+It was not long before St. Foy was reached. The garrison was being hotly
+pressed by the French when General Murray’s artillery opened a fire on
+the enemy, driving them back with considerable loss.
+
+“Make ’em run!” was the English cry, and soon the foot soldiers were
+charging straight past the town. Dave and Barringford were in this
+charge, and for ten minutes were exposed to a raking fire from two
+sides. Neither was struck, although Barringford had the sleeve of his
+coat torn by a bullet.
+
+But Murray knew that the French outnumbered him, and that it would be
+foolish just then to try to hold St. Foy. His object was to offer
+protection to the various garrisons falling back on the city, and in
+this he was successful. Soon St. Foy was abandoned, and the church,
+containing a large amount of military stores, blown up.
+
+The fight had been a hard one, and when the men got back to Quebec, some
+of them were half perished with the wet and cold. Dave himself was in a
+shiver, and when a big bonfire was lit in a public square he got as
+close to it as possible to dry and warm himself.
+
+Although he had fallen back on Quebec, General Murray did not intend to
+remain there. He felt that the walls of the city were in no condition to
+withstand a bombardment at the hands of Lévis, and that to raise
+earthworks outside would be an almost impossible task, owing to the
+half-frozen condition of the ground.
+
+“If we remain here we shall have to stand a long siege,” said he to his
+fellow-officers. “Lévis is exhausted by his forced marches. Let us fall
+upon him without delay.”
+
+Officers and soldiers were willing to meet the French, and some even
+left the hospital that they might take part in the coming contest. All
+was bustle and excitement, and soon Murray had around him his whole
+force of about three thousand soldiers.
+
+The march forward was as tiresome as the one to St. Foy had been. Five
+hundred men dragged twenty-four pieces of artillery and the tumbrils
+containing the ammunition. In spots the cannon and carts sank down
+hub-deep, and had to be pried out with logs and poles. More than one
+soldier fell into a hole up to his waist and had to be dragged out to
+save him from being frozen to death.
+
+“It’s no fun, that is sure,” said Dave, as he puffed for breath. He had
+hold of the rope attached to a cannon.
+
+“We long ago made up our minds thet war wasn’t fun, Dave,” answered
+Barringford, who was just in front of him, and also on the rope.
+
+Besides the grenadiers and artillery there were with Murray a company of
+rangers under Hazen and another company of volunteers under MacDonald.
+The rangers and volunteers were on the left flank, and with these went
+Dave and his old friend when the time came for battle.
+
+The English army had reached the ground occupied by Montcalm when the
+French general was shot down, and here they came to a temporary halt. In
+the meantime General Lévis was moving from St. Foy to a ridge of ground
+known as Sillery Wood. He had not yet had time to place his whole army
+in position.
+
+“Now is the time to strike,” said General Murray, and he ordered another
+advance.
+
+In a moment more the cannon spoke up, followed by the continued rattle
+of musketry. The onslaught was a fierce one, and in certain quarters the
+French were seen to give way. The smoke of battle was thick, and cannon
+ball and bullet often sent the mud and slush flying in all directions.
+
+“The French are retreating!” was the cry a little later, and again the
+English troops pressed forward. But this surmise was incorrect. The
+enemy were merely taking a new position, and soon the English found
+themselves at a disadvantage, having given up a stretch of high ground
+for one which was low and uncertain.
+
+The left flank of the army had been brought up close to the edge of a
+wood, and soon the French began to pour into the ranks a deadly fire
+that laid many a soldier low. Not far away were two block-houses, and
+these were filled with Canadian sharpshooters, who began to pick off the
+officers one after another.
+
+“We must take the block-houses,” was the order received, and the
+volunteers rushed at one stronghold, while the rangers rushed at the
+other.
+
+The din of battle was now terrific, and for a few moments Dave could
+scarcely hear when spoken to, or when a command was given. Bullets were
+flying in all directions, and he was struck twice, once in the fleshy
+part of the arm, and once in the little finger of his left hand.
+Barringford was also hit in the shoulder, but kept on fighting,
+regardless of the loss of blood.
+
+“Up and at them!” was the constant cry. “Up and at them!” And then the
+volunteers made straight for one of the block-houses, and in a few
+minutes the enemy were retreating with all possible speed.
+
+But the block-house could not be held, for the French were now moving on
+the rangers and volunteers in a larger number than before. The white
+uniforms covered the edge of the wood, and in a minute the command to
+which Dave and Barringford had attached themselves was almost
+surrounded.
+
+“We can’t hold this nohow,” came from Barringford, who was re-loading
+his smoking musket. “Them Frenchm——”
+
+“Down!” cried Dave, and shoved the old frontiersman backward. Then came
+a report from behind the block-house, and Barringford pitched over on
+his side and lay as one dead.
+
+Dave’s musket was up in an instant, and taking careful aim he fired. He
+hit the man who had brought Barringford low, and the Frenchman went back
+with a ball through his breast.
+
+“We must get out of here!” was the cry a few minutes later, and the
+retreat was sounded.
+
+Dave bent over Barringford and found the frontiersman still breathing.
+He was shot in the head, just above the right ear, and covered with
+blood.
+
+“Oh, if he only lives!” thought the young soldier. The idea of losing
+his old friend was too horrible to contemplate. Slinging his musket over
+his shoulder, he raised Barringford in his arms and gazed around
+helplessly.
+
+“I’ll help ye, boy!” cried a ranger, who was running past, and he took
+hold of Barringford’s lower limbs, while Dave took him under the arms.
+Thus they ran a hundred yards or more, when two other volunteers came to
+their assistance, and Barringford was carried to the rear, and, later
+on, back to the general hospital.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  Dave’s musket was up in an instant.—_Page 268._
+]
+
+But the fighting was not yet at an end, and it continued for half an
+hour longer, the English doing their best to drive Lévis from the strong
+position he now occupied. But this was impossible, and at last General
+Murray’s army began to move back to Quebec, keeping the retreat well
+covered.
+
+“The victory is ours!” came the French cry, and they started in pursuit.
+But General Lévis soon saw that the English were not retreating in
+disorder, and so ordered his soldiers to hold the ground they had gained
+and go no further.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXIX
+
+                               DARK DAYS
+
+
+THE days to follow the tattle just described were gloomy enough, both
+for Dave and for the little army now assembled at Quebec.
+
+All told, General Murray had lost, in killed, wounded and missing, about
+a thousand men, or one-third of his force, while the loss to the enemy
+was estimated at about the same. In addition, the English had lost some
+cannon and also some of their ammunition and muskets. When the army got
+back to Quebec it was thoroughly exhausted, and the men were hardly fit
+for work of any kind. Confusion reined supreme, and had Murray permitted
+it, there would have been a panic and perhaps the place would have been
+abandoned.
+
+“The jig is up,” said more than one soldier. “We must surrender, or else
+the French will either bombard us or starve us out.”
+
+But General Murray was not so easily daunted, and soon brought a
+semblance of order out of apparent chaos. The wounded were cared for,
+and those able to work were immediately set to the task of fortifying
+Quebec from every available point. Bags were filled with sand and placed
+at the gates, and the cannon were planted so as to command every
+approach. Even the convalescent in the hospital had to do their share by
+making wadding for the cannon. Soldiers who would not obey orders were
+promptly disciplined, and one man who was caught plundering a house was
+promptly hanged as a thief.
+
+This public execution brought to Dave’s mind the fate that hung over
+Henry. Would his cousin come back, and, if so, what would General Murray
+do to him? This thought made Dave shiver.
+
+“He is certainly very stern,” thought the young soldier. “And unless
+Henry can clear himself it will surely go hard with him. But perhaps
+Henry is dead!” And he shook his head sorrowfully.
+
+Dave had gone with Barringford to the general hospital and seen to it
+that the old frontiersman had every attention. At first he was afraid
+Barringford was going to die in a few days, but now the surgeon in
+attendance held out a faint hope of his recovery.
+
+“But he was hard hit,” said the surgeon. “An inch nearer, and the bullet
+would have passed through his brain.”
+
+For days Barringford lay unconscious, knowing nobody and breathing
+heavily. During that time Dave came to see him as often as permitted,
+and had his own wounds dressed. The young soldier had lost the end of
+his little finger, but he counted this as nothing in comparison with his
+other troubles. “I’d rather lose the hand than see Sam go,” was what he
+told himself.
+
+General Lévis lost no time in strengthening his position around Quebec.
+Extra cannon were sent for, and the French commander waited anxiously
+for some news of a French warship which was expected.
+
+“If he gets the help of a fleet we are doomed,” said more than one
+English officer, and a watch was set, to announce the coming of any sail
+up the St. Lawrence. At the same time, the cannon planted on the walls
+of Quebec did all they possibly could to make Lévis keep his distance,
+and prevent him from throwing up the intrenchments he so much desired.
+
+“A ship is in sight!” was the cry that was raised in the city on the
+ninth day of May. “A ship! A ship!”
+
+“What is she?” was the question asked.
+
+This could not, as yet, be answered, and General Murray lost no time in
+making his way to where a good look could be had of the lower St.
+Lawrence. Sure enough, there was a large ship, but without a flag.
+
+“Hoist the colors at Cape Diamond!” ordered the English commander, and
+the flag was raised without delay. In the meantime the warship came
+closer and could be seen to be crowded with men. Would she prove to be a
+friend or an enemy?
+
+Slowly the flag mounted to the masthead, and unfurled to the breeze. It
+was the red cross of St. George.
+
+“’Tis our own ship! Quebec is saved! Huzza! huzza!” was the cry, and
+almost immediately the soldiers went wild with joy, some dancing on the
+ramparts of the city, in full view of the much-chagrined French, who had
+hoped the vessel would prove to be one of their own.
+
+Soon the ship, the _Lowestoffe_, was firing a royal salute, to which the
+city batteries replied with vigor, the gunners making the river and
+rocky cliffs echo and re-echo with their glad tidings. In the city the
+grenadiers marched, sang, and drank toasts, and the gloom of the days
+gone by was dispelled as if by magic.
+
+The ship that had come in brought news of an English fleet which was
+expected to reach Quebec in a few days. In desperation Lévis began an
+immediate attack on the city, but with poor success. Then he assembled
+his own ships of war, but six in number, and waited bravely for the
+coming of the English vessels.
+
+It was the middle of May when the English fleet sailed up the river. The
+battle on the water was of short duration, although the French sailors
+fought desperately against overwhelming odds. Seeing they could not win,
+one vessel threw her guns overboard and sailed away and the others ran
+into the mud flats, where their crews set fire to them, and escaped by
+wading and in small boats.
+
+“The day is ours; Lévis cannot stand this defeat on the water,” said
+General Murray, and he was right. The loss of the warships carried
+consternation into the camp of the French, and that very night they
+began to retreat, the English sending shot and shell after them to
+hasten their departure. In their hurry they left many cannon, muskets,
+and army stores behind them.
+
+“That was a victory worth the winning,” said Dave, as he marched out,
+several days later, to help bring in some of the abandoned army stores.
+“A few more like that and I reckon the French will leave Quebec alone.”
+
+“Well, we aint got so all-fired much to crow about,” answered one of the
+rangers who was working near. “Things looked mighty black all around
+afore them ships hove in sight.”
+
+“What do you suppose the French commander will do next?” asked Dave, for
+he knew that the ranger, although not a well-spoken man, was a clever
+fellow.
+
+“I don’t see how he kin do anything but fall back on Montreal,” answered
+the ranger. “We’ll blockade the St. Lawrence on him, an’ sooner or later
+the army at Oswego will be a-comin’ this way, and the army from Crown
+Point, an’ he’ll have to look out for himself right sharp.”
+
+A few days after this talk Dave called again upon Barringford. He found
+the old frontiersman conscious, but somewhat out of his head, the effect
+of the bullet wound. Barringford did not know him at first.
+
+“Seems to me I know ye,” he said slowly. “But it’s beyond me—a long way
+off. Air ye Henry, or Dave, or thet Jameson boy?”
+
+“I’m Dave, Sam. Don’t you know me?”
+
+“Dave, eh?” The sufferer took the hand held out to him. “All right,
+Dave, ef it’s you. But why did ye shoot me in the head? I thought better
+o’ you than thet, yes, I did!”
+
+“I didn’t shoot you, Sam; it was a Frenchman did that, and I laid the
+Frenchman low for it.”
+
+“Did ye? Queer, I should think you shot me.” Barringford tried to
+collect his thoughts, but failed. “Mighty bad place this,” he went on.
+“Folks shoving me all day an’ all night, an’ tryin’ to drive wooden pins
+into my head.” And then he sank back and dozed off.
+
+“Will he remain this way?” asked Dave of the surgeon, his heart fairly
+aching for his old friend.
+
+The surgeon shrugged his shoulders. “Let us hope not, my lad.”
+
+“But they do sometimes, is that what you mean?” questioned the young
+soldier quickly.
+
+“I am sorry to say that is true. You see, the bullet grazed the brain.
+If he recovers it will be very slowly.”
+
+“Can I do anything for him?”
+
+“No, we are doing all that can be done.”
+
+“This is not a very nice place.”
+
+“As soon as the weather moderates we will transfer him to a hospital on
+the Island of Orleans. There the accommodations will be much improved,
+and I will see to it personally that he has every attention.”
+
+“If you will do that, sir, I shall be very thankful. He is one of my
+best and closest friends. I do not want to leave him unless I am certain
+he is in the best of hands.”
+
+“Leave him? Do you mean you are going away?”
+
+“I belong to the army at Fort Oswego, and my furlough is running out, so
+I must get back, if I possibly can,” answered Dave.
+
+What he said was true. He had already remained at Quebec longer than
+intended. The very next day found him going back to Fort Oswego, in
+company with eight rangers and an English officer. The officer belonged
+to General Amherst’s staff, and from him Dave learned, later on, that
+Amherst himself was going to take charge of the expedition to move
+against Lévis at Montreal, by way of Lake Ontario and the rapids of the
+upper St. Lawrence.
+
+The particulars of the trip back to Fort Oswego need not be given here,
+for nothing out of the ordinary occurred during the journey, which,
+because of one delay and another, lasted over two weeks. While still
+eight miles from the fort the little expedition was joined by forty
+Indians who were, much to Dave’s astonishment, under the leadership of
+White Buffalo.
+
+“Why, White Buffalo, I thought your braves had deserted you!” cried the
+young soldier, after the first greeting was over.
+
+“The old braves of my tribe have come back to their reason,” answered
+the Indian chief with a smiling face. “They have learned that the French
+are their enemies, and gave their word only to break it. Henceforth they
+will fight under White Buffalo and Sir William Johnson to the end.”
+
+“That is certainly good news,” said Dave. “I suppose you are going to
+rejoin Sir William at Fort Oswego.”
+
+“Yes, and we bring with us an old Indian who knows the swift waters of
+the St. Lawrence, if the great Sir William sees best to move upon the
+enemy by that course.”
+
+“Most likely he will move down the St. Lawrence, White Buffalo. But I
+have heard the rapids are very swift, and more than one man has lost his
+life trying to shoot them.”
+
+The want of news about Henry and the sad tidings concerning Barringford
+hurt White Buffalo greatly, and he did not hesitate to show his
+feelings.
+
+“’Tis a black cloud hanging over us,” he said. “May the Great Spirit
+roll it away, bringing Henry back to us unharmed, and lifting the Demon
+Spirit from Barringford’s mind.”
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXX
+
+                     THE RAPIDS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE
+
+
+AUGUST of the year 1760 found General Amherst at Oswego with a force of
+ten thousand men, consisting of royal grenadiers, Colonial militia and
+rangers and volunteers. To this body was also attached over seven
+hundred Indians, under the leadership of Sir William Johnson.
+
+In the meantime the troops at Crown Point had been left under the
+command of General Haviland. They were ordered to move forward without
+delay, and Haviland did so, his force numbering a little over three
+thousand soldiers of all sorts, including the now celebrated Roger’s
+Rangers. The first point of attack was Isle-aux-Noix, fortified by the
+French under Bougainville. Here the English were victorious, and then
+the enemy were followed to St. John and Chambly, and by the activity of
+the rangers were compelled to give way once more, this time seeking the
+protection of the St. Lawrence. Haviland now awaited the coming of
+Amherst, and at the same time communicated with General Murray at
+Quebec, with a view to a threefold attack on Montreal.
+
+General Amherst lost no time in getting his army afloat. It mustered
+several ships, and a bewildering number of bateaux and rowboats, while
+the Indians moved down the lake in their canoes. The larger boats
+carried many cannon and a great quantity of ammunition, and it was felt
+by all that Amherst’s advance would surely be one to victory.
+
+During the days spent in Oswego getting ready for this trip, a slight
+ray of hope had come to Dave. This was the news that at Montreal were a
+number of English prisoners, captured on the battlefield, or while at
+work in the vicinity of Quebec.
+
+“Perhaps Henry was captured,” he thought. “And if he was he may be in a
+Montreal prison at this minute.”
+
+Dave had returned to his old command, and his fellow soldiers did all
+they could to comfort him. All knew Henry and Barringford well, and many
+were the words of sympathy poured into the young soldier’s ears. Nobody
+believed that Henry was a thief, yet none could tell what General Murray
+would do if the missing one was found.
+
+“One thing is certain, Morris,” said one old soldier. “Henry’s past
+record is in his favor. We can all swear that he was honest while he was
+with us.”
+
+While the army was floating down the lake the weather proved fair, and
+La Galette was reached without mishap. Here a French brig named the
+_Ottawa_ was sighted. She began firing on the army transports while they
+were yet at a distance.
+
+“This will not do,” said General Amherst, and had several of his
+gunboats attack the brig. The fight was sharp, but likewise short, and
+soon the French ship struck her colors. A few of the crew escaped to the
+shore, but the others were made prisoners.
+
+The rapids of the St. Lawrence were now close at hand, and General
+Amherst was considering the problem of how to get his expedition through
+in safety, when a new peril presented itself.
+
+On an island in the river, just above the rapids, was Fort Lévis, well
+fortified, and now under the command of Captain Pouchot, he who had
+commanded at Fort Niagara the year previous. Pouchot was awaiting
+anxiously for a chance to “even up” his defeat at Niagara, and no sooner
+did the leading boats of Amherst’s fleet appear than he opened a heavy
+fire on them.
+
+“So this is the game,” said General Amherst. “Well, I think I can wait
+long enough to put you out of the fight.”
+
+He at once landed a portion of his army and some cannon on the river
+bank, and on some nearby islands, and began that very day to cannonade
+Fort Lévis with vigor.
+
+“What a noise!” said Dave, and he was right; the din was terrific, for
+the French replied with vigor. The fort was composed principally of logs
+and dirt, which the cannon balls sent flying in all directions. The
+soldiers had but little to do, and Dave sat in the top of a tall tree
+watching proceedings.
+
+The bombardment of the fort continued for three days, when the
+stronghold was more than half battered to pieces. Pouchot, seeing he
+could not hold out, at last surrendered, and he and his brave men became
+prisoners.
+
+The Indians under General Johnson had waited patiently for the surrender
+of the French, and when they saw the flag go down many of them rushed
+for their canoes, their intention being to visit the fort, and kill and
+scalp Pouchot and those around him. But Sir William Johnson would not
+allow this.
+
+“You must stay back; there will be no scalping here,” he said.
+
+“No scalping!” cried a hundred voices at once. “We must have scalps or
+we will not fight,” said others; and thereupon more than half of the
+Indians withdrew from the expedition in disgust.
+
+Dave was glad to see that White Buffalo had not taken part in the
+attempted rush on the French after the surrender. But when he spoke of
+it to the chief the Indian hardly knew how to answer.
+
+“White Buffalo cannot understand,” he said at last. “Ten of his braves
+have left. The French are our bitter enemies—then why not kill and scalp
+them? The great Sir William must know what is best—but the poor Indian
+cannot understand.”
+
+“It isn’t Christian-like, that’s why, White Buffalo. After an enemy
+gives in we ought to treat him fairly and squarely.”
+
+“The French would let their Indians kill and scalp you, David.”
+
+“Perhaps; but two wrongs don’t make a right,” answered the young
+soldier. “War is war, but we needn’t make it any worse than is
+necessary.”
+
+With the fall of Fort Lévis, the army under Amherst moved on again down
+the St. Lawrence. Soon the rapids of the Galops, the Plat, the Long
+Saut, and the Côteau du Lac came into view, followed by the Cedars, the
+Buisson, and the Cascades.
+
+“That water is running mighty fast,” said Dave to the others as he
+watched the rolling river, glistening brightly in the sunshine. “Unless
+I am mistaken, the current is powerful.”
+
+“You are not mistaken,” replied an old ranger, who sat near the youth.
+“These rapids are almost as bad as the rapids of the Niagara. I tried to
+go through ’em once, six years ago, and I know. There were four of us in
+the canoe, which upset, and one of the party was drowned while the other
+three were almost dead before we got back to shore.”
+
+“Well, the French and Indian pilots ought to know how to direct the
+boats,” put in another soldier. “General Amherst has several of the best
+of them.”
+
+On and on swept the long line of boats, stretching out for a distance of
+over two miles. The progress was growing faster and faster as the fierce
+current just above the worst of the rapids caught hold of one boat after
+another.
+
+The craft in which Dave was seated was a long, broad, flat-bottomed
+affair, containing twelve men, an under-officer, and a small stock of
+ammunition. Two men were at the sweeps, or oars, following the
+directions of the officer, who stood in the bow, directing them to the
+right or the left as occasion required.
+
+“There is surely going to be trouble!” whispered Dave, when a shrill cry
+came from ahead. Looking in that direction they saw a boat had hit on
+the rocks, and that half of the occupants were struggling in the water,
+which boiled and foamed all around them.
+
+“To the right! To the right!” yelled the officer in the bow. “Be quick,
+or we’ll run them down, and smash our own boat!”
+
+“Can’t we help ’em, leftenant?” queried one of the soldiers.
+
+Before an answer could be given, the boat had swerved to the right and
+was sliding past the hidden rocks. One soldier in the water made a
+frantic clutch for the passing craft, and caught hold of a but of
+tarpaulin which covered the ammunition.
+
+“Hold tight, I’ll pull you in!” sang out Dave, and with the assistance
+of another soldier he pulled the suffering one on board of the boat.
+Then the craft swept onward toward another soldier, and he was likewise
+assisted. But the rest had to be left behind, to shift for themselves.
+All but two were picked up by other boats in the rear. Of the two one
+managed to reach shore, and became a prisoner of the French, and the
+other was never seen or heard of again.
+
+It was now seen that more than one boat in front and to the rear were in
+difficulty, and ever and anon a sickening crash could be heard above the
+roaring of the rapids. The nerves of all the soldiers were strained to
+the utmost, and many sat rigid, fearing that the next moment would be
+their last.
+
+“We should have portaged our boats around the rapids,” growled one old
+hunter. “I’d ruther walk fifty miles than ride one in sech water as
+this,” and more than one hearer agreed with him.
+
+Some dangerous rapids had been passed, but one still more dangerous was
+ahead. The lieutenant had been warned of this, and was watching closely.
+
+“To the left! To the left!” he sang out suddenly. “To the left! Swing
+her over!”
+
+“She won’t swing!” came stubbornly from one of the men at the sweeps.
+“The current’s stronger nor a mill-race.”
+
+“We must bring her over,” said the officer. “Now then, pull for all you
+are worth. We—ha!”
+
+The last cry was echoed by half a dozen in the boat, and several sprang
+to their feet regardless of the first order given to them, to sit still.
+A boat ahead of them had bumped into another craft, and both had dashed
+headlong on a hidden rock. Splintered wood, soldiers, army stores, and
+foaming water seemed hopelessly mixed, and from out of the mass came
+shrieks of pain and piteous calls for help.
+
+“To the left!” yelled the lieutenant once more, but the cry did no good.
+The boat swept onward with increased speed, directly into the midst of
+the wreckage. A shock and a crash followed, and the next instant Dave
+found himself in the water, surrounded by a score of other soldiers, all
+fighting madly to save themselves from drowning.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXXI
+
+                          THE FALL OF MONTREAL
+
+
+IN his career as a soldier Dave had been in many positions of peril, yet
+scarcely one had been as dire as that which now confronted him.
+
+The shock came so quickly that he hardly realized what was happening
+before he was under water, and somebody seemed to be doing his best to
+stand on the young soldier’s shoulders.
+
+Flinging the feet above to one side, Dave tried to reach the surface of
+the river. In doing this he slid past two more soldiers, both of whom
+clutched at him, one catching him by the coat, and the other by the
+neck.
+
+To be held by the coat was of small importance in comparison to being
+deprived of one’s wind, and Dave lost no time in fighting off the fellow
+who had him by the neck. The hold was a strong one, and the youth feared
+he would be choked unless he broke it without delay.
+
+There was a wild floundering on all sides, and in the mêlée somebody
+above kicked out sharply with his heavy boots. One boot struck the man
+who held Dave by the throat, and the grip was broken just when the youth
+was about to give up in despair. Then the young soldier felt his coat
+also freed, and he came up with a rush, to get a badly needed breath of
+air.
+
+The majority of the soldiers were struggling madly to hold fast to the
+bits of wreckage floating around. Yells and groans rent the air, with an
+occasional prayer for assistance. Some had already gone down to their
+death, and others were fast losing what little strength was left to
+them.
+
+“It’s no use trying to get hold of a board, or anything,” thought Dave.
+“They are all fighting like so many cats and dogs. I’ll save my
+strength, and strike out for shore.”
+
+But striking out with his clothing on was by no means easy, and Dave had
+hardly covered a hundred feet when he found himself well-nigh exhausted.
+He tried to pull off his coat, but as he was doing this another boat
+hove into sight, coming straight for him.
+
+“Hi! don’t run me down!” he screamed, and then, as the boat swerved to
+one side, he made a clutch at one of the oars. Willing hands were
+out-stretched to him, and in a moment more he was on board, where he
+sank to the bottom, panting for breath. Two others were picked up in
+similar fashion, and then the boat swept on to its destination.
+
+The shooting of the St. Lawrence rapids by the army under General
+Amherst was never forgotten by those who participated in it. During that
+reckless ride over sixty boats were either totally wrecked or greatly
+damaged, and more than eighty soldiers lost their lives through
+drowning. As one boat after another shot through the swirling waters the
+French gathered on the upper bank of the river, fully expecting to see
+every one of their enemy go down to destruction.
+
+The rapids passed, the boats, or what was left of them, sailed down Lake
+St. Louis, and landed at Isle Perrot, at a point about twenty miles
+above Montreal. Here many of the half-drowned ones were cared for, and
+some of the boats were temporarily repaired.
+
+“We are well out of that,” said Dave, when on land once more. “I shall
+never attempt to shoot those rapids again;” and he never did.
+
+It had taken three weeks to reach Isle Perrot, and now word came in by
+Indian messengers that General Murray was also advancing on Montreal
+from the northeastward, and that General Haviland was ready to strike
+whenever required.
+
+“We now have the French as in a vise,” said General Amherst. “They
+cannot get away from us.” The next day, early in the morning, the army
+left Isle Perrot again, and landed on the north bank of the river at La
+Chine. Here there was some slight show of opposition, but soon the
+French outposts, and also a number of the inhabitants of La Chine, fled
+towards Montreal, leaving the English army to land its guns and stores
+at its leisure.
+
+“On to Montreal!” was now the cry on all sides, and the spirits of the
+soldiers revived wonderfully, for all felt that a deathblow was soon to
+be struck to the war which had now lasted for five long years.
+
+It was a beautiful day in early September, and had Dave not been
+troubled by thoughts of Henry and Barringford, he would have enjoyed the
+march along the river bank. A regimental band played the liveliest of
+military airs, and when the band did not play a Colonial drummer and a
+fifer kept the Royal Americans in step.
+
+Yet it must be confessed that the soldiers were a motley collection.
+Even the showy uniforms of the grenadiers, and the Royal Artillery, were
+sadly in need of repairs, while the so-called uniforms of the Royal
+Americans, never very good, and of a dozen different designs, were
+practically in tatters. Dave’s uniform confessed to half a dozen rents,
+and twice as many patches, and his gun, a flint-lock dating back to the
+war in Scotland, was a clumsy affair that looked as if it was in danger
+of exploding every time he discharged it.
+
+The next day found Amherst’s army encamped almost under the walls of
+Montreal, to which city the French had flocked from all directions,
+pleading for protection at the hands of Governor-General Vaudreuil. As
+Amherst drew near from one direction, Murray and his army came up from
+the other, while Haviland encamped on the south shore of the St.
+Lawrence, immediately in front of Montreal.
+
+The city was now in a state of siege, and the French well knew that if
+they opened fire on the English the enemy would retaliate by bombarding
+houses, public buildings, and churches, with a great loss of life and
+property. Many of the Canadians had gone home to their farms, and some
+of the French regulars had also deserted, so that the army in the city
+did not number over twenty-five hundred men.
+
+“We cannot fight them,” said Vaudreuil. “They have not less than
+seventeen thousand soldiers, and hundreds of cannon, and large
+quantities of ammunition. If we fight, the city will be laid low from
+end to end; and men, women, and children ruthlessly slaughtered.”
+
+Lévis, a born fighter, demurred at first, but soon saw the wisdom of the
+advice; and a council of war was held. It was a stormy scene, and it
+took many hours to draw up a form of capitulation. The French officers
+wished to march out of Montreal with the honors of war, and wished many
+other things; and these were all put into the paper which was sent to
+General Amherst the next morning.
+
+“I cannot grant this form of capitulation,” said Amherst, on looking the
+paper over. “I will grant some conditions, but not others. The whole
+force must lay down its arms, and not serve again during the present
+war.”
+
+When this answer was brought back, Vaudreuil merely shrugged his
+shoulders, but Lévis went into a rage, and vowed he would never submit.
+
+“I will myself send a note to General Amherst to show him that he is
+asking too much,” said Lévis, and sent the note without delay. In return
+Amherst stated that he was fully resolved to make the army lay down its
+arms. He was horrified over the way the French Indians had been allowed
+to massacre wounded and helpless English soldiers, and he considered
+that the enemy must be taught a stern lesson in retaliation.
+
+It was a time of wild excitement in Montreal, for the citizens, and
+those who had come into the city for protection, were afraid that the
+English might bombard the place at any moment. When a cannon boomed out
+as a signal, a hundred cries would ring out. Business had come to a
+complete standstill, and many places were boarded and locked up; and in
+some instances goods of value, and money, and jewels, were buried.
+
+For the time being those in the various prisons about the city were
+practically neglected, and in at least three cases the prisoners almost
+starved to death because of this neglect. The keeper of the jail in
+which Henry was confined went off one night, and failed to appear during
+the next day.
+
+“Something is wrong, that’s sure,” said one of the prisoners. Then he
+yelled loudly for water, but nobody came to answer his demand.
+
+Henry was pale and thin, and suffered as much for the want of fresh air
+as for proper food. The jail was a vile place, and the conditions there
+were steadily growing worse. One prisoner had committed suicide, and
+another had gone stark, raving crazy.
+
+“If this keeps on I’ll go crazy myself,” said Henry. “The food is not
+fit for a dog to eat.”
+
+Strange to say, he had not seen or heard of Jean Bevoir since the French
+trader had threatened him through the bars of the prison door. As a
+matter of fact, Bevoir had attempted to have the youth brought before
+the military court as a spy, but the French commander had refused to
+listen to his plea.
+
+“You are too anxious in this, sir,” said the officer sternly. “I think
+you must have a grudge against the young fellow. I have no official
+report against him, and in such a prison he is probably suffering as
+much as he deserves.” And Jean Bevoir sneaked away from headquarters
+feeling very much as if somebody had kicked him.
+
+Truth to tell, the French commander felt that a crisis was at hand, and
+that it would not now do to hang or maltreat any of the English
+prisoners. He even ordered that the prisoners be given better rations,
+but this order, in the case of the jailer at Henry’s jail, was
+disobeyed, the jailer selling the extra rations to the outsiders in the
+town at a handsome profit.
+
+On the night following the disappearance of the jailer, matters reached
+a climax in the prison. There was a fight for some water that still
+remained in a keg in one corner, and this quickly changed to a revolt,
+in which the jail door was broken down. The prisoners ran forth and
+scattered in all directions; and although a French guard soon came on
+the scene and shot down two of the men, the others got away.
+
+With the escaping ones went Henry, almost as reckless as were the
+leaders. For a while he remained with two of the soldiers who had been
+quite friendly, but when the shooting began he ran through a back yard,
+leaped over a stone wall, and made his way along a street that was
+almost deserted. He was now entirely alone, and, coming to an open
+hallway, he slipped into a house. He heard sounds of voices in a lower
+room, and, without stopping to think twice, bounded up the stairs to the
+second floor.
+
+“Perhaps I’m running into a trap, but I’ve got to risk it,” he told
+himself; and after a slight hesitation opened a door near the head of
+the stairs. The room was a bedchamber, and in the center stood a large,
+square, “four-poster” bed, with the top hangings partly drawn. A man lay
+on the bed, tossing uneasily, as if in something of a fever. On a chair
+rested a French uniform, showing that the sleeper was an officer.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  “Stand where you are,” ordered the sick man.—_Page 297._
+]
+
+“It won’t do for me to stay in such hot quarters as these,” thought
+Henry. “I had better get out just as fast as I came in.”
+
+He started back for the hallway, but now came steps on the stairs, and
+the rattle of dishes, followed by some talking. Henry glanced around
+him, saw a closet in a corner of the room, and dove into it. Just as he
+closed the door of the closet he caught a brief glimpse of a woman with
+a tray, followed by a girl of about his own age. Both entered the
+bedchamber, closing the door tightly behind them.
+
+A murmur of voices followed, and Henry surmised that the sleeping man
+had awakened, and that the two women were urging him to partake of the
+food they had brought. The talking was in French, so he understood but
+little.
+
+Presently the girl moved across the bedchamber, and before Henry
+realized what was coming the door of the closet was flung open. As the
+young soldier was exposed to view, the girl gave a scream, and then
+uttered several words in French:
+
+“A man! An English soldier!”
+
+“What is it you say?” demanded the man in the bed, and, turning over, he
+drew a pistol from under his pillow.
+
+“A man—an English soldier,” repeated the girl. “Oh, Louis, what shall we
+do?”
+
+“Stand where you are!” ordered the sick man, and sat up in bed with the
+pistol pointed at Henry’s head.
+
+“Oh, Louis, my son, have a care!” put in the woman. “He may kill you!”
+
+“I am not afraid, mother,” was the answer. “You forget what risks I have
+taken in the past——”
+
+“But you are still weak. The doctor——”
+
+“The doctor doesn’t know me, mother. I am worth a dozen sick men at this
+minute. Please let me deal with him, and both of you stand aside, so
+that the fellow can’t hide himself behind you.”
+
+The girl and the woman were willing enough to do this, and shrank away
+from the closet. Then, struck by a sudden idea, the woman backed herself
+up to the door leading to the hallway.
+
+Feeling himself cornered, Henry threw up his hands, and stepped out of
+the closet.
+
+“Don’t fire,” he said as quietly as he could, although his heart was
+thumping loudly in his breast.
+
+“If you have a pistol throw it on the bed,” said the Frenchman in
+excellent English.
+
+“I am totally unarmed,” was Henry’s ready answer.
+
+“Is it possible! Where did you come from?”
+
+Henry began to explain, when the French officer suddenly interrupted
+him.
+
+“Am I mistaken, or have we met before?” he said.
+
+“I do not remember you,” returned Henry, puzzled at the unexpected
+question.
+
+“Did you come from Quebec?”
+
+“I did.”
+
+“You were on guard duty there?”
+
+“I was.”
+
+“At and near the shop of one Lavelle, a gold and silver smith?”
+
+“Yes, yes! But you—you——” faltered Henry.
+
+At this the French officer gave a chuckle.
+
+“I was there, too,” he said. “It was I who escaped from the cellar that
+night. They tried to catch me, but ha! ha! I was too quick for them. I
+showed them what a French spy can do when he is put to it!”
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXXII
+
+                      FROM WAR TO PEACE—CONCLUSION
+
+
+“IT looks as if we’d have to fight after all, Morris.”
+
+“What makes you think that?” questioned Dave, who had just come in from
+four hours of guard duty.
+
+“I just got an inkling from headquarters,” said the soldier who had
+first spoken. “The Frenchmen don’t want to agree to General Amherst’s
+demands.”
+
+“They will be foolish if they don’t,” said the young soldier. “With a
+combined army of seventeen thousand men to draw on we can knock Montreal
+higher than a kite if we start in to do it.”
+
+“To be sure, Morris.”
+
+“But I hope it doesn’t come to a fight,” went on Dave, his face
+clouding.
+
+“Why; you are not afraid, are you?”
+
+“No. I was thinking of the English prisoners in Montreal. They will be
+sure to suffer, with no way by which they can help themselves.”
+
+“True for you. But the French sick will suffer, too. A cannon ball goes
+where it pleases, once it is fired.”
+
+During the night had come one alarm. Some Canadians had attempted to
+leave the city with some plunder, taken from houses that happened to be
+deserted. A part of this crowd was shot down within the city walls by
+Lévis’ guards, and the others were shot down by the guards under Amherst
+and Murray.
+
+“No matter what may happen, I will have no plundering,” said Vaudreuil;
+and Lévis, Amherst, and Murray said the same.
+
+It must be confessed that the outcome of another council of war within
+the walls of Montreal was anxiously awaited by the English on both sides
+of the St. Lawrence. Each branch of the army was held in readiness for
+immediate service, the soldiers sleeping on their arms and the
+cannoneers under their pieces.
+
+In the city the hubbub was greater than ever. The citizens gathered
+around headquarters and begged for peace. The Governor-General had to
+listen to endless advice. Lévis protested to the last that he wanted the
+honors of war accorded to his troops. But Amherst, as said before, was
+unyielding; and at last Vaudreuil signed the paper which, in the course
+of time, gave all of the Canadian possessions into the hands of the
+English government and made of the French-Canadians British subjects.
+
+The news was carried far and wide as swift as horses and messengers
+could travel. “Canada has surrendered! The war is over!” was the glad
+tidings, and in every portion of the English colonies, as well as in
+England itself, there was great rejoicing. Cannon were fired, bonfires
+lit, and bells tolled, and in some places special church services were
+held, to give thanks to God that the agony of such long standing was at
+an end. Even the Canadians rejoiced to think that peace was come, and
+that they could again go to their farms unmolested alike by soldier or
+Indian.
+
+The capitulation took place on September 8, 1760. It was agreed that the
+French soldiers and sailors should be allowed to return to France, and
+that the Canadians should return to their homes, unmolested. No one was
+to suffer because of his religion, and it was further agreed that, with
+a few exceptions, all military and political prisoners should be set
+free. The Indians on both sides were to be held in firm check, so that
+the atrocities of former campaigns should not be repeated. This last
+agreement made the Indians on both sides very angry, and the great
+majority of them tore up their wigwams in disgust and departed for parts
+unknown. Only a handful remained with Sir William Johnson, this band
+including White Buffalo and four old braves, the braves remaining to get
+some money that had been promised to them and the chief that he might be
+near Dave, to go home with the young soldier when the latter was
+discharged.
+
+“Montreal is ours after all!” cried the young soldier, when the news
+reached camp. “And we didn’t have to fire a shot, excepting at the
+scoundrels who tried to plunder the place.”
+
+Dave was anxious to get into Montreal, to learn something concerning
+Henry if possible. But it was a good two weeks before he got the chance
+to enter the city. Then he was placed on a detail sent to visit one of
+the hospitals.
+
+As the detail was passing down a side street of the city the young
+soldier chanced to look into the window of one of the houses they were
+passing.
+
+“Can it be possible!” burst from his lips. Then he ran to the officer in
+command of the detail. “Will you—you let me off a while—just a few
+minutes, lieutenant?”
+
+“Why, what’s the matter, Morris?” queried the officer. “You look as if
+you’d seen a ghost.”
+
+“Perhaps it was a ghost. I thought I saw my cousin Henry at the window
+of the house back there.”
+
+“Indeed! All right, go back and make sure. But don’t stay too long.”
+
+The caution was not yet finished when Dave started back on a run. As he
+gained the door of the residence the barrier was flung back and Henry
+came forth, cap in hand.
+
+“Dave!”
+
+“Henry!”
+
+“I thought I saw you passing!”
+
+“And I thought I saw you at the window!”
+
+And then the pair fell into each other’s arms, while tears of joy stood
+in their eyes. They shook hands over and over again, and it was fully a
+minute before either could trust himself to speak again.
+
+“How pale and thin you look,” declared Dave, at last. “Have you been
+sick?”
+
+“I’ve been in prison.”
+
+“You mean up at Quebec?”
+
+“There and here too.” Henry’s face fell a little. “Then you know the
+news?”
+
+“Know the news? Didn’t Sam Barringford and I travel all the way to
+Quebec to help you? But when we got there you were missing.”
+
+“Good for you and Sam, Dave! How is Sam now? I see you are in pretty
+good shape.”
+
+“Poor Sam is in the hospital at Quebec. He was struck in the head with a
+bullet and it made him rather out of his head. But we’re hoping he’ll
+get over it.” Dave paused a moment. “Henry, I’m afraid you’ve gotten
+yourself into an awful hole,” he went on anxiously.
+
+“How so?” And a faint smile crept around the corners of Henry’s mouth.
+
+“Why, by running away after you were placed under arrest.”
+
+“But I didn’t want to be hanged.”
+
+“I know, but now the case will look blacker against you than ever. They
+will say you didn’t dare to stand trial.”
+
+“But I can prove my innocence, Dave,” cried Henry triumphantly.
+
+“What! How?”
+
+“Easily enough, although the story is rather a wonderful one. You see,
+while I was in prison here we had a revolt, and all the prisoners broke
+jail. I ran away by myself and hid in this house, to escape the French
+soldiers. I was discovered by the lady and daughter who live here, and
+by the lady’s son, who was sick in bed. The son began to question me,
+and then he said he had seen me before. We compared notes, and I learned
+that the son was Captain Louis Gaulette, a noted French spy. Captain
+Gaulette was in Quebec on a secret mission for General Lévis, and he was
+in hiding in the cellar of the gold and silver smith’s shop when I went
+down there and tried to reason with Prent. He sent a note to General
+Murray about it, and he supposed I was set at liberty.”
+
+“Good!” almost shouted Dave, and his face began to beam. “In that case,
+Henry, you can establish your innocence without much trouble.”
+
+“That is what I expect to do,” answered Henry. “And let me tell you, I
+am mighty glad this affair has turned out as it has. But what about the
+war? Is it really ended?”
+
+“Yes, Henry, and I reckon our soldier-boy days have ended with it,”
+answered Dave.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+Let me add a few words more and then bring to a close this story of
+military adventure before and “At the Fall of Montreal.”
+
+As both of the young soldiers had surmised, it was an easy matter to
+prove Henry innocent of the charge that had been made against him, and
+in the end he received not only a full pardon from General Murray, but
+also a letter exonerating him from all blame. For the despicable part he
+had played Prent was sentenced to five years in an English prison, and
+with him went Fenley and Harkness for a period of three years. Louis
+Gaulette became Henry’s firm friend and it may be mentioned here that,
+years later, Gaulette entered the American army under General Lafayette
+and served as a spy for Washington during the last years of the War of
+Independence.
+
+As soon as Dave and Henry were free to come and go as they pleased they
+took passage on a sloop of war bound down the St. Lawrence to Quebec. At
+this point they had a man with a rowboat take them over to the Island of
+Orleans, which was still being used as a hospital. They inquired for
+Barringford of a guard they met and after some slight trouble were taken
+to the ward in which the sufferer belonged.
+
+“Dave an’ Henry!” cried the old frontiersman, on seeing them, and Dave’s
+heart leapt with joy to see his eyes as bright and intelligent as ever.
+“Ef this ain’t better’n a dose o’ medicine. Whar did ye come from?” And
+he shook hands warmly.
+
+“First tell us how you feel?” said Dave.
+
+“Fust-rate, Dave, fust-rate. I had a mighty bad spell o’ it
+though—somethin’ like a nightmare—an’ the doctor says as how I aint
+quite strong enough yit to walk around much. Lost some o’ my ha’r, too,”
+the old hunter added, pointing to the scar over his ear. “But thet don’t
+count—I’m thankful to pull through with my life.”
+
+“We can all be thankful,” said Henry.
+
+“How is it you air free, Henry?” went on the frontiersman, and on being
+told he slapped his thigh in satisfaction. “Thet’s splenderiferous news.
+The folks ter hum will be glad to hear on it.”
+
+“That they will,” answered Henry, “and I have already sent them a
+letter.”
+
+“Be you goin’ home soon?”
+
+“Just as soon as we can obtain our discharge and as soon as you can go
+with us, Sam,” answered Dave.
+
+“Me?”
+
+“To be sure. We wouldn’t go home without you; you know that.”
+
+“I might hev knowed it, Dave.” A tear glistened in the old hunter’s eye,
+and he took their hands again. “Both my boys, aint ye?—through thick an’
+thin!”
+
+“Yes, we are, Sam,” said Henry.
+
+“And glad of it,” added Dave.
+
+The start for home did not take place until winter had again set in.
+They went with a great number of other soldiers as far as Philadelphia,
+and then struck out for themselves, in company with half a dozen
+neighbors and White Buffalo.
+
+At Winchester both James and Joseph Morris met them, and the meeting
+between fathers and sons was a most affectionate one. Nor were Sam
+Barringford and White Buffalo forgotten. There were many embraces, and
+the story of the boys’ doings, and of the others, had to be told over
+and over again.
+
+“The best news from home is that Rodney is improving fast,” said Joseph
+Morris. “The last operation on his leg was a complete success, so the
+doctors say, and by next spring they think he will be almost as strong
+as any of us.”
+
+“Next spring I am going back to the Kinotah,” said James Morris. “My
+claim to that land is now fully established, and with Jean Bevoir dead
+there is little likelihood that anybody will ever try to disturb me
+again.”
+
+“Bevoir dead?” burst out Dave. “How do you know that?”
+
+“Why didn’t you hear of it?” queried his father. “And you right on the
+ground too!”
+
+“I heard nothing of him later than when he threatened Henry at
+Montreal.”
+
+“When Montreal was besieged Jean Bevoir joined a crowd of men who tried
+to loot many of the houses and stores. The French guard got after the
+pilferers and shot some of them down, and then they fled out of the
+city, and the English soldiers shot down the rest, or made them
+prisoners. Among the number shot down was Jean Bevoir. This news came
+straight to me from two soldiers who were at Winchester last week.”
+
+“Shot down!” repeated Dave. Then he drew a deep breath. “Well, if he was
+shot down outside of the city perhaps I had a hand in it. But I don’t
+know for sure, and—and—I’m rather glad of it.”
+
+“He deserved what he got,” came from Barringford. “He was a traitor to
+everybuddy, even his best friends.” And the others felt that the old
+frontiersman spoke the exact truth.
+
+Yet though they all thought Jean Bevoir dead such was not a fact. The
+French trader was seriously wounded, and for a long while lay between
+life and death. But he ultimately recovered, and how he crossed the path
+of our friends later on will be told in another volume, to be entitled,
+“On the Trail of Pontiac; or, The Pioneer Boys of the Ohio,” in which we
+shall meet many of our old characters again and learn something of what
+was done to establish trading-posts on the Kinotah and elsewhere after
+the war with France, and of how the wily Indian chief Pontiac did his
+best to wipe out all white settlements in that territory.
+
+The home-coming was an event long to be remembered. As the riders came
+in sight of the new cabin Mrs. Morris, Rodney, and little Nell rushed
+out to greet them.
+
+“Home again! Home again!” shouted Dave and Henry, and flung themselves
+into the arms out-stretched to receive them.
+
+“My son!” murmured Mrs. Morris, as she kissed Henry, “and my Dave!” she
+added, as she also kissed her nephew.
+
+“Oh, but aint I dreadfully delighted to see you back,” piped up little
+Nell, and kissed them all around, even to White Buffalo. “And now you
+mustn’t go away again, none of you, but stay with me for years and years
+and years!”
+
+“That’s the way to talk, Nell,” said Rodney, also beaming with pleasure.
+“We’ve had enough of this going-away to last for a lifetime.” And then
+he added: “Just watch how I can walk now!” and led the way to the cabin,
+walking almost as well as any of them.
+
+It was an old-time feast that awaited those who had come to the cabin,
+and it lasted far into the night. During that time many neighbors
+dropped in, wishing them well.
+
+“It would seem that all of our troubles are at an end,” said Mrs.
+Morris. “Now if the Indians will only keep the peace I am sure we will
+prosper.”
+
+“They must keep the peace,” said White Buffalo. “My war hatchet is
+buried, and White Buffalo will not dig it up again unless there is no
+help for it.”
+
+“I’ve had enough of war,” came from Dave. “In the future let me till the
+soil and hunt game, and I’ll be content.”
+
+And here let us bid our friends, for the time being, good-by.
+
+
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+               American Boys’ Life of Theodore Roosevelt
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+By EDWARD STRATEMEYER 325 pages Illustrated from photographs $1.25
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+Ever since the enormous success of Mr. Stratemeyer’s “American Boys’
+Life of William McKinley” there has been an urgent demand that he follow
+the volume with one on the life of our present President, and this has
+now been done with a care and a faithfulness certain to win immediate
+appreciation everywhere.
+
+The book covers the whole life of our honored executive step by step, as
+schoolboy, college student, traveler, author, State assemblyman, Civil
+Service and Police Commissioner, Governor of New York, as a leader of
+the Rough Riders in Cuba, as Vice-President, and finally as President.
+Many chapters have also been devoted to Mr. Roosevelt’s numerous
+adventures as a hunter and as a ranchman (true stories which are bound
+to be dear to the heart of all boys who love the strenuous life), and
+full particulars are given of the daring battles for Cuban liberty, in
+which our worthy President, as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Rough Riders,
+took such a conspicuous part.
+
+The Appendix contains a Chronology of Theodore Roosevelt, and also brief
+extracts from some of his most famous speeches and addresses.
+
+_For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid, on receipt of price, by
+the publishers._
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+                            LEE AND SHEPARD
+                                 BOSTON
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+                American Boys’ Life Of William McKinley
+
+By EDWARD STRATEMEYER 300 pages Illustrated by A. B. Shute, and from
+photographs $1.25
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+Here is told the whole story of McKinley’s boyhood days, his life at
+school and at college, his work as a school teacher, his glorious career
+in the army, his struggles to obtain a footing as a lawyer, his efforts
+as a Congressman, and lastly his prosperous career as our President.
+There are many side lights on the work at the White House during the war
+with Spain, and in China, all told in a style particularly adapted to
+boys and young men. The book is full of interesting anecdotes, all taken
+from life, showing fully the sincere, honest, painstaking efforts of a
+life cut all too short. The volume will prove an inspiration to all boys
+and young men, and should be in every one’s library.
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+_For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid, on receipt of price, by
+the publishers._
+
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+                            LEE AND SHEPARD
+                                 BOSTON
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+                     THE FAMOUS “OLD GLORY SERIES”
+
+                         By EDWARD STRATEMEYER
+
+_Author of “The Bound to Succeed Series,” “The Ship and Shore Series,”
+“Colonial Series,” “Pan-American Series,” etc._
+
+Six volumes - Cloth - Illustrated - Price per volume $1.25
+
+    UNDER DEWEY AT MANILA
+        Or The War Fortunes of a Castaway
+
+    A YOUNG VOLUNTEER IN CUBA
+        Or Fighting for the Single Star
+
+    FIGHTING IN CUBAN WATERS
+        Or Under Schley on the Brooklyn
+
+    UNDER OTIS IN THE PHILIPPINES
+        Or A Young Officer in the Tropics
+
+    THE CAMPAIGN OF THE JUNGLE
+        Or Under Lawton through Luzon
+
+    UNDER MACARTHUR IN LUZON
+        Or Last Battles in the Philippines
+
+“A boy once addicted to Stratemeyer stays by him.”—_The Living Church._
+
+“The boys’ delight—the ‘Old Glory Series.’”—_The Christian Advocate, New
+York._
+
+“Stratemeyer’s style suits the boys.”—JOHN TERHUNE, _Supt. of Public
+Instruction, Bergen Co., New Jersey_.
+
+“Mr. Stratemeyer is in a class by himself when it comes to writing about
+American heroes, their brilliant doings on land and sea.”—_Times,
+Boston._
+
+“Mr. Stratemeyer has written a series of books which, while historically
+correct and embodying the most important features of the
+Spanish-American War and the rebellion of the Filipinos, are
+sufficiently interwoven with fiction to render them most entertaining to
+young readers.”—_The Call, San Francisco._
+
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+
+ _For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by_
+
+                       LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers,
+                                  BOSTON
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+                          THE COLONIAL SERIES
+
+                         By EDWARD STRATEMEYER
+
+      _Author of “Pan-American Series,” “Old Glory Series,” “Great
+              American Industries Series,” “American Boys’
+                      Biographical Series,” etc._
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+ Four volumes - Cloth - Illustrated by A. B. Shute - Price per volume,
+                                 $1.25
+
+    WITH WASHINGTON IN THE WEST
+      Or A Soldier Boy’s Battles in the Wilderness
+
+    MARCHING ON NIAGARA
+      Or The Soldier Boys of the Old Frontier
+
+    AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL
+      Or The Soldier Boy’s Final Victory
+
+    ON THE TRAIL OF PONTIAC
+      Or The Pioneer Boys of the Ohio
+
+“Mr. Stratemeyer has put his best work into the ‘Colonial
+Series.’”—_Christian Register, Boston._
+
+“A series that doesn’t fall so very far short of being history
+itself.”—_Boston Courier._
+
+“The tales of war are incidental to the dramatic adventures of two boys,
+so well told that the historical facts are all the better
+remembered.”—_Boston Globe._
+
+“Edward Stratemeyer has in many volumes shown himself master of the art
+of producing historic studies in the pleasing story form.”—_Minneapolis
+Journal._
+
+“The author, Edward Stratemeyer, has used his usual care in matters of
+historical detail and accuracy, and gives a splendid picture of the
+times in general.”—_Milwaukee Sentinel._
+
+“Told by one who knows how to write so as to interest boys, while still
+having a care as to accuracy.”—_Commercial Advertiser, New York._
+
+                      ----------------------------
+
+ _For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by_
+
+                       LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers
+                                  BOSTON
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+ ● Transcriber’s Notes:
+    ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
+    ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
+    ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
+      when a predominant form was found in this book.
+    ○ Text that:
+      was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
+
+
+
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+  <body>   
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of At the fall of Montreal, by Edward Stratemeyer</p>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
+at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
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+</div>
+
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: At the fall of Montreal</p>
+<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>or, A soldier boy&#039;s final victory</p>
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edward Stratemeyer</p>
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: A. B. Shute</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 8, 2022 [eBook #69501]</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
+  <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: David Edwards, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)</p>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL ***</div>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c001'>
+    <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_I'>I</span>EDWARD STRATEMEYER’S BOOKS</div>
+    <div class='c000'><span class="blackletter">Old Glory Series</span></div>
+    <div class='c002'><i>Six Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.85.</i></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>UNDER DEWEY AT MANILA.</div>
+      <div class='line'>A YOUNG VOLUNTEER IN CUBA.</div>
+      <div class='line'>FIGHTING IN CUBAN WATERS.</div>
+      <div class='line'>UNDER OTIS IN THE PHILIPPINES.</div>
+      <div class='line'>THE CAMPAIGN OF THE JUNGLE.</div>
+      <div class='line'>UNDER MacARTHUR IN LUZON.</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c000'>
+    <div><span class="blackletter">Stratemeyer Popular Series</span></div>
+    <div class='c002'><i>Ten Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.00.</i></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>THE LAST CRUISE OF THE SPITFIRE.</div>
+      <div class='line'>REUBEN STONE’S DISCOVERY.</div>
+      <div class='line'>TRUE TO HIMSELF.</div>
+      <div class='line'>RICHARD DARE’S VENTURE.</div>
+      <div class='line'>OLIVER BRIGHT’S SEARCH.</div>
+      <div class='line'>TO ALASKA FOR GOLD.</div>
+      <div class='line'>THE YOUNG AUCTIONEER.</div>
+      <div class='line'>BOUND TO BE AN ELECTRICIAN.</div>
+      <div class='line'>SHORTHAND TOM, THE REPORTER</div>
+      <div class='line'>FIGHTING FOR HIS OWN.</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c000'>
+    <div><span class="blackletter">War and Adventure Stories</span></div>
+    <div class='c002'><i>Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25.</i></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>ON TO PEKIN.</div>
+      <div class='line'>BETWEEN BOER AND BRITON.</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c000'>
+    <div><span class="blackletter">American Boys’ Biographical Series</span></div>
+    <div class='c002'><i>Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25.</i></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>AMERICAN BOYS’ LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY.</div>
+      <div class='line'>AMERICAN BOYS’ LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT.</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c000'>
+    <div><span class="blackletter">Colonial Series</span></div>
+    <div class='c002'><i>Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25.</i></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>WITH WASHINGTON IN THE WEST.</div>
+      <div class='line'>MARCHING ON NIAGARA.</div>
+      <div class='line'>AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL.</div>
+      <div class='line'>ON THE TRAIL OF PONTIAC.</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c000'>
+    <div><span class="blackletter">Pan-American Series</span></div>
+    <div class='c002'><i>Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25.</i></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>LOST ON THE ORINOCO.</div>
+      <div class='line'>THE YOUNG VOLCANO EXPLORERS.</div>
+      <div class='line'>YOUNG EXPLORERS OF THE ISTHMUS.</div>
+      <div class='line'>YOUNG EXPLORERS OF THE AMAZON.</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c000'>
+    <div><span class="blackletter">Great American Industries Series</span></div>
+    <div class='c002'><i>Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.00, net.</i></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>TWO YOUNG LUMBERMEN.</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='c003' />
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>JOE, THE SURVEYOR. <i>Price</i>, $1.00.</div>
+      <div class='line'>LARRY, THE WANDERER. <i>Price</i>, $1.00.</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_II'>II</span>
+  <h1 class='c004'>AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL</h1>
+</div>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c005' />
+</div>
+<div id='frontis'  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/frontis.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+<div class='ic002'>
+<p>As the weapon rang out the red man leaped upward and fell in a heap.—<i>Page <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c001'>
+    <div><span class="blackletter"><span class='c006'>Colonial Series</span></span></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='c007' />
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c000'>
+    <div><span class='c008'>AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL</span></div>
+    <div class='c000'>OR</div>
+    <div class='c000'><span class='c009'>A SOLDIER BOY’S FINAL VICTORY</span></div>
+    <div class='c010'>BY</div>
+    <div class='c002'><span class='c011'>EDWARD STRATEMEYER</span></div>
+    <div class='c002'>Author of “With Washington in the West,” “Lost on the</div>
+    <div>Orinoco,” “American Boys’ Life of William McKinley,”</div>
+    <div>“On to Pekin,” “Old Glory Series,” “Ship</div>
+    <div>and Shore Series,” etc.</div>
+    <div class='c010'><i>ILLUSTRATED BY A. B. SHUTE</i></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id003'>
+<img src='images/publogo.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c000'>
+    <div><span class='c011'>BOSTON</span></div>
+    <div><span class='c011'>LEE AND SHEPARD</span></div>
+    <div><span class='c011'>1904</span></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c001'>
+    <div>Published August, 1903</div>
+    <div class='c012'><span class='sc'>Copyright, 1903, by Lee and Shepard</span></div>
+    <div class='c002'>Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='c003' />
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+  <div class='nf-center'>
+    <div><i>All rights reserved</i></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='c003' />
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+  <div class='nf-center'>
+    <div><em class='gesperrt'><span class='sc'>At the Fall of Montreal</span></em></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c001' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_v'>v</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CONTENTS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='c014' />
+
+<table class='table0' summary=''>
+<colgroup>
+<col width='16%' />
+<col width='72%' />
+<col width='10%' />
+</colgroup>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'><span class='small'>CHAPTER</span></td>
+    <td class='c016'>&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class='c017'><span class='small'>PAGE</span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>I.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Interesting Sport</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>II.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>The Indians in the Canoe</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_8'>8</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>III.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>On a Dangerous Mission</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_18'>18</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>IV.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>A Squall on Lake Ontario</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_28'>28</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>V.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Perils of the Forest</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_38'>38</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>VI.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>An Unexpected Separation</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_48'>48</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>VII.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>A Bear and Her Cubs</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_58'>58</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>VIII.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>In the Hands of Friends</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_68'>68</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>IX.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>What Befell Henry</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_78'>78</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>X.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>In the Hands of the Enemy</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_88'>88</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XI.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Aboard the Fire-Boat</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_97'>97</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XII.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>General Wolfe’s Camp</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_107'>107</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XIII.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Scaling the Heights of Quebec</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_116'>116</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XIV.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Wolfe’s Victory and Death</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_126'>126</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XV.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>News from Home</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_135'>135</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XVI.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>A Fire and an Escape</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_144'>144</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XVII.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>The Hole in the Ice</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_154'>154</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XVIII.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Winter Quarters</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_164'>164</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XIX.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Lost in the Snow</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_173'>173</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XX.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>The Situation at Quebec</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_183'>183</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XXI.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Under Arrest</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_193'>193</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XXII.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>In Prison and Out</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_203'>203</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XXIII.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Face to Face with the Unexpected</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_213'>213</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_vi'>vi</span>XXIV.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>A Game of Hide and Seek</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_223'>223</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XXV.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Taken as a Spy</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_233'>233</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XXVI.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Dave’s Journey to Quebec</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_242'>242</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XXVII.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>The Attack of the French</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_250'>250</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XXVIII.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>In the Ranks Once More</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_260'>260</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XXIX.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>Dark Days</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_270'>270</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XXX.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>The Rapids of the St. Lawrence</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_279'>279</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XXXI.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>The Fall of Montreal</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_288'>288</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c015'>XXXII.</td>
+    <td class='c016'><span class='sc'>From War to Peace—Conclusion</span>,</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#Page_300'>300</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_vii'>vii</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>PREFACE</h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'>“<span class='sc'>At the Fall of Montreal</span>” is a compete
+story in itself, but forms the third volume of a
+line known by the general title of “Colonial Series.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The first volume of this series, entitled “With
+Washington in the West,” related the fortunes of
+David Morris, the son of a pioneer who settled at
+Wills’ Creek, now known as Cumberland, Va.
+David became well acquainted with Washington
+while the latter was a surveyor, and later on served
+under the young commander during the fateful
+Braddock expedition against Fort Duquesne.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The defeat of General Braddock left the English
+frontier at the mercy of the French and Indians, and
+in the second volume of the series, entitled “Marching
+on Niagara,” were given the particulars of General
+Forbes’s advance on Fort Duquesne, and also
+the particulars of the advance on Fort Niagara under
+General’s Prideaux and Johnson, leading up to a
+decisive victory which gave the English control of
+all the vast territory lying between the great lakes
+and what was then the Louisiana Territory.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_viii'>viii</span>The French hold on North America was now
+badly shaken, but not altogether broken; and in the
+present volume are related the particulars of General
+Wolfe’s brilliant scaling of the Heights of Quebec,
+the battle on the Plains of Abraham, and the capture
+of the city itself.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Following the surrender of Quebec came a winter
+of dreary waiting for both sides in this great conflict.
+Each army looked for re-enforcements, and
+early in the spring the French made an attack, hoping
+to regain the ground lost. But this attack was
+repulsed, and then the French concentrated at Montreal,
+and hither were hurried the three divisions of
+the English army, including a goodly number of
+Colonial troops. With these forces was David Morris,
+doing his duty to the end, until the fall of Montreal
+brought this important and far-reaching war
+with France to a close.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As in his previous works, the author has sought
+to be as accurate as possible in historical detail—no
+easy task where American, English, and French historians
+differ so widely in their statements.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Once again I thank my young friends for the interest
+they have shown in my books. May the present
+volume prove both pleasing and profitable to
+them.</p>
+<div class='c020'><span class='sc'>Edward Stratemeyer.</span></div>
+
+<p class='c019'><i>June 1, 1903.</i></p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_ix'>ix</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+</div>
+<table class='table1' summary=''>
+<colgroup>
+<col width='86%' />
+<col width='13%' />
+</colgroup>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c016'>&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class='c017'><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Page</span></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c016'>As the weapon rang out, the red man leaped upward and fell in a heap (<i>Frontispiece</i>)</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#frontis'>53</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c016'>As the catamount left the ground, White Buffalo fired a second arrow</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#p046'>46</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c016'>A short distance away was a broad-sterned brig</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#p109'>109</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c016'>He gave it a vigorous kick, which sent it spinning away from the dangerous spot</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#p146'>146</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c016'>“B’ar meat!” yelled Barringford</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#p180'>180</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c016'>Four troopers were in hot pursuit</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#p222'>222</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c016'>Dave’s musket was up in an instant</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#p268'>268</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c016'>“Stand where you are,” ordered the sick man</td>
+    <td class='c017'><a href='#p297'>297</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c000'>
+    <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span><span class='c021'>AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL.</span></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='c014' />
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER I<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>INTERESTING SPORT</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'>“<span class='sc'>This</span> looks like a good spot for fishing.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t know but that you are right, Dave.
+Those trees back of us cut off most of the sunlight,
+and a hollow like that ought to be good for at least
+one fair-sized trout.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do you think any of the other soldiers have been
+down to this part of the lake?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hardly,” answered Henry Morris. “At least,
+there are no signs of them,” he went on, as he examined
+the ground with the care of an Indian
+trailer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If we are the first to try this vicinity we certainly
+ought to have good luck,” continued Dave
+Morris, as he dropped several of the traps he carried
+to the ground and began to prepare his fishing pole
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>for use. “By the way, do you think there are any
+Indians in this vicinity?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Only those who are under command of Sir William
+Johnson. They sent all the French redskins
+about their business in short order.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“How long do you suppose our troops will be
+kept around Fort Niagara?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’m sure I don’t know, Dave. We may get
+marching orders at any time. Now that the fort is
+ours all Sir William has to do is to leave a small
+force in command and then sail down the lake and
+the St. Lawrence to Montreal and Quebec. We’ve
+got the French on the run and we ought to keep ’em
+on the run until they give up fighting altogether.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I wonder if General Wolfe has had a battle
+yet.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I shouldn’t be surprised. Reckon we’ll get word
+in a few days. But come, let us keep quiet, or we
+won’t get even a perch, much less a trout,” concluded
+Henry Morris.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>David and Henry Morris were two young soldiers
+in the Colonial army, stationed at present at Fort
+Niagara, a stronghold located on the Niagara River,
+close to where that stream emptied into Lake Ontario.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The two youths were cousins, and when at home
+lived at Wills’ Creek, where the town of Cumberland,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>Va., stands to-day. The household consisted
+of Dave’s father, Mr. James Morris, who was
+a widower, and of Mr. Joseph Morris, his wife
+Lucy, and their three children: Rodney, the oldest,
+who was something of a cripple; Henry, already
+mentioned, and little Nell, the family pet.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>When James Morris’s wife died the man, who was
+a trapper and a trader, became very disconsolate,
+and leaving his son Dave in his brother’s charge,
+he wandered to the West and established a trading-post
+on the Kinotah, a river flowing into the Ohio.
+This was at the time when George Washington was
+a young surveyor; and in the first volume of this
+series, entitled “With Washington in the West,”
+I related many of the particulars of how Dave fell
+in with the future President of our country, helped
+him in his surveying, and later on, when war broke
+out between the English and the French, marched
+under Washington in Braddock’s disastrous campaign
+against Fort Duquesne, located where the city
+of Pittsburg now stands.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The defeat of General Braddock meant much to
+James Morris. He had spent both time and money
+in establishing his trading-post on the Kinotah, and
+though a rascally French trader named Jean Bevoir
+had done his utmost to cheat him out of his belongings,
+Mr. Morris had considered his property safe
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>until the trading-post was taken and he was made
+a prisoner. Dave was also captured by the French,
+but father and son escaped by the aid of White
+Buffalo, a friendly Indian of the Delawares, and
+Sam Barringford, an old frontiersman and a warm
+personal friend of all the Morrises.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Both England and her American colonies were
+now thoroughly aroused to the importance of a
+strong attack on the French and their Indian allies;
+and in the second volume of the series, entitled
+“Marching on Niagara,” were given the particulars
+of another campaign against Fort Duquesne,
+which was captured and renamed Fort Pitt, and
+then of a long and hard campaign against Fort Niagara,
+in which both Dave and Henry took an active
+part, accompanied by the ever-faithful Sam Barringford.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The march against Fort Duquesne and Fort Niagara
+had come only after a bloodthirsty uprising by
+the Indians, which even to-day is well remembered
+by the people living in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and
+New York, whose forefathers suffered from the attack.
+Cabins were burned, cattle stolen, and men,
+women, and children killed or mutilated. In some
+instances children were carried off by the Indians,
+and among these was little Nell, the sunshine of the
+Morris household.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>The shock to Mrs. Lucy Morris was severe, and
+for a long time she could not be comforted. From
+various sources it was learned that the child had
+been taken first to one place and then another by the
+Indians, and at last it was ascertained that Nell was
+in the hands of some Indians under the command of
+Jean Bevoir, who had moved to the vicinity of
+Niagara Falls, where he intended to keep the
+little girl until the Morrises paid dearly for her
+ransom.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As soon as the capture of the fort was accomplished,
+and while some of the soldiers were hunting
+for game for food, several wounded prisoners were
+brought in, and among them was Jean Bevoir, who
+had been shot through the leg. The rascally French
+trader was now thoroughly cowed, and when threatened
+by Henry confessed that little Nell was being
+held a prisoner in a cave near the Falls. A march
+was made in that direction, and after an exciting
+chase of some Indians the little girl was
+rescued.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At the fort the whole matter was laid before Sir
+William Johnson, the Indian Superintendent, who
+had charge of the red men aiding the English, but
+who was now, because of the sudden death of General
+Prideaux, in command of all the troops. By
+Johnson’s order Jean Bevoir was placed in the hospital
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>under military guard, to stand trial when physically
+able to do so.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The two young soldiers were overjoyed over the
+rescue of little Nell and promised themselves that
+Jean Bevoir should suffer roundly for his misdeeds.
+As for the little maiden, she was anxious to get back
+to her home, and soon set off with old Sam Barringford,
+the frontiersman having promised her folks
+that, if she was once found, he would not let her
+out of his sight again until she was safe in her
+mother’s arms.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The days following the fall of Fort Niagara had
+been comparatively quiet ones for the two young
+soldiers. It had not yet been decided what should
+be done with the French prisoners, although it was
+certain a large part of them would be shipped to
+England. The women and children who had followed
+the French to the fort for protection were
+placed under the guidance of some Catholic priests
+and allowed to depart for Montreal and other settlements
+in Canada.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The time was July, 1759, and the region for miles
+around the Niagara River and Lake Ontario was an
+almost unbroken forest, dotted here and there by the
+remains of an Indian camp or a French or English
+trading-post. Game had suffered but slightly from
+the hunting tours of the red men, and while the soldiers
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>from England took but little interest in such
+sport, the frontiersman in the ranks seized the opportunity
+to supply themselves with fresh meat and also
+add a pelt or two to their scanty worldly store. Each
+day they would bring in one or more deer, and occasionally
+a buffalo, besides the skins of foxes, wild-cats,
+and other small animals, and innumerable
+birds, until the fort took on the look of a trading-post
+in spite of itself.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave and Henry were not slow to join in the
+hunting, and between them they one day brought in
+a deer which was the pride of the camp, weighing
+thirty-five pounds more than the next largest. This
+game Dave had wounded by a shot in the foreleg,
+and Henry had finished by a bullet through the
+left eye, for Henry, as my old readers already know,
+was a natural-born hunter and a skillful marksman
+as well.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Two days after bringing down the deer, and while
+the two had a half-day off-time, Dave proposed that
+they go fishing. His cousin was more than willing,
+and the pair lost no time in fitting up their poles
+and in obtaining bait, and thus equipped both set off
+for the lake front, tramped along until they came to
+a spot that looked particularly inviting, and then,
+as already described, prepared to try their luck.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER II<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>THE INDIANS IN THE CANOE</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>It</span> was a warm, clear day, and out on the broad
+bosom of the lake the sun shone brightly. There
+was a faint breeze from the west which rustled the
+leaves of the trees and sent an occasional ripple over
+the water. From the forest came the notes of the
+songbirds and the hum of countless insects.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave would have been satisfied to catch a good
+mess of perch, but he knew Henry’s heart was set
+on at least one fair-sized lake trout, so he did not
+bait up at once, but stood by, watching his cousin
+adjust his fishing outfit.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“There’s a fat fly fit to tempt any trout,” whispered
+Henry, as he brought the bait from a small
+box he carried. “Caught half a dozen of ’em down
+at the horse stable. The glitter of those bluish wings
+ought to fetch something. Here goes!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry advanced to within six feet of the lake
+shore, at a point where a large tree and some rough
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>rocks overhung the water. Here was a rather dark
+hole where the water was unusually quiet.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>With the skill of a born fisherman, the young soldier
+made his cast, and as the still buzzing fly struck
+the water, he whipped it along by jerks, a few inches
+at a time.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Of a sudden there came a splash, the appearance
+and disappearance of something that might be a
+fish, and then a strong pull on the line.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hurrah, you’ve got him!” cried Dave. “Be
+careful how you play him, or he’ll break your line
+for you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, I’ve got him!” answered Henry, slowly
+and deliberately, playing his line as he spoke. “And
+he’s no small one either. If only those roots don’t
+tangle——Here he comes! Whoop!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As the youth spoke, the fish made another dart.
+But Henry was ready for him, and in a twinkling
+the game lay on the moss between the trees, flopping
+wildly in an endeavor to get back into the lake. But
+both youths knew too much to let anything like that
+happen, and in a minute more Henry had his prize
+secure and strung on a twig with a forked end.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What a fine haul for a start,” was Dave’s comment,
+as he gazed at the trout, that weighed several
+pounds. “I don’t believe we’ll get another fish
+as good.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>“No, and I don’t believe there is another trout in
+this vicinity, Dave. A big fellow like this keeps his
+territory to himself.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Nevertheless, Henry tried his luck, not once but
+several times. But the flies went begging until some
+small fish came along and began to nibble at them,
+and then Henry drew in.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That spot just below here ought to be good
+for perch,” said he, after a look around, and they
+moved on to the place mentioned, where both baited
+with worms dug up before starting on the trip.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave was the first to throw in, and his cousin
+waited until the bait was taken with a sudden short
+jerk. Dave pulled in steadily, and soon brought to
+light a perch as round and fat as one would wish to
+see.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That’s a good start on perch,” observed Henry,
+with a smile. “And to my mind they are just as
+good to eat as trout, even if they are not so gamey.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>After this both fell to fishing with all the skill at
+their command, Dave remaining at the spot where
+he had made his first haul and Henry seeking a point
+a few rods farther up the shore.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Although both of the young soldiers felt that no
+enemy was in the immediate vicinity, yet they took
+care to keep in sight of each other and kept a constant
+watch on the forest behind them. Each had
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>brought along his trusty flint-lock musket, and the
+weapons, loaded and primed, were kept easy to hand.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do you think Sam Barringford has reached
+home with Nell yet?” asked Dave, as Henry came
+toward him to get more bait.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hardly yet, Dave; but he ought to get there by
+the end of the week.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“She’ll be glad to get back, won’t she? And how
+glad all of them will be to see her!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, indeed!” Henry’s eyes brightened at the
+thought. “Do you know, it’s a wonder to me that
+she didn’t die of fright when she was in the clutches
+of those dirty redskins and that mean, miserable
+Jean Bevoir,” he went on.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Bevoir pretends to be in an awfully bad condition,
+so one of the hospital surgeons told me. I
+reckon he is afraid of standing trial.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To be sure. He’ll stay in the hospital till they
+kick him out.” Henry gave a grave shake of his
+head. “He ought to be hung; but I suppose they
+won’t go as far as that.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It isn’t likely.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The youths separated, and the fishing continued
+steadily, until each had a mess of ten or a dozen fish
+to his credit. The perch were all of good size, so
+the load to carry back to the fort would be no light
+one.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>“Let us go down the shore and see if we can’t
+strike another trout hole,” said Dave. “I’d like to
+bring up one, even if he didn’t match yours.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>They proceeded along the lake shore, and soon
+reached another shady spot. Here they found two
+small trout, which were both landed by Dave, Henry
+in the meantime hunting in the forest and bringing
+out some sassafras and birch, which both began to
+munch as a relish.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What a good trading-post one could establish
+up here,” observed Henry. “The game——” He
+broke off short. “What do you see?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave was gazing out on the lake, and now he
+climbed on the rock to get a better view.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s a canoe,” said Dave slowly. “And unless
+I am mistaken there are two or three Indians in it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Some of Sir William’s followers most likely.
+Are they coming this way?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They are not paddling at all. They seem to be
+sleeping.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Sleeping? That’s queer.” Henry climbed up
+beside his cousin and gave an equally searching
+look. “I don’t believe they are sleeping at all, Dave.
+Those Indians are either dead or else shamming
+death.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why should they come here shamming death,
+Henry?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>“Perhaps they are spies. We had better be on
+guard and keep out of sight.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But I think we ought to watch them.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Certainty; we can do it from behind yonder
+brushwood.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It took but a minute to pick up their outfits and
+their catches, and with these they slipped behind the
+thicket Henry had mentioned. Here they kept themselves
+well hidden, each with his firearm in hand,
+ready for use should any shooting be required.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The canoe came closer slowly, and presently they
+made out that it contained two red men, both in warpaint
+and sporting the colors and feathers of the
+Delawares.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If they are Delawares they should be friendly,”
+whispered Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t be too sure. Remember, White Buffalo
+said that even his tribe was divided, the old chiefs
+standing up for the French and the young chiefs
+swearing by Washington and Sir William.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“One of the redskins has raised himself and he
+is trying to paddle,” went on Dave, after a spell of
+silence. “He has got a bandage around his left
+forearm, as if he was wounded. See, he is talking
+to his companion, but the other fellow won’t budge.
+Do you know what I think? I think they are both
+badly wounded.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>“Even so, they may be enemies,” returned Henry,
+who had learned by bitter experience not to trust anybody
+until he proved himself a friend.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Gradually the canoe came up to the shore and
+they could see the faces of the occupants plainly.
+That they were suffering was evident, for the man
+at the bottom of the canoe lay in a pool of half-dried
+blood.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I believe we ought to help them if we can,”
+whispered Dave, as the Indian who had held the paddle
+dropped in a heap on the seat. “I don’t believe
+they could harm us, no matter how they tried.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>After some hesitation Henry agreed, and guns in
+hand the pair stepped from the shelter of the bushes
+and walked down to the spot where the canoe had
+grounded.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hullo, redskins!” called out Henry. “What
+brings you here?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At the sound of the young soldier’s voice the Indian
+on the seat stirred feebly. Then as he caught
+sight of the two on the shore he uttered a faint cry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“English soldiers!” he murmured in his native
+tongue.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I say, what brings you here?” repeated Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“How?” muttered the red man in return, and
+tried to brace himself up. “Blue Crow much hurt.
+Got fire-water?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>“No, we haven’t any fire-water,” answered Dave.
+“How did you get hurt?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“French soldiers shoot Blue Crow and Yellow
+Nose,” answered the Indian, with an effort. “Good
+English help um, yes?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps,” said Henry. “Where did you have
+the fight?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Udder shore of lake. Want to find the Great
+William. You help or Yellow Nose die,” went on
+the Indian, pointing to his silent companion.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave and Henry drew closer and lowered their
+muskets. What Blue Crow said was true—the Indian
+in the bottom of the canoe was wounded both
+in the breast and the stomach. He was breathing
+in loud gasps, and it was easy to see that his earthly
+career was fast approaching its end.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am sorry, but we can do nothing for your
+friend,” said Dave softly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Nothing?” repeated the Indian on the seat.
+“Nothing,—and Yellow Nose tried to do much for
+his English brothers.” He drew his mouth down
+bitterly. “His reward must come from the Great
+Spirit alone.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If you want to find Sir William Johnson we can
+take you to him,” said Henry. “The fort is only
+a short distance up the lake. We can paddle the
+canoe.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>“Let us bind up your wounds first,” said Dave,
+and this was done, and they also tried to do something
+for the Indian at the bottom of the canoe. But
+in the midst of their labors Yellow Nose breathed his
+last.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Having covered the dead Indian with a coat, and
+done all they could for Blue Crow, Dave and Henry
+took up the two paddles the canoe contained and
+lost no time in moving the craft up the lake in the
+direction of the Niagara River. They soon reached
+one of the usual boat landings, and here fell in with
+a score or more of soldiers. By this time Blue Crow
+had fainted away, and it took all the skill of one of
+the fort surgeons to revive him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He wants to see Sir William Johnson,” said
+Dave. “I believe he carries some sort of message.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then we’ll take him up to the fort on a litter,”
+said the surgeon. “I do not believe he can recover.
+He has lost too much blood.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>By the time the fort was reached Blue Crow was
+in danger of another relapse. Sir William Johnson
+was speedily summoned. As he came in he recognized
+the Indian as one he knew fairly well.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am sorry for you,” he said, taking the Indian’s
+hand.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Blue Crow is glad he has reached the Great
+William,” replied the red man. “He was afraid he
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>would die before he met his English friend face to
+face. He comes many miles, from beyond the Thousand
+Islands of the St. Lawrence.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“With a message?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes. He was sent by General Wolfe.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And what has General Wolfe to say?” demanded
+Sir William Johnson eagerly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He has fought the French, and—and has lo—lost.
+He—says—help—the French have—slain—I—’tis
+growing—dark—dark——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The Indian gave a gasp, and tried to go on. Sir
+William Johnson raised him up and called for the
+surgeon. But it was too late—the red messenger
+was dead.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER III<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>ON A DANGEROUS MISSION</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>To</span> understand fully the importance of the news
+brought to Sir William Johnson by Blue Crow we
+shall have to go back a little and see what the
+English and Colonial soldiers were trying to do in
+this campaign of 1759 against the French.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Encouraged by the success at Fort Pitt and at
+other points, the king and the military leaders of
+the English had decided on a campaign which should
+strike at the French in three different places. General
+Prideaux and Sir William Johnson were to
+advance on Oswego and Fort Niagara, General Amherst
+was to push his way northward through the
+Lake Champlain territory, and General Wolfe was
+to sail from England with an army of eight thousand
+troops and move up the St. Lawrence River
+upon Quebec. As soon as the success of General
+Prideaux and of General Amherst was assured,
+these two branches of the English forces were to
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>join Wolfe in his attack on the French stronghold.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As we have already seen, the attack on Fort Niagara
+was a brilliant success. But the advance of
+Amherst proved difficult. The French fled slowly
+before him, doing all they could to hinder his progress,
+and a succession of storms on the lake caused
+him a heavy loss of ships and stores. Some of his
+troops, the New Hampshire Rangers under Major
+Rogers, went as far as the village of St. Francis,
+which they destroyed, thus saving that part of New
+England from further trouble on the frontier, but
+with the coming of winter Amherst was compelled
+to go into winter quarters at Crown Point.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In the meantime, General Wolfe, on board the
+English fleet, reached the Canadian shore in June.
+News of his coming had already spread among the
+French, and it was felt that his attack would be
+directed against Quebec.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must save our beloved city, no matter what
+the cost!” was the cry throughout Canada; and to
+Quebec flocked both the regular French troops and
+also the French colonists, to the number of many
+thousands. All of these soldiers were placed under
+the command of General Montcalm, a wise and good
+soldier and one known for his thorough bravery.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As most of my young readers know, Quebec is
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>located on a high bluff, overlooking the St. Lawrence.
+This bluff, or series of bluffs, extends along
+the river front for miles, making the task of reaching
+the city from the water a difficult one. But
+Montcalm was not to be caught napping, and he lost
+no time in fortifying the bluffs all the way from
+Quebec proper down the river to the Falls of Montmorenci,
+a distance of about five miles.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was no easy task for the British fleet to sail
+up the St. Lawrence, which was difficult of navigation
+because of the many hidden rocks and shoals,
+but at length they reached the Island of Orleans,
+just below the city, and after a short brush with the
+inhabitants, who soon fled, the army took possession.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Early on the following morning General Wolfe
+went to the edge of the island and took a survey of
+the situation.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It will be no easy matter to capture Quebec,”
+said one of his subordinates. “’Tis a regular
+Gibraltar.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It must be done,” answered Wolfe quietly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He well understood the difficulty of the task before
+him. To scale those frowning walls would be
+hard, especially in the face of the French batteries,
+and back of the city were the still higher hills of
+Cape Diamond, also well fortified. All along the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>rocky shore could be seen the frowning cannon of
+Montcalm.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“General Wolfe must wait for help from Amherst
+and Prideaux,” was the comment of more than
+one old soldier, but Wolfe was resolved not to wait
+too long, fearing Montcalm would also be re-enforced,
+and that his own supplies would run short.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>To destroy the English ships, Montcalm sent out
+a number of fire-boats, filled to the gunwales and
+rails with pitch, tar, and explosives. These made a
+brilliant illumination, but failed to do much damage.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Advancing from the Island of Orleans, General
+Wolfe captured Point Levi, where the town of
+Levis now stands. This was directly opposite
+Quebec, and from this point he was able to bombard
+the city, only about a mile away. This new movement
+of the English caused great alarm in Quebec,
+and plans for an immediate attack on Wolfe were
+begun by the armed townspeople, some Indians, and
+a number of young men from the Seminary.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The attack was to be made on the 12th of July,
+but as the motley collection of French and Indians
+drew close to the English camp in the darkness there
+was a sudden alarm, some of the crowd fired on their
+own friends, and then followed a panic, and all
+rushed back to the canoes which had brought them
+over, and made haste to paddle back to Quebec.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>For this attack Wolfe made the French pay
+dearly. His cannon were trained on the water front
+before Quebec and on parts of the city itself, and
+inside of twenty-four hours a Cathedral and eighteen
+houses were burnt or wrecked by shot and shell.
+Mad with terror, the inhabitants fled to the back
+country, and sent word to Montcalm imploring the
+general to save them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But it was not Wolfe’s intention to waste his
+ammunition by merely battering down the buildings
+of Quebec. He wished to capture the stronghold,
+and as it seemed to offer no chance at the front he
+resolved to move down the river once again, make
+a landing below the Falls of Montmorenci, and try
+to find his way around to the enemy’s rear.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The Montmorenci River is a wild and turbulent
+stream, flowing at the bottom of a deep gorge and
+leaping into the St. Lawrence over a cataract two
+hundred and more feet in height. On each side of
+the gorge was a dense forest, so a camp was made
+along the stream without molestation from the
+French soldiers, who lay concealed in the woods on
+the opposite side of the cataract.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>General Levis was in command of the French detachment
+on guard at the Montmorenci. He wished
+to dislodge Wolfe at once, but was overruled by
+Vaudreuil, the French governor-general. Nevertheless
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>some French Indians crossed at a hidden ford
+and drove back some of the English troops, from
+which they took thirty-six scalps.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>There now ensued a number of small skirmishes
+in which the honors were about evenly divided.
+Some of the English troops landed above Quebec
+and gained a foothold, and there was a constant
+cannonading from both sides which did but little
+damage. Montcalm refused to move, and Wolfe
+at last decided to make a bold attack, both by the
+ford of the Montmorenci and by the river shore,
+where the receding tide at times left a long stretch
+of mud flats.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>This was on the last day of July, just one week
+after the fall of Fort Niagara. The day promised
+fair, but in the afternoon there was a heavy downpour
+of rain, which wet the ammunition of the soldiers
+and made marching in the mud next to impossible.
+The English troops fought desperately,
+but were beaten back by the French batteries, and
+soon saw that to climb the slippery slopes before
+them would be impossible.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We can’t make it,” said more than one, and
+reluctantly Wolfe had the retreat sounded, and the
+English withdrew, with a loss to the grenadiers and
+the Colonials of over four hundred killed and
+wounded.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>It was a bitter blow, but how bitter the colonists
+at large did not know until some time later, for in
+those days there was neither telegraph nor train to
+carry the news. Among the Indians in the fight was
+Blue Crow, and he and his companion, Yellow Nose,
+were at once dispatched to Fort Niagara to tell
+General Prideaux of what had occurred and to learn
+when the force along Lake Ontario might be expected
+to move down the St. Lawrence.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The news received by Sir William Johnson was
+short and unsatisfactory, and both the bodies of the
+dead Indians and their canoe were searched for a
+possible written message, but without success. Sir
+William was much disturbed, for some instructions
+which had been forwarded to General Prideaux by
+General Amherst were also missing, and he scarcely
+knew how to turn next. General Gage, he knew,
+was coming to take command in his stead, but in
+the meanwhile time of great value might be
+lost.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I will send out some spies toward Oswego,” he
+said, to several of his fellow officers. “If they are
+not stopped they can move on as far as the St. Lawrence.
+Perhaps they can bring in the news I
+wish.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In the course of a talk with Dave and Henry
+regarding the manner in which the dead Indians had
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>first been discovered, the commander mentioned that
+he wished to send out the spies, and Henry at once
+begged that he be allowed to go along.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I take a deep interest, sir,” he said respectfully.
+“And I would consider it an honor to serve you in
+that way.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And so would I consider it an honor,” added
+Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps but it is likewise a risk, my lads,”
+answered the Indian Superintendent.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are used to taking risks,” went on Henry.
+“Both of us are fair shots and have been serving
+in the field ever since the war began.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I will think it over,” said Sir William. “One
+thing is in your favor—a youth can sometimes get
+through where a man is suspected and halted and
+very often shot down.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We should expect the same treatment that older
+men get,” answered Dave grimly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Late that evening a party of six was made up,
+composed of a sharpshooter named Silvers, who was
+the leader, three backwoodsmen named Raymond,
+Gilfoy, and Shamer, and the two young soldiers.
+Silvers was given minute instructions as to what he
+must do, and was told to impart these instructions
+to the others after Fort Niagara was left behind.
+They were told to move forward at early dawn, and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>all spent two hours in getting ready for the trip,
+which they knew would be full of peril.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s a big load on your shoulders,” said Shamer
+to the youths. He was a Dutch pioneer and had
+known them ever since they had joined the troops
+under Prideaux. “Maybe you don’t know the risk
+you are taking.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No larger on our shoulders than on yours,”
+laughed Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“There may be French and Indian spies all
+around this lake,” went on Shamer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why do you go?” demanded Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Me? Oh, I like the excitement.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Well, I reckon we like the excitement too,” said
+Dave; and then there was a short laugh, for nobody
+fully realized the great peril that the future held in
+store for them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was hardly four o’clock in the morning when
+Silvers came around and awakened the others, who
+had gone into a little camp of them own down by the
+lake front.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No time to be lost,” he said. “We’ll get breakfast
+just as quick as we can.” And the meal was
+disposed of in short order.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It had been decided that the six should move
+down the lake in two small rowboats, each carrying
+its share of the stores taken along. Everybody was
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>to take his turn at rowing, and the boats were to
+move along in the dark as well as during the daytime.
+By this means it was hoped that the distance,
+about a hundred and thirty miles, would be covered
+in less than three days.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“All ready?” asked Silvers, when the dishes
+were put away.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“All ready,” was the answer, from one and another.
+Then they entered the two rowboats, took
+up the oars, and before the morning sun shone over
+the surface of the placid lake the journey down the
+broad sheet of water was begun.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER IV<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>A SQUALL ON LAKE ONTARIO</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'>“<span class='sc'>If</span> General Wolfe has suffered a heavy defeat it
+means a hard blow to our cause,” observed Dave,
+as the two rowboats glided over the water a short
+distance from each other.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You are right,” answered the backwoodsman
+named Raymond. “Everybody was hoping he
+would sail right up the St. Lawrence and capture
+Quebec before the French were up to what he was
+doing.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t think this war is over yet,” put in Gilfoy,
+a round-faced Irish-American. “Sure, when you
+sift it down, the French can fight as well as any of
+us, and they have just as many redskins to help ’em
+out as we have.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I think they have more,” put in Henry. “They
+have been buying up tribe after tribe with all sorts
+of presents and bribes—I heard Sir William himself
+say so.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>“I wish they had sent George Washington to
+Quebec,” came from Dave. “I don’t think he would
+have failed.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What do you know of Washington?” questioned
+Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I used to work for him—when he was a surveyor
+for old Lord Fairfax—and I served under him
+when we marched against Fort Duquesne, at the
+time Braddock was defeated. It was Washington
+who saved what was left of us from being shot down
+like so many rabbits, when the redskins surrounded
+us in the forest.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Well, I know little of Washington, lad. But I
+do know it is going to take a plucky commander to
+capture Quebec, which is set up on high rocks like
+a regular fort,” returned the leader of the expedition.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For the first two hours of their journey they kept
+fairly close to the shore of the lake, gliding past long
+stretches of forest which have long since fallen
+before the axes of the pioneer and the lumberman.
+Here and there was a rocky cove backed up by
+sweet-scented shrubs and berry bushes, loaded down
+with tempting fruit. The morning calls of the birds
+could be heard, and the occasional howl of a lonely
+wolf, or the sharp bark of a fox.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No use in talking,” was Henry’s comment, as
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>he cast a longing eye shoreward. “It’s a regular
+paradise for game.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then you like hunting, lad?” came from
+Shamer. “So do I, and nothing would please me
+better than to land and spend a day running down
+something big. But duty is duty, and we haven’t
+even a right to linger here,” and the tall sharpshooter
+bent his back to the blade he was working,
+and Henry, who was opposite, did the same.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The sun was now flooding the surface of the lake
+with a golden sheen and the day promised to be a
+hot one. Several of the soldiers had laid aside their
+coats, and now they took off other garments, in order
+that they might not perspire too freely.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>By noon several of the party calculated that they
+had traveled twenty-four miles, and by a vote it was
+decided to pull into an inviting cove, where the
+shade was dense, and rest for half an hour and
+dispose of the midday meal.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“There is no use of our killing ourselves at the
+very start,” said Raymond. “We want to save
+ourselves a little, in case we get into some tight
+corner and have to row to save our lives.” And
+the others agreed with him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The rest and meal on the grassy bank, overhung
+by the branches of some trees which had likely stood
+there for a century, came to an end all too soon, and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>once again they placed their traps in the rowboats
+and took up the oars. As they glided out onto the
+lake Silvers gave a look around.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“So far as I can see, not a soul is within sight
+of us,” he announced. “If there are Indians near
+they are not showing themselves at the water
+front.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Nevertheless, it was not deemed advisable to hug
+the shore too closely, and they set a course which
+soon took them at least quarter of a mile from
+land.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It must be confessed that the rowing was
+now beginning to tell upon both Dave and Henry.
+But as they had enlisted to do their full share of
+the work, neither complained.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Sure, and it’s no easy job to row hour after
+hour,” said Gilfoy presently. His experiences with
+a rowboat had been very limited. “’Twouldn’t be
+so bad if the sun wasn’t so hot.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Some clouds are coming up,” said Shamer a
+little later. “And by the feeling in the air I
+shouldn’t be surprised if we had a storm.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The clouds he mentioned hung low down to the
+westward, and it was not until about four o’clock in
+the afternoon that they took a turn and came up
+with remarkable rapidity. Then followed a rush
+of cold air which was very pleasant.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>“The wind is beginning to blow,” said Henry.
+“See the whitecaps it is tossing up.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The wind is all right, if it doesn’t get too
+strong,” replied Silvers. “But to my idea we are
+going to have more than we want of it presently.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, and it’s coming now!” cried Shamer.
+“Look across the lake.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>They did so, and each saw that he was right. The
+dense clouds had circled around to the northwestward
+and the wind was coming in short, sharp puffs
+which piled the whitecaps one over the other. Then
+came a sudden rush of air which sent the rowboats
+careening in a dangerous fashion.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hi! we can’t stand this!” exclaimed Gilfoy.
+“Before we know it we’ll all be at the bottom. Let
+us make for shore.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, and we can’t be too quick about it,” added
+Raymond. “This squall is going to be a heavy
+one.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Silvers admitted that they were right, and without
+delay the two rowboats were headed for shore,
+at a point where a curving cove seemed to promise
+safety.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>All pulled with a will, yet long before the cove
+was gained, the squall struck them, sending a shower
+of spray in all directions and causing each craft to
+rock violently.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>“Oh!” cried Dave, as some water hit him in the
+ear. “This is as bad as was the storm we struck
+when we rowed from Oswego to Fort Niagara.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t say a word—it’s a regular Niagara in itself!”
+gasped Henry, as a downpour of rain followed
+the gust of wind.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We can be thankful we are not further out on
+the lake,” came from Raymond. “Now then, all
+together, and we’ll soon be safe!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>They bent to the oars with a will, two in each
+boat rowing and the third steering. Another gust
+hit them, giving them a second ducking, and now
+followed a veritable cloud-burst of rain. But in a
+few minutes the cove was gained, and they glided
+under some overhanging branches and thick bushes.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are well out of that!” said Henry, when he
+could catch his breath. “Just listen to the wind
+whistle!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It won’t last,” said Silvers. “In an hour from
+now the sun will be shining as brightly as ever.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The wind whistled through the treetops, but
+down close to the water the breeze did not touch
+them, and only a few drops of rain entered the rowboats.
+Luckily they had covered their stores and
+ammunition with tarpaulins, so no damage was done
+in that direction.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This is something we didn’t bargain for, eh?”
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>came from Raymond. “Had we been far out on
+the lake the chances are we should have been
+swamped.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As the leader of the little expedition had said, the
+squall did not last, and in exactly three-quarters of
+an hour after it began the clouds shifted, the sun
+came out, and the rain ceased as if by magic.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now, men, we must make up for time lost,”
+said Silvers. “We’ve all had a pretty good rest.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This squall has changed its course, but I’ll
+wager a mug of cider it comes back by sundown,”
+said Gilfoy.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And I say the same,” added Shamer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“In that case we want to get as far as possible
+before it does come back,” came from Henry. “The
+little breeze that is still blowing is in our favor.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Once again the two rowboats were headed down
+the lake, and each stroke sent the craft shooting on
+their course. The water was still a trifle rough,
+but what they lost by this was more than made up
+by the breeze behind them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The air puts new life into a fellow,” said Dave.
+“I feel fresher than I did when we started after
+dinner.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>By sundown another ten or twelve miles had been
+covered. The wind had now veered around and was
+blowing strongly from the northeast. The sky
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>looked heavy, and despite their best efforts it was
+impossible to make headway down the lake.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We’ll have to go ashore for the night,” said
+Silvers. “More than likely the wind will die down
+during the night.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>After their varied experiences of the day, Dave
+and Henry were not sorry to leave the oars and take
+it easy in a sheltered spot picked out by the leader
+of the expedition. After a careful survey of the
+location, to make certain that no enemies were near,
+a tiny camp-fire was lit in a hollow, and over this
+were broiled some fish which Henry and Raymond
+caught.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Silvers had been ordered to keep a constant guard
+both on the lake and on the land by Sir William
+Johnson, and when it came time to lie down to sleep
+he divided the night into watches of an hour and a
+half each, so that all might share in the duty and
+yet get the benefit of sufficient rest for the next
+day’s work.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry was on guard from half-past ten until
+midnight, when Dave relieved him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Have you seen anything?” asked Dave, as he
+arose and stretched himself, for he had been sleeping
+soundly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Nothing at all,” answered his cousin, in a
+whisper, so as not to arouse the others. “It looks
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>to me as if a guard is unnecessary; but we have
+got to obey orders.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But little more was said, and in a few minutes
+Henry was sleeping peacefully, on a mossy bank
+close to Raymond the backwoodsman. Dave took
+up his musket and began to walk around the camp,
+to awaken himself still more, for he was yet drowsy.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The fire had been allowed to die down, for in
+spite of the storm nobody seemed to desire the heat,
+and all had been wet a hundred times before.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>After a walk lasting several minutes, and feeling
+that all was safe, Dave sat down on a fallen tree
+trunk to meditate. His thoughts were scattered,
+but presently centered on home. In his mind’s eye
+he could see the big living room of the cabin, with
+its immense open chimney, its rude furnishings, and
+its neatly sanded floor. In the easy chair in a corner
+sat his crippled cousin, Rodney, doing some work
+that did not require his moving about, and close at
+hand was his Aunt Lucy, also busy, and with a
+sweet face not easily forgotten. And then he
+fancied he could hear a shout from without, and he
+could see his aunt catch up the gun behind the door
+in alarm. But the gun fell from her hands when
+she saw it was her husband and Dave’s father approaching,
+with faithful old Sam Barringford and
+little Nell. And then he fancied he saw little Nell
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>give a leap straight into her mother’s arms and then
+into the arms of Rodney.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’d like to be there when she gets home,” he
+thought. “I know Aunt Lucy’s cheeks will be wet
+with tears of joy. And they’ll all be glad and the
+neighbors will come in and there will be a regular
+jubilee, and——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave stopped his dreamings and leaped to his
+feet. A noise in the brushwood back of the camp
+had reached his ears. Holding his musket ready
+for use, he strained his eyes to pierce the darkness,
+but he could see nothing.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Strange,” he thought, after a pause. “I am
+sure I heard something. It must have been a night
+bird or——Ha!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He shut his teeth hard. Something was certainly
+there—a dark form, moving slowly along, close to
+the ground. But whether it was man or beast he
+could not tell, until the form suddenly arose, and
+then he made out that it was an Indian!</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER V<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>PERILS OF THE FOREST</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>For</span> the instant when Dave made the discovery
+that the form in the darkness was that of
+an Indian, the young soldier knew not what to
+do.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He raised his musket to fire, but did not pull
+the trigger, fearing the newcomer might be a
+friend.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Halt!” he called out, a second later. “Who
+comes there?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But the Indian did not halt. Instead he made a
+sudden movement to one side, and instantly vanished
+behind a neighboring tree.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What’s the matter?” came from Silvers, who
+had heard the young guard’s challenge. “What
+did you see?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“An Indian!” cried Dave. “He just leaped
+behind a tree over yonder.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“An Indian!” was the cry from several, and in
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>a moment everybody was on his feet and had his
+firearm in hand.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We may be surrounded,” came from Raymond.
+“Better lie low,” and his advice was obeyed. As
+they scattered to the nearby rocks and bushes, Silvers
+moved cautiously towards the spot where Dave
+had discovered the red man.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You are certain it was a redskin?” asked
+Henry, who had placed himself beside his cousin.
+“It’s pretty dark to see anything.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I know a redskin when I see him, Henry. But
+I must admit that he was very low, and the way
+he got out of sight was a marvel.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh, they can move in a hurry when they have
+to. One thing is certain, he isn’t friendly to the
+English, or he wouldn’t be afraid to show himself.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The two young soldiers waited with bated breath.
+Each had put a fresh priming on his gun and felt
+to see that his flint-lock was in good condition.
+Their very lives might depend upon the shots they
+made.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Presently they heard voices at a distance, that of
+Silvers and the guttural tones of a red man.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If you are alone, come out here and we won’t
+shoot you,” they heard the sharpshooter say.
+“Boys don’t shoot this fellow!” he called back to
+his companions.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>“We hear you, cap,” answered Raymond, and a
+moment later Silvers appeared from the forest, followed
+by the Indian, who carried only a bow and
+several arrows.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why, it’s White Buffalo!” cried Dave in astonishment.
+And he stepped forward to greet his
+old Indian friend, while Henry did the same.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“How? how?” said the Indian chief, taking
+their hands in his own. “White Buffalo think it
+was Dave he see, but was not sure.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do you know this Injun?” demanded Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To be sure we do!” cried Dave. “He is White
+Buffalo, an under chief of the Delawares. He has
+often fought with us against the French, and he is
+well-known to Washington and to Sir William.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“In that case, I reckon it’s all right,” said Silvers,
+and lowered his musket.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Are you alone, White Buffalo?” questioned
+Henry, with interest.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, White Buffalo is alone,” replied the red
+chief. “He was out hunting and hurt his foot on
+the sharp rocks.” He showed the injury, which
+he had bound up with a bit of rag. “He could not
+get back to his followers, so walked down to the lake
+for water.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I reckon we can fix up that hurt a little better,”
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>said Dave, and set to work without delay. While
+he did this, the Indian chief told of his adventures,
+and of how he had brought down a big deer with
+an arrow and how his followers had started back
+to the fort with the game.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“White Buffalo has seen the trail of the French
+around here,” he went on. “The white brothers
+must beware, or they will fall into a snare.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We’ll keep our eyes open,” answered Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>White Buffalo said he would remain with the
+soldiers until morning, and soon the camp settled
+down once again to rest. His foot was badly
+cut, but when Dave had put on some salve that had
+been placed among the stores, he said it felt much
+better.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“David is right,” he said, while talking to the
+youth. “This war is not yet in sight of the end.
+The French agents have been again among the red
+men. They bring valuable presents and much drink,
+and promise many things to the Indian if he will
+but fight with them against the English.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But White Buffalo, you will not listen to them,”
+cried Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Has not White Buffalo spoken before?” said
+the Indian chief in a hurt tone. “And when he
+has spoken, his mind is as fast as the rock upon
+which he sits.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>“I knew it!” cried the young soldier. “Oh,
+I wish all the Indians were as trustworthy as
+you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The red man’s heart is full of trouble,” went on
+the Indian chief sadly. “White Buffalo will stand
+by the English, but when the war is at an end, when
+the hatchet is buried and the smoke of the pipe of
+peace floats on the evening air, who shall give to
+the Indian the land that is rightfully his own? If
+the French win they will keep the land, and if the
+English win they will keep the land, and White
+Buffalo and his brethren will have nothing—the
+maize land and the hunting land will all be gone
+from him.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is a pity, White Buffalo, there is no denying
+it,” put in Henry. “You ought to have the land
+just as well as the white man. But the trouble is,
+you won’t cultivate it as we do.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At this the chief drew himself up. “The Indian
+is a hunter, not a farmer,” he said proudly. “He
+lives by the chase and by what Nature grows for
+him.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That’s just what causes the trouble, White
+Buffalo. A man who plants land can live on a few
+acres, but one who lives by hunting must have miles
+and miles of plains and forests for his roamings. I
+like hunting myself, you know I do, so I can understand
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>some of your feelings. But as more people
+come over here, or are born on the land, we’ll have
+to do less and less of hunting, and more planting
+and stock raising. In Europe there are so many
+people they couldn’t possibly live by hunting even if
+they wanted to. What would you do if there were
+so many Indians here?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The Great Spirit who rules the happy hunting
+ground takes care of that.” The chief paused.
+“And then there are wars.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, I know you often lose plenty of warriors
+by your tribal quarrels,” said Henry. “But to get
+back to where we started from. If I have my say,
+you shall never suffer so long as I have a roof over
+my head.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“When the war is over, I want White Buffalo to
+go with me to the trading-post on the Kinotah,” put
+in Dave. “The hunting and fishing there will delight
+him, I know.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At this the red man looked grateful.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“David and Henry are indeed my brothers,” he
+said softly. “White Buffalo shall be their friend
+to the death,” and he placed the back of the hand of
+each up to his forehead.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The alarms of the night were not yet at an end.
+It was still dark, and Dave and Henry, along with
+White Buffalo, had dropped into a light sleep, when
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>a cry from Gilfoy, who was on guard, awakened
+them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Some wild beast prowling around,” he announced.
+“Sounds to me like a wildcat.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then I’m going to be on my guard,” said Dave.
+He had not forgotten how a wildcat had once leaped
+upon him while he was in bathing.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>All in the camp were soon on the alert. Each
+listened, but could hear nothing but the gurgle of
+the tiny stream that poured over the rocks at this
+spot and into the lake.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Guess you must have been dreaming, Gilfoy,”
+said Silvers, at length. “Was it another Injun?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, it was no redskin, onless he was climbin’
+the trees,” answered the Irish-American soldier.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“White Buffalo can hear it,” came from the Indian
+chief, as they all listened again. “It comes
+from over there,” and he pointed with his finger to
+a clump of silver maples twenty feet away. “As the
+white soldier says, it is a wild beast.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You must have keen ears,” put in Silvers. “I
+can’t hear a thing but the brook.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“White Buffalo lives by the hunt.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps you had better go forward and find
+him then.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“White Buffalo can do that, too,” was the quick
+answer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>“I’ll go along,” said Henry and caught up his
+musket once more.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>With extreme caution the two left the circle of
+the camp-fire which had been started after the first
+alarm. The Indian held an arrow to his bow, and
+the young soldier had his finger on the trigger of his
+firearm.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The advance was very slow and absolutely noiseless.
+Henry now showed his training as a hunter.
+Coming to the nearest of the maples, both halted
+without a sound and peered upward.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>There was nothing to be seen, and they moved
+around to the next tree. Then both caught the dim
+outline of some animal, crouching low on a thick
+branch, ready to leap.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>There followed the crack of a musket and the
+whiz of an arrow almost simultaneously, and the
+wild animal raised up, with a scream of pain. Then
+it made a mad leap, striking Henry on the shoulder,
+and both rolled to the ground in the dark.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Help!” yelled the young soldier, “help!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The fall had been a peculiar one, and as the youth
+and beast rolled over, the animal got its foreleg entangled
+in the strap of Henry’s musket. It snapped
+at the weapon, burying its teeth deeply into the
+wooden stock. Then, realizing its mistake, it let
+the musket go and snapped at the young soldier,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>but by this time Henry had rolled out of
+reach.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Hearing the cry for help, Dave rushed forward,
+followed by the others, Raymond and Gilfoy carrying
+torches snatched from the camp-fire.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s a catamount!” cried Raymond. “Give it
+to him, men!” And he opened fire with his own
+musket.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Gilfoy threw his torch at the beast, and it landed
+on the catamount’s head, causing it to turn and roll
+over in alarm. Then the beast made another leap,
+this time straight for Raymond’s throat.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As the catamount left the ground White Buffalo
+fired a second arrow. His first had grazed the catamount’s
+back. His second aim was more true, and
+with a snarl the beast fell back with the point sticking
+deeply in its side.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Good for you, White Buffalo!” cried Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He had scarcely spoken when Dave took a shot
+at the beast, followed by Shamer and lastly Silvers.
+All three of the shots went more or less true, and
+the catamount whirled round and round, snapping
+and snarling. Then it dropped in a heap, gave a
+few kicks, and lay still.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That was a wild one, and no mistake,” said Silvers,
+after all had assured themselves that the catamount
+was really dead.</p>
+
+<div id='p046'  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/p046.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+<div class='ic002'>
+<p>As the catamount left the ground White Buffalo fired a<br />second arrow.—<i>Page 46.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>“He’s large, too,” said Gilfoy, and the Irish-American
+soldier was right. The beast was nearly
+three feet long, exclusive of the sweeping tail, and
+had heavy-set legs and a powerful, “bullish” neck.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We had better see if there are any more around,”
+said Henry, and the search was started as soon as
+the firearms were reloaded.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But no other wild beasts put in an appearance,
+and at last, worn out by the work of the day just
+past and by the numerous alarms, the soldiers lay
+down once more, to snatch another nap ere the sun
+came up.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER VI<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>AN UNEXPECTED SEPARATION</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'>“<span class='sc'>I don’t</span> believe the storms are entirely over
+yet,” said Dave, on the following morning, after a
+walk down to the lake shore and a look at the sky.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is going to be cloudy and windy,” answered
+Henry, as he began to wash up in a neighboring
+pool. “We’ll have to work hard for every mile we
+gain.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>While the two were talking, White Buffalo joined
+them. His foot was still very sore, but he said he
+intended to turn back toward Fort Niagara as soon
+as the morning meal was finished.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It did not take long for the soldiers to prepare
+breakfast, and immediately after this the traps were
+loaded on the boats and the young soldiers bid White
+Buffalo good-by.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Tell Sir William that you met us,” said Silvers,
+“and tell him how the storm made us go into camp;”
+and this the Indian chief promised to do.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>There was a strong, raw wind, and despite the
+rising sun they were glad to keep on their coats as
+they bent to the oars and sent the two rowboats
+speeding on their way. Once more they hugged the
+shore, Raymond stating that they might run into
+another squall at any moment.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Although they kept their eyes on the alert, no
+signs of white man or red were seen during the
+morning. Once they saw an overturned canoe resting
+in the mud, but by the appearance of the craft
+they came to the conclusion that it had been rotting
+there for several months, if not a year.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The Indians have deserted this territory and
+the French have all sailed to the north shore of the
+lake,” said Dave. “It will be a long while before
+another village or trading-post is established
+here.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But a few minutes later Shamer proved that Dave
+was wrong. Standing up suddenly, he pointed to
+a spot where the lake shore was thinly fringed with
+trees and brushwood.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What do you see?” demanded Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Redskins—three or four of them,” was the low
+answer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Where?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Back of those trees. They are gone now.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If that is so, we must be on our guard,” said
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>the leader of the expedition, and called to those in
+the second boat to pull further out into the lake.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>They watched for a long time, but nothing more
+was seen of the Indians, and presently Silvers asked
+Shamer if he was sure his eyesight had not deceived
+him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am sure I saw them,” said the backwoodsman.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I saw one of the Injuns myself,” put in Gilfoy.
+“Just as I spotted him he dodged out of sight.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Just ahead of the boats the shore made a deep
+inward curve and Silvers decided that they should
+row directly across the bay thus formed.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The bay isn’t over a mile across,” he said.
+“But if the redskins try to follow us up they will
+have a good three or four miles to travel.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Unless they put out in canoes,” came from Raymond.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If they do that we can easily see them and be
+on our guard,” answered the leader of the expedition.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The constant rowing was beginning to tell on
+Dave’s hands, and he was not sorry when it came his
+turn to steer the craft occupied by himself, Henry,
+and Raymond.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Good progress was being made when, about three
+o’clock in the afternoon, the sky became unusually
+black and the wind freshed up at a remarkable rate.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>“Now we are going to catch it,” said Raymond.
+“And a good deal more of wind than of rain.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The backwoodsman was right, and they had just
+time in which to reach shore when the wind-storm
+came rushing on them in all of its fury, hurling the
+whitecaps one over another and causing the tall trees
+to groan and bend beneath the blast.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t catch me under the trees in such a blow,”
+said Gilfoy, and the others agreed that it would be
+a foolhardy move to look for shelter there at such
+a time. More than one branch came down with a
+crack like that of a pistol, and further off they heard
+half-decayed monarchs of the forest come down with
+low booms.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The wind continued to blow, at first in irregular
+puffs and then in a steady gale, directly from the
+east. The raindrops were large and scattering and
+scarcely wet the ground.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s of no use to try rowing in this wind,” said
+Silvers, after a careful look at the sky. “We’ll be
+blown back and all our strength wasted.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“How far are we from Oswego?” asked Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I should say about sixty miles.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We might tramp that distance,” put in Dave.
+“But it would take not less than two days over this
+rough ground.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s out of the question, lad. The ground is
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>rougher than you imagine. No, I think we had better
+rest until morning. This wind can’t last.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>This being decided, the party proceeded to make
+themselves comfortable, moving inland to where a
+series of rocks formed something of a cliff, thickly
+overgrown with vines and bushes. Here they
+formed a shelter by leaning long branches and saplings
+against the rocks, and in a hollow a fire was
+lit, where they made something hot to drink.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must be on our guard here,” said Silvers.
+“Those Indians may be following us. This
+cliff——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He stopped short, having received a violent push
+from Dave, who stood close at hand, under the shelter
+of a thick tree branch. As the leader of the expedition
+fell an arrow whizzed by his side, and
+buried itself in the dirt between the rocks.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The redskins!” cried Henry. “They are behind
+us!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They are surrounding us,” put in Gilfoy.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Another arrow and still another whizzed through
+the air, and Shamer was struck in the arm. Then
+came a fierce yell from the forest, which was answered
+by another from the lake front.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They must number twenty or thirty,” said
+Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are caught like rats in a trap!” ejaculated
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>Henry. His eyes began to blaze. “We’ve got to
+fight for it—and fight our best, too!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Another yell sounded out and several Indians appeared,
+hideous in their warpaint. More arrows
+were fired—one grazing Henry’s hand—and eight
+of the warriors leaped toward the shelter, flourishing
+their tomahawks.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Fire on ’em. Don’t waste a bullet!” sang out
+Silvers, and brought his long rifle to bear on the
+leading Indian. As the weapon rang out the red man
+leaped upward and fell in a heap, the bullet having
+pierced his brain.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The firing now became general and soon the shelter
+by the rocks was filled with smoke, so that but
+little could be seen. Dave was beside Henry, and
+both discharged their muskets at the enemy, and
+they saw two more Indians stagger and fall back.
+Then a tomahawk came whizzing through the air,
+and poor Gilfoy went down to rise no more.
+Shamer was also hit in the leg; and the din became
+frightful.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must get out of here,” cried Raymond,
+catching Dave by the arm. “Come on!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Come, Henry!” exclaimed Dave. “Follow
+us!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“All right,” was the answer, and in a second
+more the three were running for the nearest
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>patch of brushwood, loading their muskets as they
+ran.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As the new shelter was gained, two tall warriors
+leaped out to meet them. Tomahawks were raised,
+but Raymond swung his musket over his head and
+sent one Indian reeling to the earth. In the meantime
+the second warrior threw his tomahawk at Dave,
+but the youth dodged and before the red man could
+recover from his throw Henry was on him with the
+hunting knife he had carried since the breaking out
+of the war.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That for you!” cried Henry, wild with excitement,
+and buried the knife in the Indian’s shoulder.
+The warrior sank with a groan; and in a moment
+more he and Henry were on the ground, in a fierce
+hand-to-hand struggle for life.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave was somewhat bewildered by the quickness
+of the various moves made, and when he could recover
+somewhat he found himself by Raymond’s
+side running up the lake shore. A fierce yell and
+shouting came from a distance, interspersed with
+gun and pistol shots.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Whe—where is Henry?” he gasped.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Reckon he is following us,” answered Raymond.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Come on, don’t stop here. The Injuns will be
+after us ag’in in a minute or two.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But I don’t want to—to leave Henry behind.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>“Don’t worry but what he’ll follow, unless they
+kill him, Dave. Come, it’s suicide to stay here,”
+urged Raymond, and caught the youth by the hand
+and dragged him forward.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The yells of the Indians now came closer, and
+fearful of being surrounded once more the backwoodsman
+and Dave plunged into the forest. They
+chose a point where the tall timber was thick, and
+they did not stop in their course until a hundred
+yards or more had been covered. Sheltered by some
+bushes, they reloaded their muskets, which had been
+discharged four times since the struggle began.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This attack has been a bad one, lad,” said Raymond,
+who was breathing heavily. “Gilfoy is dead,
+and I saw Shamer go down, too.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And Henry?” panted the young solder. “Oh,
+do you think——” He could not go on.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Let us hope for the best, lad.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If I thought I could help him I’d go back.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, no, lad, don’t you try it. The Injuns are
+three or four to one, and you’ll lose your scalp just
+as sure as you are born.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>With great bitterness of mind, Dave was forced
+to realize that this was true. Yet, he could not bear
+to leave Henry to his fate.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If he is killed I’ll never forgive myself,” he
+thought.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>Listening intently, they heard the Indians moving
+around the neighborhood, evidently trying to pick
+up the trail the whites had left. Gradually they appeared
+to come closer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must get out of here,” whispered Raymond.
+“Follow me, and don’t make a sound.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As silently as a shadow he led the way through
+the brushwood and to the open forest once more.
+Fortunately the coming of night now favored them,
+along with the heavy clouds which still hung low
+in the sky.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Deeper and deeper they plunged into the growths
+until they came to some rough rocks, back of which
+was a hollow filled with stagnant water.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Let us climb over some of the rocks,” whispered
+the backwoodsman. “That will cut off the trail—in
+case they do happen to strike it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>With a heavy heart Dave did as advised, and the
+pair covered another distance of a hundred yards.
+Here the rocks were larger, forming a cliff considerably
+higher than that where the fateful shelter had
+been located.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I see something of an opening,” announced Raymond
+presently. “It ought to make a good hiding
+place.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He pointed to a split between the rocks. The
+opening was high and just wide enough for them to
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>squeeze through. To the rear was located a dark
+cave of unknown depth.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We’ll rest here,” said Raymond, and threw himself
+on a rocky seat. “Keep your musket ready for
+use.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is all ready,” answered Dave, and sank beside
+his companion, wondering what had become of
+Henry, and how this unexpected encounter was going
+to terminate.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER VII<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>A BEAR AND HER CUBS</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>Slowly</span> an hour slipped by. To Dave it seemed
+an age, and more than once he peered up and down
+the rough rocks to see if there was any sign of
+friends or enemies. From a distance had come two
+shots, but after that all was quiet as a tomb, save for
+the wind, which still swept through the forest, and
+the occasional patter of a few drops of rain.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t go too far, lad,” said Raymond, by way
+of caution, after Dave had climbed out on the rocks
+for the fourth time. “Those Injuns may be closer
+nor you think.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I must find out what has become of Henry,” was
+the half-desperate answer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, yes, I know, but——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do you think any of our party escaped to the
+boats?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s not likely they would expose themselves,
+lad. If they tried to row away some of the redskins
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>would be sure to see ’em and send a shower of arrows
+after ’em.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But it is dreadful to think Henry may be killed,
+or a prisoner!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I know that too, lad. Didn’t I lose my brother
+Dan on the frontier only four years ago? I did my
+best to save him, too, but it was no use. I was taken
+prisoner, and they had just started to torture me
+when some of the Gordon Rangers came up and
+saved me. That was the fight in which they killed
+old Tom Granby and his son Jabez, and carried off
+Mrs. Williamson and little Ned Ford.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Did the prisoners ever escape?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“All but little Ned. He was carried westward,
+and they have never heard of him since,” answered
+Raymond, with a sorry shake of his head.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A lump arose in David’s throat and he found great
+difficulty in swallowing it. If Henry was dead how
+would he ever be able to send the news to Mrs. Morris
+and the others?</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It will ’most break Aunt Lucy’s heart,” he
+thought. “And Uncle Joe’s heart too. With Rodney
+a cripple they all depended on Henry so much!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Raymond was about to take a look around, when
+a curious sound from the rear of the cave-like opening
+caused both the backwoodsman and the young
+soldier to leap up in fresh alarm.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>“What was that?” cried Dave, as he brought up
+his musket.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t know,” whispered Raymond. “Lay low!
+The Injuns may be coming on us another way.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Both crouched back into a niche of the wall and
+waited. Soon the noise was repeated, and they heard
+a scratching on the rocks at the back of the opening.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Reckon I know what that is,” said Raymond at
+length.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Bear’s cubs.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do you really think so?” cried Dave. “If that
+is true, this must be a bear’s den.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“More’n likely, lad, and if it is we had better get
+out.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You think the old she bear will be back?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To be sure. She won’t leave her cubs over
+night. She’d be back before this, only it’s likely the
+shots made her timid.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s queer we didn’t hear the cubs before.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They have been asleep and just woke up.
+Hark!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>They listened and heard the scratching on the
+rocks again. It came closer, but when Raymond
+made a noise, it sounded fainter and fainter.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They won’t touch us, that’s sure,” said Dave.
+“But the old she bear——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>“Something is coming!” interrupted Raymond.
+“Reckon it’s her!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He was right—the mother of the cubs—a black
+bear of good size, was coming slowly along at the
+foot of the rocks. She sniffed the air and looked
+from side to side with keen suspicion.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hadn’t we better get out without being seen?”
+whispered the young soldier. “If we kill her, the
+Indians will hear the shots.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, come on,” replied Raymond.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Side by side they started to leave the entrance to
+the bear’s den. But as they stepped out the old
+she bear uttered a whine, and the cubs in the cave
+gave answer. Then the mother bear saw the intruders
+in the semi-darkness and let out a growl
+of savage rage.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“She’s going to fight!” cried Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“She thinks we have hurt her cubs!” returned
+the backwoodsman.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Raymond was right, and before they could take
+a dozen steps up the rocks the black bear was
+leaping after them, snarling viciously and showing
+her long, white teeth.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We’ll have to shoot—or be chewed up!” gasped
+Dave, when the bear was less than fifty feet from
+him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He had scarcely uttered the words when Raymond’s
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>rifle rang out. But the aim of the backwoodsman
+was poor, and the bullet passed wide of
+the beast. The report stopped the bear but a second,
+then she came on as furiously as ever.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was now Dave’s turn to shoot, and he lost no
+time in blazing away. He was more fortunate, and
+the black beast was brought to another halt, this
+time with a bullet in her shoulder. But the fight
+was not yet knocked out of her, and she tried to
+limp over the rocks, uttering growl after growl.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“She won’t give in,” said Raymond, and both
+started to reload. While they were doing this the
+cubs, two in number, appeared at the entrance to
+the cave-like opening.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>On catching sight of her offspring, the wounded
+bear paused once again. She evidently wished to
+pursue her enemies and at the same time she wished
+to make certain that her cubs were really unharmed.
+Slowly she limped back to her own.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now is our chance!” cried Dave, and over the
+rocks went the young soldier and the backwoodsman,
+scrambling along with all possible speed. The
+route was a rough one, and more than once they had
+their hands and faces scratched and their uniforms
+torn.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Those shots will put the Indians on the watch,”
+said Raymond, as they pushed along.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>“Perhaps they will bring some of our friends to
+the vicinity,” returned Dave. “If Henry——Oh!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave’s speech ended in a cry of pain. He had
+slipped on the rocks and his left leg had received a
+severe wrench at the knee. He tried to rise and then
+fell back with a groan of agony.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What’s the matter, lad?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ve twisted my knee.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Can’t you get up?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ll try it. Oh!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave stood up on the limb that was uninjured and
+tried to take a step. But the pain was too great and
+he was forced to sit down on a rock.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That’s too bad, certainly,” said Raymond sympathetically.
+“If you can’t walk, I really don’t know
+what we are to do.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps you had better go on alone.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, I shan’t leave you, Dave—it wouldn’t be
+human.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, but—but we left Henry,” said the young
+soldier bluntly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That was in the midst of a fight and a different
+thing altogether. If you can’t walk, can you climb
+yonder tree, do you think?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps, with your help.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then let us both get up. The bear can’t climb
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>with a wounded leg, and if she does I can give her
+a shot right in the head when she comes up,” went
+on the backwoodsman.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He picked the youth up in his arms and walked
+over to the tree he had pointed out. The darkness
+of night had now settled down, and it was with difficulty
+that they made their way among the lower
+limbs. Dave wanted to shriek with pain, but gritted
+his teeth and kept silent.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was a lonely and never-to-be-forgotten night.
+In an hour or two the wind went down and it began
+to rain steadily. Dave did not feel like stirring, and
+all he could do was to rub the cords of his limb that
+had become so sadly twisted. Raymond remained on
+guard, but neither the bear nor anything else came
+to disturb them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At daybreak it was still raining, but the clouds
+showed signs of breaking away, and before nine
+o’clock the hot midsummer sun shone as brightly as
+ever.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are in a bad plight, no two ways about it,”
+said the backwoodsman. “What is best to do I
+must say I don’t know.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t believe I can walk very far yet,” answered
+Dave despondently. “My knee feels as stiff
+as if it was in a vise.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps I had better scout around a little, leaving
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>you here. It is barely possible I may run across
+some of the others and find out what became of
+your cousin.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then go, by all means!” cried Dave. “You cannot
+do me a greater favor than to find Henry.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But you must lay low, lad. The Injuns may be
+closer nor you think.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I will keep quiet. But I’d like to have a drink
+before you go,” answered the young soldier.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Some water was obtained, and he gulped it down
+eagerly, and bathed his sprained knee with what remained.
+Then cautioning him once more, Raymond
+left him, the backwoodsman setting off in the direction
+of the lake front.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>If the night had seemed lonely, the time now was
+doubly so to Dave, who could do nothing but nurse
+his bruise and keep a lookout for a possible enemy.
+His thoughts traveled constantly to his cousin, and
+he wondered if Raymond would bring in any news
+of Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He ought to learn something,” he told himself
+over and over. “I am sure I could if I was in his
+place.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Nine o’clock came and then ten o’clock, and still
+the silence of the forest remained unbroken save for
+the occasional song of some distant bird, and the
+buzzing of bees around an adjacent bee-tree. The
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>nearness of this bee-tree put Dave in mind of that
+discovered by his uncle and himself while on their
+trip to Annapolis some years before. What great
+changes had occurred since that time!</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This war has been an awful thing, and I shall
+be glad when it is at an end,” he thought. “But
+unless we win, there will be trouble with the Indians
+and the French for years and years to come.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was almost noon when he heard a faint sound
+in the woods to the north of the tree. Instantly he
+caught up his musket, which had been resting in a
+crotch close at hand.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Slowly the sound came closer, and he could hear
+the labored breathing of some man or animal. He
+leaned as far down as possible to catch a glimpse of
+the newcomer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Shamer!” he murmured.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He called the soldier’s name softly, and Shamer
+paused in wonderment.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Who is calling me?” he panted.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am, Dave Morris, Shamer. I am up in the
+tree. Are you alone?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, and I can hardly walk,” groaned the soldier.
+“A bullet struck me in the calf of the leg.
+Any Indians around here?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I haven’t seen any. My knee is hurt. Raymond
+was with me, but he has gone down to the shore to
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>take a look around. Do you know anything of my
+cousin Henry and the others?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Gilfoy is dead.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, Raymond said they had killed him. And
+the others?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The Indians captured both Silvers and Henry
+and carried them off,” was Shamer’s answer, which
+caused Dave’s heart to sink like a lump of lead in his
+bosom.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER VIII<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>IN THE HANDS OF FRIENDS</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>Shamer</span> was completely exhausted, and reaching
+the trunk of the tree in which Dave was perched he
+threw himself down to rest and regain his breath.
+His uniform was much torn and covered with dirt
+and there were ugly scratches on his hands and
+face.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I had a terrible time of it after we got separated,”
+he said, after a pause. “Four redskins attacked me,
+and I had to knock over two of them before I could
+get away. Then I ran down to the shore, and got
+into another mix-up with an Indian and some
+Frenchmen, who had just come down the lake in a
+big flat-bottomed boat.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Was that when you saw Henry and Silvers?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, I didn’t see them until two hours later, after
+the fight came to an end. I hid in the rocks down
+near the lake, and while I was there I saw the flat-bottomed
+boat again. There were six Indians in it
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>and two Frenchmen, besides Silvers and your
+cousin.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Was Henry much hurt?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I can’t tell you about that. Both he and Silvers
+were bound with ropes and crowded into the bow of
+the boat, and I couldn’t get a very good look at them
+on account of the others. I might have given the
+Frenchmen and the redskins a shot or two, but I
+was afraid they would come ashore again and catch
+me, for I was too tired out to run. I went back into
+the woods, and early this morning I got into a fight
+with another Indian. But he was wounded, and I
+soon got the best of him,” concluded the soldier.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“How was the flat-bottomed boat headed?” asked
+Dave, after another pause.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The last I saw of it it was headed almost due
+north.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then the Frenchmen and the Indians were bound
+to Canada with their prisoners,” groaned Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It looks like it, Morris.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A long spell of silence followed, Dave turning the
+situation over in his mind and Shamer dragging
+himself to the pool, to drink and to bathe his
+wounds.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was some time after the noon hour when Raymond
+came back, skulking through the forest as
+silently as a shadow. On catching sight of Shamer
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>he raised his musket, but just as quickly lowered
+the weapon.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“So you escaped, eh?” said he. “I am glad to
+hear it. I saw poor Gilfoy’s body, scalped, and I
+was afraid you and the others had shared the same
+fate.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He sat down and had the German-American soldier
+tell his story, as it had already been told to
+Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s too bad,” he declared. “And the worst of
+it is, we are not yet out of this trap. The most of
+the redskins are gone, and I saw no Frenchmen, but
+at least four Injuns are still on guard—two at the
+lake front and two down on a trail leading to Fort
+Oswego.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That means that we are hemmed in,” said Dave,
+who was leaning down from the tree branch listening.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, lad. How is the knee?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am sorry to say it is just as bad as ever, if not
+worse.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Raymond climbed into the tree and inspected the
+injured limb, which was considerably swollen.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It certainty does look bad,” he said. “One thing
+is certain, you are not able to sneak through the
+woods now, and it’s doubtful if you can do it after
+sundown.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>“Well, I suppose I can’t remain here forever,”
+returned the young soldier, rather helplessly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We can help him along, after I get my wind
+back,” put in Shamer, who had bound up the arrow
+wound he had received.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>During his tour of inspection Raymond had been
+able to pick up a few stores, left near the shelter by
+the rocks, and he now offered both of his companions
+something to eat. Shamer partook readily of
+the food, but poor Dave was almost choked by it.
+The young soldier’s thoughts were constantly with
+Henry. Would he ever see his cousin again?</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Raymond noticed how downcast the lad was, and
+did his best to cheer him up.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t take it so hard, Dave,” he said kindly.
+“Remember, he isn’t killed, and many a prisoner
+has escaped ere this. Besides, if they put him in
+prison, this war is bound to come to an end, sooner
+or later, and then he’ll be set free.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That may be true,” returned the young soldier.
+“But you know as well as I do what the French prisons
+are like—the very worst holes on earth.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That may be only evil report, my lad. True it
+is that some Frenchmen, even though they be our
+enemies, are as good-hearted as any Englishman
+ever dared to be.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That is true,” broke in Shamer. “A good man
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>is a good man, and a bad one is a bad one, no matter
+what his nationality. But I have no use for an
+Indian.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Well, there are some good Indians,” added Dave
+quickly. “White Buffalo, for instance. If he was
+here I am sure he would help us out of our trouble.
+But I can’t get Henry out of my mind,” he added,
+with a sigh.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave was glad enough to leave his cramped position
+in the tree and stretch himself at full length
+on a bed of dry leaves in the sunshine. So the
+balance of the day passed, with nothing coming to
+disturb them. Raymond half expected to see the
+old she bear, but she did not show herself, and he
+was content to let her remain with her cubs.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“How far is the trail to Fort Oswego from
+here?” asked the young soldier, when the darkness
+began to gather.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Not over half a mile.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I was thinking I might get that far on a pinch.
+But even if we got to the trail, what then?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ve got a plan,” said Raymond. “I’ll carry
+you on my back. We can take our time, and we
+are bound to reach Fort Oswego sooner or later.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If we don’t fall into some redskins’ trap,” put
+in Shamer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Well, I suppose we must take some chances,”
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>said Dave. “It is very kind to offer to carry
+me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The start was begun a short while later, Shamer
+carrying the guns and what was left of the provisions,
+and Dave perched on Raymond’s shoulders,
+for that was the manner in which the backwoodsman
+declare he could carry the load most comfortably.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was a good hour before the trail to Fort
+Oswego was gained—a rough, narrow path, first
+used by the buffalo of upper New York State and
+then by the Indians and traders. They advanced
+with caution, Shamer leading the way with his
+musket held before him, ready to fight at the first
+sign of an enemy.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The night proved to be clear, with no moon, but
+with countless stars. Along the trail all was silent—even
+the night birds failing to utter their lonely
+notes.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>After a rest the journey along the trail was begun,
+Shamer leading the way as before. The forest was
+thick on either side, and in many spots there were
+rough rocks to cross, which made Raymond puff
+and blow over his load. More than once Dave
+said he would get down and try to walk, but the
+backwoodsman would not allow it.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ve brought in a big deer on my shoulders
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>more than once,” he declared. “And you don’t
+weigh any more.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>By daylight ten or eleven miles had been covered,
+and all were glad to rest again, by the side of a
+brook flowing into the lake. The journey had been
+no easier for Dave than for the others, and more
+than once he had felt like crying out with pain
+when Raymond gripped his sore limb harder than
+usual.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ours has certainly been an ill-fated expedition,”
+observed Raymond, as he munched a bit of biscuit,
+while the others did the same. “If we ever get
+out of it alive, it will be a sorry report we’ll have
+to offer to the commander at Fort Oswego and to
+Sir William Johnson.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I can’t see how we are to be blamed,” answered
+Dave. “We were attacked by a superior force
+and fought as well as we could.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Sir William told us to keep to the lake,” put
+in Shamer. “But of course we couldn’t do that
+with such a wind.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It had been decided that it would be safest to
+rest during the day and travel at night. Accordingly
+Raymond and Shamer lay down for a nap
+of four hours, leaving Dave on guard.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The four hours were almost up, and the young
+soldier was beginning to feel sleepy himself, when
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>a noise in the forest on the other side of the brook
+caused him to start up.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It must be either a man or a wild animal,” he
+reasoned and placed his finger on the trigger of
+his flint-lock musket, after satisfying himself that
+the priming was in good condition.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Slowly the noise came closer, and presently he
+heard two men talking in English.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If they are English they must be friends,”
+thought the young man joyfully, but still he continued
+on guard. He awakened Raymond and
+Shamer by a light touch.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What is it?” came from Raymond.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Two men are over yonder. I can hear them
+talking.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then we had better get out of sight until we
+are sure of who they are,” put in Shamer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Secreted in the bushes they waited until the two
+unknown ones came down the edge of the brook.
+They were dressed in the garb of frontiersmen and
+each carried a rifle and a game-bag.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Game is putty well scart off, Chester,” said one.
+“The cap’n won’t git much fresh meat from us,”
+and he gave a droll laugh.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That’s about the size on it, Holden,” was the
+reply. “Yet I reckoned on some b’ar bein’ around
+here.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>“I am sure they will be friends,” whispered
+Dave. “They are probably from the fort.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Raymond nodded. Then he called aloud:</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hullo, there, friends!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The two frontiersmen started, and each raised his
+rifle.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Who calls?” questioned the one named Chester.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A lost soldier,” answered Raymond, and presented
+himself to view. “I take it you are English,”
+he added.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are. Where are you from?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Raymond told them, and then Dave and Shamer
+also presented themselves. The two frontiersmen
+leaped the brook and listened to their story with
+keen interest.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You’ve certainty had a tough fight of it,” said
+the man named Holden. “I held all along thet them
+Frenchmen would be over here nosin’ ’round an’
+thet they’d bring some redskins with ’em.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Are you from Fort Oswego?” asked Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are. We are attached to Cap’n Neely’s
+company o’ rangers. We came out lookin’ for a
+bit o’ fresh meat. But now I reckon the best thing
+we can do is to help you to git to the fort, ain’t
+thet so?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If you will be so kind.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>“Aint no kindness; it’s jest plain duty,” said
+Chester.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The frontiersmen felt certain that no more Indians
+were left in the vicinity. Yet they promised
+to keep a strict guard, and a little later our friends
+moved off once more in the direction of Fort Oswego,
+the frontiersman named Chester carrying
+Dave on his back for a mile or two and then being
+relieved by his companion, and later by Raymond.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Thus the march was kept up all of that day and
+also part of the next, and at two o’clock in the
+afternoon they came in sight of Fort Oswego, with
+the flag of old England floating proudly in the
+breeze above it.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER IX<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>WHAT BEFELL HENRY</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>Let</span> us now return to Henry, and see what happened
+to him during the time that Dave was making
+his escape to Fort Oswego.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As we already know, Henry had attacked one
+of the Indians with his hunting knife. In a moment
+more both were struggling on the ground, in
+a close embrace which was truly desperate.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry was strong for his age and during his life
+had been in more than one close encounter with both
+red men and wild animals. He felt that he was
+fighting for his life and he did not intend to give
+the Indian the slightest advantage.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The young soldier felt the red man’s hand creeping
+toward his throat, but he caught the wrist and
+bent it backward, until the Indian had to squirm
+to one side to prevent that member from being
+broken. But then the Indian made another twist
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>and got his arm over Henry’s neck, pressing him
+closer and closer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>There was but one way left in which to throw
+the Indian off, and this the young solder used without
+delay. Drawing up his knee he set it against
+the enemy’s chest and forced it forward, at the same
+time holding the red man across the back by one
+hand and by the leg with the other.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The awful pressure thus brought to bear was
+more than the Indian could stand. Fearful of
+having his ribs crushed in, he released Henry’s
+throat. At once the youth threw up the leg he was
+holding and the red man went spinning over on his
+back.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>By this time other Indians were at hand, and an
+arrow hit Henry in the fleshy part of the arm.
+Raising his hunting knife, he struck at one of the
+newcomers, piercing his shoulder. Then he made
+a leap up the rock and another to the bushes beyond,
+and with the swiftness of a wild animal disappeared
+into the forest.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The blood of the Indian who had been struck
+was now aroused, as was also the anger of the one
+who had been thrown down, and the pair made
+after the young soldier, followed by two other
+warriors.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Through the forest went pursued and pursuers,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>until, having run in something of a semicircle,
+Henry came out on the lake front, at a spot some
+distance above where the two rowboats had been
+drawn up. Here he espied an Indian canoe, and,
+leaping in, began to paddle out into the lake with
+all speed.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The first intimation he had of the closeness of
+his enemies was when an arrow flew by the canoe,
+to land in the water beyond. Other arrows followed,
+and then came the report of a gun, but he
+remained untouched.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The Indians were now running along shore, and
+soon they came upon the two Frenchmen already
+mentioned in these pages. They belonged to the
+Canadian militia and their uniforms were such in
+name only. They had come to the south shore of
+the lake for information, having been promised a
+good reward by the Governor-General of Canada if
+they succeeded in bringing back news of importance.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Under the directions of the Frenchmen four of
+the Indians set off in one of the rowboats after
+Henry, who was still paddling westward with all
+the speed at his command. The red men were
+ordered to capture the young soldier alive if possible,
+but if not, to kill him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was not long before Henry discovered how
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>the pursuit had been renewed. He had now reached
+a good-sized inlet and was still some distance from
+the shore. He turned in with all speed, knowing
+that a fight of four to one on the water could only
+end in his defeat.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If I only had my musket,” he said, half aloud,
+but the firearm had been left on the ground at the
+camp, after the first hand-to-hand struggle.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The shore was almost reached, when the Indians
+set up a yell, and while two of them continued to
+row the other two rose up and fixed arrows in their
+bows.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“White soldier stop!” cried one, in bad English.
+“Stop, or be killed!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I reckon you’ll kill me anyway,” muttered
+Henry, and as the canoe grated on the shore, he
+dropped the paddle, caught up his hunting knife,
+and leaped to land.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It is barely possible that the youth might have
+escaped to the forest once more. But as he ran
+for the trees, two Indians suddenly appeared before
+him. One carried a stout stick, and without warning
+he struck Henry a heavy blow on the head. The
+young soldier uttered a moan, staggered from side
+to side, and then fell senseless.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In a moment more, and just as the Indian who
+had struck the blow was bending over the unconscious
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>youth to scalp him, the Indians in the rowboat
+came up.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Rising Moon must stop,” called one of the
+number. “He must not scalp the pale face.” He
+spoke in his native tongue.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why does Falling Waters speak thus?” demanded
+the other. “It was Rising Moon’s hand
+who laid the English soldier boy low.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Rising Moon has earned the scalp,” went on
+the first Indian. “But Falling Waters has orders
+to bring the soldier back alive.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At this Rising Moon’s face took on a sour look.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Who gave the order?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The Frenchman, Jacques Volnier. He is here
+with another. They seek news of importance from
+the English. We have sworn to stand by them, and
+we must obey,” added Falling Waters.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A long and angry discussion arose, but in the end
+Falling Waters carried his point, and Henry was
+taken to a rendezvous which the Canadian Indians
+had once occupied on the south shore of Lake
+Ontario.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The fight had by this time terminated, and the
+Frenchmen and the Indians had come out on the
+lake in a flat-bottomed boat. With his arms bound
+behind him, Henry, who was just recovering from
+the blow he had received, was made to march down
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>to the boat. Here he found Silvers also a prisoner,
+and suffering from several arrow wounds.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hullo, are you a prisoner?” cried the leader of
+the expedition, when one of the Frenchmen arose
+and clapped a hand over his mouth.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ze prisonair must not talk now,” he said, in
+broken English. “Ze prisonair can talk when we
+haf left ze shore.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“All right,” muttered Silvers, and glad that the
+Frenchmen had compelled the Indians to spare his
+life, he relapsed into silence.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As for poor Henry, his head was in a whirl and
+ached as if ready to split open. More than this, he
+felt stiff and sore all over, and he sat in the
+bow of the boat only with the greatest of difficulty.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As Shamer had told Dave, the boat contained
+six Indians, besides the two Frenchmen and the
+prisoners, so it was heavily loaded. The red men
+were at the oars, and they rowed with a steadiness
+that showed they had had practice in this art as well
+as with a paddle. The boat shot forward with good
+speed, and soon the south shore of the lake became
+a dim, uncertain line in the distance.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now ze prisonairs can tell us who za air,” said
+one of the Frenchmen, evidently the leader of the
+party.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>“I am not ashamed of that,” answered Silvers.
+“My name is Louis Silvers.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ah, Louis—zat ees a good name. And you?”
+went on the Frenchman, turning to the young
+soldier.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am Henry Morris.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You belong to ze soldiers at Fort Oswego, not
+so?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We do not,” answered Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Zen where from you come?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We have been up at Fort Niagara.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ah, I see—you help at ze capture of zat place,
+eh?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The Frenchman shook his head thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Zat was von bad work—zat fight. I no haf
+been dair, but I hear, yes, I hear it all.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Who are you?” asked Henry boldly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Me? Ah, I am not much, my bold little
+troopair, I am plain Jacques Volnier, a hunter and
+trappair.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then why have you captured us?” went on
+Henry curiously.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At this the Frenchman shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Because—yes, because we want ze company,”
+he answered, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry frowned, and so did Silvers, and at this
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>both Frenchmen laughed at what they thought was
+a good joke. Then they talked to each other in
+their own tongue, leaving the prisoners to themselves.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What do you think they will do with us?”
+asked Henry, in a low voice.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Throw us into a French prison, more than
+likely,” answered Silvers gloomily.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What did you do with Sir William’s message?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hush! I threw it overboard,” said the other,
+in a still lower voice.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The strong sun was now beginning to tell upon
+Henry, and he said no more. He wanted to keep his
+senses, but presently all seemed to fade from him.
+He felt himself pitch into Silvers’ arms, and then
+he knew no more for the time being.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Poor lad,” murmured Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What is ze mattair?” demanded Jacques
+Volnier.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He has fainted. Won’t you untie me so that I
+can do something for him?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“<i>Oui! oui!</i>” was the answer, and in a moment
+more Silvers was free. He untied Henry and bathed
+his forehead, and presently the young soldier opened
+his eyes. But it was not until long after sundown
+that Henry felt anything like himself again, and
+even then he was almost too weak to stand.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>The two prisoners wondered where they were
+being taken, but could get nothing from either the
+Frenchmen or the Indians. The rowboat was
+headed to the northeast, and this showed that the
+general direction was for the mouth of the St. Lawrence.
+On and on swept the craft, through the
+dismal night and still on when the morning
+came.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They are going quite a distance,” said Henry,
+after he had swallowed a piece of bread that had
+been given to him. “Can it be that they mean to
+move right down the river?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is possible,” answered Silvers. “Montreal,
+you know, is not so very far away.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At last the boat turned to the eastward, and that
+evening a landing was made near what is to-day
+Wolfe Island. There had been a small settlement
+here, but this was abandoned, the inhabitants having
+withdrawn to a fort on the mainland.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At the island the Indians left the party and some
+other Frenchmen appeared, one owning a fair-sized
+sloop, which boasted a small swivel gun. The
+prisoners were made to board the sloop, and now
+their hands were chained behind them. The sloop
+had a small cuddy and into this they were forced,
+the door being closed and locked after them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are in a pickle now surely!” groaned
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>Henry. “I believe they are going to take us down
+the river.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was not until late at night when the anchor
+was hoisted and the sails of the sloop were set. Then
+the craft slipped by the island, and past Fort Frontenac,
+and stood boldly down the stream in the
+direction of the Thousand Islands.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER X<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>The</span> night passed slowly to the two prisoners
+confined in the narrow space of the sloop’s cuddy.
+No one came to speak to them, and as hour after
+hour went by first one and then the other dropped
+off to sleep.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>When Henry awoke it was broad daylight, and
+the sloop was bounding along at a rapid rate of
+speed. Through the one narrow window of the
+cuddy he saw that they were passing a shore filled
+with waving grass and dotted here and there with
+low trees.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are going down the St. Lawrence, that is
+certain. But to where?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In vain he asked the question of himself, and then
+of Silvers. The sharpshooter merely shrugged his
+shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I know nothing of these parts, lad,” he said.
+“We must take what comes.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>At noon they received a scanty meal and a drink
+of lukewarm water. A sailor served this, and as
+he could talk French only they learned nothing from
+him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was nightfall when the sloop’s trip came to an
+end. Cramped and stiff, the prisoners were made
+to march ashore, to where was located an old convent,
+now fallen mostly to decay. Some soldiers
+were quartered here, and the prisoners were turned
+over to a guard and promptly put into what had
+once been the cell of a monk.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Worse and worse,” said Henry. “What do
+you think will happen next?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Again Silvers shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t know, lad, unless they march us out to
+be shot.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Would they do that? They did not catch us
+in French territory.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“As we are in their power they can do with us
+as they please.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Early in the morning the pair were aroused by
+the roll of a drum. Some of the soldiers were getting
+ready to march away, and the prisoners were
+told that they were to march with them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To where?” asked Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To Montreal, and perhaps to Quebec,” said the
+officer addressed, who could speak excellent English.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>Henry wanted to ask more questions, but the officer
+had no time to listen to him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>By eight o’clock the soldiers were on the march,
+with the two prisoners in their midst. The way was
+along the river trail, past many pretty farms and
+handsome French estates, many of which, however,
+were now abandoned. At one point in the road they
+came upon several ladies on horseback, who stared
+in wonder at the prisoners.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They seem to think we are wild beasts,” laughed
+Silvers. He bowed politely, but the ladies turned
+and rode away.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It will be unnecessary to go into the details of
+the weary march that followed the tramp along the
+river trail. For four days the prisoners were kept
+on the road. Montreal was passed, with only a faraway
+glimpse of its large cathedral and its seminary,
+and then the course was almost straight for Quebec.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>So far the prisoners had been treated fairly well,
+but now came a change in the command; and they
+were given food that was hardly fit to eat.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We can’t stand this very long,” was Henry’s
+comment, as he threw away a moldy crust that it
+was impossible to swallow. “I’d choke on such
+stuff.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The officer in charge of them saw the crust
+thrown away, and came up shaking his fist at them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>“Zat ees ze best you vill git,” he cried. “Of you
+no eat zat, you starve!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“All right, we’ll starve then,” replied Henry
+recklessly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Bah! you think you are ze brave boy, eh? Ze
+English za be all grand cowards!” And the Frenchman
+went off in disgust.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He’s a cheerful dog,” muttered Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The next day the fare was even worse, and both
+of the prisoners were on the point of open rebellion.
+At night the French officer brought in an aged
+Englishman to talk to them. The Englishman was
+a Canadian settler.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They are bound to make you talk,” said the
+Englishman. “If you will tell all you know they
+will treat you better.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Tell what?” asked Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Tell all the plans of the English soldiers.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But we know very little,” put in Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The French captain thinks you know a great
+deal. He says the man who captured you, Jacques
+Volnier, is certain one of you is a noted spy.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He must mean me,” said Silvers. “If so, he
+is much mistaken. I am nothing but a plain
+soldier.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And so am I,” added Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am willing to believe that, for your faces are
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>honest ones,” said the old Englishman. “But
+you know how suspicious these Frenchmen
+are.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“How come you here?” asked Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is a long story. Years ago I married a
+young lady whose parents lived not far from Quebec.
+When they died, they left her the farm and
+all its fine buildings. We moved to this place and
+have been here ever since. I am seventy-three years
+old, and so far I have refused to take either side in
+this struggle.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Did they send you here to bribe us?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The old man drew himself up.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They could not do that. They asked me to
+talk to you, that is all. I am afraid if you will tell
+them nothing it will go hard with you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We cannot tell what we do not know,” said
+Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That is true.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The old man asked them their names, and in return
+said his name was Peter Merton. He said he
+had a son, who had left home at the beginning of
+the war, and what had become of his offspring he
+did not know.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I have an idea he joined the English army,”
+he said. “If so, I sincerely trust that no harm
+comes to him.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>The old Englishman remained with them for the
+best part of an hour. He told them that the camp
+was located not far from the north bank of the St.
+Lawrence, a few miles above Quebec.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I cannot tell you what General Wolfe is now
+doing,” he said. “We get very little news.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I heard some cannon firing last night,” said
+Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh, yes, we get plenty of that. But very little
+damage is done. I do not believe that General
+Wolfe really means to demolish Quebec.” And in
+this surmise the old man was correct.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>When the old man was leaving, he shook hands
+with them. As he did this he pressed into the hand
+of each a piece of gold money.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You may find it useful,” he whispered. And
+before they could protest he was gone.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He is certainly a good-hearted fellow,” said
+Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He might have helped us to escape,” said Silvers,
+as he slipped the gold piece in his pocket.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, I think he was too old for that,” returned
+Henry, and then glancing on the ground he uttered
+a low cry, for there lay a small and exceedingly
+sharp dagger.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He dropped that, and most likely on purpose,”
+exclaimed the sharpshooter. “I’ll keep it, for it
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>may come in handy,” and he placed the dagger in
+his bosom.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry and Silvers had been confined for the night
+in an old house. Two sleepy French soldiers were
+on guard. As one of them came in to see that they
+were up to no mischief Silvers motioned to him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do you talk English?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Verra little,” answered the soldier, who was
+of the peasantry and exceedingly stupid.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are hungry, and want something to eat and
+to drink,” went on Silvers, and pointed to his
+mouth.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At this the soldier shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We will pay for whatever you get us,” went
+on the sharpshooter, showing the gold coin. “You
+buy us something, and keep half the money.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The eyes of the peasant opened widely at sight
+of the gold coin, the like of which he had not seen
+for months, for his pay as a soldier was but a few
+francs per week.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I no—you——” he stammered.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For reply Silvers made a motion as to cut the
+coin in half. Then he pointed to the soldier’s
+pocket and then to his own mouth and to Henry’s
+mouth. The peasant comprehended and a dull smile
+overspread his features. He went out to consult
+the other soldier on guard.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>A few minutes later the fellow came back and
+took the gold coin. Then, regardless of army regulations,
+he left his gun with his companion and stole
+away in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He has gone for the food,” whispered Silvers
+to Henry. “Now the question is, shall we wait for
+him to get back, or make a dash for liberty?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Let us try for liberty,” exclaimed the young
+soldier eagerly. “If we can only get away, I
+am sure we can find something to eat somewhere.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I have a plan,” said the sharpshooter. “Do
+you see yonder chimney?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Of course.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We might pretend to run away and hide in that.
+Then, when the soldiers disperse to hunt for us, we
+can cut sticks and off.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>This plan was agreed to, and having examined
+the chimney and found out how they could secrete
+themselves inside, they both peeped out at the single
+guard, who was walking up and down, humming to
+himself.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now!” cried Silvers, and they made a racket
+as if climbing through a side window, letting the
+sash fall with a crash. Then both ran to the
+chimney and hid with all possible speed.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The guard gave a cry in French and came running
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>up. One glance showed him the empty room and
+his eyes strayed to the window.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Gone!” he muttered, in his native tongue.
+“And through yonder window! Oh, the artful
+rascals! But I shall catch them, or shoot them
+down!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He made off, and they heard him start to give
+the alarm. But then he thought of his companion
+and the gold piece. If the commanding officer heard
+of how the one guard had gone off there would be
+trouble ahead for both. He ran around wildly, at
+length taking a road leading to the river bank.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now is our chance,” said Henry, and dropped
+out of the chimney, covered with soot and as black
+as a negro. Rushing outside, he caught up the gun
+belonging to the guard who had gone for the food.
+As he did this Silvers drew the dagger he had picked
+up, and thus armed the pair started for the nearest
+patch of woodland, several hundred feet away.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But the alarm was now general, in spite of
+the guard’s effort to keep the affair quiet, and they
+heard calls from several directions.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If we get away it’s going to be a tight squeeze,”
+said Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must get away,” cried Henry. “Come on,”
+and he set off at a faster pace than ever.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XI<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>ABOARD THE FIRE-BOAT</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>The</span> edge of the woods was gained when a shot
+rang out, but whether directed at Henry or the
+sharpshooter neither could tell.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They will be after us hot-footed in another minute,”
+said the young soldier. “How shall we turn?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It will be folly to turn to the river just yet,” answered
+Silvers. “They will be sure to hunt for us
+there. Let us hide in the opposite direction until the
+alarm is over.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As the pair passed into the wood they saw a man
+coming along a well-beaten path. He carried a bundle
+under one arm and two bottles under the other.
+As he came closer they recognized the soldier who
+had taken the gold piece. He had brought food and
+some wine from a chateau not far away, where he
+was well known. He started to yell, but Silvers
+stopped him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>“Silence!” he cried. “Silence, if you value your
+life.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But the peasant was too frightened to listen, and
+yelling loudly he dropped his bundle and bottles and
+ran for the soldiers’ camp as swiftly as his slim legs
+would carry him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This may come useful,” said Henry, as he picked
+up the bundle, which was done up in a bit of white
+cloth.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ditto one of these,” added Silvers, and slipped
+a bottle of wine into his coat pocket.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The wood passed they came in sight of the chateau,
+a pretty place, built of stone, covered with ivy,
+and set in a park of shrubbery. Back of the chateau
+were a barn and several other outbuildings.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A light was burning in an upper room of the chateau,
+but otherwise the entire place was dark.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Let us make for the barns,” whispered Silvers.
+“They ought to afford some sort of a hiding place.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry was willing, and in a trice they had leaped
+the fence fronting a road and were running to the
+nearest of the outbuildings, which loomed up
+vaguely in the darkness. The shelter of the structure
+gained, they found an open door and ran inside.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The barn was divided into two parts, one for the
+horses, of which there were four, and the other for
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>hay and grain. Back of the barn were a cow-shed
+and a milk house.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Shall we get into the hay?” whispered Henry.
+They could already hear the pursuers on the roadway.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They will be sure to search that,” answered Silvers.
+“Wait a second.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The sharpshooter bent down and tried several of
+the boards of the floor. As he had hoped, one was
+loose, and beneath was an opening of no mean size.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Just the thing. In you go,” he went on, and
+Henry dropped down, followed by his companion,
+and the board was lowered into place over them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was a damp, foul-smelling hole, but to this they
+did not just then pay attention. With bated breath
+they strained their ears to catch some sound of those
+who were after them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was a good five minutes before anybody came
+into the place, to tramp loudly directly over their
+heads. There were four or five soldiers, and the
+two in hiding heard them move among the horses
+and through the grain room and the hay mow. The
+soldiers spoke in French, so neither Henry nor Silvers
+knew what was said.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Following the examination of the barn, the soldiers
+looked over the other buildings, and even into
+the water vat of the milk house. Then they went
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>outside and looked around the trees in the chateau
+park, and among the bushes.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They must have gone further,” said the corporal
+in charge, in French. “They were afraid to
+stay here.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Unless we catch them it will go hard with Gaston
+and Pasmont,” said another. “The captain said
+they must keep a good watch over the sly rascals.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>After the French soldiers had gone the barn became
+as silent as a tomb.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What an escape!” whispered Henry half joyously.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hush, lad,” warned Silvers. “We are not yet
+out of the woods.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For half an hour they remained under the flooring
+of the barn, and then, unable to endure the smell
+any longer, they left the hole and moved up into the
+hay mow, now half filled with the summer crop.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry had brought the food in the cloth with
+him, and, being hungry, both proceeded to make a
+meal in the hay, Silvers drinking from the bottle
+of wine and the young soldier procuring some water
+from the milk house.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What shall be our next move?” asked Henry,
+feeling that the sharpshooter was the leader.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Better stay here until to-morrow night,” answered
+Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>“As long as that!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why not? It’s more comfortable here than in
+prison, and by to-morrow night the excitement will
+have blown over and we’ll have a much better chance
+to get away than we’ll have now.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry could not help but see the force of this argument.
+Yet to wait twenty-four hours under such
+circumstances appeared to be a never-ending period
+of time.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Slowly the balance of the night wore away and
+day came on. A farmhand came to feed the horses
+and hitch one to a cart, and a maid came out to milk
+three cows, but otherwise they did not see or hear a
+soul. As she worked around the milk house the
+maid sang a gay song in French, as if no such thing
+as a war existed.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It takes a French girl to do that,” observed Silvers.
+“No English girl could sing so happily with
+danger at the very door of the home.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The French are a gay people,” answered Henry.
+“But, just the same, they can fight when they want
+to.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At last the sun went down and night came on.
+They had eaten the last of the food brought along,
+and Silvers had long since finished his bottle of
+wine. It was somewhat cloudy, which promised to
+be in their favor.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>“Now we’ll see what fate has in store for us,”
+said Silvers, after a long look around the outbuildings.
+“Shall I carry the musket, or will you?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“As you are the best shot, you had better take
+it,” answered Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then I’ll give you the knife,” went on the sharpshooter,
+and passed over the dagger.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The gun was in the same condition as when taken
+from the prison, and they had taken care to preserve
+the powder for priming.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>They left the barn by a back door and lost no time
+in crossing a turnip and onion lot to a row of berry
+bushes skirting a ditch. Once at the ditch, they
+crawled along until they gained the shelter of the
+woods.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now we can make for the river,” said Silvers.
+“But how we are to get across remains a problem
+still to solve.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps we can find a canoe or a rowboat. Or,
+on a pinch, we can build a raft.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Not so easy, lad, without tools.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The woods were thick with underbrush, and it
+was no mean task to push a way through. Soon,
+however, they came to a well-beaten path, and along
+this they moved faster, Silvers in the lead, and both
+with eyes and ears strained to the utmost, for a possible
+sign of an enemy.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>“There is a building ahead,” said the sharpshooter,
+after a quarter of a mile had been covered.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It proved to be a fair-sized summer house, standing
+on a rocky cliff. Beyond was a series of rough
+stone steps, leading to the river bank, far below. At
+the shore was a rude dock, and here rested a long,
+strange-looking object, half boat and half raft, piled
+high with some straw and several barrels of pitch.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Some kind of a craft,” murmured Henry, as
+he looked forward in the uncertain light.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Be quiet, there may be soldiers on guard here,”
+whispered Silvers in return.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Making certain that they were not observed, the
+pair stole down the rough steps. They were
+almost at the bottom when a loose stone turned under
+Silvers’ foot and went crashing downward.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The crash of the falling stone was followed by a
+cry from a sentry stationed on the cliff. The cry
+was answered by another sentry, and soon several
+forms appeared.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must hide!” cried Henry, and ran away
+from the steps.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To the boat!” answered Silvers, and ran for the
+rude craft.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The young soldier followed, and just as they
+gained the boat a shot rang out. Then two soldiers
+came rushing down the rough steps.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>“That will keep you back,” muttered the sharpshooter,
+and fired the musket. One of the soldiers
+was hit in the breast and fell, and the other lost no
+time in seeking cover.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Once on board of the boat, the pair untied the
+line which held it to the rude dock. Poles were
+handy and they pushed off into the stream. Then
+each took a paddle and did what he could to move
+the craft to the south shore of the St. Lawrence.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“She’s a clumsy one, lad,” observed Silvers, as
+they pushed the craft around only with the greatest
+of difficulty.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I never saw such a boat before,” answered
+Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s a fire-boat, that’s what it is. The straw and
+pitch will make a red-hot fire.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A fire-boat? What for?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To send out among the shipping. Most likely
+the French thought to burn some of General Wolfe’s
+ships with it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I see. Hadn’t we better dump the straw and
+the barrels overboard? She will move quicker with
+no load.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No time now, lad. Pull, and pull for all you are
+worth, if you want to get away.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Both did their best, and as they worked they
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>heard a dozen or more of their enemies running up
+and down the river bank.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They are looking for another boat,” said Silvers.
+“I trust to luck they find none.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Suddenly they heard the cry of a number of Indians,
+who had joined the French sentries. Then
+came several shots, one striking a barrel of pitch
+and causing the stuff to overflow upon the straw.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Keep out of range, lad,” cried Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, and you do the same,” panted the young
+soldier. He was working with might and main to
+move the fire-boat further from the shore. “Do
+you see anything of another boat?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Not yet. But it can’t be that there are none
+somewhere about,” went on the sharpshooter.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Presently they beheld what looked like several
+torches flashing through the night. They were a
+dozen or more feet apart.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“By Joseph! but I don’t like that!” cried Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t like what?” queried Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Scarcely had he spoken when he understood what
+the sharpshooter meant. There was a whizzing,
+and the flaming arrows—for they were nothing
+less—flew all around the fire-boat. One touched the
+straw, but Silvers caught it instantly and hurled it
+into the water.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>“They mean to fire the boat!” gasped Henry.
+“If one of them plants itself in that pitch——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He got no further, for at that moment came another
+flight of the flaming arrows, seven or eight in
+number. Four fell on the boat, one in the very spot
+where the pitch had overflowed upon the straw.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The pair on the craft did their best to put out
+the flames, and two of the arrows went overboard
+the instant they landed. But the others could not
+be removed, and in two seconds more there was a
+flash and a roar, and the fire-boat burst into flames
+from end to end!</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XII<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>GENERAL WOLFE’S CAMP</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'>“<span class='sc'>We</span> can’t put out this fire!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must jump for our lives!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Such were the exclamations which burst simultaneously
+from the lips of Henry and the sharpshooter,
+as the flames shot skyward from the fire-boat.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Both leaped to the stern of the craft, where there
+was a plank extending over the water a distance of
+a few feet.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Let us haul the board overboard,” cried Silvers.
+“That will give us something to rest on.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>This advice was followed with difficulty. But at
+last the plank went down with a splash and the two
+escaping prisoners went with it.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>They were none too soon. The fire-boat now
+blazed up with increasing fury, and Henry’s coat
+was in a flame in two places. But the souse in the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>river saved the young soldier from more than a
+scorching.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Whi—which way now?” he sputtered as he
+came up and caught hold of one end of the plank,
+while Silvers grasped the other end.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Let us see if we can’t make the opposite shore.
+It’s our only chance.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The night won’t help us much, now the fire-boat
+is ablaze,” said Henry. For the conflagration
+cast a ruddy glare all around them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The fire-boat had been located a short distance below
+Sillery Cove, where the St. Lawrence was a little
+over a mile wide. The tide, which had been high
+in the afternoon, was running out rapidly, and this
+carried both the fire-boat and the plank along with
+it. Thus the Indians who had shot the flaming
+arrows and the French soldiers who had given the
+alarm were soon left far behind.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Both Henry and Silvers tried to guide the plank
+towards the south bank of the river, but in this they
+were only partly successful. Yet it was a great satisfaction
+to both to see that they were getting further
+and further away from the shore of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If we are not careful we will be washed right out
+to sea,” said Henry, after a long spell of silence, in
+which they gazed back in the semi-darkness, to see
+if they were being pursued.</p>
+
+<div id='p109'  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/p108.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+<div class='ic002'>
+<p>A short distance away was a broad-sterned brig.—<i>Page 109.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>“We are still a long distance from the ocean,
+lad,” responded Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Are we close to Quebec?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A mile or two above it, I think.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Another spell of silence followed, and then Henry
+let out a faint shout.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A ship! We are drifting directly upon a ship!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>His words proved true. But a short distance
+away was a broad-sterned brig, standing slowly
+down the stream.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If it’s a French craft we are lost,” whispered
+Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In a minute more the plank bumped up against
+the side of the brig, and they could see half a dozen
+sailors at the rail.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hullo there!” cried a rough English voice.
+“Keelhaul me, if there are not two soldiers on a
+board!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Frenchmen! spies!” put in another voice.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No! no! we are not spies!” called back Silvers
+joyfully. “We are prisoners escaped from the
+French.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Harken to that, mate. Escaped prisoners! In
+that case we must help ’em aboard.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was not long before a rope was thrown overboard,
+and with great difficulty Henry and Silvers
+climbed to the main deck of the ship, where they
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>were immediately surrounded by the captain and
+several other officers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Who are you?” demanded the captain sharply.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Royal Americans, sir,” responded Silvers,
+touching his forelock, while Henry did the same.
+“We were captured by the French and Indians
+about a week ago and made our escape last
+night.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If you are Royal Americans where do you belong?
+Certainly not in General Wolfe’s camp.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We belong to the army that was under General
+Prideaux. But he is dead, and Sir William Johnson
+took command.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Prideaux—at Fort Niagara? That is a long
+distance from here.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We were on our way to Oswego when we were
+taken. The French brought us across the lake, and
+then marched us down the river road to a prison
+near Sillery Cove.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The captain of the brig listened to their tale with
+much interest.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If you have been among the French you ought
+to be able to tell General Wolfe something worth
+listening to,” he said, when they had finished.
+“Some of the men on board are bound for his camp,
+and you may go along if you wish.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Where is his camp?” asked Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>“On the upper bank of this river, just below the
+Falls of Montmorenci. The general has been sick,
+but I heard this morning that he is now somewhat
+better.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“May I ask if you have been in a fight with the
+French?” came from the young soldier curiously.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hardly a fight. We have been ordered to stand
+up and down the river with the tide. This has kept
+the enemy on the move, watching not only this brig,
+but also a number of other ships, and is gradually
+wearing the French soldiers out. Did you hear anything
+of their colonists deserting?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I did,” cried Henry. “Two men who were on
+guard said that a hundred men had left in one day,
+so he had heard. I didn’t get any particulars.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Montcalm will find that this campaign is not
+yet over,” responded the captain of the brig grimly.
+“He thinks Quebec cannot be taken, but Wolfe will
+teach him a trick or two ere we hoist anchor for
+England.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was an hour later when the brig dropped anchor
+in the stream, midway between the Island of
+Orleans and the northwest shore of the St. Lawrence.
+Not a battery from Quebec had fired on the
+ship, and the English batteries on the southeast
+shore were also silent.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is my duty to send you over to General
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>Wolfe’s camp under guard,” said the captain of the
+brig. “I do not doubt but that you are to be
+trusted, but duty is duty, you know.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We’ll not complain,” answered Silvers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A boat was soon lowered and the sharpshooter
+and Henry entered this, followed by a coxswain
+and his crew, and two army officers, who had
+been on the trip of the brig. This boat was followed
+by a second and a third, and then all three headed
+for the shore below the Falls of Montmorenci.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It did not take long to reach the mud flats below
+the rocks fronting the river bank. Here the party
+was challenged by the grenadier guards, but quickly
+passed, and Henry and Silvers were marched up the
+bank by a rough trail.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Both the young soldier and the sharpshooter
+were thoroughly worn out by the trials they had
+endured, and having received some food on the brig,
+and dried their clothing, they did not remain awake
+long after having been assigned quarters.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was Henry who was the first to stir in the
+morning. The roll call of the long drums aroused
+him, and gazing out on something of a parade
+ground he saw the grenadiers forming to answer to
+their names.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This looks natural,” he observed to his companion,
+who arose lazily and stretched himself. “I
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>must say these soldiers of General Wolfe look as if
+they meant business.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was not long after this that a guard came in
+and told them to prepare for an interview with General
+Wolfe. They at once  brushed up as best they
+could, and the guard supplied them with caps, to replace
+those which had been lost.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>General Wolfe’s headquarters were in a house
+some distance back from the Falls of Montmorenci.
+The general had been taken seriously ill about the
+middle of August and was now slowly recovering.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At the time of this campaign, which was to make
+him famous in the world’s history, General James
+Wolfe was but thirty-two years of age. He was
+tall and slender, with sloping shoulders and with a
+face that showed more of quietness than determination.
+But his eyes were bright and under certain
+circumstances could flash forth a hidden fire that
+meant much. His hair was red, and worn in a cue,
+as was the fashion at that time.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>James Wolfe came of fighting stock, his father,
+Major-General Edward Wolfe, being a distinguished
+officer before him. The son entered the King’s army
+at the age of fifteen, and one year later served in
+Flanders as the adjutant of a regiment. From Flanders
+he went to Scotland, to fight gallantly at Culloden,
+and then at Stirling, Perth, and Glasgow.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>At twenty-three he was a lieutenant-colonel, holding
+that rank for five years, when he obtained leave of
+absence and spent a long vacation in Paris.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>With the breaking out of the war with France
+Wolfe was again in his element. He sailed on the
+expedition against Louisburg, where he served
+with great honor to himself. Because of this service
+he was chosen by Pitt to command the expedition
+against Quebec. He sailed on the 17th of February,
+his fleet consisting of twenty-two ships
+of the line, and also numerous frigates, transports,
+and other craft. We have already seen how he
+landed on the Island of Orleans and at other points,
+and how he tried to break in upon the almost impregnable
+French position at the Falls of Montmorenci.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry had heard much about General Wolfe and
+of what a sturdy and well-trained army officer he
+was, and the young soldier was rather surprised to
+find himself ushered into the presence of one who
+looked so young and mild. Wolfe’s sickness had
+left him pale and weak, yet he soon showed that he
+had all his old-time determination to win still in
+him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You may tell me your story, but be brief,” he
+said, to Henry, who had been brought in first, and
+then settled back in his chair to listen. He did not
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>interrupt the recital, but when the young soldier had
+finished he asked a number of questions, all of which
+Henry answered as clearly as he could.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You have certainly had your share of adventures,”
+said General Wolfe. “I imagine you did
+not expect to find yourself here when you started
+out for Oswego.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That is true, sir,” answered Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And you wish to get back at once? That will
+be rather difficult, I am afraid.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I do not care so much about getting back, sir.
+But I should like to know what has become of my
+cousin, David Morris, and the others.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You had better rest for a few days, and then I
+will have one of my aids see what can be done for
+you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Thank you, general,” said Henry, and with a
+salute he withdrew.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The interview accorded to Silvers was similar to
+the foregoing, excepting that the sharpshooter was
+questioned in regard to such French defenses as he
+had seen along the river front. Then both were
+told that they were no longer under guard, and
+could come and go, within the limits of the camp,
+as they pleased.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XIII<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>SCALING THE HEIGHTS OF QUEBEC</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>Both</span> Henry and Silvers were much interested
+in the inspection of the camp General Wolfe had
+established near the Falls of Montmorenci and along
+the St. Lawrence River.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The falls at this point were a grand sight, tumbling
+over the rough rocks that lined the gorge with
+a thunder which to the young soldier seemed a second
+Niagara. Below the falls was a stretch of
+smooth water, and here was a succession of shoals,
+dry, or nearly so, during low tide.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The French camp was within sight between the
+trees, and it is said that the English and French
+guards occasionally spoke to each other further up
+the small stream, where the noise was not so loud.
+But men as well as officers had to be careful, for
+each army had its sharpshooters posted, ready to
+bring down any enemy who showed himself.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>During the time spent near the falls General
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>Wolfe had not been idle. He had tried his best to
+draw General Montcalm from his secure position by
+making moves up and down the St. Lawrence and
+by sending detachments hither and thither, to attack
+and destroy various villages, towns, and isolated
+chateaux and farmhouses. All were given over to
+the flames, and night after night the sky was lit up
+by the conflagrations.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>All of these deeds made the Marquis de Montcalm
+very angry, but he was too wily a general to
+be drawn into any trap. “Wolfe cannot dislodge
+me,” he said. “And soon his supplies will give out,
+winter will be on him, and he and his fleet will have
+to sail for home.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>His remarks were not mere guesswork. From
+various sources he learned that the English supplies
+were running low, and that many of the British
+soldiers were sick. Those on the fleet were growing
+tired of drifting up and down the river, and the admiral
+in charge knew that winter came early around
+Quebec.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Something will have to be done between now
+and the first of October,” said the admiral. “To
+remain in these waters after that would be a hardship.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Something shall be done,” said General Wolfe,
+and, still weak from his spell of sickness, he began
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>to lay new plans to force Montcalm into a
+battle.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Several days slipped by, and Henry was glad
+enough to take the rest thus afforded. On the
+fourth day a messenger appeared bringing in news
+from Fort Oswego.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hurrah!” shouted Henry, as he ran up to where
+Silvers sat smoking on a rock. “Dave is safe, and
+so are Shamer and Raymond. Oh, how glad I
+am!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That is good news!” returned the sharpshooter.
+“Wonder how they managed to escape?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The messenger didn’t know the full particulars.
+He says each was hurt a little, but not of any account.
+I can tell you, I feel much relieved”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t doubt it, Henry. I know you think a
+good deal of your cousin.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And why shouldn’t I? We have been playmates
+for years, and we have hunted and fished and fought
+together for ever so long, too. Dave is as close as
+a brother to me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Well, now you know he is safe, I reckon you
+won’t be so anxious to get to Fort Oswego as you
+was.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, I am going to send word to him that I am
+here, and then stay a while.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“So am I going to stay,” went on Silvers. “I
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>feel it in my bones that there will be a big fight here
+before this campaign closes.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>General Wolfe had under him three brigadiers,
+Murray, Monckton, and Townshend. He now called
+them to him for consultation and submitted several
+propositions. A debate lasting a long time followed,
+and at last it was decided to attack the French at a
+point some distance above the city of Quebec. By
+doing this, Montcalm would be cut off from his base
+of supplies and compelled to either fight or surrender.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The task which General Wolfe had set for himself
+and his men was an exceedingly difficult one.
+As already mentioned, the river was fronted by a
+high wall of rocks, and to scale these seemed next
+to impossible. Besides, the French were on constant
+guard, and would be sure to sound the alarm quickly
+and pour a hot fire into the advancing British.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In order to carry out the plan decided upon General
+Wolfe had first to abandon the camp at the falls.
+He knew the French would harass him as much as
+possible, and so sent Monckton from Point Levi
+with a number of soldiers, under pretense of attacking
+Beauport, midway between the falls and the
+city. Montcalm looked on this with new alarm and
+sent his troops in that direction; and Wolfe withdrew
+without further trouble.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry and Silvers were with the soldiers who
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>abandoned the Montmorenci and soon found themselves
+at Point Levi, where they joined a handful of
+other Colonial English mixed in with the Royal
+Grenadiers. This was early in September, and a
+few days later the troops were transferred to the
+ships under Admiral Holmes, and here General
+Wolfe joined the expedition.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>To the French it looked as if the English were
+going to give up the campaign, and Wolfe and his
+officers, as well as the admiral of the squadrons, did
+all in their power to make the deception more real.
+Cannon were taken up and placed aboard the vessels
+in the most open manner, and soldiers were made
+to pack away the camp outfits as if getting ready for
+a long voyage. “The English are going to sail!”
+cried the people of Quebec and vicinity, and their
+hopes arose, to think that they would at last be free
+from the grim terror which had hung over them
+so long.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But Wolfe was not yet ready to force the attack.
+The plan of action was still in the rough. There
+was a high stone bluff, or cliff, to scale, and how to
+do it in comparative safety was a delicate problem
+to solve. The general listened patiently to what
+several who were acquainted with the locality had to
+say, and then surveyed the north shore with a telescope.
+Near what was then Anse du Foulon, and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>now called Wolfe’s Cove, he discovered a narrow
+path running between rocks and bushes from the
+water’s edge to the top of the bluff.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That is our course,” he said, quietly but firmly.
+On the bluff at this point were but a dozen soldiers’
+tents, so he concluded that the French guard there
+could not be a heavy one.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But to have given the French an inkling of what
+was in his mind would have ruined everything, so
+once again Wolfe set to work to fool the enemy.
+His ships sailed still further up the river, as if looking
+for a landing, and the French batteries opened
+with vigor, but without doing any harm.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A heavy downpour of rain now made further operations
+impossible for two days. It was a cold, raw
+storm, and the soldiers in the transports could not
+stand it, and had to be landed once more on the
+south shore, where they built camp-fires, sought
+such shelters as were handy, and did what they could
+to make themselves comfortable. The weather was
+very trying on General Wolfe, but he refused to
+take again to his bed, declaring that he was now going
+to see the campaign to a finish.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>On the 12th of September all seemed in readiness
+for the attack. The French soldiers were worn
+out through following the passage of the English
+ships up and down the river, while the stay on the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>south shore had rested the grenadiers and others in
+the English ranks.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For the daring expedition Wolfe selected forty-eight
+hundred men. He knew that the enemy must
+be at least twice as strong, and to engage Montcalm’s
+attention once again in a different direction,
+he had Admiral Saunders make a move as if to land
+at Beauport. This deception was carried on in
+grand style, with signals flashing from ship to ship,
+cannons roaring, and boatload after boatload of
+sailors and marines putting off as if to dash upon the
+mud flats. In great haste Montcalm massed his
+men at the Beauport batteries, satisfied at last that
+this was to be the real point of attack, while the
+movement up the river was only a blind.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Fortune now seemed to be at last in Wolfe’s favor.
+He was ten miles away from the din at Beauport,
+with nearly five thousand of his soldiers, and creeping
+upon the north shore of the river with the silence of
+a shadow. There was no moon, but otherwise the
+night was clear. Wolfe occupied a place in one of
+the foremost boats. Behind him came a long procession,
+containing the Highlanders and grenadiers
+and also a handful of Colonials, including Henry
+and Silvers, who had been armed, and who were just
+as anxious to aid in the taking of Quebec as anybody.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>Once or twice from out of the darkness came a
+challenge.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Who comes?” was the question, put in French.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“France!” was the answer, of one who could
+speak the language well.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What boats are those?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The provision boats. Hush, or the English will
+hear. They are not far away.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The sentry knew that some provision boats were
+expected along that night, so said no more. As a
+matter of fact, the order to send the provisions down
+the river had been countermanded but a few hours
+before, but without the sentry’s knowledge. Thus
+fortune again favored the English.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At last the headland above Anse du Foulon was
+gained. Here the tide swept along rapidly and some
+boats were carried partly past the cove.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No guard in sight,” whispered one of the lookouts.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is well,” murmured Wolfe.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Only the sound of a gurgling brook as it rushed
+into the St. Lawrence broke the stillness of the night.
+Before the boats lay the dark, frowning bluff, with
+its loose rocks, and its straggling cedars, other trees,
+and brushwood. The path was there, doubly uncertain
+in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Twenty-four volunteers, picked men, good shots,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>and with nerves of iron, led the way. In the meantime
+those in the other boats waited by the shore,
+for the signal to land if it proved safe, or to pull
+away with might and main should the French have
+led them into a trap.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Tell you what, Henry, this is a ticklish task,”
+whispered Silvers, as he examined the new firearm
+he had received.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It certainly is that,” answered the young soldier.
+“But I reckon General Wolfe knows what he is doing.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Silence there,” came the low command, and the
+two said no more.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A painful period of waiting followed. Far up the
+bluff they could hear the volunteers climbing along.
+Then came a shot, followed by others, and then a
+ringing English cheer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We have them! We have them!” was the cry.
+“Come up!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hurrah!” came a mighty cry. “<i>Up we go!</i>”
+And in a twinkle the soldiers were out of the boats
+and scaling the rocks as best they could, some by
+way of the path and others by rocks and bushes.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was a climb that Henry never forgot. The
+path was choked with grenadiers, each with his gun
+slung over his back and each loaded down with
+knapsack and blanket.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>“We can get up this way just as well,” said Silvers,
+and up they went, side by side, over some
+rough stones, and then hauling, pushing, and pulling
+themselves from one point of vantage to another,
+until, fairly panting for breath, they reached the top
+and joined the forces gathering on the field above,
+known as the Plains of Abraham.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XIV<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>WOLFE’S VICTORY AND DEATH</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>A slight</span> shower of rain was falling when Henry
+and Silvers, still panting for breath, followed the
+grenadiers and Highlanders to the Plains of Abraham,
+so called after Abraham Martin, a Canadian
+pilot who had once owned a stretch of land in that
+locality. The plains were tolerably level, covered
+here and there with grass and brushwood. To the
+southward stretched the St. Lawrence, and to the
+north and east the River St. Charles. Quebec stood
+at the extreme southeast point, hidden from view by
+a series of rocks and low hills, and partly protected
+by the city wall.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This is surely a surprise to the French,” remarked
+Henry, as a distant cannon roared forth a
+warning. “Outside of the guard that was routed
+not a soldier has come into view.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But it was not long before a detachment of the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>French appeared on the ridge before the city. They
+were a battalion sent forward from an encampment
+on the St. Charles. The soldiers were in their showy
+white uniforms, in strong contrast to the red of the
+British. Drums beat, the Highlanders piped bravely
+on their pipes, and a skirmish ensued which quickly
+forced the French to retire for consultation. An attack
+was also made on the rear, by Bougainville’s
+forces, but this was likewise repulsed.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Hearing the distant firing, Montcalm rode forward
+in hot haste to learn what it meant. He still
+imagined it might be a ruse, and that the main attack
+would be at Beauport, but one glance at the
+long and solid ranks of the English made him realize
+the bitter truth—that Wolfe had outwitted him,
+and that the English were now between him and his
+supplies. He must either fight and win or surrender.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The French commander knew that he must act
+quickly, for the English might start to intrench
+themselves, or, worse yet, march on the city, at any
+moment. Orders were rushed furiously in all directions,
+and the troops came up pell-mell, some over
+the plains, some by the St. Charles bridge, and some
+by way of the city’s gates, the regulars in white,
+the French Colonials in their nondescript tatters,
+and the Indians in their savage warpaint. Drums
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>beat, trumpets blared defiance, and proud banners
+waved through the rainy air. But the English ranks
+stood silent, the grim look on the men’s faces telling
+how they were prepared to meet any shock that
+might come.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The battle was not long in starting. The French
+took possession of several rises of ground and of
+some cornfields, and a scattering fire began, gradually
+growing stronger and stronger.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Be calm, men!” cried Wolfe, riding up and
+down, in front and beyond his men. A short while
+later a bullet struck him in the wrist, but he bound
+the wound up with a handkerchief, and refused to
+quit the field.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry and Silvers were firing with the rest. Soon
+the fight caused them to drift apart. Henry was
+with some grenadiers, tall, strong-looking soldiers,
+who fought with a rare courage that nothing could
+daunt. With Henry were fifteen or twenty Royal
+Americans, who had been at first guarding the boats
+at the landing, but who had now come up to do their
+share of the fighting.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>There was a constant rattle of musketry, punctuated
+occasionally by heavy artillery. Montcalm’s
+army was now at hand, and a fierce onslaught ensued,
+the French general himself leading his men
+and urging them to do their best.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>“Forward!” was the cry on the English side,
+and the soldiers advanced a couple of hundred feet.
+Then the French rushed to the front, while the English
+reloaded their pieces. A solid volley was delivered
+which created terrific havoc in the ranks of
+the wearers of the white uniform, who were seen to
+pitch in all directions, dead and dying.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The day is ours!” was the British cry. “At
+them! At them, Britons! At them!” And another
+advance was made.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Begrimed with dirt and smoke, and perspiring
+freely, Henry went on with the rest. He had fired
+his musket several times, and now came the order
+to fix bayonets. Bullets were whistling in all directions,
+and the young soldier saw more than one companion
+go down, several to their death. He himself
+was “scotched” in the arm, but did not notice the
+hurt until long afterward.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Slowly the French gave way, first in one direction
+and then another. Then came the order to charge,
+and a mighty yell went up as the grenadiers and
+others ran over the field on the very heels of the retreating
+French. To one side was a field in which
+were stationed a number of French sharpshooters.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They must be dislodged,” cried Wolfe, and led
+the charge. Back of him came the Louisburg Grenadiers,
+those men who had made such a record for
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>themselves in other campaigns. With these grenadiers
+was Louis Silvers, running with many others
+into the very jaws of death.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Again the bullets whistled around them, and again
+General Wolfe was hit. He was seen to stagger,
+but kept on, when a third bullet took him in the
+breast.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The general is killed!” was the cry, and Silvers
+ran to support him. But ere the brave sharpshooter
+who had been Henry’s companion through
+so much of peril could gain the general’s side, a
+bullet hit him in the side of the head, and he fell
+over on his face, dead.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Several officers and solders had seen General
+Wolfe’s condition, and a lieutenant and two privates
+ran to support him and carry him to the rear.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Le—let me down, men,” he murmured. “Don’t
+take me from the field.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“General, you must have a surgeon,” said one.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“There is no need; it is—is all over with me,”
+he gasped, and sank as in a faint.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Run for a surgeon,” said another, and two
+privates sped away on the errand.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At that moment came another yell from the end
+of the field, some distance away:</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They run! They run! Hurrah! See them
+run!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>Breathing heavily, Wolfe raised himself up.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Who—run?” he murmured.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The enemy, general; they are giving ground in
+every direction,” answered the officer who knelt
+beside him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Instantly the face of General Wolfe took on a
+look of quiet satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Tell”—he murmured,—“tell Colonel Burton—march
+regiment—Webb’s—Charles River—cut
+off retreat!” He breathed heavily, and then with
+a long sigh continued: “Now, God be praised, I
+will die in peace!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>And but a short time later he expired.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The fall of Wolfe was disheartening to the
+English, but victory was already in their grasp, and
+on the French side General Montcalm had also been
+hit, as he was riding in the midst of the soldiers
+who were retreating toward the city. A shot passed
+through his body and he was supported through the
+St. Louis gate, now a place of intense excitement.
+Those who were in the city became panic-stricken,
+and many sought to get together their worldly possessions
+and fly for their lives.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>There was one body of the French soldiery that
+had not as yet been defeated. These were the colonists,
+who had been held at and near the city. They
+now went forward and took possession of a hill
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>and a cornfield, from which they were dislodged
+only after a heavy loss by the English.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In the meantime the French general further up
+the river did his best to gather together his scattered
+guards and attack the British from the rear.
+But by the time he came up General Wolfe’s army,
+now under the command of Townshend, for Monckton
+had also fallen with Wolfe, was safely intrenched.
+From Beauport also came the Governor-General,
+Vaudreuil, amazed and bewildered, and
+able to do little but look on helplessly. He was met
+by half of the demoralized French army, who insisted
+upon it that all was lost.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In the city the confusion was tinged with a sadness
+hardly to be described. Montcalm, the well-beloved,
+was dying, and his second in command,
+Brigadier Senezergues, was also mortally hurt.
+What was to be done? Another day would find
+the English strongly intrenched, for in the darkness
+they were already bringing up cannon and training
+them on the city walls.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must retreat—nothing more is left to us,”
+said more than one French officer, and the word
+swept the rounds with incredible swiftness. “Retreat!
+retreat, ere it is too late!” was the French
+cry, and away fled regulars and colonists, in a mad
+rush that was little short of a panic. The red men,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>who before the battle had boasted of what they
+would do, disappeared as if the ground had opened
+and swallowed them up.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>That night the Marquis de Montcalm, as brave
+a soldier as ever lived, breathed his last. There
+was no coffin at hand in which to bury him, and his
+remains were placed in a rude pine box and deposited
+under the floor of the Ursuline Convent. As
+one historian has fitly said, the funeral of Montcalm
+was the funeral of New France.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Wolfe and Montcalm! brave, generous soldiers
+both of them. Is it a wonder that the people of
+Canada, French and English combined love their
+memory, and that on what was the Plains of
+Abraham there stands to-day a pyramid raised in
+their combined honor?</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Ramesey was in command of Quebec, but under
+the orders of the Governor-General. From a safe
+distance Vaudreuil wrote to the commandant telling
+him not to let the English carry the place by
+assault.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“As soon as provisions fail, raise the white flag,
+and make the best terms you can,” wrote the Governor-General,
+and Ramesey prepared to obey. At
+one time he hesitated, hoping to be relieved by
+General Lévis, who wanted the army to march back.
+But in a day or two matters grew worse, and at
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>last the white flag was raised, and Quebec capitulated.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The city is ours!” cried Henry. “What a
+victory!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was indeed a victory, but one tinged with
+sadness, for General Wolfe was loved by all. The
+remains of the officer were tenderly cared for, and,
+later on, sent to England, where another monument
+to his memory was erected in Westminster Abbey.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was a great shock to Henry to find that Silvers
+had been shot and killed. The man was comparatively
+a new acquaintance, yet their mutual experiences
+of the past few weeks had made them feel
+more like old friends. Silvers was buried in a
+trench outside of Quebec, along with many others
+who had fallen, and Henry was a sincere mourner
+at the brief funeral. Later on, the young soldier
+carved out a rude slab with his jackknife which he
+erected over the mound. Fortunately Louis Silvers
+was a bachelor, so there remained no wife or
+children to mourn his loss.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XV<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>NEWS FROM HOME</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'>“<span class='sc'>Letters</span>! letters! letters!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>This was the cry which circulated around Fort
+Oswego one morning some weeks after Dave had
+reached the stronghold, in company with Raymond,
+Shamer, and the two hunters the party had met in
+the forest.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave was slowly recovering from his hurt knee.
+The twist had proved more severe than at first
+anticipated, and he had found it necessary to go
+to the hospital more than once, to have it examined
+and dressed.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A courier from Albany had come in, with saddle-bags
+filled with letters of all kinds, written on the
+thinnest of paper, so that they should not weigh too
+much, for postage went by weight and was very
+high.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A letter for me!” cried Dave, as it was handed
+to him. It was addressed to Fort Niagara, but as
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>some of the soldiers of that place were now coming
+down to Oswego all the mail was sorted at this
+point before any was forwarded further.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The letter proved to be one written by Dave’s
+father, and filled four closely written sheets. In it
+James Morris said that the summer had been a fairly
+prosperous one at the homestead. The new cabin,
+built to take the place of that burnt by the Indians,
+was now in a comfortable condition, and both he
+and his brother had had a large crop of corn and
+hay, while garden vegetables had never done better.
+Rodney, the cripple, had gone out considerable during
+the warm days, and had on one occasion shot
+a deer drinking at the brook below the cabin, and
+had also brought in more than one acceptable string
+of fish.</p>
+
+<p class='c023'>“Your Aunt Lucy is real well,” [the letter continued].
+“She awaited the coming of Nell with
+Sam Barringford with tremendous anxiety, and
+when the two appeared on the trail, Sam on a horse
+he had borrowed at Winchester and Nell on a pony,
+the good woman almost fell dead with joy. We
+were all affected, and although they came at ten in
+the morning, no more work was done that day, excepting
+such as was necessary to make them comfortable.
+Sam told his story in detail and then we
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>listened to Nell, and I must confess there was not
+a dry eye among us when she told of the hardships
+among the redskins, and of how Jean Bevoir had
+treated her. I sincerely hope that scoundrelly trader
+is sent to prison for a long term of years, for he
+has earned it.</p>
+
+<p class='c024'>“The news that Fort Niagara was taken was
+hailed with joy by all of us, and we are proud of
+the part you and Henry played. Both of you must
+be careful and not run into needless danger. Now
+if Generals Wolfe and Amherst can only do as well
+this cruel war will soon come to an end, and then
+I can go and re-establish the post on the Kinotah,
+where, so I have been told by an old frontiersman,
+the game is now more plentiful than ever, since the
+Indians have left the hunting ground to go to war
+with the French.</p>
+
+<p class='c024'>“Sam wishes me to say that he is going to remain
+here and at Winchester only about a week longer.
+Then he is going to rejoin the army at Lake Ontario,
+to keep his eye on you and Henry. Henry
+will be sent a letter by his father in this same mail.”</p>
+
+<p class='c025'>Dave read the letter over three times before he
+allowed it to drop in his lap. In his mind’s eye
+he could picture the new cabin, and the joy of the
+inmates over the safe arrival of little Nell and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>honest Sam Barringford. And then a spasm of pain
+shot across his heart as he thought of Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If he was killed what a shock it will prove!”
+he murmured with downcast face. “Poor Henry!
+I’d give my right hand to know he was alive and
+safe!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Bad news?” came from Raymond, who came
+up at that moment.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No,” answered Dave, and went on: “It is a
+letter from home. They are all well and send best
+wishes to me and to my cousin Henry. I was thinking
+of how they will feel when they learn that—that——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t take it so hard, Dave,” said the backwoodsman
+sympathetically. “He may have escaped,
+after all. Just as strange things have happened.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The young soldier shook his head doubtfully.
+“He had a hot fight—I don’t see how he could
+escape if he was wounded. He is either dead or a
+prisoner in some foul Canadian prison.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave had been told to come to the hospital that
+afternoon at four o’clock and have his knee looked
+after again. He was on hand promptly, and the
+surgeon gave it a careful examination.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is doing nicely,” he said. “Be a bit careful
+of it for a week longer, and it will be as well as
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>ever.” And then he gave the young soldier a box
+of salve to be used each night and morning.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave was about to leave the hospital when his
+attention was attracted to a number of patients who
+had just been brought down in boats from Fort
+Niagara. One of the men lying on a cot looked
+familiar, and drawing closer he recognized Jean
+Bevoir.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The French trader looked pale and thin, for he
+had suffered not a little. He looked at Dave curiously,
+and when the young soldier got the chance
+he went up and spoke to the man.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I suppose you know me, Bevoir?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yees,” was the low reply. “You air Daf
+Morris, not so?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, I am Dave Morris, a cousin to little Nell
+Morris.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At these words the wounded man winced a little.
+Being a prisoner and in the hospital had taken a
+good deal of his former bravado out of him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You haf made von great mistake,” he whined.
+“I am not ze bad man you think, no.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I know all about that,” returned Dave coldly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Must I stand ze trial when I am well?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Certainly.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It ees verra hard on a poor man, yes, verra
+hard.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>“You brought it on yourself, Bevoir. You have
+caused our family a good deal of trouble.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You are ze son of James Morris, not so?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am—the same James Morris that you tried
+to rob of a trading-post on the Kinotah,” answered
+the young soldier, bound that Jean Bevoir should
+understand the situation fully.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Zat was ze bad bus’ness, yes. I think ze
+tradin’-post mine. I haf ze papairs to show of it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The grant is my father’s, and always was,”
+retorted Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do not be too sure,” answered the trader
+craftily. “I can bring ze men to swear it ees mine—two,
+t’ree men.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Your title is no good.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We vill see ’bout zat. If I bring ze men ze court
+will say it ees mine, and why not? I haf been dare
+long before your fadder, yes.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>There was a pause, for Dave did not know how
+to reply to this speech. The French trader looked
+at the youth’s face searchingly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You listen,” he whispered, so that those around
+might not hear. “I tell you something, yes.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What?” questioned Dave, wondering what
+was coming next.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If you send me to ze prison for two, t’ree year
+what goot haf dat been? Nodding, no nodding
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>to you! I go and I come out, and ze trading-post
+still belongs to Jean Bevoir, not to your fadder.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t believe it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Still it ees so. But now listen—I haf ze gran’
+plan—ze plan to do you goot! Ze tradin’-post ees
+mine, but I gif it to you and your fadder, yes, efery-t’ing,
+if——” And here the French trader paused.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If what?” questioned Dave, although he
+guessed what was coming.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If you say noddings ’bout me here—if you help
+me to get away,” answered Jean Bevoir, in a still
+lower whisper.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Help you to get away?” cried Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Sh-sh! Not so loud. Yes, help me. It vill
+be easy to do zat. An English uniform, a dark
+night, and it ees done. You haf ze tradin’-post, and
+I also gif you dis.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As Jean Bevoir spoke he drew from his bosom
+a small bag tied with a long string. Opening the
+bag he produced half a dozen English and French
+pieces of gold, worth probably a hundred dollars
+all told.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You will give me that money if I help you to
+get away?” said Dave slowly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yees, efery piece of it. Now vat you say? Am
+I not ze goot-hearted man?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Good-hearted?” said Dave scornfully. “I
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>think you are a first-class villain, and if you weren’t
+in the hospital I’d do my best to knock you down
+for your impudence.” Dave was speaking loudly.
+“You can keep your dirty gold, and I shall do my
+best to put you in prison. And as for the trading-post——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Here, here, what is the trouble?” burst in the
+voice of a surgeon, as he strode up. “We allow
+no quarreling in this ward.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This rascal has been trying to bribe me into
+helping him to escape,” answered Dave, his eyes
+flashing. “He wanted me to get him an English
+uniform on the sly.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What! Is this true?” ejaculated the surgeon.
+“If it is, he deserves a flogging instead of medical
+care.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No! no!” shrieked Jean Bevoir. “It ees all
+von gran’ mistake.” He hurriedly stowed the gold
+in his bosom. “How can I escape ven I haf ze
+shot in ze leg——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is getting better fast,” responded the surgeon.
+“I fancy we had better keep an eye on you, and
+by the end of the week I’ll pass you over to the
+prison guard for safe keeping.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I hope you do, sir,” said Dave. “He is a great
+criminal as well as a prisoner of war,” and he told
+a few of the particulars of Jean Bevoir’s doings.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>“I am glad you did not let him tempt you,” said
+the surgeon. “He is certainly a rascal of the first
+water. But I don’t want you to talk to him any
+longer. A quarrel will only excite the other patients
+here,” and he led the way from the building.
+As he was going out, Dave looked back to see what
+Bevoir was doing. The French trader scowled at
+him and shook his fist in rage.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He will hate me worse than ever for this,”
+reasoned the young soldier. “But I am glad I
+showed him up to the surgeon. It would be a great
+pity if he was allowed to slip away unnoticed.”</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XVI<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>A FIRE AND AN ESCAPE</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>The</span> next day was an exceedingly hot one in and
+around Fort Oswego, and Dave was content to remain
+in the shade of some trees and take it easy.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Early in the morning a detachment of soldiers
+from Fort Niagara arrived, having been sent down
+by General Gage, who had now superseded Sir
+William Johnson in command.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>These soldiers were followed by others, who had
+scouted through the woods lining the lake shore
+and who declared that all the French and unfriendly
+Indians had left the locality.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The soldiers brought with them two barge loads
+of powder which the commandant at Oswego desired.
+The powder did not come in until almost
+dark, but it was decided to place it in the powder
+house that night, rather than leave it on the lake
+until morning.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For the want of something better to do, Dave
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>walked down to the powder house and watched
+the soldiers bring in the kegs of powder, and also
+several boxes of flints. It was rather hard work,
+in such warm weather, and it caused more than
+one soldier to grumble.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I didn’t enlist for this,” grumbled one pioneer.
+“Between such work and working on the fort at
+Niagara, I’ve toiled harder than when I built my
+cabin on the Mohawk.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Never mind,” said another, who was more
+cheerful. “Remember, it’s all for the good of the
+cause.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, the good of England,” growled the first
+speaker. “After this war between England and
+France is over, the Canadians will still be our
+neighbors, and do you think they’ll like it because
+we walloped them? Not to my style of thinking.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>One of the kegs of powder had burst open, and
+this left a train of grains running from the lake
+front almost to the powder-house door. Some of
+the powder was spilt on a rough rock, but nobody
+noticed this, until a soldier in passing scraped his
+foot on the rock, when there was a flash which made
+him jump high in the air and drop the keg he was
+carrying.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s powder!” he roared, and ran for his life.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A dozen others saw the flash, including Dave,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>and many leaped back, while half a dozen other
+spurts of flame went up from the long grass, which
+was now on fire. The keg the soldier had dropped
+rolled into this long grass, and might have exploded
+had not Dave rushed forward.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hi! what are you up to?” roared one soldier.
+“Look out, or you will be killed!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ll risk it,” muttered the young soldier, and
+sprang beside the keg. He gave it a vigorous kick,
+which sent it spinning away from the dangerous
+spot.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The train of fire had burnt backward as well as
+forward, and it reached another patch of grass close
+to where two half-kegs of powder rested, the last
+taken from one of the barges. Nobody cared to go
+near these, and a minute later one exploded with
+a loud report, hurling stones, dirt, and the other
+half-keg into the lake.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The sound of the exploding powder caused an
+alarm in and around the fort, and soldiers came
+hurrying from all directions.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The grass is on fire in a dozen places!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is creeping up to the powder house!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If the house goes up we had best all take to
+the woods!”</p>
+
+<div id='p146'  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/p146.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+<div class='ic002'>
+<p>He gave it a vigorous kick, which sent it spinning away<br />from the dangerous spot.—<i>Page 146.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c019'>These and other cries rang out, and for the moment
+nobody knew what to do. A few began to
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>stamp on the grass and thereby burnt their shoes,
+but the majority felt like retreating in short
+order.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Form a bucket brigade!” at last shouted an
+officer, and a rush was made for the leathern
+buckets, while other, coming suddenly to their
+senses, ran for picks and shovels, with which to
+dig away the burning grass.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was perilous work, for there was no telling
+how soon the flames might leap to the powder
+house and blow everything for rods around sky-high.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In the excitement Dave forgot all about his sore
+knee, and catching up a bucket, he worked as manfully
+as anybody to bring water. Two lines were
+formed, one passing up the water and the other
+returning the empty buckets, and soon the work
+began to tell in spite of the dryness of the grass,
+which seemed to burn like so much tinder.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was a good hour before the excitement came
+to an end, and to make sure that there should be
+no more danger of fire, the grass all around the
+powder house was dug up and cast to one side, and
+the ditch thus formed was filled with water. Then
+the remaining grass was thoroughly saturated; and
+the danger was over.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Rather a close call, Dave,” remarked Raymond,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>when the two were washing up, later on. “I
+thought sure we’d all be blown to kingdom
+come.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I thought that, too,” put in Shamer. “I felt
+more like running than like trying to put out the
+fire.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It was certainly exciting enough,” answered
+Dave. “I forgot all about my knee,” and he rubbed
+that member tenderly, for it had now begun to
+assert itself once more.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They tell me that two of the sick prisoners in
+the hospital are missing,” came from a soldier
+standing near. “They took French leave during
+the confusion.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Two prisoners missing?” queried Dave with
+interest. “Do you know who they were?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I do not.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’m going to find out.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do you think one was that rascal of a Bevoir?”
+asked Raymond.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It would be just my luck if it was,” answered
+Dave, as he hurried away.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At the hospital the guards could give no information,
+for they had been ordered to keep silent.
+But a little later Dave found the surgeon who had
+caught him talking to the French trader.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, one of the missing ones is Jean Bevoir,”
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>said the surgeon. “The explosion of the powder,
+and the fire, upset both the nurses and the guards,
+and in the excitement Bevoir got away, with another
+Frenchman named Chalette.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s too bad.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The surgeon gazed at Dave sharply.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You are quite sure you didn’t change your
+mind about helping that man?” he demanded.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Me? Not much, sir. Why, I’ve been out
+fighting the fire.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He kicked away one of the kegs of powder,”
+said a nurse, who had chanced to see the brave act.
+“He couldn’t have been around here when the men
+got away.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A detachment of soldiers was sent out to roam
+the woods and watch the lake front, in an effort to
+locate Bevoir and his companion. But though the
+search was kept up for four days, nothing was seen
+or heard of the escaped prisoners.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This is certainly too bad,” said Raymond to
+Dave, when the search was practically given up.
+“I suppose you reckoned on sending him to
+prison.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, and he deserved it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You want to be on your guard against such
+a man, Dave. He will not forget you, remember
+that.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>“I only wish I could meet him!” burst out
+Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He will probably get over to Canada just as
+fast as he can. He knows he won’t dare to show
+himself around any English camp, or at that trading-post
+again.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave was still on the sick list, and to spend the
+time went fishing the next day. He had just pulled
+in a fine perch when a well-known voice reached
+his ears, causing him to leap up from the rock on
+which he was fishing and drop his pole.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“So here ye air, eh?” came to his ears. “Jest as
+nateral as ever, bless my eyes if ye aint!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Sam Barringford!” exclaimed Dave, and
+caught the old frontiersman by both hands. “Oh,
+how glad I am to see you again! I’ve been looking
+for you for several days.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Have ye now? Waal, it’s good to be looked
+fer—better’n when folks hopes ye will stay away.”
+Barringford winked one eye. “I had to stop at
+Albany on business. How air ye, an’ where is
+Henry?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Henry—oh, Sam, how can I tell you. He——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t say Henry is dead, lad—no, no, not
+that!” And all the color in the honest hunter’s
+face seemed to die away. “He’s alive, o’ course
+he is.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>“I—I hope so. But I don’t know. We had a
+fearful fight with the Indians, and Henry was captured
+by them, and by some Frenchmen, and taken
+away in a boat.” And Dave told the whole story,
+just as it has been written in these pages.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Sam Barringford listened in utter silence, shaking
+his head from time to time, to show that he
+understood. Henry was very dear to him, as old
+readers of this series know, and the pair had been
+on many a hunting expedition together.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t think the Frenchmen would kill him,—not
+in cold blood and they wearing the army uniform,”
+he said slowly. “But the redskins are the
+Old Nick’s own, and if they got Henry to themselves——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That is what I am thinking, Sam. Oh, it is
+awful.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ye got no news at all?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Not a word.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Have ye been back to the spot?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I couldn’t go. My knee——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh, yes, I forgot. How is the knee now?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A good deal better.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ll go up to thet spot to-morrow,” said Barringford
+with sudden determination.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But they went off in a boat.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps thet was a blind, lad.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>Barringford had but little to tell outside of what
+Dave had already learned through the medium of
+Mr. Morris’s letter. The journey to Wills’ Creek
+with little Nell and the Rose twins had proved
+uneventful, but the neighbors had flocked from far
+and near to see the restored children.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It would have done your heart good to have
+seen your aunt,” said the old hunter. “She nearly
+went crazy, laughin’ one minit an’ cryin’ the next,
+and little Nell and Rodney laughed and cried too.
+Your father and Uncle Joe and me couldn’t stand it
+nohow, and we went down to the barn and blubbered
+too. Never felt so queer in my hull life afore.”
+And Barringford rubbed his coat sleeve over his
+eyes. The tears were in Dave’s eyes too, and he
+was not ashamed of them either.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I know I ought to write home about Henry,”
+said the young soldier, when he could trust himself
+to speak. “But, somehow, I can’t bring myself to
+do it, although I’ve tried a dozen times. Every day
+I live in the hope that the next day will bring good
+news.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Wait until I’ve made thet trip I spoke about,
+Dave.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Shall I go along?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Best not, with that hurt knee. A hurt knee
+aint to be fooled with. Jack Pepper twisted his
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>knee onct, and walked lame the rest o’ his nateral
+life.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh, I hope I won’t have to do that!” cried
+Dave. “I’ll take the best care I can of it.” And
+he did.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XVII<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>THE HOLE IN THE ICE</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>Sam Barringford</span> kept his word, by starting on
+his search early the next morning. Dave begged
+to go along, but the old frontiersman shook his
+head.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, lad, I’d like your company, ye know that,
+but I can make time by going it alone,” he said.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The week to follow was an anxious one to the
+youth. Day after day he looked for Barringford’s
+return. In the meantime, he nursed his twisted
+knee faithfully, until that member seemed as strong
+and limber as ever.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The young soldier was now back in the ranks,
+and it was whispered about that he would soon be
+made an officer. But this honor he declined.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Give the older heads a chance,” he said. “I
+am content to do my duty as a private,” and Raymond
+was elected in his stead.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>On the eighth day Sam Barringford came back,
+thoroughly tired out by a tramp that had taken him
+over many miles of the territory covering the lake
+front.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Didn’t see anybuddy but a couple o’ redskins,”
+he said. “They were old men and could tell nuthin’.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And you found no trace?” faltered Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Nary a trace, lad. It’s too bad, but it can’t be
+helped.” And Barringford’s voice almost broke
+in spite of his effort to control it.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Drilling was now going on every morning and
+afternoon, for it was felt that the Colonial militia
+must be brought up as far as possible to the standard
+of the royal troops. In the militia men were
+constantly coming and going, suiting their own
+convenience in spite of all the officers could do to
+restrain them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We’ll not be able to do much more this season,”
+remarked Barringford to Dave, one day. “It won’t
+be long before winter is on us and then the campaign
+will have to come to an end.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>One day there came the glorious news of Wolfe’s
+victory on the Plains of Abraham, followed almost
+immediately by the news that Quebec had been
+taken.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The soldiers went wild with excitement, and the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>officers did not attempt to restrain them. In the
+evening bonfires were lit and the general jollification
+lasted until the next morning.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That is the end of French rule in America,”
+said Raymond. “Now if Amherst can only advance
+we’ll soon have the garlic-eaters on the run.” But,
+as already mentioned in these pages, Amherst’s advance
+was so slow that the storms of early winter
+drove his ships on Lake Champlain back and he was
+compelled to go into quarters for the season at
+Crown Point, leaving the British army at Quebec to
+take care of itself.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I must write home and tell of this victory,” said
+Dave. “But—but—Henry——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Better wait a bit longer, Dave,” said Barringford.
+“If the French are licked we may learn somethin’
+o’ their prisoners, an’ Henry may be among
+’em.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Two days later came a pony express with letters
+for many of the soldiers, some from home and some
+from others in the various armies of the English.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A letter from Quebec!” murmured Dave, as
+he received the epistle. His hand shook so that he
+could scarcely read the address. That handwriting
+looked familiar. Oh, if only it was from Henry!
+He breathed a silent prayer, and then broke the
+seal.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>“Who is it from?” questioned Barringford, who
+was standing near.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh, Sam, it’s from Henry! He is alive! Think
+of it!” The tears of joy stood in the young soldier’s
+eyes. “He was with Wolfe—after escaping
+from the French—he and Silvers. But Silvers,
+poor man, was shot dead in the battle,” he went
+on, reading rapidly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Is Henry all right?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, and he says he has learned that I am safe,
+too. A messenger from Oswego brought the news
+some time ago.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Lad, ye can thank God for His many marcies,”
+said Barringford reverently.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, Sam, and I do, from the bottom of my
+heart,” returned Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The letter was a long one, and the two walked to
+an out-of-the-way spot, where Dave read it aloud,
+while the frontiersman listened with close attention.
+Henry gave many of the particulars of his capture
+and escape, and also mentioned that he was now doing
+guard duty in Quebec. He added that he had
+sent home a letter, telling of his safety, and that for
+the present he was going to remain where he was,
+and hoped that sooner or later Dave and the command
+to which he was attached would join him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This is the best news yet,” cried Dave, after the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>letter had been read twice. “Sam, my heart is as
+light as air!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“So is mine, Dave. It’s a heavy weight removed,
+eh? I could ’most dance a jig.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What a big fight it must have been, and how
+sad to think that General Wolfe had to die just
+as he accomplished what he had planned so many
+months.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“’Twas better to die thus than to have the fate
+of General Montcalm,” replied Barringford. “To
+die in victory is nothing to dying in defeat.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I guess you must be right.” Dave paused for
+a moment. “Now Quebec is taken, what do you
+think will be the next move for our army to
+make?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That is hard to say, lad. Maybe the French
+will come back at Quebec before long. But come,
+let us get back to the camp-fire. It is too cold to
+stay here, even while discussin’ such good news.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Barringford was right about it being cold. It
+was the middle of September and the air was nipping.
+A few days later came a cold rain that seemed
+to penetrate to the very marrow of Dave’s bones,
+for the lad from Virginia was not used to such
+a climate as that of upper New York State.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ugh, but it’s awful!” he said, as he came in
+from two hours of guard duty, with his clothing
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>soaked. “It’s enough to give one his death of
+cold.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Strip yourself, and rub down good,” said Barringford.
+“It certainly is rough on a fellow o’
+Southern blood.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I hope the rain don’t last.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This is what we call a pond-filler, Dave. As
+soon as all the ponds fill up it will git colder, mark
+what I tell ye.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Barringford’s prediction was correct. The rain
+came down until all the ponds and streams were
+overflowing and then the storm came to an end. A
+week after this came a flurry of snow, followed by
+a high wind which blew down several old trees in
+that vicinity.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Winter’s coming now,” said more than one,
+and the officers lost no time in giving the soldiers
+directions for going into winter quarters. It was felt
+by all that military operations must, for the time
+being, come to an end.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At first Dave had thought to return home for
+the winter. But Barringford did not care to make
+another trip to Wills’ Creek and the young soldier
+was not in the humor to go alone or in the company
+of strangers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Might as well settle down right here,” said Barringford.
+“We can fix ourselves a putty comfortable
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>hut, and there will be sure to be plenty o’
+huntin’ and fishin’ for whomsoever wants it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Many of the soldiers were quartered in the fort
+and in the trading-posts scattered about, but there
+was not room for all, and the others had to build
+themselves shelters of boards and canvas. Barringford,
+Raymond, and Dave formed a party by themselves,
+and it was not long before the trio completed
+a shelter of which they were justly proud.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The hut was about twelve feet square, of rough
+logs and tree branches, interlaced with willow
+withes. On one corner were several rocks and an
+opening, where they could build a camp-fire, if they
+wished, and three couches of cedar branches were
+also provided, filling the air of the shelter with a
+sweet and wholesome smell.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now we are about fixed fer the winter,” said
+Barringford. “When the snow comes, we can bank
+some up against the sides, to keep out the wind, and
+then we’ll be as snug as bugs under a hearthstone.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t believe provisions will be any too plentiful,
+with so many of the soldiers coming in from
+Fort Niagara and other points,” said Raymond.
+“But as we are all good shots, and know something
+about fishing through holes in the ice, we ought
+not to go hungry.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>It was not long after the shelter was completed
+that winter came upon them in earnest. One evening
+a light snow began to fall and in the morning
+it was snowing more heavily than ever. This kept
+up for two days and nights, leaving the ground covered
+to the depth of a foot and a half.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now we can bank up the sides of the hut,” said
+Barringford, and this was done without delay.
+They also went into the woods and helped to cut
+large quantities of firewood, which was brought to
+the fort and the camp on drags drawn by horses.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The snow was followed by a spell of clear, cold
+weather, which to Dave was far more acceptable
+than the rain had been. The streams in the vicinity
+were now frozen up and also a good part of the
+lake front.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’d like to try fishing through the ice,” said
+Dave, one morning when there was nothing for him
+and Barringford to do.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Jest the thing, Dave,” replied the old frontiersman.
+“I’ve an idee they’ll bite well to-day.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Preparations were soon made, and they passed
+along the Oswego River to where there was something
+of a sheltered cove. Here the ice was not
+more than six inches in thickness, and they made
+good-sized holes without much trouble.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Barringford knew exactly how to go about fixing
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>their lines, and Dave stood by while the frontiersman
+baited to his satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You take the upper hole and I’ll take the lower,”
+said Barringford, when the lines were ready.
+“We’ll see who can ketch the fust one.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>David did as told, and having allowed his hook
+to go down almost to the bottom, waited patiently
+for a bite.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ye want to keep movin’ it around a bit!”
+shouted Barringford. “A fish likes to snatch a
+bait on the fly. Ef ye——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The rest of the sentence was lost in a pull and a
+splash, followed by a flopping on the ice. The fish
+tried its best to get back into the hole, but Barringford
+was too quick for it and speedily strung it on
+the end of a twig he had cut while coming over to
+the cove.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>From that time on fishing went forward with
+more or less success for two hours, when each had
+a mess of about twenty, mostly of fair size.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Not bad by any means,” declared Barringford,
+as he surveyed the catch. “But they’ll be fatter
+in a month or six weeks more, an’ sweeter, too.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Whoop! I’ve got another!” cried Dave, a second
+later. There came a savage tug on his line.
+“Must be a big one, Sam!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps you had better play him a bit,” suggested
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>the frontiersman, but just then Dave brought
+the catch to light—an ugly water snake of a darkish
+color and with cold, staring eyes.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“My stars!” ejaculated Dave, and as the snake
+whipped toward him, he stepped back. Then the
+snake, somewhat dazed at being brought to the
+surface at this season of the year, made another
+turn, and struck at Dave’s foot. The young soldier
+gave a jump, and, like a flash, slipped into the
+hole in the ice. He tried to clutch the edge of the
+hole with his hands, but it was too slippery, and
+before Barringford could grab him, he had disappeared
+from view, and the water snake behind
+him.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>WINTER QUARTERS</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>For</span> the instant after Dave disappeared under
+the water of the river he gave himself up for lost.
+The fearful chill struck him to the very heart, and
+he could think of nothing to do to save himself.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As mentioned, the snake came down after him,
+dragging a good part of the line, until the upper
+end was stopped by Barringford. Then, by a chance
+turn, the reptile loosened itself and lost no time in
+sinking away to parts unknown.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave gave a gasp and the icy water filled his
+mouth and some entered his lungs. Then his presence
+of mind returned and he floundered around,
+trying to reach the surface once more.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He came up, but not at the hole. Instead his
+head bumped with considerable force against the
+under side of the icy covering of the stream.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am lost! I shall die for the want of a
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>breath!” was the horrible thought that crossed his
+mind. And then he prayed that his life might be
+spared to him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was by the merest chance that his hand came
+in contact with part of the fishing line. The sharp
+hook pricked his thumb and he at once recognized
+what it was.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The line,” he thought. “I must follow that
+back to the hole!” And as well as he could he
+felt along the line foot by foot, swimming and holding
+on at the same time.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>His senses were fast leaving him and he was still
+some distance from the hole when he felt a jerk
+on the line. He gave a jerk in return and then
+half a dozen in quick succession. Then, as in a
+dream, he wound the line around his wrist.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave could never tell, afterwards, what happened
+directly after this. He felt himself drawn
+along, and felt the ice scratch his nose and his
+chin. Then a hand grabbed him by the hair and
+by the arm, and he was lifted up, dripping like a
+drowned rat, and too weak to open his eyes or make
+a move.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Got him, thanks to Heaven!” burst from Sam
+Barringford’s lips. “An’ he aint dead nuther!
+But I’ll have to hustle back to camp or he’ll be frozen
+stiff!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>Leaving the lines and the catches where they
+lay, he took Dave by the heels and held him up head
+downward. A little water ran from the young soldier’s
+mouth and he gave a gasp and a shiver.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Breathin’ yet,” muttered the old frontiersman.
+“Wot he wants now is a hot blanket an’ a hot
+drink, and he shall have it too, in jig time.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>With Dave slung over his shoulder, he set off on
+a run through the woods for the fort, a distance of
+nearly half a mile. The way was rough and the
+jouncing helped to keep up the youth’s feeble circulation.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Soon Barringford came within sight of some of
+the soldiers. They wanted to know what was
+wrong, but he would not stop.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Who has got the hottest fire here?” he demanded,
+as he rushed into the camp, and being
+directed to the spot, he requested some soldiers to
+heat up a pair of the thickest blankets to be found.
+He also asked for some steaming coffee, knowing
+Dave would not touch liquor.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A short time later found Dave stripped and between
+the hot blankets, and with jugs of hot water
+placed at his feet and over his heart. He had also
+been given some of the smoking coffee, and these
+various applications soon put him into a perspiration.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>“Sam, you are very, very good,” he managed to
+whisper, for he was almost too weak to speak. “If
+it hadn’t been for you I wouldn’t have come——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Never mind now, Dave,” interrupted the backwoodsman.
+“Jest you keep quiet an’ git back your
+strength. Yes, I know it was a close shave.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Barringford’s quick work saved Dave from serious
+sickness, and the young soldier suffered nothing
+more than a slight cold and a few pains in the
+knee that had been wrenched. The frontiersman
+went back the next day for the lines and the fish
+that had been caught, and by Dave’s advice the fish
+were distributed among those who had given their
+aid to him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>After this the winter passed without special
+incident. During the heavy snows the fort and the
+camp were cut off for several weeks at a time from
+communication with other points. Time often
+hung heavily on the soldiers’ hands and they did
+what they could to amuse themselves. One favorite
+sport was to shoot at a target, and as the commander
+was anxious to have all his soldiers good
+shots he allowed his men to use more powder
+and bullets than would otherwise have been the
+case.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave was interested in the shooting, and went into
+one of the contests, the captain of the company
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>having put up three prizes—a new pair of boots,
+a silk neckerchief, and a jackknife.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t suppose I’ll win a prize,” said the young
+soldier. “But I am going to make all the points
+I can.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Each man was allowed three shots, and each shot
+could count on the target from 1 to 5 points. On
+his first shot the young soldier made 4 points.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Not bad, lad,” said Barringford. “Be a leetle
+more careful the next time and you’ll make it a 5.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>When Dave’s turn came again he did make it a
+5. This was followed by another 4—giving him a
+total of 13 points out of a possible 15 points.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The best shots of the company took their turns
+last, among them Raymond and Barringford. Each
+of these scored 15 points, and so did two other old
+riflemen. Two scores of 14 were made, three of 13,
+including Dave’s, and the others ranged from 12
+down to 6.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Thirteen isn’t bad, Dave,” said Barringford
+encouragingly. “There are twice as many that are
+worse than those that are better.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Henry could do better,” answered Dave. “But
+then he’s a natural-born marksman and I am not.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Much interest was displayed in the shooting-off
+of the tie between the four who had made a full
+15 points. The target was placed at twice the distance
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>it had before been and each man was allowed
+two shots.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Raymond was the first to shoot and scored a 4. He
+was followed by a sharpshooter named Russell, who
+also made a 4; and then came an old hunter named
+Bauermann, who made a 3.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now, Sam, you must make a bull’s-eye,” whispered
+Dave, and the old frontiersman did so, hitting
+the target squarely in the center.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was now Raymond’s turn to try his second
+and last shot, and he took it with great care, making
+a 5, giving him a total of 9. Then came Russell
+with a 2, and Bauermann with a 4.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now, Sam, another bull’s-eye,” cried Dave,
+who was more excited than was the old frontiersman.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Not so easy,” answered Barringford, but there
+was a quiet smile on his face. Up came his musket,
+and on the instant there was a crack, and his second
+bullet landed directly on top of his first.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What’s the total score?” was the cry from a
+dozen throats.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Total score as follows,” sang out the man at
+the target. “Barringford 10, Raymond 9, Bauermann
+7, and Russell 6. Barringford, Raymond, and
+Bauermann take the first, second, and third prizes
+in the order named.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>“Hurrah for Barringford!” cried Dave, and led
+in the cheering. Then there was a call for a speech,
+and the old frontiersman was hauled forward and
+made to mount a flat rock.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t know what ye want me to say,” he remarked
+half sheepishly. “I’ve done my best to
+win them boots, and I guess I won ’em. They’ll
+keep my feet warm, while Raymond, he kin keep
+his neck warm with the kerchief, an’ old man Bauermann
+kin sit by the fire and whittle sticks to his
+heart’s content. I thank ye for your kindness, and
+I vote we all thank the cap’n for the prizes an’ the
+good time——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Whoop! Huzza!” cried the crowd. And then
+somebody added: “All in favor of thankin’ the
+cap’n will please march up and present arms to
+him!” And then the crowd caught up their guns
+and marched past the officer in a long line, each
+presenting arms as he passed. And thus the shooting
+match ended very pleasantly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>During the winter Dave and Barringford, and
+occasionally Raymond, went out in the forest to
+hunt. They brought in several small deer and two
+bears, as well as a large quantity of rabbits and not
+a few wild birds. Others went fishing through holes
+in the ice, but Dave declared that he had had enough
+of such sport.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>Only once came a letter from home. This was
+around New Year’s, and brought the information
+that all were doing well, excepting Rodney, who
+was worse and who must now submit to another
+operation by the surgeon. The folks had heard
+from Henry and were glad to learn that he had
+escaped from the French. In the letter Mr. James
+Morris said he was sorry to hear that Jean Bevoir
+had gotten away.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He will surely try to make more trouble for
+us,” he wrote. “You must beware of him. He is
+worse than a snake in the grass.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But Dave was more disturbed about Rodney
+than he was just then about Jean Bevoir.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is too bad he must submit to another operation,”
+he told Barringford. “I am afraid he will
+get so he can’t walk at all.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It hurt him to travel when the old cabin was
+burnt down,” answered the frontiersman. “He told
+me so privately, but he didn’t want to say nuthin’
+afore his folks, cause, ye see, it wouldn’t do no
+good. That was a hard journey.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I have always suspected as much,” answered
+Dave. “Rodney is a good deal of a hero, and I
+know he won’t let folks know how much he suffers.
+And it pains him, too, to think that he must
+sit still or at the most shuffle around a little, while
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>Henry and I can come and go as we please. I can
+tell you what, Sam, a person’s health is a good deal
+to him.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“My lad, health is the greatest blessing ever God
+give to ye, an’ don’t ye never forgit it, nuther. Wot’s
+riches, if ye can’t live to enj’y it? Onct, when I
+was down in the mouth because I hadn’t so much as
+a farthing in my pocket, I was in Annapolis. There
+I met a rich old merchant in his lordly coach, with
+a driver and footman, an’ I don’t know what all.
+Did he look happy? No, siree! He was bent almost
+double with gout an’ rheumatism an’ other
+diseases an’ sufferin’ tortures uncounted. Sez I to
+myself, sez I: ‘Sam Barringford, you’re a fool to be
+down in the mouth! You’ve got your health an’
+strength, an’ you’re richer ten times over nor thet
+feller with all his hoard o’ gold. Go back to the
+woods an’ scratch fer a livin’ an’ bless God you kin
+walk an’ run, an’ jump, and eat an’ drink as ye
+please, an’ enj’y life.’ An’ back to the woods I
+come, an’ been happy ever sence. Yes, Dave, health
+is the greatest blessin’ a man ever had.”</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XIX<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>LOST IN THE SNOW</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>About</span> the middle of February news came to the
+camp that a French soldier and two French traders
+had been captured at a post on Lake Ontario some
+twenty miles to the northeast of Fort Oswego.
+There had been a sharp fight between a detachment
+of Colonial militia and the French, who had been in
+the act of removing some stores which they had
+left hidden in the woods months before, and one of
+the enemy had been killed and two militiamen badly
+wounded.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I wonder if one of the traders can be Jean Bevoir,”
+said Dave, when he heard of the affair.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is not impossible, Dave,” answered Barringford.
+“He was around these ere diggin’s a long
+time, when he was holding little Nell a captive, and
+he must have brung some things with him when
+he scooted away from your father’s post on the Kinotah.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>“I’m going to try to find out who they are,”
+went on the young soldier, and lost no time
+in seeking the officer who had received the report.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>From this person Dave learned that the French
+soldier’s name was Hildegard. The traders were
+sullen and refused to talk.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Will they be brought to this fort?” asked
+Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why are you so interested?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Upon this Dave told a part of his story.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ah, yes, I remember now, Morris. No, I am
+sorry to say we have sent out orders that they be
+taken down to Fort Stanwix. Some soldiers were
+bound for that post, and we decided that the prisoners
+should accompany them. You see, if we
+keep them here, and they escape, it is too easy a
+matter for them to get to Canada.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I would like to make sure that one is not Jean
+Bevoir,” went on Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Well, you can take a run up there if you want
+to and see. They will not start for Fort Stanwix
+until day after to-morrow.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then I will go by all means. Can I take Sam
+Barringford with me? He is a member of our company,
+and an old friend of mine.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Very well, you can take him. I will give you
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>four days’ leave of absence. Do you know the
+road?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I know something of it. But Barringford is
+an old hunter and trapper, so we won’t have much
+trouble keeping to the trail,” answered Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Barringford was glad enough to get away from
+the camp for a few days, and the preparations for
+the journey were completed in short order.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Like as not we’ll scare up some game on the
+way,” he said. “So be prepared.” And each took
+with him as much powder as could be spared and
+also a new flint for his musket.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was a clear, cold day, and the sun made the
+ice and snow glitter like diamonds. There was no
+wind, and in the forest all was as silent as a tomb.
+They picked their way with care, Barringford
+taking the lead.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s as good as a holiday,” said Dave. “Now,
+if we only had skates we could skate along the
+edge of the lake for quite a distance.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Never mind, Dave; if we stick to land there
+won’t be no danger of ye going into another hole
+in the ice.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave gave a shiver.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You’re right, Sam; once is enough.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For several miles the trail was a smooth one and
+easily followed. But after that they had two gullies
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>to cross, and some rough rocks, a task by no means
+easy. In one of the gullies the snow lay to a depth
+of twenty or thirty feet.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If we fell in there it would be no easy task
+getting out,” remarked Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At noon they rested for an hour, building a camp-fire
+in a sheltered spot. They carried some provisions,
+and on the way Barringford had brought
+down a fat rabbit, which was speedily done to a
+turn, and as quickly eaten up.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We have covered more than half the distance,”
+said the old frontiersman. “But I don’t know if
+we’ll be able to cover the balance o’ the way afore
+nightfall.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Well, we can try,” answered Dave, and once
+more they set off, at a brisk pace, for the nooning
+had rested them greatly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But now the trail was very rough, and more than
+once they had to consider how to get around a
+certain spot. It took Dave’s wind to climb up some
+of the slippery rocks; and once, when the pull was
+extra hard, he called on Barringford to halt.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Got—got to—to get m-m—my wind!” he
+gasped.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We had better call it a day,” announced the
+old hunter.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>It was four o’clock, and already growing dark.
+A nook was found where some bushes grew between
+the rocks. The bushes were cut down and
+piled on top of the opening, and soon they had a
+fairly comfortable “corner,” as Dave called it, with
+a roaring fire to cheer them as they rested. More
+rabbits had been brought low, and Barringford
+fixed up supper in his own particular style. If the
+cooking was not of the best, neither of the travelers
+grumbled, for fresh air and hunger, real hunger,
+are the best sauces in the world.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In such a lonely spot it was not considered necessary
+to remain on guard, and after fixing the fire
+so it would burn for a long while, they turned in,
+and slept “like rocks” until daybreak.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A loud whistle from Barringford made Dave
+leap from his couch of pine boughs. The old frontiersman
+had breakfast ready, and this was quickly
+eaten, and soon they were on the way once more.
+Dave was a bit stiff, but did not complain.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We’ll make it by noon,” said Barringford, and
+it lacked a good hour of that time when they came
+in sight of the post, flying its colors of the King
+as bravely as did Fort Oswego. A guard stopped
+them, but matters were quickly explained, and they
+were conducted to the captain in charge.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>“I don’t know the prisoners,” said Captain Wilbur,
+“although I have heard about Hildegard. You
+can look them over.” And he called an aid.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The two traders were confined in a hut just outside
+of the camp. They were chained to a stake,
+so escape was next to impossible. They scowled
+darkly at Dave and Barringford.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A fool’s errand,” said Dave, after a glance at
+the men. Neither of the prisoners was Jean Bevoir.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That’s true,” returned Barringford. “But it
+may be they can tell you something about Bevoir,
+Dave.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If they can speak English,” returned the young
+soldier.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was speedily learned that neither of the traders
+could speak English. Then an interpreter was
+called in; but the Frenchmen refused to say whether
+they knew Bevoir or not.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Never saw such stubborn men,” said the interpreter.
+“They won’t tell a thing. We’ve tried to
+starve ’em into speaking; but it’s no use.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The commander of the post was glad to listen
+to what little news Dave and Barringford had to
+tell, and treated them to the best dinner the post
+afforded.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was ten o’clock of the following morning
+when Dave and the old hunter started to return to
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>Fort Oswego. The day was a gloomy one, with a
+promise of more snow.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We don’t want to lose any time,” said Barringford.
+“If we do, we may git snow-bound.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Some hunters from the post went with them a
+distance of a mile, but after that the pair were
+allowed to shift for themselves. They took the
+trail by which they had come, although they were
+told they could save a mile or two by going a
+different way.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We know this one,” said Barringford. “And
+it aint no use to take risks, ‘specially ef it’s goin’
+to snow.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was not yet noon when the first flakes of the
+coming storm floated lazily down upon them. The
+flakes were large, and soon they increased so thickly
+that it was impossible to see a dozen yards in any
+direction.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am afraid that is going to be serious, Dave.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Big flakes can’t last very long, can they?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, big flakes can’t, but we’ll have more snow,
+even so.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Barringford was right, the large flakes presently
+gave way to smaller ones, and then the snow became
+like salt, which the rising wind blew directly
+into their faces.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s goin’ to be a hummer!” exclaimed Barringford,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>as the wind suddenly rose with a shriek.
+“Reckon as how we wuz fools to leave the post.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What shall we do, Sam? We can’t very well
+go back.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“True, lad, but——By gum!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A wild animal of some kind had leaped up almost
+in front of them. Around came Barringford’s
+musket, and he blazed away, and then Dave did
+the same. There were a roar and a snarl, and over
+in the snow tumbled a small bear, clawing viciously
+at everything around it.</p>
+
+<div id='p180'  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/p180.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+<div class='ic002'>
+<p>“B’ar meat!” yelled Barringford.—<i>Page 180.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c019'>“B’ar meat!” yelled Barringford, and ran forward,
+drawing his hunting knife. Watching his
+chance he drove the knife into the wounded beast’s
+throat, and soon the game breathed its last.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The wind was now blowing a regular gale,
+causing the tree boughs to snap and crack in all
+directions. Try their best they could scarcely
+locate themselves, for every part of the trail had
+been obliterated.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are lost in the snow!” exclaimed Dave
+blankly. “And the storm is growing worse every
+minute!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must make some sort o’ shelter, Dave,”
+returned the frontiersman. And then he added:
+“It’s a rare good thing we shot the b’ar. It may
+save our lives.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>“You mean for food?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Exactly. Come with me, and ketch holt.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dragging the game between them, they pushed
+forward until they reached the shelter of some
+rocks. Here were several clumps of bushes and
+some tall timber, and they lost no time in starting
+up a fire, for the temperature had fallen greatly,
+so that both were in danger of freezing to death.
+With a hatchet they cut a quantity of firewood,
+and made a lean-to against the tallest of the rocks.
+They worked hard, and this helped to keep up the
+circulation of their blood.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Hour after hour went by, and the storm showed
+no signs of abating. Barringford skinned the bear,
+and the pelt was hung upon the boughs of the
+lean-to to keep off a portion of the wind. In the
+hollow the snow was damp and could be packed,
+and this they used to build a sort of house, of snow,
+boughs, and bearskin combined. It was by no means
+a comfortable dwelling but it was far better than
+nothing. The fire was close by, and gave them not
+only warmth, but also a good deal of smoke, when
+the wind chanced to veer around, as it often did.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Slowly the balance of the day went by, and the
+night to follow was one Dave remembered for many
+a year after. It was bitterly cold, and they could
+do but little more than pile the wood on the fire,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>and crouch by it, so closely that more than once
+their clothing was singed. They cooked a huge
+chunk of the bear’s meat, and ate of it several times;
+and added some of the fat to the fire, in the hope
+of gaining additional heat. Once, a lean and
+hungry wolf came close, snarling viciously, and
+looking wistfully at the meat, and Dave brought
+it down with a bullet from his musket.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But morning came at last, and with it the end
+of the storm. As the sun arose it became slightly
+warmer, and by ten o’clock they were again on the
+way, each carrying a load of bear meat, and Barringford
+the pelt also. The walk was a tiresome
+one, and it was two days ere they came in sight of
+Fort Oswego.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am glad the trip is over,” muttered Dave.
+And Barringford echoed the sentiment. Soon they
+were among their friends, where they related their
+experiences, and then took a long and much-needed
+rest.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XX<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>THE SITUATION AT QUEBEC</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>Immediately</span> after the fall of Quebec, the English
+resolved to hold the city at any cost, and to
+that end every defense was strengthened without
+loss of time.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As Wolfe was dead and Monckton wounded and
+unable to act, the command fell upon General Murray.
+Under his directions the soldiers leveled the
+breastworks erected on the Plains of Abraham, so
+that they might give no shelter to any advancing
+French army, and strengthened the defenses of
+Quebec proper. The men also cut and brought in
+large quantities of firewood, for use during the
+winter, which all felt would be long and bitter, and
+likewise aided in storing the provisions sent ashore
+from the fleet.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The ships could not winter very well in the river,
+and it was not long before they left, taking with
+them also a portion of the grenadiers and rangers.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>At Quebec were left ten battalions of grenadiers,
+one company of rangers, a strong force of the
+artillery, and likewise a sprinkling of Colonial free
+lances and friendly Indians—the latter to be used
+chiefly as scouts, spies, and messengers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The city had suffered much from the bombardment
+of the artillery. The cathedral was honeycombed
+with cannon balls, and many public buildings
+and private houses and shops had been
+completely wrecked. The people who were left
+in the place were almost terror-stricken, and it was
+a long time before quiet, and even a semblance of
+order, could be restored.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For over a week Henry was kept at work on the
+outer defenses of the city. It was hard labor, but
+he did not grumble, having already realized that
+the path of the soldier is not one simply of glory.
+The death of Silvers made him unusually sober,
+and in his heart he was sincerely thankful that an
+all-powerful Providence had spared his life.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The middle of the winter found Henry on guard
+at the lower end of the city. Here were a number
+of stores which had been broken down by the
+bombardment, and some of the owners were missing.
+A quantity of goods had been stolen, and
+Henry and four other soldiers were set at the task
+of guarding the property.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>On the second day that Henry was on guard he
+noticed something which did not at all please him.
+Two of the soldiers, named Fenley and Prent, were
+unusually friendly, and, when they supposed they
+were not being watched, one or the other would slip
+into one of the stores. When the fellow would reappear,
+he would have something concealed under
+his coat, and this, later on, he would pass over to
+another soldier, named Harkness, who had charge
+of a watch-house a square away.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I believe that those fellows are up to no good,”
+thought Henry, after he had watched the movements
+of the three soldiers several times. “They
+act like a regular pack of sneaks.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But Henry was too open-hearted and square to
+suspect the trio of deliberate wrongdoing, until one
+day Prent accosted him and asked him how he liked
+his pay as a soldier.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I think we get mighty little for what we do,”
+said Prent. “And Fenley and Harkness think the
+same.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is certainty not much,” answered Henry,
+totally unsuspicious that he was being “sounded.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Wouldn’t you like to have the chance to make
+a bit more?” went on Prent, in a lower voice, and
+with an anxious look around.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What do you mean, Prent?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>“Oh, nothing much, only if you’d like to make
+some money on the outside, perhaps I can place you
+in the way of it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am out to make any money that I can make
+honestly,” answered the young soldier.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh! Well, this isn’t—well, it isn’t just work,
+you know. But you can make a neat sum if you
+want to stand in the game.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ll stand in no game that isn’t strictly honest,”
+burst out Henry, and now his suspicion was
+aroused.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh, all right!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What have you in mind to do?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Nothing—if that’s the way you feel about it,”
+retorted Prent, and turning on his heel, he walked
+rapidly away.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>After that the other soldiers were more careful
+than ever of their movements. But Henry could
+not get the talk out of his mind, and he at last
+resolved to play the spy, and see what they were
+doing, or proposed to do.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>One day Henry was on guard, from two in the
+afternoon until six. At that hour Fenley came to
+relieve him, while Prent came to relieve another
+soldier named Groom. Groom at once retired to
+his quarters, but Henry merely walked around the
+corner, where he secreted his musket in an out-of-the-way
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>place, and then crawled back in the darkness,
+for the winter day was now at an end.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>From the broken stonework of a house steps,
+Henry saw Prent walk up and down his beat several
+times, meeting Fenley at one end. Then Prent gave
+a low whistle, to which Fenley instantly responded.
+A moment later Prent disappeared into one of the
+stores he had been set to guard.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He is up to no good, that is certain,” reasoned
+Henry. “I wish I could see just what he is doing.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Watching his opportunity, he sped quickly across
+the street, which at this point was not very wide.
+The store, or shop, stood on a corner, and on the
+side was a broken window, partly boarded up. A
+board was loose at its lower end, and, lifting it
+up, Henry crawled through the window.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>All was dark around him, and, standing on the
+floor, near some boxes, he listened intently. He
+knew that Prent could not be far away.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Presently he heard a foot bang against a box or
+barrel. “Hang the luck!” came in Prent’s voice.
+“It’s as dark as the River Styx! I’ll have to make
+a light, or I’ll break my neck.” The striking of a
+flint in a tinder-box followed, and soon Henry saw
+the faint light of a tallow dip.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Prent was moving toward a stairs leading into a
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>cellar, and this brought him to within a few feet of
+where Henry was crouching. But the young soldier
+remained undiscovered, and in a moment more he
+heard the other soldier shuffle carefully down the
+stairs and walk across the cellar floor.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry’s curiosity was now aroused to a high
+pitch, and he resolved to see what was taking place
+in the cellar, no matter what the risk to be run.
+He tiptoed his way to the stair, and went down step
+by step on his tiptoes.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The stairs creaked, but the sound was not heard
+by Prent, who was rummaging around a score of
+small boxes, all of hard wood, bound with iron.
+One of the boxes was open and showed that it
+was filled with surgical and mathematical instruments.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Bah! I cannot do much with that truck!”
+Prent muttered, after looking some of the articles
+over. “The other boxes probably contain things
+more to my liking.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The fellow had brought a hatchet and chisel with
+him, and was soon at work prying open another
+iron-bound box. Occasionally he paused to listen,
+as if waiting for a signal from Fenley, but none
+came, and he continued his work.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>When the second box came open, Henry could
+scarcely repress a cry of amazement. The box was
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>filled with silverware, for the shop was one which
+had been used by a gold and silver smith. There
+were silver drinking cups and decanters, and also
+half a dozen silver trays, and frames for miniatures.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ha! Now we have the right thing!” muttered
+Prent, gazing at the collection with satisfaction.
+“If we can only get it away without
+being discovered we will be rich.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He has turned thief!” thought Henry. “What
+a rascal! And I thought he was an honest soldier!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He watched Prent examine the various silver
+things, and place some in his pockets and his breast.
+Then the fellow started to open up another of the
+iron-bound boxes.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry was in a quandary, not knowing what to
+do. He felt that it was his duty to report Prent,
+and have the man arrested. But then he remembered
+the order that had but recently been issued by
+General Murray—that any man caught plundering
+in Quebec should be hanged.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I can’t see the fellow strung up,” thought the
+young soldier. “That would be too horrible. Perhaps
+if I talk to him he’d get out and leave the things
+alone.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At first Henry decided that he would talk to the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>would-be thief when he left the building. But then
+he remembered that it would be best to have Prent
+put the things back in the boxes and nail the latter
+up. A few steps took him to the stairs, and once
+there he called softly:</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Prent!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Had a gun gone off at his ear the evil-doer would
+not have been more astonished. He dropped the
+silver mug he was examining and leaped back a
+step.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Wh—who calls?” he gasped.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Prent, I have caught you fairly and squarely,
+and I want you to leave those things alone.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ha, so it is you, Henry Morris!” burst from
+the other soldier’s lips. And then he added quickly:
+“Are you alone?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What brought you here?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I came to find out what your little game was.
+I reckon I know the truth.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You don’t know anything,” blustered Prent.
+The exposure had come so unexpectedly he knew
+not what to say.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I know you are here for no good purpose. If
+it were otherwise you would not come here like a
+thief in the night.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Are you going to expose me?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>“That depends on yourself. I have no desire to
+see you hanged.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At these words Prent gave a shiver, for he was
+at heart a coward.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I—I—you——” he stammered, and could not
+go on.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Listen to me, Prent, and you may save yourself
+a whole lot of trouble,” went on Henry, as calmly
+as he could. “I hate to play the spy on a fellow
+soldier, but I felt that it was necessary, after what
+you had said to me. You wanted to draw me into
+this robbery. Now, as I said before, I don’t want
+to see you hanged, or even sent to prison. But I
+am not going to allow you to rob this place, either.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I haven’t said I was going to rob it yet,” burst
+out Prent. “I—I haven’t taken a thing.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You have. Your pockets and your breast are
+full of silverware. Now I want you——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At this moment came a loud whistle from outside,
+followed by the pounding of a musket butt on
+an outer cellar door.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“An alarm! Let me get out of here!” yelled
+Prent and made a leap for the stairs, which were
+narrow and old.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Before Henry could stand on guard he found himself
+in the other soldier’s grasp. Then Prent gave
+him a shove which sent him over the side of the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>steps head first. Henry tried to save himself, but
+went down between two barrels with a crash. Before
+he could extricate himself from the tight position
+his assailant had fled. Then the tallow dip
+spluttered up and went out, and the young soldier
+was left in total darkness.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXI<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>UNDER ARREST</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>For</span> the moment after the tallow dip went out,
+Henry, half stunned by his tumble, knew not what
+to do.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hi, Prent!” he called out. “What do you
+mean by knocking me over and leaving me?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>No answer came back to his query, and a few
+seconds later he heard a crash of woodwork, followed
+by several exclamations.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What’s the meaning of this?” he heard a rough
+voice demand.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A thief is here,” answered another voice, which,
+somehow, sounded familiar.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A thief? Where?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I believe he is in the cellar.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“After him, men. He must not escape. There
+has already been too much looting here.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>There was the tramping of half a dozen soldiers
+on the floor overhead, and then the flash of a bull’s-eye
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>lantern. As the light reached Henry he staggered
+up the cedar stairs.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ha! here he is!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Up with your hands, you rascal, or we’ll fire
+on you!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t fire,” gasped the young soldier. “I—I
+am no thief.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then what are you doing here?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I was after a thief. I followed——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Before Henry could finish he saw Prent push his
+way forward and catch the English officer of the
+guard by the arm.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That’s the man!” he bawled. “That’s the rascal!
+Look out, I think he’s a desperate fellow!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Is this the man you saw sneaking around?”
+demanded the officer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The same, sir.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If that’s the case, we’ve caught you red-handed,
+fellow.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Caught me?” faltered Henry. He was so
+amazed he could scarcely speak.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Does it not look like it?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But I am no thief.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then why are you here?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I came down after that man”—pointing to
+Prent.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do hear that!” ejaculated the would-be thief
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>in well-assumed surprise. “After me—when I’ve
+been on guard outside this last hour, and can prove
+it by the next guard.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This soldier told us you were here,” said the
+officer of the guard. “He wasn’t here himself.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He was here!” cried Henry. “I saw him sneak
+in, and I came after him, to see what he intended to
+do. Then he knocked me over and ran away.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“False! utterly false!” roared Prent. He strode
+forward. “Say that again and I’ll knock you down
+in truth. I am an honest man.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ve told the truth,” answered Henry doggedly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But we found you here, while he was outside,”
+insisted the officer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He ran away, as I said, after knocking me down.
+If you’ll search him you’ll find his pockets full of
+stolen things.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Search me, by all means,” cried Prent, who
+had thrown the stolen articles into a corner when
+leaving the building. He pulled out several of
+his pockets. “I haven’t a thing that is not my
+own.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Men, make that fellow a prisoner,” cried the
+officer of the guard, raising his finger and pointing
+to Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But sir——” gasped the young soldier, with a
+sinking heart.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>“And now answer my questions. What is your
+name?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Henry Morris, sir. But——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To what command do you belong?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To Captain Werrick’s detachment, Royal
+Americans. But, sir, if you’ll only listen——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Are you stationed anywhere?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I have been on guard here for the last week.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“On guard here?” repeated the officer of the
+guard. He turned to Prent. “And you are on
+guard here, too?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, lieutenant. He went off when I came on.
+But he did not go to quarters, but hung around,
+and so I suspected him. In fact, he tried, I think,
+to get me into some of his plans day before yesterday.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“How was that?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He came to me and said he could show me
+a way to make money if I could keep my tongue
+from wagging. He said——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You miserable wretch!” interrupt Henry.
+“You know you are telling a falsehood.” He
+turned to the officer of the guard. “As a matter of
+fact, he came to me and wanted me to go into his
+dirty game——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Stop!” interrupted the officer of the guard.
+“We will examine into the details of this later.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>Men, make a search, and see if any other thieves
+are about. But don’t let either of these men get
+away.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At once two of the soldiers stood guard over
+Henry and Prent, while the others scattered through
+the cellar, which was long and narrow. They had
+but two lanterns, both small, so the search was made
+under difficulties.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As one of the guardsmen reached the back end
+of the cellar there was a slight scraping sound,
+followed by the fall of a trap door. The men
+started forward to investigate, but could see nobody.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What was that, Jameson?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Flog me, if I know, Lowder. Somebody went
+through a door, I think.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Exactly my notion. But where is the door?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was not long before they found the door, a
+small, heavy oaken affair, leading to a shaft-like
+opening, dark and dismal. A lantern was brought
+forward and on the damp ground the footprints of
+a man could be seen plainly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Another thief, and he has escaped!” cried the
+officer of the guard.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The officer sent three men into the passageway,
+the leader with one of the lanterns. They were
+gone the best part of ten minutes, and when they
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>returned they reported that the passageway led to
+the cellar of a house on the next street.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Was anybody in the house?” demanded the officer
+of the guard.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The place was deserted,” answered one of the
+soldiers. “A back window was wide open and on
+the window sill was some mud, the same as that of
+the passageway down here.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Was anybody with you?” demanded the officer,
+turning to Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, sir. But there may have been somebody
+down here with Prent.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“At it again!” howled the soldier mentioned.
+“I was never down here until now. I am an honest
+man.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We will see about that later. At present I arrest
+you both and will have you taken to the guard-house.
+We must find out something about the rascal
+who escaped—if we can.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The officer of the guard was obdurate, and inside
+of half an hour Henry found himself at the guard-house,
+which, in this case, was a small private
+dwelling, from which the owner had fled when first
+Quebec was bombarded. He was placed in one
+room, while Prent was placed in another.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As luck would have it, Prent was well acquainted
+with one of the guards at the house, and through
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>this fellow he managed to send a message to Fenley
+and Harkness, in which he asked to see one or the
+other. Fenley came, and saw him for a few minutes
+on the sly, and a scheme was concocted by which
+all promised to stand by Prent in the affair, declaring
+Henry the sole guilty one.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It is easy to imagine that Henry felt thoroughly
+miserable when he found himself in solitary confinement
+in the temporary prison.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Instead of taking chances with Prent, I should
+have had him arrested on the spot,” he thought
+dismally. “Now he has turned the tables on me,
+and how I am to clear myself I do not know.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The search for the man who had escaped
+through the narrow passage was continued for several
+days, but without success. In the meantime
+Henry was held without examination.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But at last he was told that he was appear before
+General Murray and a board of officers, and the
+next day he was marched off to where the general
+and his staff had their headquarters.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He could not help feeling nervous, and when he
+saw the general and his fellow officers, sitting at a
+long table, each in full uniform, his peace of mind
+was not increased.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Henry Morris, you are charged with attempted
+robbery,” said one of the officers. “General Murray
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>wishes to hear what you have to say for yourself.
+Tell your story in as few words possible.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As well as he was able, Henry told of his duty as
+a guard, told of what Prent had said to him, and of
+how he had followed the soldier to the cellar and
+tried to get him to come away without taking anything.
+Then he spoke of the alarm, and of how
+Prent had knocked him from the stairs, and of how
+the officer of the guard had come and placed him
+under arrest.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The officers listened in silence, each watching his
+face closely. All were evidently impressed by his
+sincerity.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do you not know it was your duty to report
+Prent when you saw him go into the building?”
+questioned General Murray.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I wanted to make sure of what he was doing,
+sir. Besides, I didn’t want to see him turn thief
+and be hanged for it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry was then removed, and Prent was called
+in, followed by Fenley and Harkness. All three of
+the conspirators told of how they had suspected
+Henry for several nights and of how they had seen
+him on one occasion carrying away something
+bulky under his coat.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why did you not have him searched?” questioned
+General Murray.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>“We couldn’t make ourselves believe that such a
+young fellow could be a thief,” answered Fenley
+glibly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We can’t say that he was a thief, exactly,” put
+in Prent. “He may have been only looking at the
+things.” Bad as the soldier was, he did not wish to
+see Henry hanged.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But what of that bundle you saw him carry
+under his coat?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That might have been something else,” said
+Fenley.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do you want to shield him?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh, no, general!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do you know anything about this other man
+who was in the cellar?” asked another officer, after
+he whispered to General Murray. He addressed
+Prent.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, sir.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then you don’t know he was caught last
+night?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At this Prent’s knees began to knock together.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Wh—who is he?” he faltered.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Never mind just now. As he was in the cellar
+he, of course, heard all that went on there.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Prent grew white and it was with difficulty that
+he kept his knees from sinking beneath him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I—I—he didn’t hear anything—that is, he
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>doesn’t know anything about me,” he said weakly.
+“He must be in league with Henry Morris.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps,” said the officer dryly. “But I imagine
+not.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At this moment an aid came in hurriedly, and
+asked permission to deliver a message.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What is it, Lieutenant Caswell?” questioned
+General Murray.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We have information that the French intend
+to attack the post at Lorette this afternoon,” said
+the aid.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“In that case, this hearing is postponed indefinitely,”
+said General Murray. “Let the guards remove
+the prisoners.”</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXII<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>IN PRISON AND OUT</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>The</span> man who had been in the cellar and who had
+escaped, had not been caught, as one of the officers
+of the court-martial had intimated. But he had
+been heard from, and in the most unexpected manner.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Late the evening before, an old Canadian, living
+in the most wretched quarter of Quebec, had appeared
+at the headquarters of the officers with a
+note, which he said had been given to him by a
+man, muffled up in a military cloak, whom he had
+met outside of the city, while bringing in a load
+of firewood.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The man gave me no time to speak with him,”
+said the Canadian, in French. “He thrust this into
+my hand, made me promise to deliver it here to-night,
+pressed this silver piece in my palm, and then
+rode off on horseback at a wild gallop.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Was he a French soldier?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>“I believe, sir, he was,” answered the old Canadian.
+“But he was dirty and unshaven and looked
+as if he had not eaten his fill for a week or more.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The note thus strangely brought to light ran as
+follows, although written in French:</p>
+
+<p class='c026'>“<span class='sc'>To General Murray</span>:</p>
+<p class='c024'>“I am a Frenchman leaving Quebec, an honest
+man, but your enemy in war. I write this to
+save the young soldier who was caught in the cellar
+of the goldsmith’s shop. He is innocent and
+the man who knocked him down is guilty. I write
+this at my own peril, because I cannot stand idly
+by and see the innocent suffer.</p>
+<p class='c027'>“Yours in truth,</p>
+<p class='c028'>“L. C. G.”</p>
+
+<p class='c025'>The note was a mere scrawl, written on a bit of
+coarse paper and unsealed.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>General Murray was much mystified by the communication,
+and spoke of it to several of his brother
+officers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I believe it is genuine,” said one. “The man
+was probably a French spy.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is more likely a fraud,” said another. “A
+fraud gotten up by one of Morris’s friends to clear
+him.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>Here were the two sides of the matter, and General
+Murray did not know which side to believe.
+The examination of Henry threw no new light on
+the affair, and it was then that one of the officers
+suggested, in a whisper, that Prent be made to believe
+that the stranger in the cellar had been caught.
+The outcome of this the reader already knows.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry had been removed before the stranger
+was mentioned, and he knew nothing of how nearly
+Prent had come to breaking down and exposing
+himself.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>From the sounds which reached him in his prison,
+Henry knew that something unusual had occurred
+to break the quiet monotony of army life in the
+captured city. Soldiers were hurrying in various
+directions, and he heard some artillery being
+dragged down the street by six or eight horses.
+Drums were rolling, and from a great distance he
+imagined he heard the sound of firing through the
+clear, nipping air.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Ever since the English had taken Quebec and
+signified their intention of holding it, at any cost,
+there had been rumors that the enemy were coming
+to the attack before the winter was over. The
+alarm came in November, when the news went
+flying in all directions that General Lévis was
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>marching toward the city, at the head of fifteen
+thousand men.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He means to capture the city, and has sworn
+to dine here with his army on Christmas day,” was
+the report.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The guard was strengthened, and the watchfulness
+of the outposts increased. But Lévis failed to appear,
+for the simple reason that he was by no means
+ready to make an attack. Then the holidays came
+and went quietly, and for a few weeks the alarm
+subsided.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The main outposts at this time were at St. Foy,
+and at Old Lorette. At each place a strong guard
+was placed, for the French were not far distant,
+and bent on doing all the damage possible to the
+English.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Old Lorette had now been attacked by a body of
+French regulars, who came up when least expected,
+and drove off a large herd of cattle upon which
+the British had levied. This made the rangers in
+that vicinity very angry. A hasty plan against
+the French was arranged, and just as hastily carried
+out, and the enemy fell back with one or two
+men wounded, leaving the rangers to re-gather the
+cattle, that had in the meantime strayed away in
+various directions.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But it was not this firing that Henry heard. The
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>French had come up during a storm and taken possession
+of Point Levi, on the south shore of the
+St. Lawrence. They dared the English to come
+out and meet them, and a detachment under Major
+Dalling was sent over the river on the ice, which
+was now thick enough to bear almost any weight.
+A sharp skirmish followed, and the French were
+beaten back. A few days later there was another
+encounter, in which General Murray himself took
+part, and also a detachment of the Highlanders, and
+this time the enemy fled in terror, leaving a handful
+of their men to be captured.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>During these exciting days nobody came near
+Henry but the prison guards, and the majority of
+these soldiers were rough fellows who had neither
+sympathy nor pity for the youthful prisoner.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s a bad hole ye have got yourself into,” said
+one. “An’ if ye are hung ’twill but serve ye right.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“’Tis hung he should be,” said another. “A thief
+is no better than a murderer.” This fellow had
+charge of the food served to Henry, and he gave
+the youth stuff which was scarcely fit to eat.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As the days went by Henry grew more miserable,
+and to tease him one of the guards told another,
+in Henry’s hearing, that he had heard the prisoner
+was soon to dance upon nothing, as a warning to
+other thieves.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>It was a cruel joke, and gotten off so seriously
+that Henry was much inclined to believe the report.
+That night he could not sleep, and when he arose
+in the morning his face wore a cold, calculating
+look that had never been there before.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They shan’t hang me,” he thought bitterly.
+“I am innocent and I won’t suffer—not if I can
+help it. What will mother and the others say, if
+they hear I was hanged for a thief?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A day later it snowed heavily, and the guards
+around the house were more out of humor than
+ever. They were not allowed to smoke, but did so
+on the sly, and one man drank liberally of some rum
+which one of the detail brought in from somewhere.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry was watching his chance as a hawk
+watches young chickens, and late that afternoon
+noticed that the guard seemed unusually drowsy.
+The man sat on a bench in a front room of the improvised
+prison, and if he did not sleep he was certainly
+far from being wide awake.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>There was a window in Henry’s room. It had
+been nailed up, but one window pane was broken,
+letting in cold air that nearly froze him to death
+during the night time. Outside several slats of
+wood had been placed across the window, which
+happened to be without the heavy wooden shutters
+so common at that period.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>Through the broken window pane Henry had
+worked at two of the slats and now had them much
+loosened. As night came on he noticed that the
+guard still dozed. The man’s cap had fallen on the
+floor, and his heavy coat had slipped beside it.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If I could only get that cap and coat,” thought
+the young prisoner. The door to the next room
+was unlocked,—indeed, it had never had a lock on
+it,—and it was an easy matter to step up to the
+guard. In a moment more Henry had the articles
+he desired. Then he turned back, for he knew that
+another guard was in the street, near the door leading
+to the thoroughfare.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hullo! How cold it is!” Henry heard the
+guard mutter. He waited to hear no more, but
+as the man stretched himself he ran to the window,
+smashed out what remained of the glass, pushed
+aside the loosened bars, and leaped out into the
+snow of the yard.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>There was now an alarm, and the youth knew
+that in another moment three or four guards would
+be after him, each with a musket, ready to shoot
+him on sight. He leaped for the shelter of a nearby
+woodshed, donned the cap and military overcoat,
+and then continued to the back of the yard, where
+he hopped over a fence, and darted into an alleyway
+leading to another street.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>As Henry gained the alleyway the report of a
+musket rang out on the early night air, and soon
+the commotion in and around the prison increased.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What’s the rumpus?” demanded the officer of
+the guard, running up.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Morris has escaped!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He attacked me like a savage beast,” said the
+guard, who had been dozing. “He—he complained
+of being half frozen, and then he turned
+on me like a fury.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You’re a set of numskulls!” roared the officer
+of the guard, in great wrath. “After him, and if
+you do not bring him back, dead or alive, somebody
+shall pay dearly for this blundering.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>One thing prison life had given Henry. That
+was plenty of rest, and now as he ran through the
+alleyway and out on the next street he felt as if
+he could cover ten or twenty miles without stopping.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They shan’t catch me,” he told himself. “I’ll
+show them what an American can do when he is
+put to it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>On account of the darkness and the cold the street
+was almost deserted, and the few people he met
+hardly noticed him; doubtless thinking he was
+merely some soldier hurrying to his quarters after
+a chilling tour of guard duty on the ramparts.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>During the time Henry had been free to come
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>and go in Quebec he had visited nearly every part
+of the city, which in those days was far from large.
+Consequently, he knew where he was and how to
+turn to get to where he wanted to go.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ll have to leave the city to-night, that is certain,”
+he told himself. “In the morning there will
+be a warning sent out, and to pass any of the guards
+will be impossible.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But how to get out was a serious problem until
+he caught sight of a covered wagon drawn by a
+team of horses, moving slowly toward the gate of
+St. John. This wagon contained supplies for the
+hospital, located to the northward, on a bend of
+the St. Charles River. The supplies were needed
+at once, hence they were being sent out at night
+instead of waiting until morning.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Climbing upon the wagon from behind, Henry
+secreted himself between several boxes and bundles.
+Neither the driver of the wagon nor his assistant
+noticed the movement, and in a moment more the
+wagon was at the gate.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What wagon is that?” Henry heard a guard
+call out.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“General Hospital Wagon No. 4,” was the
+answer from the driver. And he showed a slip
+of paper.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Right; pass on,” answered the guard, and the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>gate was opened, the wagon passed through, and
+then the gate was closed again.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Hardly daring to breathe, the young soldier remained
+crouched between boxes and bundles, as
+the wagon jounced over the rough road, deep with
+snow in some places, and swept bare by the wind
+in others. Then, when he calculated that half the
+distance to the hospital had been covered, and they
+came to another road leading westward, he dropped
+off behind, and the hospital wagon rolled out of
+sight without him.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXIII<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>FACE TO FACE WITH THE UNEXPECTED</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>So</span> far Henry had given but scant thought to
+where he was going. His whole mind had been
+concentrated on getting away from Quebec, and
+from those who wished to make him suffer for a
+crime which he had not committed.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But now, as he stood in the middle of the
+deserted roadway, with the gloom of night on
+every side of him, and with a cutting wind blowing
+the drifting snow into his face, he realized
+that he must find shelter, and that quickly. He
+was not accustomed to such a severe winter, and
+the cold seemed to pierce him like a knife.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At a corner of the roadway stood a signboard,
+a rough affair, with an arrow pointing to the northeast,
+and under this the name St. Foy.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That must lead to one of the outposts,” thought
+the young soldier. “I can’t go there. I wonder
+if there isn’t some French farmhouse in this vicinity
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>where they will give me shelter for the night,
+and some food?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>To keep warm he began to tramp along the road.
+He had gone but a short distance when he came
+to a cross road. Here everything was covered with
+snow, and half blinded by the whirlings of the
+wind he got onto the cross road without knowing it.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Two miles were covered, and poor Henry was
+almost exhausted. More than once he thought to
+sit down and rest. But he realized that this would
+be madness. “I’d never get up again,” he told himself.
+“It would be the sleep of death!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At last, when he could scarcely drag one limb
+after the other, he espied a light shining from the
+upper window of a small house some distance away.
+He fairly staggered toward this, and, reaching the
+house, knocked loudly on the door.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>After a moment of silence an upper window was
+opened, and an old woman peered down from out
+of her night-cap.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Who is there, and what is desired?” she asked
+in French.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am freezing!” said Henry in English. “Let
+me in.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The old women did not understand his words,
+but she seemed to understand the situation, and soon
+hobbled downstairs and threw open the door.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>Henry almost fell into the kitchen, and sank into
+a heap before the fire which smoldered in the big
+chimney-place.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Poor fellow—and so young!” murmured the
+old French woman. “He is almost frozen.” And
+she bustled about, stirred up the fire, and put on
+some fresh sticks of wood, and then made him some
+hot tea to drink.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was a good half-hour before Henry felt anything
+like himself. He was given some bread and
+butter, and some warmed-up meat and another cup
+of tea. The old woman plied him with questions,
+and he had a hard task to make her understand
+that he wished to remain at the house until daylight.
+But when he pointed to the fire, and then
+at himself, and made out as if he was sleeping
+and snoring, she smiled and nodded her head in
+assent.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It must be confessed that Henry slept but little
+that night, even though his couch on a blanket before
+the smoldering fire was a fairly comfortable
+one. His brain was racked with the question of
+what to do on the morrow. Traveling during the
+daytime would be extremely hazardous, so long
+as he remained in the English lines, and when he
+crossed into the French lines the situation would
+be just as bad.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>“And it’s too cold to travel at night,” he thought
+dismally.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The morning found the snow coming down at a
+furious rate, so that the landscape was blotted out
+on every side. The roadway was drifted high with
+snow, which lay against the kitchen door to a depth
+of three feet.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I reckon I am safe here for the present,”
+thought the young soldier. “Nobody will think
+of visiting this house during such a snow-storm.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The old woman came down as soon as it was
+light. She found Henry fixing the fire, and he had
+already set the pot of water for boiling.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You are snow-bound,” she said, but of course
+he did not understand her. He gazed thoughtfully
+out of one of the windows, while she prepared a
+simple morning meal from her scanty stock of provisions.
+He wished he could pay her, but could
+only point to his empty pockets, at which she smiled
+again, as if that did not matter.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A good, motherly sort,” he told himself.
+“Mother at home couldn’t treat a French soldier
+any better than this woman is treating me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The snow-storm kept up for several days, and
+after that there were fierce high winds, which
+sent the snow flying and drifting in half a dozen
+directions at once.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>During those days Henry and the old woman
+were left entirely alone. By an effort on the part
+of both he learned that she was a widow with a
+son somewhere in the French army, and that her
+name was Garrot. She deplored the war, and
+wished only for peace, no matter which side won.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And at her age I cannot blame her,” thought
+Henry. “Probably she has lost a great deal by
+the forages of both armies.” And his surmise was
+correct.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>On the morning of the fourth day at the cottage,
+the young soldier heard firing at a distance. The
+sounds seemed to come closer at noon, but shortly
+after that died away utterly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Some sort of a skirmish,” thought the youth.
+“Can it be that the French have attacked Quebec?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>On the day following, the sun came out, and the
+weather moderated greatly. Henry now thought
+he must set off once more, fearing that some French
+troopers might appear at any moment. As best he
+could he thanked Madam Garrot for what she had
+done for him, and then trudged off.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The young soldier had in mind to move up the
+river bank a distance of several miles, and then
+cross the St. Lawrence on the ice. Once in English
+territory, he would strike out southward, trusting
+to luck to reach some settlement. He carried a
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>small stock of provisions, and also a pistol and some
+powder, which he had begged of the old woman,
+who seemed, strangely enough, much interested in
+him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry found walking through the snow as difficult
+as ever. But after trudging along for half a
+mile he reached a long stretch which the wind had
+swept clear, and which he covered with ease. He
+kept his eyes and ears on the alert, but neither
+French nor English soldiers appeared to challenge
+his progress.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>That night found the young soldier a good many
+miles up the St. Lawrence, at a place which had
+in years gone by been a combined French and Indian
+settlement. Most of the buildings were burnt
+down, and the place was entirely abandoned. In
+searching around he found one part of a log cabin
+which could be used as a shelter, and into this he
+crawled, and built a small fire in the half-tumbled-down
+chimney-place.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Not much of a tavern,” he thought grimly.
+“But I can be content if I fare no worse during this
+journey.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>His physical distress, even though great, was
+nothing compared to the trouble he suffered in his
+mind. He was branded as a thief, and even if he
+escaped to his home, how was he to clear his name,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>and how escape the military judgment meted out
+to him for the crime? Even if he was allowed to
+go free, folks would point the finger of scorn at
+him. And then his mother—he hardly dared to
+think of her.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This news will almost kill her,” he said to
+himself. “She always expected so much of
+me!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The next day he continued his journey up the
+river bank. He had now crossed a road where the
+tracks of several sleighs could be plainly seen, and
+was on his guard constantly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was almost nightfall when Henry reached a
+large barn located in the middle of a field which was
+deep with snow. A house had stood near by, but this
+had been burnt down by the Indians at the outbreak
+of the war. But some half-burnt sticks of timber
+were still visible, and some of these he gathered,
+and built himself a fire at which to thaw out his
+half-frozen limbs.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The fugitive was utterly worn out, and, having
+consumed the last of his scant stock of provisions,
+he wrapped himself up in some hay in the barn,
+and soon fell asleep.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>How soundly he slept Henry did not know until
+nearly daylight, when the kicking of a horse’s hoofs
+on the side of a stall below awoke him. He listened
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>intently, and heard several steeds moving
+about.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Some French troopers must be around,” he
+reasoned, and his heart almost stopped beating at
+the thought. With extreme care he peered below.
+He could see two forms stretched out in the semi-darkness.
+Listening, he heard snoring from
+another quarter. Not less than six men were below
+asleep.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now I’m as good as caught,” he thought, but
+an instant after set his teeth hard. No, he would
+not give in thus easily. He would fight first.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They must have come in too late to notice the
+fire I built,” he told himself. “But they’ll see it
+when they awaken and start on a tour of discovery.
+I must get away if I wish to save myself.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>There was a small window at one end of the
+barn, and he found he could drop out and into the
+snow with ease. But just as he was climbing out
+another thought came to him—one that amazed
+even himself, at the risk involved. Why not try
+to appropriate one of the French troopers’ horses,
+and perhaps a saber and some food as well?</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The exposure had made Henry reckless and he
+did not stop to consider the plan twice. Turning,
+he found the rude ladder leading to the lower floor
+and went down to the bottom.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>There were exactly seven of the troopers, all burly
+fellows, and one an under-officer, who was snoring
+lustily on the top of a feed box.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry’s first move was to untie the horse nearest
+to the stable door. The snow had drifted in beneath
+the door, and this helped to deaden the sounds of
+the animal’s hoofs as it was led outside. Then
+the young soldier returned and picked up the officer’s
+saber, and also a pistol and a horn of powder and
+balls. A knapsack was handy, and into this he
+stuffed a mass of provisions taken from three other
+knapsacks. The provisions were only army rations,
+but they were vastly better than nothing.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As Henry slipped from the stable a second time
+one of the men stirred uneasily and opened his
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Who is there?” he asked sleepily, in French.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Of course Henry did not answer. Instead, he
+swung himself into the saddle, which had been left
+on the steed, and started away from the stable on
+a gallop. Reaching the rude stone wall of the field,
+he made the horse take it at a bound, and then continued
+on his way along the river road.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He had not yet reached some timber ahead of
+him, when a shot rang out, followed by another,
+showing that he was discovered. The bullets, however,
+flew wide of the mark, and soon he felt that
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>he was practically out of range, for the muskets
+and pistols of those days did not carry as far, nor
+as accurately, as do those of modern construction.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They will be after me,” thought the young soldier,
+as he continued to urge the horse onward, and
+at the same time fastened the knapsack to his back
+and the saber to his waist. “Well, if they come,
+I reckon I can fight for it,” he continued, and set
+his teeth together more firmly than ever.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The timber was gained a few minutes later. Just
+before passing out of sight between the trees he
+looked back. Four troopers had left the barn on
+their horses and were in hot pursuit.</p>
+
+<div id='p222'  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/p222.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+<div class='ic002'>
+<p>Four troopers were in hot pursuit.—<i>Page 222.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXIV<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>A GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>Fortunately</span> for Henry, the road through the
+timber was on a slight ridge, which the wind had
+swept almost free of snow. Here and there the elements
+had torn down branches, and even trees themselves,
+but the horse the young soldier rode appeared
+to know something of steeplechasing and
+took every obstruction without difficulty.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For a distance of half a mile the way was straight,
+and looking back he saw the four troopers plainly.
+They were riding about as fast as himself, but no
+faster.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They won’t catch me just yet,” he reasoned, as
+he sped onward. “And perhaps I’ll soon come to
+some cross-roads, where I can give them the
+slip.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Once came another shot but it did not reach the
+fugitive, and only made him urge his steed along
+at a better speed. Then the road began to lead downward
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>from the ridge, and soon Henry found his
+horse plowing and panting through snow a foot
+deep, and steadily growing deeper.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Here was cause for fresh alarm, and now the
+youth’s heart beat anxiously. A turn had hidden
+the troopers from view, but he could hear them
+shouting to each other, for the horse of one had
+stumbled over a log, and thrown his rider headlong
+into a snowbank.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They’ve got a chance to get up to me now,”
+thought Henry, as he gazed at his almost exhausted
+animal. “Oh, if only we could get to some spot
+where there wasn’t so much snow!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Another turn was ahead, and Henry made for
+this, hoping it would disclose something to his advantage.
+It did, for here were three other roads,
+running in as many different directions.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Too bad to give up the horse, but I guess it has
+got to be done,” he thought. He turned the horse
+up one of the side roads and brought him to a
+standstill under a low-hanging tree. Then he leaped
+into the branches and gave the steed a smart slap
+with the flat side of the sabre. “Up with you!”
+he cried. “Get along!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Stung by the blow and urged on by the words,
+the horse gave a leap forward, and started off at
+a good pace that soon took him out of sight. Then
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>Henry climbed up into the tree and lay among the
+branches, hardly daring to breathe.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was not long before the young soldier heard
+the French troopers at the cross-roads. They came
+to a halt, examined the ground, and then put on
+after the riderless horse, passing directly beneath
+the tree in which the fugitive was hiding.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That was a lucky idea,” thought Henry, and
+as soon as the party had passed he slid down out
+of the tree. He did not take to the road at once,
+but made a détour through the brushwood, to a point
+on one of the other roads a quarter of a mile away.
+Then he struck out bravely once again in the direction
+of the river.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry found trudging along with a knapsack on
+his back far from easy, and at the end of an hour
+he was glad enough to seek the shelter of some
+rocks and trees and rest. The sun was shining
+brightly, and at a long distance he could make out
+the frozen surface of the St. Lawrence, glistening
+in patches like a mirror.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I suppose I may as well make for the river and
+cross it here, instead of farther up,” he mused.
+“I’ve got to get to some place before all my supplies
+give out.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He took his time over the rations which the knapsack
+afforded, keeping his eyes and ears open for
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>the possible sound of pursuers. But nobody came
+near him, and the country for miles around looked
+absolutely deserted.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The distance to the river was fully as far as it
+looked, and before half the space was covered Henry
+was almost exhausted. He had found a deserted
+farmhouse, and here he rested again, and then resolved
+to remain at the farmhouse over night.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“One day won’t make any difference,” he reasoned.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The farmhouse had been looted of all of value,
+yet a rude table, two benches, and a few old cooking
+utensils remained, and close at hand was some firewood
+ready for use. Growing reckless again, the
+youth started up a fire, and warmed up some of his
+rations, and also his half-stiffened body.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Slowly the day faded from sight and the stars
+began to glitter in the sky. It was clear and quiet,
+and never had the young soldier felt so lonely. His
+thoughts traveled to home and then to Dave. What
+would his cousin think of him when he heard of
+what had happened?</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’m sure Dave won’t think I turned thief,” he
+reflected. “But that won’t help me any. Oh,
+was ever a fellow in such a fix before!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was nearly midnight when Henry heard a
+strange noise outside of the old farmhouse. He
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>leaped up from his position in front of the fire and
+gazed out of a window. In the dim light he saw
+three men approaching on horseback.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The troopers!” he told himself. He wanted
+to flee, but there was not time. Gathering up his
+pistol and saber he fled up the narrow stairs leading
+to the sloping room above.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In a few minutes the door below was thrown
+open, and the three men entered. They were talking
+earnestly, but the sight of the smoldering fire cut
+short the conversation. Some excited questions
+followed, and presently one of the men opened the
+door leading to the stairs.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Is anybody up there?” he demanded in French.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Instead of replying, Henry tiptoed his way to a
+corner of the room. Here was a sheltered nook,
+between the chimney and the sloping roof, and he
+squeezed himself into this.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I say, is there anybody up there?” demanded
+the Frenchman once more.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He waited a moment and then slammed the door
+shut. More talking followed, but only an indistinct
+murmur reached Henry’s ears. The young
+soldier scarcely dared to breathe, and he tried in
+vain to think of what would be best to do next.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I reckon I’ll have to drop from the window,
+just as I was going to do at the barn,” thought the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>youth, but before he could put the plan into execution,
+the door below was thrown open once more
+and the Frenchman reappeared, this time with a
+torch taken from the fire, which he and his companions
+had started up again.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’m in for it now,” Henry told himself, and he
+was right. In a moment more the Frenchman discovered
+him and drew a pistol.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Who are you?” he demanded, in his native
+tongue.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t fire,” answered Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ha, you are von Englishmans, hey?” cried the
+Frenchman, and now Henry saw that he was dressed
+in civilian’s clothes.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, I am an English soldier,” answered Henry
+recklessly. “What do you want of me?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You come de stairs down, an’ you make me no
+trouble,” was the reply.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As there was no help for it, Henry descended to
+the ground floor of the farmhouse. The talking
+had brought the others to their feet and each
+Frenchman had a pistol drawn as he appeared.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Jean Bevoir!” gasped Henry, as his eyes rested
+on one of the newcomers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ha, you know me?” came in return. The
+trader gazed at Henry sharply, and uttered an imprecation
+in French. “It ees zat Henry Morris!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>“Henry Morris?” repeated the man who had
+remained below with Bevoir.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“<i>Oui</i>, Chalette;” and then he continued in
+French: “Do you not remember seeing him at Fort
+Niagara?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes. But he is not the Morris who came to
+the hospital,” answered Chalette, who was the prisoner
+who had escaped with Jean Bevoir, during
+the powder-house excitement.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, this is a cousin—the brother to that little
+Nell Morris.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ah, I see. Is he alone? If he is, we have
+made a fine haul,” was Chalette’s comment.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He is the only person I saw,” said the third
+Frenchman, a hunter named Gasse. “I will look
+again. You watch this fellow.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To be sure we shall watch him,” cried Jean
+Bevoir, and at the point of the pistol he disarmed
+Henry and made him stand up in a corner, facing
+the wall. The young soldier wanted to fight for
+his liberty, but saw it was useless, for Chalette also
+kept his pistol ready for use.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was not long before Gasse returned, saying
+that nobody else was anywhere around. Then
+Henry’s hands were bound behind him and he was
+tied fast to a bench, which was stood up on end for
+that purpose.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>“Now, my fine fellow, you vill tell me how it ees
+zat you came here,” began Jean Bevoir.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I rode part of the distance and walked the rest,”
+answered Henry, as lightly as he could. He felt it
+would do him no good to “show the white feather.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Where did you come from, tell me zat and tell
+ze truf.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I came from Quebec, if you want to know so
+bad.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ha, Quebec! You march all ze way from Fort
+Niagara to Quebec?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, I came part of the way by boat.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“’Tis mooch ze same. Vat ees it zat you do
+here?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That is my own affair.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You play ze spy on ze French, not so?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, I am not a spy.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But ze English air not here—za know enough
+to stay near to Quebec.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If you must know, I am trying to get home,”
+answered Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Geet home? You leaf ze army?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“For vat?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I have my reasons.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You geet afraid of ze French bullets, hey?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>“Maybe you haf deserted ze army?” burst out
+Jean Bevoir, and gave the young soldier a shrewd
+look from his wicked eyes.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If I have it is none of your affair, Jean Bevoir.
+Now let me ask a few questions. How did
+you get here? Did General Johnson let you go?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yees,” answered Bevoir, without hesitation.
+“He examine me an’ say I am free.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The falsehood was told so readily that Henry was
+staggered by it.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“General Johnson made a mistake to let you
+free!” he cried. “If this war ever comes to an end,
+you shall suffer for what you have done.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ha, you threaten me, you, von prisonair!”
+roared the French trader, shaking his fist in Henry’s
+face.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You don’t deserve your freedom, and you know
+it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Bevoir drew a long breath. “Ve vill not talk
+about zat,” he said. “I shall tell ze French commander
+zat you are von spy—an’ Chalette an’
+Gasse shall tell ze same. You vill soon learn zat
+ze French know vat to do to ze spy, ha! ha!” And
+he laughed wickedly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At these words Henry’s heart sank within him.
+He realized only too well what Bevoir’s words
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>meant. If taken into the French camp as a spy he
+would most likely be shot.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Truly in breaking out of the guard-house in Quebec
+and coming to this place he had leaped “out of
+the frying-pan into the fire.”</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXV<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>TAKEN AS A SPY</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>The</span> Frenchmen now began an earnest conversation
+in their native tongue, and they spoke so rapidly
+that Henry could understand little of what was being
+said. But he knew that they were talking about
+him, and more than once he heard his own name
+and that of Dave, and of his Uncle James mentioned,
+and once he heard them mention the trading-post
+on the Kinotah.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Jean Bevoir is going to square accounts if he
+possibly can,” thought the young captive dismally.
+“He is going to make me suffer for all his troubles.
+How General Johnson could let such a rascal go is
+more than I can understand.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At length the Frenchmen turned to prepare themselves
+something to eat, and one went out to care
+for the horses, which were stabled in a lean-to of
+the farmhouse. Then Henry’s bonds were examined
+and an additional strap passed over his lower
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>limbs, after which the bench was let down, that he
+might lie at full length.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now, if you can sleep, you sleep,” said Bevoir
+roughly. “But do not try to get away, or ze
+bullet from a pistol shall find you verra soon.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The Frenchmen laid down after this, and once
+again the farmhouse became quiet. Henry tried
+several times to free himself, but found the task impossible.
+At last worn out by the struggle, he
+too, passed into the land of dreams.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>When the captive was released at daybreak he
+found himself so cramped that he could scarcely
+stand. His hands were now untied that he might
+eat the little breakfast allotted to him, and were
+then refastened in front of him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Soon after this the farmhouse was left behind,
+and the whole party started down the river road
+single file, Henry taking turns in riding with each
+of the others. It was still cold and clear, and traveling
+was by no means easy. Yet the horses were of
+large build and covered many miles before being
+halted for midday lunch.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was nightfall when the camp of a French outpost
+was discovered, quarter of a mile back from
+the St. Lawrence, and close to a settlement named
+Girot, since entirely abandoned. Here some
+fur traders, well known to Jean Bevoir, had erected
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>something of a fort and stockade, and the French
+soldiers had taken possession.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The flare of several camp-fires lit up the outside
+of the fort, as the prisoner and his captors rode
+through the stockade gate. Here were assembled
+several companies of foot soldiers, and half a troop
+of French cavalry, under the command of Captain
+Rachepin, a burly fellow, who had won his position
+by daring work in the campaigns gone by.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“An English prisoner, eh?” he said, as he gazed
+at Henry. “That makes the third this week. Well,
+the more the merrier.” And without further ado
+Henry was thrown into a low, dirty hut, that did
+duty as a prison.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Two other prisoners were already in the hut,
+one an English grenadier, and the other a ranger
+from New Hampshire. Both were half-starved,
+and each had been captured while miles away looking
+for game for their own camp larder.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hit’s ’ard luck, my boy,” sighed the grenadier
+gloomily. “Hi didn’t hexpect nothink like hit when
+I took the King’s shilling, Hi can tell ye that.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Never seed nothin’ like them pesky garlic-eaters,”
+said the ranger. “Neow deown ter our
+camp we treated the prisoners fair an’ square, but
+here—gee shoo! Why, the eatin’ aint fit for hogs,
+let alone human critters!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>“Perhaps they haven’t enough for themselves,”
+answered Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They ’ave that,” put in the grenadier. “Hi
+’ave seen hit with my hown blessed heyes. But
+the bloomin’ tykes are selfish. They ’ave flip and
+spruce beer galore, but hit is nothink but cold water
+fer us, with stale bread an’ salt pork as is worse
+than stale!” And the grenadier heaved a long sigh.
+“Hif ever Hi git ’ome again, strike me dead hif Hi
+leave a second time!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“An’ thet aint the wust on it, not by er jugful,”
+continued the ranger, who rejoiced in the name of
+Pity-All-Sinners Skinner, but was called Pit for
+short. “When I got ketched I had a’most seven
+shillin’s in my pocket, an’ neow I aint got a smell
+on’t, flay ’em!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t suppose you gave them the money,” remarked
+Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Gave it to ’em? Not by er jugful! I’ll see ’em
+all drawn an’ quartered fust! They took it—stole
+it plain and simple. But yeou jest wait! This here
+war aint done yet—an’ Pit Skinner aint dead yet
+nuther!” concluded the ranger, with a wrathful
+shake of his head.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For several days nobody came near Henry outside
+of the guard who brought in the miserable
+prison fare, already mentioned by the grenadier
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>and the New Hampshire ranger. It was certainly
+food scarcely fit to eat, and it was a whole day before
+the young soldier could touch it. But a keen
+appetite can overcome many objections, and at last
+he ate just enough to satisfy the intense craving
+of his stomach. Even the drinking water was poor,
+and, as Pity-All-Sinners Skinner said, hardly fit for
+washing.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>On the Monday following Henry’s arrival at the
+post a messenger came in with some important dispatches.
+Following this there was a good deal of
+bustle and excitement, and soon some guards appeared
+and told the prisoners to get ready for a journey.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Where are we going now?” asked Henry, but
+the guard addressed either could not, or would not,
+answer the question.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Chained together, hand-to-hand, the three were
+made to march from the fort. The foot soldiers of
+the French were already in the ranks and the prisoners
+were placed in their midst. Then the little
+column moved off by fours, up the St. Lawrence,
+in the direction of Montreal.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Something has happened, thet’s certain,” said
+Skinner. “Looks ter me like a retreat.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The march of the soldiers with their prisoners
+was kept up for three days, when the outskirts of
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>Montreal were reached. Then came other dispatches
+for the commander of the little column, and
+the prisoners were sent into the city under a guard
+of six men, while the main body of the soldiery
+moved eastward again.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At the time of which I write, Montreal, now a
+large and flourishing city, was but a small town,
+consisted principally of low one- and two-storied
+houses, of logs and stone. There were several
+stores, or rather trading shops and some little shipping
+during the summer time, along the waterfront.
+The people, mostly Catholics, were very religious
+and had three churches and also a seminary,
+which, on account of its towers, could be seen from
+a great distance.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The defenses of the town were not many and
+the place had suffered much from having quartered
+the army of Montcalm on more than one occasion.
+During those times the French soldiers had eaten
+very nearly all the food in sight, leaving the town
+people to famish. Business and trading were almost
+at a standstill, and at times even money could not
+procure the necessities of life.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>On entering Montreal Henry saw but little of
+the place, for he was hurried without ceremony to
+a stone building which the French had turned into
+an army prison. In this building were huddled
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>over a score of prisoners of all descriptions—a
+motley, half-dressed and half-starved crowd, some
+grenadiers, some rangers, and some civilians.
+Everybody in the crowd was out of humor, and
+groans and curses were frequent. But the prisoners
+did not dare to talk too loudly, for if they did, a
+guard would appear and threaten them with solitary
+confinement in a stone cell under one of the churches.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What an awful place to stay in,” was Henry’s
+mental comment. He found himself pushed hither
+and thither, while the stench of the prison made
+him literally sick. “This is Jean Bevoir’s work.
+He will make me suffer as much as he possibly can.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>After a good deal of pushing and shoving, Henry
+found himself in something of an alcove, and here
+dropped on the bench which was built around two
+sides of the room. Beside him sat an old soldier,
+who was suffering from a heavy cold, and who
+coughed continually.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It is not fit for a dog here,” said the old soldier.
+“I have been here two weeks, and I know. They
+mean to kill us all off.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Two weeks—in this hole!” cried Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, and that is nothing. Some of the poor
+fellows have been here three months.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I couldn’t stand it—I’d—I’d die for the want
+of fresh air.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>“And that is what they want you to do. When
+you die they won’t have to feed you any more.”
+The cough of the old soldier grew steadily worse,
+and, although, at the last moment a surgeon came
+and gave him a little medicine, he died eight days
+later, and was carried away for burial in a trench
+outside of the town.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry had been separated from Pity-All-Sinners
+Skinner and from the English grenadier, and so
+knew absolutely nobody in the prison. More than
+this, no one seemed to care for him, and, if the
+truth must be told, he likewise cared for nobody.
+Everybody felt miserable and it was in very truth
+a struggle to keep body and soul together and to
+keep from catching some fatal disease.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The young soldier was in the prison over a month
+before Jean Bevoir came to see him. The French
+trader could only speak to him through the rudely
+slatted door and in the presence of the other captives.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I trust zat you like ze surroundings,” said Bevoir,
+with a sickly grin. “It ees just suited to you,
+hey?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You’re a miserable scoundrel, Bevoir!” burst
+out Henry. “What have you told the commander
+about me?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I haf tole him zat you are a spy an’ a verra
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>deep one, too! Some day, ven he has ze time, he
+vill bring you up before ze military court.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And then?” questioned the young soldier.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Jean Bevoir shrugged his lean shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Zen you can die ze death of ze spy, and it ees
+vat you an’ all your familee deserve. Ees not zat
+von pleasant thought, hey?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>And with a sinister leer the French trader moved
+away from the slatted door and left the prison as
+rapidly as he had entered it.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As for poor Henry, his feelings can be better
+imagined than described. Walking to a corner of
+the cell he threw himself down on the bench, almost
+overcome. The last door of hope seemed to be shut
+against him.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXVI<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>DAVE’S JOURNEY TO QUEBEC</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>It</span> was not long after he was lost in the snow,
+that Dave heard news from Quebec that disheartened
+him greatly. This was that Henry had been arrested
+for stealing and was likely to be hanged for
+the offense.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The news came in through several messengers
+who arrived at Fort Ontario on important business
+for General Murray. One of the messengers knew
+Sam Barringford well, and it was this man who
+gave the news, first to the old frontiersman and then
+to Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Henry arrested for stealing!” exclaimed the
+young soldier. He could scarcely believe that he
+heard aright.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Sorry for you, young man, but it’s the truth,”
+was the reply of the messenger, and he gave what
+few particulars he knew. He had left Quebec before
+Henry ran away, so knew nothing of this new
+turn of affairs.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>It was to Barringford that the messenger told
+how Henry was in danger of hanging. “General
+Murray is bound that looting shall stop,” said he.
+“So some time ago he had notices posted up giving
+warning that a thief caught in the act would be
+hanged.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ll wager my life on it, Henry aint no thief,”
+said Barringford warmly. “Thet boy is as honest
+as the day is long.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I know nothing of that. He is now in prison,
+or, for all I know, he may be dead.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Barringford considered it his duty to tell Dave
+of the fate that overhung his cousin, and the
+two talked the matter over for the best part of a
+night.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If I could get to Quebec I’d go,” declared
+Dave. “Perhaps I could do something—if—if——”
+He wanted to say if it was not too late but the
+words stuck in his throat.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Say the word an’ I’ll go with ye, Dave,” responded
+Barringford. “Thar don’t seem to be no
+ust o’ stayin’ here.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Can we make it, Sam? Quebec is a long distance
+from here.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I aint afraid to try it, Dave. I allow as we are
+goin’ to have a spell o’ good weather.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But the Indians?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>“The Injuns don’t stir much in the winter. An’
+if we have our muskets an’ a pistol or two I reckon
+we kin hold our own ag’in ’em.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The upshot of this conversation was that both
+Dave and the old hunter went to lay the case
+before their commander the next morning. The
+general listened patiently to what they had to
+say.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To me such an undertaking is foolhardy at
+this season of the year,” said the general. “But if
+you feel that you really want to go, you have my
+permission, and I will give you each a paper to that
+effect. But if you lose your lives in the attempt
+your friends must not blame me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave and Barringford set off the very next day,
+in company with two of the messengers, named
+Grassbrook and Heppy. Both of the messengers
+were old hunters who knew the trails well, and it
+was said that Heppy had a trace of Indian blood in
+him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The party was two days on its way when they
+came to the Indian village of Kanankee, presided
+over by an old chief named Leaping Elk. The
+Indians were friendly, and the travelers were glad
+enough to remain with them over night.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In the morning an agreeable surprise awaited
+Dave. During the night six warriors of the Delawares
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>had come in, under the command of White
+Buffalo.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“White Buffalo!” cried the young soldier.
+“Where did you come from?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“From the southward,” answered White Buffalo.
+“And where goes White Buffalo’s young friend
+David?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To Quebec—if we can get that far.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It will take many days to make the journey.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I suppose so—but that cannot be helped.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave then told the Indian chief why he was
+making the journey. White Buffalo listened attentively
+and his eyes flashed fire when he heard that
+Henry had been arrested as a thief.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The English chief at Quebec is a fool,” he said.
+“My white brother Henry is no thief. I will tell
+the English chief that to his face. He is a fool.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I want to save Henry if I possibly can,” answered
+Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What will David do?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t know yet. But I have some letters that
+tell of Henry’s bravery in battle, and those may
+help him.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>White Buffalo was silent after this and had but
+little to say while supper was being prepared and
+eaten. But before he retired for the night he came
+to Dave again.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>“Would my white brother like White Buffalo
+to go with him to Quebec?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh, White Buffalo, that is asking a good deal
+of you!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Then White Buffalo may go?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If you want to go, certainly. But—but—haven’t
+you anything else to do?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At this the Indian chief shook his head sadly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, White Buffalo has nothing much left. His
+tribe is split and broken. Some have gone to the
+French, many are dead, or wounded, or sick. Six
+warriors only remain, but they are of the best, and
+they have sworn by the Great Spirit to stay with
+their chief to the finish. Let us go with you, and
+if we meet unfriendly Indians, or the French, we
+will do what we can to defend you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now ye air talkin’ right from the heart!” cried
+Sam Barringford, as he caught White Buffalo’s
+hand. “Come on by all means. Ye air the whitest
+Injun I ever seed!” And his face glowed with
+satisfaction, which pleased White Buffalo greatly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The journey was resumed as soon as the sun
+was fairly up. White Buffalo now took the lead,
+in company with Heppy, and the others followed
+on behind in close order.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>White Buffalo had been over this ground but a
+short time before, and knew even a better trail than
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>did the messengers from General Murray. He also
+knew where the snow was lightest, and took them
+along a ridge where the walking was by no means
+bad.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For several days the journey proceeded without
+interruption. Not a sign of Indians or French was
+seen, and the landscape at times looked utterly deserted.
+Occasionally when they passed through
+a patch of woods, or through the forest, they would
+stir up some wild animal, and they were never without
+game for a meal all the time they were on the
+trip.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Half the journey to Quebec was accomplished
+when there came a light fall of snow, followed by
+a wind that for twenty-four hours constantly increased
+in violence. For several hours they kept
+on in this wind, but as last both the whites and the
+Indians called a halt.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“White Buffalo knows of shelter close to this
+spot,” said the Indian chief. “We had best go
+there, and wait until the mighty wind has fallen.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>All willingly followed White Buffalo to the shelter,
+which was the under side of a hollowed-out
+cliff, fronted by some heavy brush and a row of
+saplings. Here all set to work to clear out a space
+for themselves and another for a camp-fire, for the
+wind made the air seem much colder.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>Several of the men were taking it easy on some
+boughs they had cut, while the others were huddled
+around the camp-fire, warming up, and preparing
+something to eat, when the wind arose with
+greater violence than ever. It was a winter “fall,”
+as it is called in that territory and it whistled and
+shrieked with a fury that caused more than one in
+the party to spring to his feet in alarm.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“By gum! This aint no June zephyr!” declared
+Barringford, as he gazed from the shelter with an
+anxious look on his bronzed face. “It’s a reg’lar
+fall, thet’s wot it is!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“High wind, truly,” put in White Buffalo.
+“Great Spirit knock down many trees that are
+proud.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The Indian chief had scarcely spoken when there
+came another whirl, which caused the camp-fire to
+fly in several directions. Then, before anybody
+could run away, there followed a crash on top of the
+cliff and then one in front of it.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The trees are coming down!” yelled Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must git out—we’ll be buried under the
+cliff!” came from Barringford.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As both spoke they tried to leave their dangerous
+quarters. But the movement came too late. With
+a thud the tree that had stood above them came
+down in front of the opening, and an instant later
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>another tree before the cliff landed on top of the
+first.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A huge branch caught both Dave and Barringford
+and hurled them flat. Then came another crash,
+and Dave found himself buried under small stones
+and dirt, and for the moment he felt as if the end
+of the world had come.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXVII<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>THE ATTACK OF THE FRENCH</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'>“<span class='sc'>Dave</span>! are ye alive?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I—I—reckon so, Sam—bu—but I am not
+sure!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must git out o’ here, or we’ll run the danger
+o’ being burnt up!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Barringford was right; already the scattered
+camp-fire, aided by the high wind, was commencing
+to set fire to the tree limbs that rested under the
+cliff.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>On Dave’s breast was a mass of small stones, dirt,
+and snow, and it was with difficulty that he managed
+to sit up. Then he discovered that one leg was
+held down tightly by a branch of one of the fallen
+trees.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’m in a regular bear trap,” he panted.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Both legs, lad?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, only the left.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ll free ye,” answered the old frontiersman,
+and set to work immediately.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>He was still laboring when White Buffalo crawled
+over the fallen trees toward them. Close at hand
+the flames were springing up, but the Indian stamped
+them out. Then he chopped away at the limb, and
+soon Dave was released.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Are the others safe?” asked the young soldier.
+“I had an idea we would all be killed.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>All were out of the wreckage but one Indian and
+Heppy the messenger. These two had been lying
+under a large rock, which had loosened, and it was
+at first supposed that both were dead, but then came
+a faint cry for help.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They are in a hollow tree under the rock,” said
+Grassbrook.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Such proved to be the case, and then arose the
+question of how the unhappy pair might be released.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must put out all the fire first,” said Barringford,
+and this was done, the flames being fought
+with flat sticks and with chunks of snow and dirt.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As soon as the last of the fires were extinguished,
+the large rock resting over the hollow was examined.
+There was an opening to the space below, so the
+prisoners beneath did not suffer from the want of
+air.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are both all right,” announced Heppy.
+“But we want to get out.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>“We must pry the rock off the hollow,” said Barringford.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Two long and heavy poles were cut for that purpose,
+and despite the wind and the cold, the whole
+party set to work to move the big rock from its
+resting place. The poles were placed under other
+rocks, acting as fulcrums, and all of those who
+could “get in line” were pressed into service.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hurrah! it is moving!” cried Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He was right, and after straining for a minute
+more the huge rock rolled over and went crashing
+into another hollow below.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>When Heppy and the Indian came out of the
+hole it was found they were somewhat bruised, but
+otherwise all right.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The wind still blew strongly, but the fury of the
+blast had spent itself, and they easily made themselves
+safe under the fallen trees, after looking to
+it that the giants of the forest were in no danger
+of rolling over and crushing them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The next day found them again on the journey.
+They now skirted a valley where, in a sheltered
+spot, they saw a herd of deer. Two of the animals
+were laid low by Barringford and White Buffalo,
+and these gave them meat until the trip came to an
+end.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was nearly the last of March when the party
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>came in sight of the St. Lawrence, almost opposite
+to Quebec. An English outpost was not far distant,
+and they marched to this, where they were
+promptly challenged by a sentry, and escorted under
+guard to the officer in command.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You have come a long distance, truly,” said
+the officer, after examining the passes they carried.
+“It is more of a journey than I should wish to take
+in such weather as this.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“May I ask if you have had any battles with the
+French since Quebec was taken?” asked Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Not of much account. They tried to rout us
+out once or twice, but we beat them off easily. There
+is, however, a rumor that they intend to descend
+upon us in force early this spring, so if you remain
+here a while you may see more fighting.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The ice on the river was now breaking up, and
+Dave and the others, after bidding a temporary
+farewell to White Buffalo and his followers, crossed
+the stream in a bateau which the English officer
+loaned them. They were soon on the opposite shore,
+and half an hour later found them in Quebec, and
+on the way to General Murray’s local headquarters.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave and Barringford had a good hour to wait
+before they could see the English commander, for
+General Murray had just received additional news
+concerning the expected attack by the French.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>“Who are you and what do you wish?” demanded
+the general, tersely, as they came in.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave speedily introduced himself and Barringford,
+and handed the commander the letter he had
+brought from Fort Oswego, which Murray glanced
+over hastily.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You are a cousin to Henry Morris, eh?” he
+said slowly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, sir. May I ask have you—is he—he—still
+in prison?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why shouldn’t he be in prison?” questioned the
+general keenly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I thought perhaps that you—you had punished
+him. They told me, sir, that you had issued an
+order——” Dave tried to go on, but could not.
+“Oh, sir,” he burst out, “he is not guilty! I am sure
+he is no thief!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Were you afraid I had put that order of mine
+into execution against him?” questioned General
+Murray, and now his tone was kindlier.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I was, sir! That is why I came here—to save
+him if I can! He is such a good fellow—he wouldn’t
+steal from anybody.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That’s the truth, general,” put in Barringford.
+“I’ve known him from a babby, an’ he’s as honest
+as they grow ’em. Thar must be some mistake
+somewhar. Can’t Henry explain himself?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>“He has not tried,” answered General Murray
+dryly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hasn’t tried?” ejaculated Dave. “Why,
+what——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He escaped from prison and left Quebec some
+time ago.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Is it possible!” came from Dave, his face full
+of conflicting emotions.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Do you mean to say the boy up an’ run away?”
+came from Barringford.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Both Dave and the old frontiersman shook their
+heads at this. The news was so unexpected it
+stunned them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am half inclined to believe that he was not
+guilty,” went on General Murray. “I have learned
+that one of the fellows mixed up in the affair, a
+soldier named Prent, has a bad reputation, and one
+of Prent’s friends, Harkness, is a man who once
+served time in a Scotch prison. More than this,
+I received a letter from some party unknown, which
+would tend to prove that Henry Morris was the
+victim of circumstances or a plot.” And here the
+general drew out the letter already given in full in
+a former chapter.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And nothing has been seen or heard of Henry
+since he ran away from here?” asked Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>“Nothing. How he got out of Quebec is unknown,
+and it is barely possible that he may be
+in hiding here, although I do not think so. He
+was foolish to run away.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But wouldn’t you run away if you were afraid
+of being hanged?” asked Dave quickly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At this a faint smile crossed General Murray’s
+face. He was still a young man, and he could understand
+Dave’s feelings fully.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It would be better to stay and face a trial—especially
+if innocent,” he said evasively; and after a
+few words more they were excused.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t know whether to be glad or sorry,”
+remarked Dave, as he and Barringford walked down
+the street. “What do you say, Sam?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’d rather see Henry run than be hanged,” was
+the answer. “But it gits me whar he went, especially
+in the freezin’ cold weather. I hope he didn’t
+git lost in the snow and froze to death.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Both Dave and Barringford soon found that Quebec
+was in a state of suppressed excitement. Alarms
+had been frequent, and now General Murray felt
+certain that an attack by the French would not be
+long delayed.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In this the young commander was correct. The
+French leader, Lévis, angry to think that Vaudreuil,
+the Governor-General, would not march on
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>the city immediately after the English took possession,
+chafed all winter with his troops to do the
+enemy battle.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But the Governor-General was cautious. He knew
+that General Amherst, at Crown Point, only wanted
+a chance to fall upon Montreal, and so it was at
+Montreal that the French army gathered, and here
+the majority of them remained until early in April.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Presently came in reports that the English had
+lost many men by desertion and through sickness,
+and that Amherst at Crown Point could not yet
+think of moving, and Vaudreuil at length consented
+to listen to Lévis.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We shall never have a better opportunity than
+now,” said General Lévis. “Murray is at present
+cut off from all outside supplies. If we wait until
+summer comes he will obtain re-enforcements from
+England, Boston, or New York, and then we will
+have a task that may be beyond us.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Lévis had his way, and at once the sleepy town
+of Montreal awoke to life. The colonists who had
+been allowed to go home on furlough were recalled,
+drills were had daily, and large quantities of army
+stores were collected. Some troops demurred at
+what was required of them, but Vaudreuil was firm,
+and told them that they must either fight or suffer
+death.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>It was decided to descend upon Quebec by way of
+the river, and for this purpose two frigates, two
+sloops-of-war, and a perfect swarm of bateaux and
+other small craft were pressed into service. The
+army numbered about six thousand men, and was,
+further down the St. Lawrence, increased to over
+eight thousand.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Some distance above Quebec is the small stream of
+Cap-Rouge, which flows into the St. Lawrence, and
+just beyond this is the settlement of St. Augustin.
+Amid much difficulty, for the river was still full of
+floating ice, the army, half perished with the cold,
+landed at St. Augustin, built a temporary bridge
+over the Cap-Rouge, and marched forward on the
+English outpost at Old Lorette.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It is likely that the outpost was taken somewhat
+by surprise, and after a lively skirmish the English
+garrison fell back to St. Foy, where active preparations
+were made to combat the French as soon as
+they should appear.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Had nature permitted it, it is possible that St.
+Foy would have fallen as quickly as did Old Lorette,
+for the marching enemy was strong in numbers.
+But as General Lévis advanced, through a long
+stretch of dangerous marshland, a heavy thunderstorm
+came on, and the rain descended in torrents.
+To this difficulty was added the darkness at
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>night, and foot soldiers and troopers floundered
+about, scarcely knowing where they were going.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The delay had aided the English, and when, the
+next morning, the French appeared in front of St.
+Foy, they found the village fortified with cannon.
+There was an assault, and the French were driven
+back, and then Lévis, not knowing how few English
+soldiers were really intrenched before him, determined
+to wait until night before meeting the English
+again.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXVIII<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>IN THE RANKS ONCE MORE</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>Dave</span> and Barringford had found quarters with
+some rangers down near the river front, and here
+the two remained day after day, each wondering
+what they had best do next.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t feel much like returning to Oswego,”
+said the young soldier. “I want to hear something
+from Henry before I do that.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That’s jest my way o’ looking at it, Dave,”
+answered the old frontiersman. “But it don’t seem
+like we was to hear a word, does it?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I can’t imagine where Henry went to, Sam.
+If he left Quebec he would be almost certain to fall
+into the hands of the French or their murderous
+Indian allies.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Several of the rangers had work to do along the
+river front, and this lasted until late one Saturday
+night. Dave and Barringford had been helping the
+men at their task, but when it was finished the young
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>soldier did not feel in the humor to retire, and he
+and Barringford sat in a little watch-house, the
+frontiersman smoking and both talking over the
+past, until it was well after midnight.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Down the dark stream floated huge cakes of ice
+and masses of driftwood, for the day had been
+rather warm and had freed much that had before
+been ice-bound. As the two gazed out at this
+they were suddenly aroused by a faint cry for
+help.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What’s that?” asked Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Somebuddy callin’,” answered Barringford,
+peering forth on the river.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The cry was repeated, in a French voice, and
+then, at a great distance from shore, they made out
+the form of a man stretched flat on a big mass of
+drifting ice.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Some soldier!” ejaculated Dave. “More than
+likely he is half dead from the cold.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If we had a boat we might save him,” said Barringford.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Both rushed around to see if a boat was handy,
+and their actions aroused a number of others near
+the watch-house.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In the meantime the mass of ice had drifted further
+down the St. Lawrence, to where the frigate
+<i>Racehorse</i> lay in her dock. The watch on the deck
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>of the frigate also heard the sufferer and saw him
+put up an arm pleadingly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A castaway, sir,” said the sailor, running to
+Captain Macartney.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Where?” demanded the master of the <i>Racehorse</i>.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“On a cake of ice, sir. He is about frozen.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Captain Macartney wasted no time in ordering
+a small boat to the rescue, and, running along the
+shore, Dave and Barringford saw the man brought
+in and taken aboard of the frigate.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The man who was rescued proved to be a French
+cannoneer. At first he could not speak, but after
+being warmed up he let out the information that,
+while trying to land at Cap-Rouge with a number
+of others, the boat had been upset. He was closely
+questioned, and the news was obtained that General
+Lévis was marching upon Quebec with all possible
+speed, with a view to catching Murray unawares.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Our commander must know of this at once,”
+said the master of the <i>Racehorse</i>, and he had some
+of his sailors carry the rescued Frenchman on a litter
+to General Murray’s headquarters at three o’clock
+Sunday morning.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Soon the drums and bugles were sounding, and
+Dave and Barringford, who had retired to sleep
+after seeing the Frenchman rescued, leaped up with
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>the other soldiers. “The French are marching on
+Quebec!” was the cry. “They have already attacked
+the outposts at Lorette!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>By daybreak Murray was on the move, with about
+a thousand men and several pieces of cannon. Most
+of the field-pieces had to be pulled by the soldiers
+themselves, and when Dave and Barringford asked
+for permission to join the outgoing army, a captain
+of artillery immediately pressed them into service.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Ye can’t go as soldiers,” he said, with a grin.
+“But come on as horses, and welcome.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’m not afraid to do it,” responded Dave
+quickly, and caught hold of the long rope, and seeing
+this Barringford did the same.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A nasty, cold rain was falling, and though sixteen
+men were dragging at the rope of each piece
+of artillery, it was all they could do to move the
+cannon through the mud and slush. Sometimes
+some of the soldiers would drop out and others
+would take their places, but Dave and Barringford
+stuck to their posts.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was not long before St. Foy was reached.
+The garrison was being hotly pressed by the French
+when General Murray’s artillery opened a fire on
+the enemy, driving them back with considerable
+loss.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Make ’em run!” was the English cry, and soon
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>the foot soldiers were charging straight past the
+town. Dave and Barringford were in this charge,
+and for ten minutes were exposed to a raking fire
+from two sides. Neither was struck, although
+Barringford had the sleeve of his coat torn by a
+bullet.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But Murray knew that the French outnumbered
+him, and that it would be foolish just then to try
+to hold St. Foy. His object was to offer protection
+to the various garrisons falling back on the city,
+and in this he was successful. Soon St. Foy was
+abandoned, and the church, containing a large
+amount of military stores, blown up.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The fight had been a hard one, and when the men
+got back to Quebec, some of them were half perished
+with the wet and cold. Dave himself was in a shiver,
+and when a big bonfire was lit in a public square
+he got as close to it as possible to dry and warm himself.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Although he had fallen back on Quebec, General
+Murray did not intend to remain there. He felt
+that the walls of the city were in no condition to
+withstand a bombardment at the hands of Lévis,
+and that to raise earthworks outside would be an
+almost impossible task, owing to the half-frozen
+condition of the ground.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If we remain here we shall have to stand
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>a long siege,” said he to his fellow-officers.
+“Lévis is exhausted by his forced marches. Let
+us fall upon him without delay.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Officers and soldiers were willing to meet the
+French, and some even left the hospital that they
+might take part in the coming contest. All was
+bustle and excitement, and soon Murray had around
+him his whole force of about three thousand soldiers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The march forward was as tiresome as the one
+to St. Foy had been. Five hundred men dragged
+twenty-four pieces of artillery and the tumbrils containing
+the ammunition. In spots the cannon and
+carts sank down hub-deep, and had to be pried out
+with logs and poles. More than one soldier fell
+into a hole up to his waist and had to be dragged
+out to save him from being frozen to death.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s no fun, that is sure,” said Dave, as he
+puffed for breath. He had hold of the rope attached
+to a cannon.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We long ago made up our minds thet war
+wasn’t fun, Dave,” answered Barringford, who was
+just in front of him, and also on the rope.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Besides the grenadiers and artillery there were
+with Murray a company of rangers under Hazen
+and another company of volunteers under MacDonald.
+The rangers and volunteers were on the left
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>flank, and with these went Dave and his old friend
+when the time came for battle.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The English army had reached the ground occupied
+by Montcalm when the French general was
+shot down, and here they came to a temporary
+halt. In the meantime General Lévis was moving
+from St. Foy to a ridge of ground known as Sillery
+Wood. He had not yet had time to place his whole
+army in position.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Now is the time to strike,” said General Murray,
+and he ordered another advance.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In a moment more the cannon spoke up, followed
+by the continued rattle of musketry. The onslaught
+was a fierce one, and in certain quarters the French
+were seen to give way. The smoke of battle was
+thick, and cannon ball and bullet often sent the mud
+and slush flying in all directions.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The French are retreating!” was the cry a little
+later, and again the English troops pressed forward.
+But this surmise was incorrect. The enemy were
+merely taking a new position, and soon the English
+found themselves at a disadvantage, having given
+up a stretch of high ground for one which was low
+and uncertain.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The left flank of the army had been brought up
+close to the edge of a wood, and soon the French
+began to pour into the ranks a deadly fire that laid
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>many a soldier low. Not far away were two block-houses,
+and these were filled with Canadian sharpshooters,
+who began to pick off the officers one after
+another.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must take the block-houses,” was the order
+received, and the volunteers rushed at one stronghold,
+while the rangers rushed at the other.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The din of battle was now terrific, and for a few
+moments Dave could scarcely hear when spoken to,
+or when a command was given. Bullets were flying
+in all directions, and he was struck twice, once in
+the fleshy part of the arm, and once in the little
+finger of his left hand. Barringford was also hit
+in the shoulder, but kept on fighting, regardless of
+the loss of blood.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Up and at them!” was the constant cry. “Up
+and at them!” And then the volunteers made
+straight for one of the block-houses, and in a few
+minutes the enemy were retreating with all possible
+speed.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But the block-house could not be held, for the
+French were now moving on the rangers and volunteers
+in a larger number than before. The white
+uniforms covered the edge of the wood, and in a
+minute the command to which Dave and Barringford
+had attached themselves was almost surrounded.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>“We can’t hold this nohow,” came from Barringford,
+who was re-loading his smoking musket.
+“Them Frenchm——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Down!” cried Dave, and shoved the old frontiersman
+backward. Then came a report from behind
+the block-house, and Barringford pitched over
+on his side and lay as one dead.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave’s musket was up in an instant, and taking
+careful aim he fired. He hit the man who had
+brought Barringford low, and the Frenchman went
+back with a ball through his breast.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must get out of here!” was the cry a few
+minutes later, and the retreat was sounded.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave bent over Barringford and found the frontiersman
+still breathing. He was shot in the
+head, just above the right ear, and covered with
+blood.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh, if he only lives!” thought the young soldier.
+The idea of losing his old friend was too horrible
+to contemplate. Slinging his musket over his
+shoulder, he raised Barringford in his arms and
+gazed around helplessly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ll help ye, boy!” cried a ranger, who was running
+past, and he took hold of Barringford’s lower
+limbs, while Dave took him under the arms. Thus
+they ran a hundred yards or more, when two other
+volunteers came to their assistance, and Barringford
+was carried to the rear, and, later on, back to
+the general hospital.</p>
+
+<div id='p268'  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/p268.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+<div class='ic002'>
+<p>Dave’s musket was up in an instant.—<i>Page 268.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>But the fighting was not yet at an end, and it continued
+for half an hour longer, the English doing
+their best to drive Lévis from the strong position
+he now occupied. But this was impossible, and at
+last General Murray’s army began to move back to
+Quebec, keeping the retreat well covered.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The victory is ours!” came the French cry, and
+they started in pursuit. But General Lévis soon saw
+that the English were not retreating in disorder,
+and so ordered his soldiers to hold the ground they
+had gained and go no further.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXIX<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>DARK DAYS</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>The</span> days to follow the tattle just described were
+gloomy enough, both for Dave and for the little
+army now assembled at Quebec.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>All told, General Murray had lost, in killed,
+wounded and missing, about a thousand men, or
+one-third of his force, while the loss to the enemy
+was estimated at about the same. In addition, the
+English had lost some cannon and also some of
+their ammunition and muskets. When the army
+got back to Quebec it was thoroughly exhausted,
+and the men were hardly fit for work of any kind.
+Confusion reined supreme, and had Murray permitted
+it, there would have been a panic and perhaps
+the place would have been abandoned.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The jig is up,” said more than one soldier.
+“We must surrender, or else the French will either
+bombard us or starve us out.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But General Murray was not so easily daunted,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>and soon brought a semblance of order out of apparent
+chaos. The wounded were cared for, and
+those able to work were immediately set to the task
+of fortifying Quebec from every available point.
+Bags were filled with sand and placed at the gates,
+and the cannon were planted so as to command
+every approach. Even the convalescent in the hospital
+had to do their share by making wadding for
+the cannon. Soldiers who would not obey orders
+were promptly disciplined, and one man who was
+caught plundering a house was promptly hanged as
+a thief.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>This public execution brought to Dave’s mind
+the fate that hung over Henry. Would his cousin
+come back, and, if so, what would General Murray
+do to him? This thought made Dave shiver.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He is certainly very stern,” thought the young
+soldier. “And unless Henry can clear himself it
+will surely go hard with him. But perhaps Henry
+is dead!” And he shook his head sorrowfully.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave had gone with Barringford to the general
+hospital and seen to it that the old frontiersman
+had every attention. At first he was afraid
+Barringford was going to die in a few days, but
+now the surgeon in attendance held out a faint hope
+of his recovery.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But he was hard hit,” said the surgeon. “An
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>inch nearer, and the bullet would have passed
+through his brain.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For days Barringford lay unconscious, knowing
+nobody and breathing heavily. During that time
+Dave came to see him as often as permitted, and
+had his own wounds dressed. The young soldier
+had lost the end of his little finger, but he counted
+this as nothing in comparison with his other troubles.
+“I’d rather lose the hand than see Sam go,”
+was what he told himself.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>General Lévis lost no time in strengthening his
+position around Quebec. Extra cannon were sent
+for, and the French commander waited anxiously
+for some news of a French warship which was
+expected.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If he gets the help of a fleet we are doomed,”
+said more than one English officer, and a watch
+was set, to announce the coming of any sail up the
+St. Lawrence. At the same time, the cannon planted
+on the walls of Quebec did all they possibly could
+to make Lévis keep his distance, and prevent him
+from throwing up the intrenchments he so much
+desired.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A ship is in sight!” was the cry that was raised
+in the city on the ninth day of May. “A ship! A
+ship!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What is she?” was the question asked.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>This could not, as yet, be answered, and General
+Murray lost no time in making his way to where
+a good look could be had of the lower St. Lawrence.
+Sure enough, there was a large ship, but without a
+flag.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hoist the colors at Cape Diamond!” ordered
+the English commander, and the flag was raised
+without delay. In the meantime the warship came
+closer and could be seen to be crowded with men.
+Would she prove to be a friend or an enemy?</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Slowly the flag mounted to the masthead, and
+unfurled to the breeze. It was the red cross of St.
+George.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“’Tis our own ship! Quebec is saved! Huzza!
+huzza!” was the cry, and almost immediately the
+soldiers went wild with joy, some dancing on the
+ramparts of the city, in full view of the much-chagrined
+French, who had hoped the vessel would
+prove to be one of their own.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Soon the ship, the <i>Lowestoffe</i>, was firing a royal
+salute, to which the city batteries replied with vigor,
+the gunners making the river and rocky cliffs echo
+and re-echo with their glad tidings. In the city the
+grenadiers marched, sang, and drank toasts, and
+the gloom of the days gone by was dispelled as if by
+magic.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The ship that had come in brought news of an
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>English fleet which was expected to reach Quebec
+in a few days. In desperation Lévis began an
+immediate attack on the city, but with poor success.
+Then he assembled his own ships of war, but six
+in number, and waited bravely for the coming of
+the English vessels.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was the middle of May when the English fleet
+sailed up the river. The battle on the water was
+of short duration, although the French sailors
+fought desperately against overwhelming odds.
+Seeing they could not win, one vessel threw her guns
+overboard and sailed away and the others ran into
+the mud flats, where their crews set fire to them,
+and escaped by wading and in small boats.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The day is ours; Lévis cannot stand this defeat
+on the water,” said General Murray, and he was
+right. The loss of the warships carried consternation
+into the camp of the French, and that very
+night they began to retreat, the English sending
+shot and shell after them to hasten their departure.
+In their hurry they left many cannon, muskets, and
+army stores behind them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That was a victory worth the winning,” said
+Dave, as he marched out, several days later, to help
+bring in some of the abandoned army stores. “A
+few more like that and I reckon the French will
+leave Quebec alone.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>“Well, we aint got so all-fired much to crow
+about,” answered one of the rangers who was
+working near. “Things looked mighty black all
+around afore them ships hove in sight.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What do you suppose the French commander
+will do next?” asked Dave, for he knew that the
+ranger, although not a well-spoken man, was a
+clever fellow.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I don’t see how he kin do anything but fall
+back on Montreal,” answered the ranger. “We’ll
+blockade the St. Lawrence on him, an’ sooner or
+later the army at Oswego will be a-comin’ this way,
+and the army from Crown Point, an’ he’ll have to
+look out for himself right sharp.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A few days after this talk Dave called again upon
+Barringford. He found the old frontiersman conscious,
+but somewhat out of his head, the effect of
+the bullet wound. Barringford did not know him
+at first.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Seems to me I know ye,” he said slowly. “But
+it’s beyond me—a long way off. Air ye Henry, or
+Dave, or thet Jameson boy?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’m Dave, Sam. Don’t you know me?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Dave, eh?” The sufferer took the hand held
+out to him. “All right, Dave, ef it’s you. But why
+did ye shoot me in the head? I thought better o’
+you than thet, yes, I did!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>“I didn’t shoot you, Sam; it was a Frenchman
+did that, and I laid the Frenchman low for it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Did ye? Queer, I should think you shot me.”
+Barringford tried to collect his thoughts, but failed.
+“Mighty bad place this,” he went on. “Folks
+shoving me all day an’ all night, an’ tryin’ to drive
+wooden pins into my head.” And then he sank
+back and dozed off.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Will he remain this way?” asked Dave of
+the surgeon, his heart fairly aching for his old
+friend.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The surgeon shrugged his shoulders. “Let us
+hope not, my lad.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But they do sometimes, is that what you
+mean?” questioned the young soldier quickly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am sorry to say that is true. You see, the
+bullet grazed the brain. If he recovers it will be
+very slowly.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Can I do anything for him?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No, we are doing all that can be done.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This is not a very nice place.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“As soon as the weather moderates we will transfer
+him to a hospital on the Island of Orleans.
+There the accommodations will be much improved,
+and I will see to it personally that he has every
+attention.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If you will do that, sir, I shall be very thankful.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>He is one of my best and closest friends. I do
+not want to leave him unless I am certain he is in
+the best of hands.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Leave him? Do you mean you are going
+away?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I belong to the army at Fort Oswego, and my
+furlough is running out, so I must get back, if I
+possibly can,” answered Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>What he said was true. He had already remained
+at Quebec longer than intended. The very
+next day found him going back to Fort Oswego,
+in company with eight rangers and an English
+officer. The officer belonged to General Amherst’s
+staff, and from him Dave learned, later on, that
+Amherst himself was going to take charge of the
+expedition to move against Lévis at Montreal, by
+way of Lake Ontario and the rapids of the upper
+St. Lawrence.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The particulars of the trip back to Fort Oswego
+need not be given here, for nothing out of the
+ordinary occurred during the journey, which, because
+of one delay and another, lasted over two
+weeks. While still eight miles from the fort the
+little expedition was joined by forty Indians who
+were, much to Dave’s astonishment, under the
+leadership of White Buffalo.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why, White Buffalo, I thought your braves
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>had deserted you!” cried the young soldier, after
+the first greeting was over.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The old braves of my tribe have come back to
+their reason,” answered the Indian chief with a
+smiling face. “They have learned that the French
+are their enemies, and gave their word only to
+break it. Henceforth they will fight under White
+Buffalo and Sir William Johnson to the end.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That is certainly good news,” said Dave. “I
+suppose you are going to rejoin Sir William at
+Fort Oswego.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, and we bring with us an old Indian who
+knows the swift waters of the St. Lawrence, if the
+great Sir William sees best to move upon the
+enemy by that course.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Most likely he will move down the St. Lawrence,
+White Buffalo. But I have heard the rapids
+are very swift, and more than one man has lost
+his life trying to shoot them.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The want of news about Henry and the sad
+tidings concerning Barringford hurt White Buffalo
+greatly, and he did not hesitate to show his
+feelings.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“’Tis a black cloud hanging over us,” he said.
+“May the Great Spirit roll it away, bringing Henry
+back to us unharmed, and lifting the Demon Spirit
+from Barringford’s mind.”</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXX<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>THE RAPIDS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>August</span> of the year 1760 found General Amherst
+at Oswego with a force of ten thousand men,
+consisting of royal grenadiers, Colonial militia and
+rangers and volunteers. To this body was also
+attached over seven hundred Indians, under the
+leadership of Sir William Johnson.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In the meantime the troops at Crown Point had
+been left under the command of General Haviland.
+They were ordered to move forward without delay,
+and Haviland did so, his force numbering a little
+over three thousand soldiers of all sorts, including
+the now celebrated Roger’s Rangers. The first
+point of attack was Isle-aux-Noix, fortified by the
+French under Bougainville. Here the English were
+victorious, and then the enemy were followed to
+St. John and Chambly, and by the activity of the
+rangers were compelled to give way once more,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>this time seeking the protection of the St. Lawrence.
+Haviland now awaited the coming of Amherst,
+and at the same time communicated with General
+Murray at Quebec, with a view to a threefold attack
+on Montreal.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>General Amherst lost no time in getting his army
+afloat. It mustered several ships, and a bewildering
+number of bateaux and rowboats, while the
+Indians moved down the lake in their canoes. The
+larger boats carried many cannon and a great quantity
+of ammunition, and it was felt by all that
+Amherst’s advance would surely be one to victory.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>During the days spent in Oswego getting ready
+for this trip, a slight ray of hope had come to
+Dave. This was the news that at Montreal were
+a number of English prisoners, captured on the
+battlefield, or while at work in the vicinity of
+Quebec.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps Henry was captured,” he thought.
+“And if he was he may be in a Montreal prison
+at this minute.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave had returned to his old command, and his
+fellow soldiers did all they could to comfort him.
+All knew Henry and Barringford well, and many
+were the words of sympathy poured into the young
+soldier’s ears. Nobody believed that Henry was a
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>thief, yet none could tell what General Murray
+would do if the missing one was found.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“One thing is certain, Morris,” said one old
+soldier. “Henry’s past record is in his favor. We
+can all swear that he was honest while he was with
+us.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>While the army was floating down the lake the
+weather proved fair, and La Galette was reached
+without mishap. Here a French brig named the
+<i>Ottawa</i> was sighted. She began firing on the army
+transports while they were yet at a distance.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“This will not do,” said General Amherst, and
+had several of his gunboats attack the brig. The
+fight was sharp, but likewise short, and soon the
+French ship struck her colors. A few of the crew
+escaped to the shore, but the others were made
+prisoners.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The rapids of the St. Lawrence were now close
+at hand, and General Amherst was considering the
+problem of how to get his expedition through in
+safety, when a new peril presented itself.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>On an island in the river, just above the rapids,
+was Fort Lévis, well fortified, and now under the
+command of Captain Pouchot, he who had commanded
+at Fort Niagara the year previous.
+Pouchot was awaiting anxiously for a chance to
+“even up” his defeat at Niagara, and no sooner did
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>the leading boats of Amherst’s fleet appear than he
+opened a heavy fire on them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“So this is the game,” said General Amherst.
+“Well, I think I can wait long enough to put you
+out of the fight.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He at once landed a portion of his army and
+some cannon on the river bank, and on some nearby
+islands, and began that very day to cannonade Fort
+Lévis with vigor.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What a noise!” said Dave, and he was right;
+the din was terrific, for the French replied with
+vigor. The fort was composed principally of logs
+and dirt, which the cannon balls sent flying in all
+directions. The soldiers had but little to do, and
+Dave sat in the top of a tall tree watching proceedings.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The bombardment of the fort continued for three
+days, when the stronghold was more than half battered
+to pieces. Pouchot, seeing he could not hold
+out, at last surrendered, and he and his brave men
+became prisoners.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The Indians under General Johnson had waited
+patiently for the surrender of the French, and when
+they saw the flag go down many of them rushed
+for their canoes, their intention being to visit the
+fort, and kill and scalp Pouchot and those around
+him. But Sir William Johnson would not allow this.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>“You must stay back; there will be no scalping
+here,” he said.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No scalping!” cried a hundred voices at once.
+“We must have scalps or we will not fight,” said
+others; and thereupon more than half of the Indians
+withdrew from the expedition in disgust.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave was glad to see that White Buffalo had
+not taken part in the attempted rush on the French
+after the surrender. But when he spoke of it to
+the chief the Indian hardly knew how to answer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“White Buffalo cannot understand,” he said at
+last. “Ten of his braves have left. The French
+are our bitter enemies—then why not kill and scalp
+them? The great Sir William must know what
+is best—but the poor Indian cannot understand.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It isn’t Christian-like, that’s why, White Buffalo.
+After an enemy gives in we ought to treat
+him fairly and squarely.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The French would let their Indians kill and
+scalp you, David.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps; but two wrongs don’t make a right,”
+answered the young soldier. “War is war, but we
+needn’t make it any worse than is necessary.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>With the fall of Fort Lévis, the army under
+Amherst moved on again down the St. Lawrence.
+Soon the rapids of the Galops, the Plat, the Long
+Saut, and the Côteau du Lac came into view, followed
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>by the Cedars, the Buisson, and the Cascades.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That water is running mighty fast,” said Dave
+to the others as he watched the rolling river, glistening
+brightly in the sunshine. “Unless I am mistaken,
+the current is powerful.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You are not mistaken,” replied an old ranger,
+who sat near the youth. “These rapids are almost
+as bad as the rapids of the Niagara. I tried to go
+through ’em once, six years ago, and I know. There
+were four of us in the canoe, which upset, and one
+of the party was drowned while the other three
+were almost dead before we got back to shore.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Well, the French and Indian pilots ought to
+know how to direct the boats,” put in another soldier.
+“General Amherst has several of the best
+of them.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>On and on swept the long line of boats, stretching
+out for a distance of over two miles. The
+progress was growing faster and faster as the fierce
+current just above the worst of the rapids caught
+hold of one boat after another.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The craft in which Dave was seated was a long,
+broad, flat-bottomed affair, containing twelve men,
+an under-officer, and a small stock of ammunition.
+Two men were at the sweeps, or oars, following
+the directions of the officer, who stood in the bow,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>directing them to the right or the left as occasion
+required.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“There is surely going to be trouble!” whispered
+Dave, when a shrill cry came from ahead.
+Looking in that direction they saw a boat had hit
+on the rocks, and that half of the occupants were
+struggling in the water, which boiled and foamed
+all around them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To the right! To the right!” yelled the officer
+in the bow. “Be quick, or we’ll run them down,
+and smash our own boat!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Can’t we help ’em, leftenant?” queried one of
+the soldiers.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Before an answer could be given, the boat had
+swerved to the right and was sliding past the hidden
+rocks. One soldier in the water made a frantic
+clutch for the passing craft, and caught hold of a
+but of tarpaulin which covered the ammunition.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hold tight, I’ll pull you in!” sang out Dave,
+and with the assistance of another soldier he pulled
+the suffering one on board of the boat. Then the
+craft swept onward toward another soldier, and he
+was likewise assisted. But the rest had to be left
+behind, to shift for themselves. All but two were
+picked up by other boats in the rear. Of the two
+one managed to reach shore, and became a prisoner
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>of the French, and the other was never seen or heard
+of again.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was now seen that more than one boat in front
+and to the rear were in difficulty, and ever and anon
+a sickening crash could be heard above the roaring
+of the rapids. The nerves of all the soldiers were
+strained to the utmost, and many sat rigid, fearing
+that the next moment would be their last.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We should have portaged our boats around the
+rapids,” growled one old hunter. “I’d ruther walk
+fifty miles than ride one in sech water as this,” and
+more than one hearer agreed with him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Some dangerous rapids had been passed, but one
+still more dangerous was ahead. The lieutenant
+had been warned of this, and was watching closely.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To the left! To the left!” he sang out suddenly.
+“To the left! Swing her over!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“She won’t swing!” came stubbornly from one
+of the men at the sweeps. “The current’s stronger
+nor a mill-race.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We must bring her over,” said the officer.
+“Now then, pull for all you are worth. We—ha!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The last cry was echoed by half a dozen in the
+boat, and several sprang to their feet regardless of
+the first order given to them, to sit still. A boat
+ahead of them had bumped into another craft, and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>both had dashed headlong on a hidden rock. Splintered
+wood, soldiers, army stores, and foaming water
+seemed hopelessly mixed, and from out of the mass
+came shrieks of pain and piteous calls for help.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To the left!” yelled the lieutenant once more,
+but the cry did no good. The boat swept onward
+with increased speed, directly into the midst of the
+wreckage. A shock and a crash followed, and the
+next instant Dave found himself in the water, surrounded
+by a score of other soldiers, all fighting
+madly to save themselves from drowning.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXXI<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>THE FALL OF MONTREAL</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>In</span> his career as a soldier Dave had been in many
+positions of peril, yet scarcely one had been as dire
+as that which now confronted him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The shock came so quickly that he hardly realized
+what was happening before he was under water,
+and somebody seemed to be doing his best to stand
+on the young soldier’s shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Flinging the feet above to one side, Dave tried
+to reach the surface of the river. In doing this he
+slid past two more soldiers, both of whom clutched
+at him, one catching him by the coat, and the other
+by the neck.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>To be held by the coat was of small importance
+in comparison to being deprived of one’s wind, and
+Dave lost no time in fighting off the fellow who
+had him by the neck. The hold was a strong one,
+and the youth feared he would be choked unless
+he broke it without delay.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>There was a wild floundering on all sides, and
+in the mêlée somebody above kicked out sharply
+with his heavy boots. One boot struck the man
+who held Dave by the throat, and the grip was
+broken just when the youth was about to give up
+in despair. Then the young soldier felt his coat
+also freed, and he came up with a rush, to get a
+badly needed breath of air.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The majority of the soldiers were struggling
+madly to hold fast to the bits of wreckage floating
+around. Yells and groans rent the air, with an
+occasional prayer for assistance. Some had already
+gone down to their death, and others were fast
+losing what little strength was left to them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It’s no use trying to get hold of a board, or
+anything,” thought Dave. “They are all fighting
+like so many cats and dogs. I’ll save my strength,
+and strike out for shore.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>But striking out with his clothing on was by no
+means easy, and Dave had hardly covered a hundred
+feet when he found himself well-nigh exhausted.
+He tried to pull off his coat, but as he was doing
+this another boat hove into sight, coming straight
+for him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Hi! don’t run me down!” he screamed, and
+then, as the boat swerved to one side, he made a
+clutch at one of the oars. Willing hands were out-stretched
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>to him, and in a moment more he was on
+board, where he sank to the bottom, panting for
+breath. Two others were picked up in similar
+fashion, and then the boat swept on to its destination.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The shooting of the St. Lawrence rapids by the
+army under General Amherst was never forgotten
+by those who participated in it. During that reckless
+ride over sixty boats were either totally wrecked
+or greatly damaged, and more than eighty soldiers
+lost their lives through drowning. As one boat
+after another shot through the swirling waters the
+French gathered on the upper bank of the river,
+fully expecting to see every one of their enemy go
+down to destruction.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The rapids passed, the boats, or what was left
+of them, sailed down Lake St. Louis, and landed
+at Isle Perrot, at a point about twenty miles above
+Montreal. Here many of the half-drowned ones
+were cared for, and some of the boats were temporarily
+repaired.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We are well out of that,” said Dave, when on
+land once more. “I shall never attempt to shoot
+those rapids again;” and he never did.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It had taken three weeks to reach Isle Perrot,
+and now word came in by Indian messengers that
+General Murray was also advancing on Montreal
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>from the northeastward, and that General Haviland
+was ready to strike whenever required.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We now have the French as in a vise,” said
+General Amherst. “They cannot get away from
+us.” The next day, early in the morning, the army
+left Isle Perrot again, and landed on the north bank
+of the river at La Chine. Here there was some
+slight show of opposition, but soon the French outposts,
+and also a number of the inhabitants of La
+Chine, fled towards Montreal, leaving the English
+army to land its guns and stores at its leisure.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“On to Montreal!” was now the cry on all sides,
+and the spirits of the soldiers revived wonderfully,
+for all felt that a deathblow was soon to be struck
+to the war which had now lasted for five long
+years.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was a beautiful day in early September, and
+had Dave not been troubled by thoughts of Henry
+and Barringford, he would have enjoyed the march
+along the river bank. A regimental band played
+the liveliest of military airs, and when the band did
+not play a Colonial drummer and a fifer kept the
+Royal Americans in step.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Yet it must be confessed that the soldiers were a
+motley collection. Even the showy uniforms of the
+grenadiers, and the Royal Artillery, were sadly in
+need of repairs, while the so-called uniforms of the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>Royal Americans, never very good, and of a dozen
+different designs, were practically in tatters. Dave’s
+uniform confessed to half a dozen rents, and twice
+as many patches, and his gun, a flint-lock dating
+back to the war in Scotland, was a clumsy affair
+that looked as if it was in danger of exploding
+every time he discharged it.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The next day found Amherst’s army encamped
+almost under the walls of Montreal, to which city
+the French had flocked from all directions, pleading
+for protection at the hands of Governor-General
+Vaudreuil. As Amherst drew near from one
+direction, Murray and his army came up from the
+other, while Haviland encamped on the south shore
+of the St. Lawrence, immediately in front of
+Montreal.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The city was now in a state of siege, and the
+French well knew that if they opened fire on the
+English the enemy would retaliate by bombarding
+houses, public buildings, and churches, with a great
+loss of life and property. Many of the Canadians
+had gone home to their farms, and some of the
+French regulars had also deserted, so that the army
+in the city did not number over twenty-five hundred
+men.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We cannot fight them,” said Vaudreuil. “They
+have not less than seventeen thousand soldiers, and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>hundreds of cannon, and large quantities of ammunition.
+If we fight, the city will be laid low from
+end to end; and men, women, and children ruthlessly
+slaughtered.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Lévis, a born fighter, demurred at first, but soon
+saw the wisdom of the advice; and a council of
+war was held. It was a stormy scene, and it took
+many hours to draw up a form of capitulation. The
+French officers wished to march out of Montreal
+with the honors of war, and wished many other
+things; and these were all put into the paper
+which was sent to General Amherst the next
+morning.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I cannot grant this form of capitulation,” said
+Amherst, on looking the paper over. “I will grant
+some conditions, but not others. The whole force
+must lay down its arms, and not serve again during
+the present war.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>When this answer was brought back, Vaudreuil
+merely shrugged his shoulders, but Lévis went into
+a rage, and vowed he would never submit.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I will myself send a note to General Amherst
+to show him that he is asking too much,” said
+Lévis, and sent the note without delay. In return
+Amherst stated that he was fully resolved to make
+the army lay down its arms. He was horrified over
+the way the French Indians had been allowed to
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>massacre wounded and helpless English soldiers,
+and he considered that the enemy must be taught
+a stern lesson in retaliation.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was a time of wild excitement in Montreal,
+for the citizens, and those who had come into the
+city for protection, were afraid that the English
+might bombard the place at any moment. When a
+cannon boomed out as a signal, a hundred cries
+would ring out. Business had come to a complete
+standstill, and many places were boarded and locked
+up; and in some instances goods of value, and
+money, and jewels, were buried.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>For the time being those in the various prisons
+about the city were practically neglected, and in
+at least three cases the prisoners almost starved to
+death because of this neglect. The keeper of the
+jail in which Henry was confined went off one night,
+and failed to appear during the next day.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Something is wrong, that’s sure,” said one of
+the prisoners. Then he yelled loudly for water,
+but nobody came to answer his demand.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry was pale and thin, and suffered as much
+for the want of fresh air as for proper food. The
+jail was a vile place, and the conditions there were
+steadily growing worse. One prisoner had committed
+suicide, and another had gone stark, raving
+crazy.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>“If this keeps on I’ll go crazy myself,” said
+Henry. “The food is not fit for a dog to eat.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Strange to say, he had not seen or heard of Jean
+Bevoir since the French trader had threatened him
+through the bars of the prison door. As a matter
+of fact, Bevoir had attempted to have the youth
+brought before the military court as a spy, but the
+French commander had refused to listen to his
+plea.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You are too anxious in this, sir,” said the
+officer sternly. “I think you must have a grudge
+against the young fellow. I have no official report
+against him, and in such a prison he is probably
+suffering as much as he deserves.” And Jean Bevoir
+sneaked away from headquarters feeling very
+much as if somebody had kicked him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Truth to tell, the French commander felt that a
+crisis was at hand, and that it would not now do
+to hang or maltreat any of the English prisoners.
+He even ordered that the prisoners be given better
+rations, but this order, in the case of the jailer at
+Henry’s jail, was disobeyed, the jailer selling the
+extra rations to the outsiders in the town at a handsome
+profit.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>On the night following the disappearance of the
+jailer, matters reached a climax in the prison. There
+was a fight for some water that still remained in
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>a keg in one corner, and this quickly changed to
+a revolt, in which the jail door was broken down.
+The prisoners ran forth and scattered in all directions;
+and although a French guard soon came on
+the scene and shot down two of the men, the others
+got away.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>With the escaping ones went Henry, almost as
+reckless as were the leaders. For a while he remained
+with two of the soldiers who had been quite
+friendly, but when the shooting began he ran
+through a back yard, leaped over a stone wall, and
+made his way along a street that was almost deserted.
+He was now entirely alone, and, coming
+to an open hallway, he slipped into a house. He
+heard sounds of voices in a lower room, and, without
+stopping to think twice, bounded up the stairs
+to the second floor.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps I’m running into a trap, but I’ve got
+to risk it,” he told himself; and after a slight hesitation
+opened a door near the head of the stairs.
+The room was a bedchamber, and in the center
+stood a large, square, “four-poster” bed, with the
+top hangings partly drawn. A man lay on the bed,
+tossing uneasily, as if in something of a fever. On
+a chair rested a French uniform, showing that the
+sleeper was an officer.</p>
+
+<div id='p297'  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/p296.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+<div class='ic002'>
+<p>“Stand where you are,” ordered the sick man.—<i>Page 297.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c019'>“It won’t do for me to stay in such hot quarters
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>as these,” thought Henry. “I had better get out
+just as fast as I came in.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>He started back for the hallway, but now came
+steps on the stairs, and the rattle of dishes, followed
+by some talking. Henry glanced around him, saw
+a closet in a corner of the room, and dove into it.
+Just as he closed the door of the closet he caught
+a brief glimpse of a woman with a tray, followed
+by a girl of about his own age. Both entered the
+bedchamber, closing the door tightly behind them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>A murmur of voices followed, and Henry surmised
+that the sleeping man had awakened, and
+that the two women were urging him to partake
+of the food they had brought. The talking was
+in French, so he understood but little.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Presently the girl moved across the bedchamber,
+and before Henry realized what was coming the
+door of the closet was flung open. As the young
+soldier was exposed to view, the girl gave a scream,
+and then uttered several words in French:</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A man! An English soldier!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What is it you say?” demanded the man in
+the bed, and, turning over, he drew a pistol from
+under his pillow.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A man—an English soldier,” repeated the girl.
+“Oh, Louis, what shall we do?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Stand where you are!” ordered the sick man,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>and sat up in bed with the pistol pointed at Henry’s
+head.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh, Louis, my son, have a care!” put in the
+woman. “He may kill you!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am not afraid, mother,” was the answer.
+“You forget what risks I have taken in the
+past——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But you are still weak. The doctor——”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The doctor doesn’t know me, mother. I am
+worth a dozen sick men at this minute. Please let
+me deal with him, and both of you stand aside, so
+that the fellow can’t hide himself behind you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The girl and the woman were willing enough to
+do this, and shrank away from the closet. Then,
+struck by a sudden idea, the woman backed herself
+up to the door leading to the hallway.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Feeling himself cornered, Henry threw up his
+hands, and stepped out of the closet.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Don’t fire,” he said as quietly as he could, although
+his heart was thumping loudly in his breast.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“If you have a pistol throw it on the bed,” said
+the Frenchman in excellent English.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I am totally unarmed,” was Henry’s ready
+answer.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Is it possible! Where did you come from?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Henry began to explain, when the French officer
+suddenly interrupted him.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>“Am I mistaken, or have we met before?” he
+said.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I do not remember you,” returned Henry, puzzled
+at the unexpected question.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Did you come from Quebec?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I did.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You were on guard duty there?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I was.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“At and near the shop of one Lavelle, a gold
+and silver smith?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, yes! But you—you——” faltered Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At this the French officer gave a chuckle.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I was there, too,” he said. “It was I who
+escaped from the cellar that night. They tried to
+catch me, but ha! ha! I was too quick for them. I
+showed them what a French spy can do when he
+is put to it!”</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>
+  <h2 class='c013'>CHAPTER XXXII<br /> <br /><span class='c022'>FROM WAR TO PEACE—CONCLUSION</span></h2>
+</div>
+<p class='c018'>“<span class='sc'>It</span> looks as if we’d have to fight after all,
+Morris.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What makes you think that?” questioned Dave,
+who had just come in from four hours of guard
+duty.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I just got an inkling from headquarters,” said
+the soldier who had first spoken. “The Frenchmen
+don’t want to agree to General Amherst’s demands.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They will be foolish if they don’t,” said the
+young soldier. “With a combined army of seventeen
+thousand men to draw on we can knock
+Montreal higher than a kite if we start in to
+do it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To be sure, Morris.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But I hope it doesn’t come to a fight,” went on
+Dave, his face clouding.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why; you are not afraid, are you?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>“No. I was thinking of the English prisoners in
+Montreal. They will be sure to suffer, with no way
+by which they can help themselves.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“True for you. But the French sick will suffer,
+too. A cannon ball goes where it pleases, once it is
+fired.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>During the night had come one alarm. Some
+Canadians had attempted to leave the city with some
+plunder, taken from houses that happened to be deserted.
+A part of this crowd was shot down within
+the city walls by Lévis’ guards, and the others were
+shot down by the guards under Amherst and Murray.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“No matter what may happen, I will have no
+plundering,” said Vaudreuil; and Lévis, Amherst,
+and Murray said the same.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It must be confessed that the outcome of another
+council of war within the walls of Montreal was
+anxiously awaited by the English on both sides of
+the St. Lawrence. Each branch of the army was
+held in readiness for immediate service, the soldiers
+sleeping on their arms and the cannoneers under
+their pieces.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>In the city the hubbub was greater than ever.
+The citizens gathered around headquarters and
+begged for peace. The Governor-General had to
+listen to endless advice. Lévis protested to the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>last that he wanted the honors of war accorded to
+his troops. But Amherst, as said before, was unyielding;
+and at last Vaudreuil signed the paper
+which, in the course of time, gave all of the Canadian
+possessions into the hands of the English government
+and made of the French-Canadians British
+subjects.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The news was carried far and wide as swift as
+horses and messengers could travel. “Canada has
+surrendered! The war is over!” was the glad
+tidings, and in every portion of the English colonies,
+as well as in England itself, there was great
+rejoicing. Cannon were fired, bonfires lit, and
+bells tolled, and in some places special church services
+were held, to give thanks to God that the
+agony of such long standing was at an end. Even
+the Canadians rejoiced to think that peace was
+come, and that they could again go to their farms
+unmolested alike by soldier or Indian.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The capitulation took place on September 8,
+1760. It was agreed that the French soldiers and
+sailors should be allowed to return to France, and
+that the Canadians should return to their homes,
+unmolested. No one was to suffer because of his
+religion, and it was further agreed that, with a few
+exceptions, all military and political prisoners should
+be set free. The Indians on both sides were to be
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>held in firm check, so that the atrocities of former
+campaigns should not be repeated. This last agreement
+made the Indians on both sides very angry,
+and the great majority of them tore up their wigwams
+in disgust and departed for parts unknown.
+Only a handful remained with Sir William Johnson,
+this band including White Buffalo and four old
+braves, the braves remaining to get some money
+that had been promised to them and the chief that
+he might be near Dave, to go home with the young
+soldier when the latter was discharged.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Montreal is ours after all!” cried the young
+soldier, when the news reached camp. “And we
+didn’t have to fire a shot, excepting at the scoundrels
+who tried to plunder the place.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Dave was anxious to get into Montreal, to learn
+something concerning Henry if possible. But it
+was a good two weeks before he got the chance to
+enter the city. Then he was placed on a detail sent
+to visit one of the hospitals.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As the detail was passing down a side street of
+the city the young soldier chanced to look into the
+window of one of the houses they were passing.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Can it be possible!” burst from his lips. Then
+he ran to the officer in command of the detail.
+“Will you—you let me off a while—just a few
+minutes, lieutenant?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>“Why, what’s the matter, Morris?” queried
+the officer. “You look as if you’d seen a ghost.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Perhaps it was a ghost. I thought I saw my
+cousin Henry at the window of the house back
+there.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Indeed! All right, go back and make sure.
+But don’t stay too long.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The caution was not yet finished when Dave
+started back on a run. As he gained the door of the
+residence the barrier was flung back and Henry
+came forth, cap in hand.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Dave!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Henry!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I thought I saw you passing!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And I thought I saw you at the window!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>And then the pair fell into each other’s arms,
+while tears of joy stood in their eyes. They shook
+hands over and over again, and it was fully a
+minute before either could trust himself to speak
+again.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“How pale and thin you look,” declared Dave,
+at last. “Have you been sick?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ve been in prison.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“You mean up at Quebec?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“There and here too.” Henry’s face fell a
+little. “Then you know the news?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Know the news? Didn’t Sam Barringford and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span>I travel all the way to Quebec to help you? But
+when we got there you were missing.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Good for you and Sam, Dave! How is Sam
+now? I see you are in pretty good shape.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Poor Sam is in the hospital at Quebec. He was
+struck in the head with a bullet and it made him
+rather out of his head. But we’re hoping he’ll get
+over it.” Dave paused a moment. “Henry, I’m
+afraid you’ve gotten yourself into an awful hole,”
+he went on anxiously.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“How so?” And a faint smile crept around the
+corners of Henry’s mouth.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why, by running away after you were placed
+under arrest.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But I didn’t want to be hanged.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I know, but now the case will look blacker
+against you than ever. They will say you didn’t
+dare to stand trial.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“But I can prove my innocence, Dave,” cried
+Henry triumphantly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“What! How?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Easily enough, although the story is rather a
+wonderful one. You see, while I was in prison here
+we had a revolt, and all the prisoners broke jail. I
+ran away by myself and hid in this house, to escape
+the French soldiers. I was discovered by the lady
+and daughter who live here, and by the lady’s son,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span>who was sick in bed. The son began to question
+me, and then he said he had seen me before. We
+compared notes, and I learned that the son was
+Captain Louis Gaulette, a noted French spy. Captain
+Gaulette was in Quebec on a secret mission for
+General Lévis, and he was in hiding in the cellar
+of the gold and silver smith’s shop when I went
+down there and tried to reason with Prent. He
+sent a note to General Murray about it, and he supposed
+I was set at liberty.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Good!” almost shouted Dave, and his face
+began to beam. “In that case, Henry, you can establish
+your innocence without much trouble.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That is what I expect to do,” answered Henry.
+“And let me tell you, I am mighty glad this affair
+has turned out as it has. But what about the war?
+Is it really ended?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, Henry, and I reckon our soldier-boy days
+have ended with it,” answered Dave.</p>
+
+<hr class='c029' />
+
+<p class='c019'>Let me add a few words more and then bring to a
+close this story of military adventure before and
+“At the Fall of Montreal.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As both of the young soldiers had surmised, it
+was an easy matter to prove Henry innocent of the
+charge that had been made against him, and in the
+end he received not only a full pardon from General
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_307'>307</span>Murray, but also a letter exonerating him from all
+blame. For the despicable part he had played
+Prent was sentenced to five years in an English
+prison, and with him went Fenley and Harkness
+for a period of three years. Louis Gaulette became
+Henry’s firm friend and it may be mentioned here
+that, years later, Gaulette entered the American
+army under General Lafayette and served as a spy
+for Washington during the last years of the War of
+Independence.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>As soon as Dave and Henry were free to come
+and go as they pleased they took passage on a sloop
+of war bound down the St. Lawrence to Quebec.
+At this point they had a man with a rowboat take
+them over to the Island of Orleans, which was still
+being used as a hospital. They inquired for Barringford
+of a guard they met and after some slight
+trouble were taken to the ward in which the sufferer
+belonged.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Dave an’ Henry!” cried the old frontiersman,
+on seeing them, and Dave’s heart leapt with joy to
+see his eyes as bright and intelligent as ever. “Ef
+this ain’t better’n a dose o’ medicine. Whar did ye
+come from?” And he shook hands warmly.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“First tell us how you feel?” said Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Fust-rate, Dave, fust-rate. I had a mighty bad
+spell o’ it though—somethin’ like a nightmare—an’
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_308'>308</span>the doctor says as how I aint quite strong enough
+yit to walk around much. Lost some o’ my ha’r,
+too,” the old hunter added, pointing to the scar over
+his ear. “But thet don’t count—I’m thankful to
+pull through with my life.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“We can all be thankful,” said Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“How is it you air free, Henry?” went on the
+frontiersman, and on being told he slapped his thigh
+in satisfaction. “Thet’s splenderiferous news. The
+folks ter hum will be glad to hear on it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That they will,” answered Henry, “and I have
+already sent them a letter.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Be you goin’ home soon?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Just as soon as we can obtain our discharge
+and as soon as you can go with us, Sam,” answered
+Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Me?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“To be sure. We wouldn’t go home without you;
+you know that.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I might hev knowed it, Dave.” A tear glistened
+in the old hunter’s eye, and he took their hands
+again. “Both my boys, aint ye?—through thick
+an’ thin!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Yes, we are, Sam,” said Henry.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“And glad of it,” added Dave.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The start for home did not take place until winter
+had again set in. They went with a great number
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_309'>309</span>of other soldiers as far as Philadelphia, and then
+struck out for themselves, in company with half a
+dozen neighbors and White Buffalo.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>At Winchester both James and Joseph Morris
+met them, and the meeting between fathers and sons
+was a most affectionate one. Nor were Sam Barringford
+and White Buffalo forgotten. There were
+many embraces, and the story of the boys’ doings,
+and of the others, had to be told over and over
+again.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The best news from home is that Rodney is
+improving fast,” said Joseph Morris. “The last
+operation on his leg was a complete success, so the
+doctors say, and by next spring they think he will
+be almost as strong as any of us.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Next spring I am going back to the Kinotah,”
+said James Morris. “My claim to that land is now
+fully established, and with Jean Bevoir dead there is
+little likelihood that anybody will ever try to disturb
+me again.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Bevoir dead?” burst out Dave. “How do you
+know that?”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Why didn’t you hear of it?” queried his father.
+“And you right on the ground too!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I heard nothing of him later than when he
+threatened Henry at Montreal.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“When Montreal was besieged Jean Bevoir joined
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_310'>310</span>a crowd of men who tried to loot many of the houses
+and stores. The French guard got after the pilferers
+and shot some of them down, and then they fled
+out of the city, and the English soldiers shot down
+the rest, or made them prisoners. Among the number
+shot down was Jean Bevoir. This news came
+straight to me from two soldiers who were at
+Winchester last week.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Shot down!” repeated Dave. Then he drew
+a deep breath. “Well, if he was shot down outside
+of the city perhaps I had a hand in it. But I don’t
+know for sure, and—and—I’m rather glad of it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“He deserved what he got,” came from Barringford.
+“He was a traitor to everybuddy, even his
+best friends.” And the others felt that the old frontiersman
+spoke the exact truth.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Yet though they all thought Jean Bevoir dead
+such was not a fact. The French trader was seriously
+wounded, and for a long while lay between
+life and death. But he ultimately recovered, and
+how he crossed the path of our friends later on will
+be told in another volume, to be entitled, “On the
+Trail of Pontiac; or, The Pioneer Boys of the
+Ohio,” in which we shall meet many of our old
+characters again and learn something of what was
+done to establish trading-posts on the Kinotah and
+elsewhere after the war with France, and of how
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_311'>311</span>the wily Indian chief Pontiac did his best to wipe
+out all white settlements in that territory.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The home-coming was an event long to be remembered.
+As the riders came in sight of the new
+cabin Mrs. Morris, Rodney, and little Nell rushed
+out to greet them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Home again! Home again!” shouted Dave
+and Henry, and flung themselves into the arms out-stretched
+to receive them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“My son!” murmured Mrs. Morris, as she kissed
+Henry, “and my Dave!” she added, as she also
+kissed her nephew.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Oh, but aint I dreadfully delighted to see you
+back,” piped up little Nell, and kissed them all
+around, even to White Buffalo. “And now you
+mustn’t go away again, none of you, but stay with
+me for years and years and years!”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“That’s the way to talk, Nell,” said Rodney, also
+beaming with pleasure. “We’ve had enough of this
+going-away to last for a lifetime.” And then he
+added: “Just watch how I can walk now!” and
+led the way to the cabin, walking almost as well as
+any of them.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>It was an old-time feast that awaited those who
+had come to the cabin, and it lasted far into the
+night. During that time many neighbors dropped
+in, wishing them well.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_312'>312</span>“It would seem that all of our troubles are at an
+end,” said Mrs. Morris. “Now if the Indians will
+only keep the peace I am sure we will prosper.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“They must keep the peace,” said White Buffalo.
+“My war hatchet is buried, and White Buffalo will
+not dig it up again unless there is no help for it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“I’ve had enough of war,” came from Dave.
+“In the future let me till the soil and hunt game, and
+I’ll be content.”</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>And here let us bid our friends, for the time being,
+good-by.</p>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c001' />
+</div>
+<hr class='c030' />
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+  <div class='nf-center'>
+    <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_313'>313</span>American Boys’ Life of Theodore Roosevelt</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='c007' />
+<p class='c019'>By EDWARD STRATEMEYER  325 pages  Illustrated
+from photographs  $1.25</p>
+<hr class='c007' />
+
+<p class='c019'>Ever since the enormous
+success of Mr. Stratemeyer’s
+“American Boys’ Life
+of William McKinley” there
+has been an urgent demand
+that he follow the volume with
+one on the life of our present
+President, and this has now
+been done with a care and
+a faithfulness certain to win
+immediate appreciation everywhere.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The book covers the whole
+life of our honored executive
+step by step, as schoolboy, college
+student, traveler, author,
+State assemblyman, Civil Service
+and Police Commissioner, Governor of New York,
+as a leader of the Rough Riders in Cuba, as Vice-President,
+and finally as President. Many chapters have also
+been devoted to Mr. Roosevelt’s numerous adventures as
+a hunter and as a ranchman (true stories which are bound
+to be dear to the heart of all boys who love the strenuous
+life), and full particulars are given of the daring battles
+for Cuban liberty, in which our worthy President, as
+Lieutenant-Colonel of the Rough Riders, took such a
+conspicuous part.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>The Appendix contains a Chronology of Theodore
+Roosevelt, and also brief extracts from some of his most
+famous speeches and addresses.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'><i>For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid, on
+receipt of price, by the publishers.</i></p>
+<hr class='c007' />
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+  <div class='nf-center'>
+    <div>LEE AND SHEPARD</div>
+    <div>BOSTON</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c002' />
+</div>
+<hr class='c031' />
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+  <div class='nf-center'>
+    <div>American Boys’ Life Of William McKinley</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c019'>By EDWARD STRATEMEYER  300 pages  Illustrated
+by A. B. Shute, and from photographs  $1.25</p>
+<hr class='c007' />
+
+<p class='c019'>Here is told the
+whole story of
+McKinley’s boyhood
+days, his life at school
+and at college, his work
+as a school teacher, his
+glorious career in the
+army, his struggles to
+obtain a footing as a
+lawyer, his efforts as
+a Congressman, and
+lastly his prosperous
+career as our President.
+There are many side
+lights on the work at
+the White House during the war with Spain, and in
+China, all told in a style particularly adapted to boys
+and young men. The book is full of interesting anecdotes,
+all taken from life, showing fully the sincere,
+honest, painstaking efforts of a life cut all too short.
+The volume will prove an inspiration to all boys and
+young men, and should be in every one’s library.</p>
+
+<hr class='c007' />
+
+<p class='c019'><i>For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid, on receipt
+of price, by the publishers.</i></p>
+<hr class='c031' />
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+  <div class='nf-center'>
+    <div>LEE AND SHEPARD</div>
+    <div>BOSTON</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='c007' />
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c000'>
+    <div>THE FAMOUS “OLD GLORY SERIES”</div>
+    <div class='c002'>By EDWARD STRATEMEYER</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c019'><i>Author of “The Bound to Succeed Series,” “The Ship and Shore
+Series,” “Colonial Series,” “Pan-American Series,” etc.</i></p>
+
+<p class='c019'>Six volumes - Cloth - Illustrated - Price per volume $1.25</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-l'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>UNDER DEWEY AT MANILA</div>
+      <div class='line in4'>Or The War Fortunes of a Castaway</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>A YOUNG VOLUNTEER IN CUBA</div>
+      <div class='line in4'>Or Fighting for the Single Star</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>FIGHTING IN CUBAN WATERS</div>
+      <div class='line in4'>Or Under Schley on the Brooklyn</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>UNDER OTIS IN THE PHILIPPINES</div>
+      <div class='line in4'>Or A Young Officer in the Tropics</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>THE CAMPAIGN OF THE JUNGLE</div>
+      <div class='line in4'>Or Under Lawton through Luzon</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>UNDER MACARTHUR IN LUZON</div>
+      <div class='line in4'>Or Last Battles in the Philippines</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A boy once addicted to Stratemeyer stays by him.”—<i>The Living
+Church.</i></p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The boys’ delight—the ‘Old Glory Series.’”—<i>The Christian Advocate,
+New York.</i></p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Stratemeyer’s style suits the boys.”—<span class='sc'>John Terhune</span>, <i>Supt. of Public
+Instruction, Bergen Co., New Jersey</i>.</p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Mr. Stratemeyer is in a class by himself when it comes to writing
+about American heroes, their brilliant doings on land and sea.”—<i>Times,
+Boston.</i></p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Mr. Stratemeyer has written a series of books which, while historically
+correct and embodying the most important features of the Spanish-American
+War and the rebellion of the Filipinos, are sufficiently interwoven
+with fiction to render them most entertaining to young
+readers.”—<i>The Call, San Francisco.</i></p>
+<hr class='c031' />
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+<div class='nf-center c000'>
+    <div><i>For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by</i></div>
+    <div class='c002'>LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers,</div>
+    <div>BOSTON</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+  <div class='nf-center'>
+    <div>THE COLONIAL SERIES</div>
+    <div class='c002'>By EDWARD STRATEMEYER</div>
+    <div class='c002'><i>Author of “Pan-American Series,” “Old Glory Series,” “Great</i></div>
+    <div><i>American Industries Series,” “American Boys’</i></div>
+    <div><i>Biographical Series,” etc.</i></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='c007' />
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+  <div class='nf-center'>
+    <div>Four volumes - Cloth - Illustrated by A. B. Shute - Price per volume, $1.25</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-l'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>WITH WASHINGTON IN THE WEST</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Or A Soldier Boy’s Battles in the Wilderness</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>MARCHING ON NIAGARA</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Or The Soldier Boys of the Old Frontier</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Or The Soldier Boy’s Final Victory</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>ON THE TRAIL OF PONTIAC</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Or The Pioneer Boys of the Ohio</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Mr. Stratemeyer has put his best work into the ‘Colonial
+Series.’”—<i>Christian Register, Boston.</i></p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“A series that doesn’t fall so very far short of being history
+itself.”—<i>Boston Courier.</i></p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The tales of war are incidental to the dramatic adventures of
+two boys, so well told that the historical facts are all the better
+remembered.”—<i>Boston Globe.</i></p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Edward Stratemeyer has in many volumes shown himself
+master of the art of producing historic studies in the pleasing
+story form.”—<i>Minneapolis Journal.</i></p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“The author, Edward Stratemeyer, has used his usual care in
+matters of historical detail and accuracy, and gives a splendid
+picture of the times in general.”—<i>Milwaukee Sentinel.</i></p>
+
+<p class='c019'>“Told by one who knows how to write so as to interest boys,
+while still having a care as to accuracy.”—<i>Commercial Advertiser,
+New York.</i></p>
+<hr class='c007' />
+
+<div class='nf-center-c0'>
+  <div class='nf-center'>
+    <div><i>For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by</i></div>
+    <div class='c002'>LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers</div>
+    <div>BOSTON</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c000' />
+</div>
+<p class='c019'>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class='tnbox'>
+
+ <ul class='ul_1 c000'>
+    <li>Transcriber’s Notes:
+      <ul  class='ul_2'>
+        <li>Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
+        </li>
+        <li>Typographical errors were silently corrected.
+        </li>
+        <li>Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant 
+        form was found in this book.
+        </li>
+      </ul>
+    </li>
+  </ul>
+
+</div>
+<p class='c019'>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL ***</div>
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author	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-01-25 05:12:53 -0800
committer	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-01-25 05:12:53 -0800
commit	cc4408d26ae3b8092830b9fcda9d10f3bd1a4cec (patch)
tree	ab89557e0708d93396102127bcdf9b82da2fbb9f