1644.] BATTLE. 273 



brood, all giving tongue together. The excited 

 Frenchmen flocked about their commander. 



'^ 3fo7isieur, les ennemis sont dans le hois; ne 

 les iro7is-nous jamais voir f '' ^ 



Maisonneuve, habitually composed and calm, 

 answered sharply, — 



" Yes, you shall see the enemy. Get your- 

 selves ready at once, and take care that you are 

 as brave as you profess to be. I shall lead you 

 myself." 



All was bustle in the fort. Guns were loaded, 

 pouches filled, and snow-shoes tied on by those 

 who had them and knew how to use them. There 

 were not enough, however, and many were forced 

 to go without them. When all was ready, Maison- 

 neuve sallied forth at the head of thirty men, leav- 

 ing d'Ailleboust, with the remainder, to hold the 

 fort. They crossed the snowy clearing and entered 

 the forest, where all was silent as the grave. They 

 pushed on, wading through the deep snow, with 

 the countless pitfalls hidden beneath it, when sud- 

 denly they were greeted with the screeches of 

 eighty Iroquois,^ who sprang up from their lurk- 

 ing-places, and showered bullets and arrows upon 

 the advancing French. The emergency called, not 

 for chivalry, but for woodcraft; and Maisonneuve 

 ordered his men to take shelter, like their assail- 

 ants, behind trees. They stood their ground reso- 



i DoUier de Casson, MS. 



'-i Vimont, Relation, 1644, 42. Dollier de Casson says two hundred ; 

 but it is usually safe in these cases to accept the smaller number, and 

 Vimont founds his statement on the information of an escaped prisoner. 



