1690.] A FLAG OF TRUCE. 265 



to take him by the arms and lead him to the 

 governor. His progress was neither rapid nor 

 direct. They drew him hither and thither, delight- 

 ing to make him clamber in the dark over every 

 possible obstruction ; while a noisy crowd hustled 

 him, and laughing women called him Colin Mail- 

 lard, the name of the chief player in blindman's 

 buff. 1 Amid a prodigious hubbub, intended to 

 bewilder him and impress him with a sense of im- 

 mense warlike preparation, they dragged him over 

 the three barricades of Mountain Street, and 

 brought him at last into a large room of the 

 chateau. Here they took the bandage from his 

 eyes. He stood for a moment with an air of 

 astonishment and some confusion. The governor 

 stood before him, haughty and stern, surrounded by 

 French and Canadian officers, Maricourt, Sainte- 

 Helene, Longueuil, Villebon, Valrenne, Bienville, 

 and many more, bedecked with gold lace and 

 silver lace, perukes and pow T der, plumes and rib- 

 bons, and all the martial foppery in which they 

 took delight, and regarding the envoy Avith keen, 

 defiant eyes. 2 After a moment, he recovered his 

 breath and his composure, saluted Frontenac, and, 

 expressing a wish that the duty assigned him had 

 been of a more agreeable nature, handed him the 

 letter of Phips. Frontenac gave it to an inter- 

 preter, who read it aloud in French that all might 

 hear. It ran thus : — 



1 Juchereau, 323. 



2 " Tons oes Officiers s'etoient habilles le plus proprement qu'ils purent, 

 les galons d'or et d'argent, les rubans, les plumets, la poudre, et la 

 frisure, rien ne manquoit," etc. Ibid. 



