306 THE SCOURGE OF CANADA. [1692. 



burned before your eyes. The enemy cannot hurt 

 you in the blockhouse, if you make the least show 

 of fight.' I placed my young brothers on two of 

 the bastions, the old man on the third, and I took 

 the fourth ; and all night, in spite of wind, snow, 

 and hail, the cries of ' All's well ' were kept up 

 from the blockhouse to the fort, and from the fort 

 to the blockhouse. One would have thought that 

 the place was full of soldiers. The Iroquois thought 

 so, and were completely deceived, as they confessed 

 afterwards to Monsieur de Callieres, whom they 

 told that they had held a council to make a plan 

 for capturing the fort in the night but had done 

 nothing because such a constant watch was kept. 



" About one in the morning, the sentinel on the 

 bastion by the gate called out, ' Mademoiselle, I 

 hear something.' I went to him to find what it 

 was ; and by the help of the snow, which covered 

 the ground, I could see through the darkness a 

 number of cattle, the miserable remnant that the 

 Iroquois had left us. The others wanted to open 

 the gate and let them in, but I answered : i God 

 forbid. You don't know all the tricks of the sav- 

 ages. They are no doubt following the cattle, cov- 

 ered with skins of beasts, so as to get into the fort, 

 if we are simple enough to open the gate for 

 them.' Nevertheless, after taking every precaution, 

 I thought that we might open it without risk. I 

 made my two brothers stand ready with their guns 

 cocked in case of surprise, and so we let in the 

 cattle. 



" At last, the daylight came again ; and, as the 



