e opened with the town. Julian, too, went much
amongst them, able to win their confidence very easily, since he
seemed to them almost like a brother. It was quite an easy thing
for him to disguise himself in the white uniform of a French
soldier, and to creep, under cover of the darkness, closer and
closer to the wall of the town.

It so chanced that he could not have chosen a better night for his
enterprise. The booming of guns across the harbour and from the
batteries behind had now become constant, and attracted little
notice from sentries or soldiers beyond range. But just as darkness
began to fall, a shell from Wolfe's newly-planted battery fell upon
one of the French ships in the harbour, and set her on fire. The
glare rose in the sky, and suddenly there was the sound of an
explosion, sparks rose in dense clouds into the air, and the ship
plunged like a wild creature in terror, broke from her moorings,
and drifted alongside a sister ship. The flames spread to her
rigging, and in a few minutes both were ablaze; and before the
affrighted and bewildered crews could do anything to prevent it, a
third vessel had become involved in the conflagration, and the town
was illumined by the pillars of flame which shot up from the still
waters of the harbour.

All was confusion and dismay, for the French had no ships to spare.
Four had been deliberately sunk in the harbour's mouth to prevent
the entrance of the English, and here were three all in a blaze.
The soldiers and inhabitants rushed madly down to the water's edge
to seek to stay the conflagration, and Julian, seizing his
opportunity, rushed through the gateway with a small detachment of
men from one of the outside batteries, and found himself within the
town without having been so much as challenged.

Down to the water's edge with the rest he rushed, shouting and
gesticulating with the best of them. His uniform prevented his
being even so much as looked at. To all appearance he was a French
soldier. He did not hesitate to mingle in the crowd, or avoid
conversation with any. Very soon he found he was working with the
rest in the hopeless endeavour to save the doomed vessels; and he
was helpful in getting off some of the half-stifled sailors,
dashing upon deck quite a number of times, and bringing back in his
strong arms the helpless men who had been overpowered by the flames
before they could make their escape.

It was work which Julian loved; for saving life was m