ps continued to land and clamber up to
join their comrades upon the top.

The hearts of the soldiers beat high with pride and joy; but the
face of Wolfe was inscrutable as he stood surveying the plain which
formed a sort of tableland on the western side of the city of
Quebec.

The town itself he could not see, though he knew where it lay, and
how beyond it extended the camp of Beauport, from which Montcalm
could march battalion after battalion to meet him in battle. He
knew, too, that behind him lay Bougainville and his thousands, who,
by joining in a concentrated action with Montcalm, could hem him in
between two fires, and cut his gallant little army to pieces. He
realized all this right well, if others did not, and knew that
victory or death--even annihilation--lay before them. And knowing
this, he made his survey of the place with a concentrated
attention, and issued his orders without hesitation or delay.

The grassy plain was pretty level. Quebec bounded it on the east,
the precipices on the St. Lawrence on the south, the declivities to
the basin of the St. Charles on the north. In one place the
plain--called the Plains of Abraham, from the old settler who once
made a home there--was little more than a mile wide. When Wolfe
reached it, he halted, and after a careful survey said:

"This will be the place to make our stand. Here we will meet our
foe in battle. Fight they must now; and if heaven will grant us the
victory, let the praise and glory of the day be to God above. If He
think well to withhold His countenance from us, let us sell our
lives as dearly as may be, and die sword in hand, with our face to
the foe!"

Then the orders were issued. The brigades and battalions were
marshalled into position. The Brigadiers received their orders from
their young General, and took up the positions allotted to them.
Each of them grasped him by the hand before quitting his side. To
each one he spoke a word of praise for his gallantry during the
tedious campaign, and of thanks for the personal friendship shown
to one who felt so unworthy of it, having been so often a care and
a trouble instead of a source of strength to those about him.

Julian stood near, a strange mistiness before his eyes; and as
Fritz turned away to take up his position at the head of his men,
he said in a husky voice to his friend:

"You will stay beside him and guard him from ill. I know not why,
but my heart is full of misgiving. Quebec will