ight have taken the
command; but now we have none fit for it. You have seen what is
passing without the city; tell me of it! What does the Governor?
They say that when the battle was fought he had not yet appeared
upon the scene of action."

"No," answered the Abbe bitterly, "he had not. Yet he had had notice
four hours before the fighting commenced, and was nearer than the
Marquis, who brought the army up. He came too late to do anything.
He is always late. He comes up at the end of everything--to claim
credit if the day is won, to throw the blame upon others if fortune
frowns. He is saying now that it was a deplorable mistake on
Montcalm's part to attack before he had joined issues with him; as
though his raw Canadians had ever done any good in the open field!"

"You have seen him, then?"

"Yes; he and a part of the routed army have taken possession of the
redoubt at the head of the bridge of boats across the St. Charles,
and so completely are they cowed and terrified that it was all that
a few of the cooler-headed ones of us could do to prevent the men
from cutting in pieces the bridge itself, and thus cutting off the
retreat of half the army, who are still pouring back over it,
pursued by the English."

"Then the fight is not yet over?"

"The battle is, but not the rout. And yet there is a sort of
fighting going on. The Canadians, who in the open field show
themselves so useless, are redeeming their character now. They have
spread themselves over the low-lying lands by the river, hiding in
bushes and coverts, and shooting down the English in a fashion
which they little relish. Those fierce Highlanders suffer the most
from this sort of warfare, for they always throw away their muskets
before they charge, and so they have no weapon that is of any
service against a hidden marksman in the bushes. But all this,
though it may harass the English, does not affect the issue of the
day. We have suffered a crushing defeat, although the number of the
slain is not excessive. It remains now to be settled whether we
accept this defeat as final, or whether we yet try to make a stand
for the honour of our country and the salvation of Canada."

"Ah, my brother, if Quebec goes, Canada goes!"

"That is so; but there are many of us who say that Quebec is not
yet lost. It is not lost; it might well be saved. And yet what
think you of this? They say that within the hornwork the Governor
and the Intendant were closeted together d