oiselle. He was deeply moved. He declared he
would treasure it all his life. Perhaps he has answered you already."

Zulma shook her head slowly, but made no interruption.

"He is there, mademoiselle, with his command. Perhaps in a few days, he
may be ordered further forward. If he knew that you were so near him and
did not see you, I am certain that he would be deeply distressed. If he
knew that you were here, he would ride out at once to meet you."

Zulma still maintained silence, but she could not conceal the agitation
which these words produced within her.

"Mademoiselle," continued Batoche, "will you advance with me a little,
or shall I go on and tell him that you are here?"

"I put myself in your hands," said Zulma in a low voice, bending over to
the old soldier.

Batoche darted a last glance at her, which appeared to decide him. He
set forth at once in the direction of the camp, and before ten minutes
had elapsed, Cary Singleton was riding in hot haste to meet Zulma. He
persuaded her to remain a few hours in the camp in the company of his
fellow officers and it was in her honour that he performed the
tournament which we have described in the preceding chapter. And it was
thus that they both unexpectedly were seen by Pauline and Hardinge.

XIII.

THE INTENDANT'S PALACE.

On the 5th December the whole American army marched up to Quebec.
Montgomery, who had come down from Montreal with his victorious army,
joined Arnold at Pointe-aux-Trembles and took command of the expedition.
Flushed with the success which had laid all Canada at his feet, in a
campaign of barely three months, the youthful hero advanced against the
last rampart of British power with the determination to carry it or die.
His troops shared his enthusiasm. The despondency of the preceding
fortnight had melted away and was replaced by an ardour that was proof
against the rigours of the season and the undisguised difficulties of
the gigantic task which confronted them. They knew that the eyes of all
their countrymen were upon them. The Congress at Philadelphia paused in
its work of legislation to listen to the news from Canada. Washington
was almost forgotten in the anxiety about Montgomery. New England stood
expectant of wonders from the gallantry of Arnold. In far-off Maryland
and Virginia, the mothers, wives and daughters on the plantations had no
thoughts but of the postboy who galloped down the lane with letters from
the North, whe