stening towards Quebec whose timely
arrival meant the salvation of the French citadel.

This man was Frontenac, then governor of the French colony, and one of
the most picturesque figures in American history. A soldier of France;
a polished courtier at the royal court; a hero on the battle-field,
and a favorite in the ball-room; a man poor in pocket, but rich in
influential connections,--Frontenac had come to the New World to seek
that fortune and position which he had in vain sought in the Old. When
the vague rumors of the hostile expedition of the Massachusetts colony
reached his ears, Frontenac was far from Quebec, toiling in the
western part of the colony. Wasting no time, he turned his steps
toward the threatened city. His road lay through an almost trackless
wilderness; his progress was impeded by the pelting rains of the
autumnal storms. But through forest and through rain he rode fiercely;
and at last as he burst from the forest, and saw towering before him
the rocks of Cape Diamond, a cry of joy burst from his lips. On the
broad, still bosom of the St Lawrence Bay floated not a single hostile
sail. The soldier had come in time.

With the governor in the city, all took courage, and the work of
preparation for the coming struggle went forward with a rush. Far and
wide throughout the parishes was spread the news of war, and daily
volunteers came flocking in to the defence. The ramparts were
strengthened, and cannon mounted. Volunteers and regulars drilled side
by side, until the four thousand men in the city were converted into a
well-disciplined body of troops. And all the time the sentinels on the
Saut au Matelot were eagerly watching the river for the first sign of
the English invaders.

It was before dawn, on the morning of Oct. 16, that the people of the
little city, and the soldiery in the tents, were awakened by the alarm
raised by the sentries. All rushed to the brink of the heights, and
peered eagerly out into the darkness. Far down the river could be seen
the twinkling lights of vessels. As the eager watchers strove to count
them, other lights appeared upon the scene, moving to and fro, but
with a steady advance upon Quebec. The gray dawn, breaking in the
east, showed the advancing fleet. Frontenac and his lieutenants
watched the ships of the enemy round the jutting headland of the Point
of Orleans; and, by the time the sun had risen, thirty-four hostile
craft were at anchor in the basin of Quebec.