n oyster
in a shell. Indians had evidently carried warning of the raid to
Sargeant, and Captain Outlaw had withdrawn his crew inside the fort. The
Le Moynes, acting as scouts, soon discovered that Albany boasted
forty-three guns. If Jean Pere were prisoner here in durance vile, his
rescue would be a harder matter than the capture of Moose or Rupert. If
the French had but known it, bedlam reigned inside the fort. While the
English had guns, they had very little ammunition. Gunners threw down
their fuses and refused to stand up behind the cannon till old Sargeant
drove them back with his sword hilt. Men on the walls threw down muskets
and declared that while they had signed to serve, they had not signed to
fight, 'and if any of us lost a leg, the Company could not make it
good.' The Chevalier de Troyes, with banner flying and fifes shrilling,
marched forward, and under flag of truce pompously demanded, in the name
of the Most Christian Monarch, Louis XIV, King of France, the instant
release of Monsieur Jean Pere. Old Sargeant sent out word that Mister
Parry had long since sailed for France by way of England. This, however,
did not abate the demands of the Most Christian King of France. Bombs
began to sing overhead. Bridgar came under flag of truce to Sargeant and
told him the French were desperate. It was a matter of life and death.
They must take the fort to obtain provisions for the return to Quebec.
If it were surrendered, mercy would be exercised. If taken forcibly, no
power could restrain the Indians from massacre. Sargeant, as has been
explained before, had his family in the fort. Just at this moment one of
the gunners committed suicide from sheer terror, and Captain Outlaw came
from the powder magazine with the report that there was not another ball
to fire. Before Sargeant could prevent it, an underling had waved a
white sheet from one of the upper windows in surrender. The old trader
took two bottles of port, opened the fort gates, walked out and sat down
on a French cannon while he parleyed with de Troyes for the best terms
obtainable. The English officers and their families were allowed to
retire on one of the small ships to Charlton Island to await the coming
of the Company's yearly boats. When the hungry French rushed into the
fort, they found small store of food, but an enormous loot of furs. The
season was advancing. The Chevalier de Troyes bade his men disband and
find their way as best they could to Quebec.