d De Catinat and his enemy the friar were cut off from the foot of the
stairs.

Fortunately, however, the manor-houses of Canada were built with the one
idea of defence against Indians, and even now there were hopes for the
defenders. A wooden ladder which could be drawn up in case of need hung
down from the upper windows to the ground upon the river-side.
De Catinat rushed round to this, followed by the friar. He felt about
for the ladder in the darkness. It was gone.

Then indeed his heart sank in despair. Where could he fly to? The boat
was destroyed. The stockades lay between him and the forest, and they
were in the hands of the Iroquois. Their yells were ringing in his
ears. They had not seen him yet, but in a few minutes they must come
upon him. Suddenly he heard a voice from somewhere in the darkness
above him.

"Give me your gun, lad," it said. "I see the loom of some of the
heathen down by the wall."

"It is I. It is I, Amos," cried De Catinat. "Down with the ladder or I
am a dead man."

"Have a care. It may be a ruse," said the voice of Du Lhut.

"No, no, I'll answer for it," cried Amos, and an instant later down came
the ladder. De Catinat and the friar rushed up it, and they hardly had
their feet upon the rungs when a swarm of warriors burst out from the
door and poured along the river bank. Two muskets flashed from above,
something plopped like a salmon in the water, and next instant the two
were among their comrades and the ladder had been drawn up once more.

But it was a very small band who now held the last point to which they
could retreat. Only nine of them remained, the seigneur, Du Lhut, the
two Americans, the friar, De Catinat, Theuriet the major-domo, and two
of the _censitaires_. Wounded, parched, and powder-blackened, they were
still filled with the mad courage of desperate men who knew that death
could come in no more terrible form than through surrender. The stone
staircase ran straight up from the kitchen to the main hall, and the
door, which had been barricaded across the lower part by two mattresses,
commanded the whole flight. Hoarse whisperings and the click of the
cocking of guns from below told that the Iroquois were mustering for a
rush.

"Put the lantern by the door," said Du Lhut, "so that it may throw the
light upon the stair. There is only room for three to fire, but you can
all load and pass the guns. Monsieur Green, will you kneel with me, and
you,