r four miles from
the spot where the landing was made, the siege was not yet at an end.
Ten or twelve days after the sortie, however, Wolfe had pushed on his
attack almost up to the walls. Then the citadel was burnt, and on the
day after that the barracks, and at last three great breaches were made
in the defences of the place itself. The day following two more of our
line of battle ships were captured and burnt by some of their captains,
who made a sudden attack on them in the very harbour itself. All hope
of further resistance was now at an end, and on the 26th the
unfortunate Drucour was obliged to surrender."

"Yes, we have heard that," said Boulanger; "but General Montcalm has
already done something to make up for that, though Louisburg has been
such a triumph for those terrible English."

"It must indeed be something of importance to make up for what we have
lost there," replied Isidore. "My old habits on the staff led to my
knowing better than most people the extent of our misfortune. The
English took and destroyed eleven of our great ships, and made nearly
six thousand of our men prisoners, to say nothing of capturing 250 guns
and fifteen thousand stand of arms, and, what is worst of all, they can
boast of taking nearly a dozen of our colours."

"But how did you escape?" inquired the forester anxiously.

"Well, that is of little consequence," answered Isidore, "though that
was strange enough after all. I told you that we had some Indians
fighting on our side, and very well they fought too, though I do not
care to have to do with those rascals. Fortunately there were none on
the English side--I say fortunately, for I have always found there is
more anxiety connected with watching against a handful of them than
against any number of regulars; one never knows what cunning wiles and
surprises they may be devising. Strange to say, the chief of our
Indians, a fellow named White Eagle, seemed to have taken a mighty
liking to me, and stuck close to me wherever I went. I fancy most of
his tribe managed to escape at the last; but after the capitulation,
when I found myself with a number of our Canadian volunteers lodged in
a shattered block-house awaiting the decision of our captors, whom
should I find seated quietly by my side but my friend the red skin."

"Eh?" exclaimed Boulanger with marked surprise. "What tribe did he
belong to?"

"Oh, he was an Algonquin," replied Isidore. "I asked him how he came