by that lady to appear before the
magistrates to show cause why he did it; and the consequence was, madame
recovered damages to the amount of two thousand pounds in the Marine Court
of the Modern Athens. With this sum in her pocket, she chartered a vessel
for the river St. John, and arrived at a small fort belonging to her
husband, on its banks, just in time to defend it against D'Aulney, who had
rallied his forces for an attack upon it, during the absence of Charles
Etienne.

Marie de la Tour at this time was one of the most beautiful women in the
new world. She was not less than twenty, nor more than thirty years of
age; her features had a charm beyond the limits of the regular; her eyes
were expressive; her mouth intellectual; her complexion brown and clear,
could pale or flush with emotions either tender or indignant. Before such
a commandress D'Aulney de Charnise set down his forces in the year 1644.

The garrison was small--the brave Charles Etienne absent in a distant part
of the province. But the unconquerable spirit of the woman prevailed over
these disadvantages. At the first attack by D'Aulney, the guns of the fort
were directed with such consummate skill that every shot told. The
besieger, with twenty killed and thirteen wounded, was only too happy to
warp his frigate out of the leach of this lovely lady's artillery, and
retire to Penobscot to refit for further operations. Again D'Aulney sailed
up the St. John, with the intention of taking the place by assault. By
land as by water, his forces were repulsed with great slaughter. A host of
Catholic soldiers fell before a handful of Protestant guns, which was not
surprising, as the cannon were well pointed, and loaded with grape and
canister. For three days the French officer carried on the attack, and
then again retreated. On the fourth day a Swiss hireling deserted to the
enemy and betrayed the weakness of the garrison. D'Aulney, now confident
of success, determined to take the fort by storm; but as he mounted the
wall, the lovely La Tour, at the head of her little garrison, met the
besiegers with such determined bravery, that again they were repulsed.
That evening D'Aulney hung the traitorous Swiss, and proposed honorable
terms, if the brave commandress would surrender. To these terms Marie
assented, in the vain hope of saving the lives of the brave men who had
survived; the remnants of her little garrison. But the perfidious
D'Aulney, who, from the vigorou