s defence of the fort, had supposed the
number of soldiers to have been greater, instead of feeling that
admiration which brave men always experience when acts of valor are
presented by an enemy, lost himself in an abyss of chagrin, to find he had
been thrice defeated by a garrison so contemptible in numbers, and led by
a _female_. To his eternal infamy let it be recorded, that pretending to
have been deceived by the terms of capitulation, D'Aulney hanged the brave
survivors of the garrison, and even had the baseness and cruelty to parade
Madame de la Tour herself on the same scaffold, with the ignominious cord
around her neck, as a reprieved criminal.

To quote the words of the chronicler: "The violent and unusual exertions
which Madame la Tour had made, the dreadful fate of her household and
followers, and the total wreck of his fortune, had such an effect that she
died soon after this event."

So perished the beautiful, the brave, the faithful, the unfortunate!
Shall I add that her besieger, D'Aulney, died soon after, leaving a
bereaved but blooming widow? That Charles Etienne la Tour, to prevent
further difficulties in the province, laid siege to that sad and
sympathizing lady, not with flag and drum, shot and shell, but with the
more effectual artillery of love? That Madame D'Aulney finally
surrendered, and that Charles Etienne was wont to say to her, after the
wedding: "Beloved, _your_ husband and _my_ wife have had their pitched
battle, but let _us_ live in peace for the rest of our days, my dear."

Quaint, old, mouldy Halifax seems more attractive after re-writing this
portion of its early history. The defence of that little fort, with its
slender garrison, by Madame la Tour, against the perfidious Charnise,
brings to mind other instances of female heroism, peculiar to the French
people. It recalls the achievements of Joan of Arc, and Charlotte Corday.
Not less, than these, in the scale of intrepid valor, are those of Marie
de la Tour.

CHAPTER XV.

Bedford Basin--Legend of the two French Admirals--An Invitation to the
Queen--Visit to the Prince's Lodge--A Touch of Old England--The Ruins.

The harbor of Chebucto, after stretching inland far enough to make a
commodious and beautiful site for the great city of Halifax, true to the
fine artistic taste peculiar to all bodies of water in the province,
penetrates still further in the landscape, and broadens out into a superb
land-locked lake, called Bedf