obeyed promptly and coolly by the men of his company.
The boats were turned with their heads to the lake, as the canoes came
dashing up, and the men who were not employed in rowing fired so
steadily and truly that the redskins in several of the leading canoes
fell, upsetting their boats.

"Don't hurry," James shouted. "There is no occasion for haste. They can
go faster than we can. All we have got to do is to beat them off. Lay
in all the oars, except the two bow oars, in each boat. All the rest of
the men stand to their arms, and let the boats follow each other in
file, the bow of one close to the stern of that ahead."

The check, which the volley had given to the canoes, gave time to the
men in several of the boats, close to those of the scouts, to turn.
They were rowing past James's slowly-moving boats, when he shouted to
them:

"Steady, men, your only chance of escape is to show a front to them, as
we are doing. They can overtake you easily, and will row you down one
after the other. Fall in ahead of our line, and do as we are doing. You
need not be afraid. We could beat them off, if they were ten times as
many."

Reassured by the calmness with which James issued his orders, the boats
took up the positions assigned to them. James, who was in the last boat
in the line, shuddered at the din going on behind him. The yells of the
Indians, the screams and cries of the provincials, mingled with the
sharp crack of rifles or the duller sound of the musket. The work of
destruction was soon over. Save his own company and some fifty of the
provincials in the boats ahead, the whole of Colonel Parker's force had
been killed, or were prisoners in the hands of the Indians, who, having
finished their work, set off in pursuit of the boats which had escaped
them.

James at once changed the order. The front boat was halted, and the
others formed in a line beside it, presenting the broad side to the
approaching fleet of canoes. When the latter came within a hundred
yards, a stream of fire opened from the boats, the men aiming with the
greatest coolness.

The canoes were checked at once. A score of the paddlers had sunk,
killed or wounded, into the bottom, and several of the frail barks were
upset. As fast as the men could load, they continued their fire, and,
in two minutes from the first shot, the canoes were turned, and paddled
at full speed towards the shore, pursued by a hearty cheer from the
English. The oars were then ma