Part 38 (2/2)
The next day after he had received the letter Zeb Crane returned from Quebec, into which he had stolen as a spy, and he told Robert and Charteris that the people there, though suffering from privation, were now in great spirits. They were confident that Montcalm, the fortifications and the natural strength of the city would hold off the invader until winter, soon to come, should drive him away forever.
August was now gone and Wolfe wrote to the great Pitt a letter destined to be his last official dispatch, a strange mixture of despondency and resolution. He spoke of the help for Montcalm that had been thrown into Quebec, of his own illness, of the decline in his army's strength through the operations already carried out, of the fact that practically the whole force of Canada was now against him, but, in closing, he a.s.sured the minister that the little time left to the campaign should be used to the utmost.
While plan after plan presented itself to the mind of Wolfe, to be discarded as futile, Robert saw incessant activity with the rangers and fought in many skirmishes with the French, the Canadians and Indians.
Tandakora had gathered a new band and was as great a danger as ever.
They came upon his ruthless trail repeatedly, but they were not able to bring him to battle again. Once they revisited the Chateau de Chatillard, and found the life there going on peacefully within the English lines. Father Drouillard had returned to Quebec.
Another shade of color was added to the leaves and then Robert saw a great movement in Wolfe's camp before the Montmorency. The whole army seemed to be leaving the position and to be going on board the fleet. At first he thought the siege was to be abandoned utterly and his heart sank. But Charteris, whom he saw just before he went on his s.h.i.+p with the Royal Americans, rea.s.sured him.
”I think,” he said, ”that the die is cast at last. The general has some great plan in his head, I know not what, but I feel in every bone that we're about to attack Quebec.”
Robert now felt that way, too. The army merely concentrated its strength on the Heights of Levis and Orleans on the other side, then took s.h.i.+p again, and in the darkness of night, heavily armed and provisioned, ran by the batteries of the city, dropping anchor at Cap Rouge, above Quebec.
Throughout these movements on the water Robert was in a long boat with Willet, Tayoga and a small body of rangers. In the darkness he watched the great St. Lawrence and the lights of the town far above them. What they would do next he did not know, and he no longer asked. He believed that Charteris was right, and that the issue was at hand.
CHAPTER XVI
THE RECKONING
Robert's belief that the issue was at hand was so strong that it was not shaken at all, while they hovered about the town for a while. He heard through Charteris that Wolfe was again ill, that he had suffered a terrible night, but that day had found him better, and, despite his wasted frame and weakness, he was among the troops, kindling their courage anew, and stimulating them to greater efforts.
”A soul of fire in an invalid's frame,” said Charteris, and Robert agreed with him.
Through Zeb Crane's amazing powers as a spy, he heard that the French were in the greatest anxiety over Wolfe's movements. They had thought at first that he was abandoning the siege, and then that he meditated an attack at some new point. Montcalm below the town and Bougainville above it were watching incessantly. Their doubts were increased by the fierce bombardments of the British fleet, which poured heavy shot into the Lower Town and the French camp. The French cannon replied, and the hills echoed with the roar, while great clouds of smoke drifted along the river.
Then an afternoon came when Robert felt that the next night and day would tell a mighty tale. It was in the air. Everybody showed a tense excitement. The army was being stripped for battle. He knew that the troops on the Heights of Levis and at Orleans had been ordered to march along the south sh.o.r.e of the St. Lawrence and join the others. The fleet was ready, as always, and the army was to embark. This concentration could not be for nothing. Before the twilight he saw Charteris and they shook hands, which was both a salute and a farewell.
”We take s.h.i.+p after dark,” said Charteris, ”and I know as surely as I'm standing here that we make some great attempt to-night. The omens and presages are all about us.”
”I feel that way, too,” said Robert.
”Tododaho will soon appear on his star,” said Tayoga, who was with Robert, ”but, though I cannot see him, I hear his whisper already.”
”What does it say?” asked Robert.
”The whisper of Tododaho tells me that the time has come. We shall meet the enemy in a great battle, but he does not say who will win.”
”I believe that, if we can bring Montcalm to battle, we can gain the victory,” said Charteris. ”I for one, Tayoga, thank you for the prophecy.”
”And I,” said Robert. ”But we'll be together to the end.”
”Aye, Dagaeoga, and together we shall see what happens.”
Robert also saw the Philadelphians and the Virginians, and he shook hands with them in turn, every one of them giving a silent toast to victory or death. He found Grosvenor with his own regiment, the Grenadiers.
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