been done to change the aspect of affairs. Intrepid men had
assaulted the rampart, and even leaped upon and over it, only to
meet their death upon the other side.

Once a white flag had been seen waving over the rampart, and for a
moment hope had sprung up that the enemy was about to surrender. The
firing for that brief space had been suspended, the English raising
their muskets over their heads and crying "Quarter!"--meaning that
they would show mercy to the foe; the French thinking that they were
coming to give themselves up as prisoners of war. The signal had
merely been waved by a young captain in defiance to the foe. He had
tied his handkerchief to his musket in his excitement, without any
intention to deceive. But the incident aroused a bitter feeling. The
English shouted out that the French were seeking to betray them, and
the fight was resumed with such fury that for a brief while the
rampart was in real danger of being taken, and the French General
was in considerable anxiety.

But the odds were too great. The gallant assailants were driven
back, and when Fritz arrived with his news there was again a slight
cessation in the vehemence of the attack.

Bradstreet eagerly snatched at the letter and opened it. Fritz's
face had told him something; the written words made assurance
doubly sure.

He tore the paper across, and set his foot upon it.

"We can die but once," he said briefly; "but it goes to my heart to
see these brave fellows led like sheep to the slaughter. England
will want to know the reason why when this story is told at home."

The Highlanders were soon upon the scene of action filled to the
brim with the stubborn fury with which they were wont to fight. At
their head marched their Major, the dark-faced Inverawe, his son
only a little behind.

The arrival of reinforcements put new heart into the gallant but
exhausted regiments which had led the attack; and now the
Highlanders were swarming about the foot of the rampart, seeking to
scale its bristling sides, often gaining the top, by using the
bodies of their slain countrymen as ladders, but only to be cut
down upon the other side.

The Major cheered on his men. The shadow was gone from his face
now. In the heat of the battle he had no thought left for himself.
His kinsmen and clansmen were about him. He was ever in the van.
One young chieftain with some twenty followers was on the top of
the rampart, hacking and hewing at those behind, as i