e is a noble lady--gracious, beautiful, and
brave. She spoke good words to me, little knowing who I was. It
made me feel something treacherous to accept her courtesies,
knowing myself for a spy. But yet I have not hurt them by my
spying; I can see that the defence cannot long be maintained by
those within the walls. Beyond that I have little to say. The fires
by day and night tell of the destruction and havoc our guns are
making. It needs no spy to report that."

General Amherst was keenly interested next day in hearing the story
Julian had to tell, and was ready and eager to send a present of
fruit and other dainties for the sick to Madame Drucour. Under
cover of a flag of truce the convoy was dispatched, and for half a
day the guns on both sides ceased firing.

In addition to the fruit the General sent a very polite letter to
the lady, expressing his regret for the annoyance and anxiety she
must be experiencing, and sending a number of small billets and
messages from wounded Frenchmen in their hands to their friends in
the city.

The messengers returned bearing with them a basket and a note. The
basket contained some bottles of choice wine for the General's
table, and the letter, written by Madame Drucour herself, was
couched in terms of courtesy and gratitude. She declared that the
fruit for the sick was just the very thing she had been most
desiring, and wondered what bird of the air had whispered the
message into the ear of the noble English officer. As for the war
itself, deplorable as it must always be, the knowledge that they
were fighting against a generous and worthy foe could not but be a
source of happiness; and, in conclusion, the lady added that they
had within the walls of Louisbourg a surgeon of uncommon skill with
gunshot wounds, and that his services should always be at the
command of any English officer who might desire them.

"That is like her!" exclaimed Julian to Wolfe, when the terms of
the letter were made known. "She is a very noble and gracious lady,
and I trust and hope no hurt will come to her. But she exposes
herself to many perils in the hope of cheering and heartening up
the men. They all fight better for the knowledge that she is near
them; and she goes her daily rounds of the ramparts, be the firing
ever so hot!"

The cannon were roaring again now from both lines of batteries. The
doomed fortress was holding out gallantly, and had as yet given no
sign of surrender.

Wolfe was h