say to me, my young friend?"

"Nothing more, sir, unless it be to apologize for having occupied so
much of your time, and especially at this hour."

"Never mind that. If what you have told me is all true, the information
is incalculable in importance. I shall lose no time in acting, and shall
not forget you, nor your old servant. I will send out scouts at once,
and proceed myself to the examination of these letters which you have
placed in my hands. The situation is grave, young man. You have done
well, and to show you how much I appreciate your conduct, I intend
employing you on a further mission. You have not slept this night?"

"No, Your Excellency."

"It is now half-past five. Go and rest till noon. At that hour come to me
with the best saddle horse in your regiment. I will give you your
instructions then."

Roderick Hardinge gave the salute and took his departure just as the
first streaks of dawn lighted the sky.

No one accosted him in the vestibule. The sentinel at the entrance did
not even notice him. He walked straight to the barracks. As he crossed
the Cathedral-square, a graceful hooded figure glided past him and
entered into the old church. It was pretty Pauline Belmont. Roderick
recognized her, and turned to speak to her, but she had disappeared
under the arcade. Alas! if either of them had known.

IV.

IN CATHEDRAL SQUARE.

There was a notable stir in Quebec on the morning of the 7th November,
1775. The inhabitants who had retired to their houses, the evening
before, in the security of ignorance, rose the next day with the vague
certainty of an impending portent. There was electricity in the air. The
atmosphere was charged with moral as well as material clouds. People
opened their windows and looked out anxiously. They stood on their
doorsteps as if timorous to go forward. They gathered in knots on the
street corners and conferred in low tones. There was nothing definite
known. Nobody had seen anything. Nobody had heard anything. Yet all
manner of wild stories circulated through the crowds. Strange fires were
said to have burned in the sky during the night. A phantom sentinel had
kept watch on the citadel, a spectral waterman had crossed the river
with muffled oars, a shadowy horseman from the forest had dashed through
Levis, and his foaming steed had fallen dead on the water's edge. Those
who disbelieved might see the corse of the animal in a sand-quarry not a
hundred yards from where h