harles I. of England,--whose sad fate it is not necessary now to recall
to the reader's mind,--and built a fort at the mouth of the river. But
the differences of the two ambitious Frenchmen could not be composed.
De la Tour obtained aid from Governor Winthrop at Boston, thus verifying
the Catholic prediction that the Huguenots would side with the enemies
of France on occasion. De Charnise received orders from Louis to arrest
De la Tour; but a little preliminary to the arrest was the possession of
the fort of St. John, and this he could not obtain, although be sent all
his force against it. Taking advantage, however, of the absence of De
la Tour, who had a habit of roving about, he one day besieged St. John.
Madame de la Tour headed the little handful of men in the fort, and made
such a gallant resistance that De Charnise was obliged to draw off his
fleet with the loss of thirty-three men,--a very serious loss, when the
supply of men was as distant as France. But De Charnise would not
be balked by a woman; he attacked again; and this time, one of the
garrison, a Swiss, betrayed the fort, and let the invaders into
the walls by an unguarded entrance. It was Easter morning when this
misfortune occurred, but the peaceful influence of the day did not
avail. When Madame saw that she was betrayed, her spirits did not quail;
she took refuge with her little band in a detached part of the fort, and
there made such a bold show of defense, that De Charnise was obliged to
agree to the terms of her surrender, which she dictated. No sooner had
this unchivalrous fellow obtained possession of the fort and of this
Historic Woman, than, overcome with a false shame that he had made terms
with a woman, he violated his noble word, and condemned to death all
the men, except one, who was spared on condition that he should be the
executioner of the others. And the poltroon compelled the brave woman
to witness the execution, with the added indignity of a rope round her
neck,--or as De Charlevoix much more neatly expresses it, "obligea sa
prisonniere d'assister a l'execution, la corde au cou."

To the shock of this horror the womanly spirit of Madame de la Tour
succumbed; she fell into a decline and died soon after. De la Tour,
himself an exile from his province, wandered about the New World in his
customary pursuit of peltry. He was seen at Quebec for two years. While
there, he heard of the death of De Charnise, and straightway repaired
to St. Joh