wered Isidore; "it will indeed be a proud and happy
day for me should I ever again find myself on the staff of a general
whom our country will surely one day hail as the saviour of New France."

"No," rejoined Montcalm gravely, "that is no longer possible. It is
now only too evident that, backed by a brave and energetic people, with
almost unlimited resources, and assisted by their colonies in America,
Pitt will not rest till our beautiful New France has become a British
colony. But the great changes that lie before us will not end there.
Mark me, de Beaujardin, those mad New Englanders with their foolish
notions of independence will not long brook being ruled by a government
three thousand miles off. The time will come, perhaps, when instead of
fighting against France they may welcome her as an ally who will help
them to shake off the allegiance they owe to their king, and France,
unhappy France, will some day follow their example! I shall not live
to see it, but you may. Once more, adieu!"

Boulanger, who was soon found, evinced no small delight at the news
which Isidore at once imparted to him, and within the ten minutes which
Isidore had named they were already on the way towards Fort Duquesne.
The journey was a long one, a matter of some hundred and fifty leagues
indeed; but it was diversified by many a little episode incidental to
life in the woods and wilds, and Isidore scarcely knew whether he was
most glad or sorry when it came to an end, and he had delivered to M.
de Lignieres the message entrusted to him. They had come just in time.

General Forbes, warned by Braddock's disaster in 1755, had halted at
Raystown, nearly a hundred miles from the fort, in order to advance
upon it by a new route, and thus avoid the gorge which had been the
scene of the former catastrophe. The Highlanders, however, pushed on,
and desirous perhaps of achieving the capture of the place before the
main body could come up, had posted themselves at a short distance from
the fort and challenged a combat in the open ground. This challenge de
Lignieres had accepted and had signally defeated them, unsupported as
they were. But he knew that the magnitude of the force which was
shortly to be brought against him would make resistance unavailing, and
after dismantling the defences and destroying whatever could not be
carried away, he evacuated the place, leaving the famous Fort Duquesne
to fall into the hands of the British, and to be