o flight. At Dover, on a Sunday, while the
people were at church, a scalping-party approached a fortified house,
the garrison of which consisted of one woman,--Esther Jones, who, on
seeing them, called out to an imaginary force within, "Here they are!
come on! come on!" on which the Indians disappeared.

Soon after the capture of Deerfield, the French authorities, being,
according to the prisoner Williams, "wonderfully lifted up with pride,"
formed a grand war-party, and assured the minister that they would catch
so many prisoners that they should not know what to do with them.
Beaucour, an officer of great repute, had chief command, and his force
consisted of between seven and eight hundred men, of whom about a
hundred and twenty were French, and the rest mission Indians.[77] They
declared that they would lay waste all the settlements on the
Connecticut,--meaning, it seems, to begin with Hatfield. "This army,"
says Williams, "went away in such a boasting, triumphant manner that I
had great hopes God would discover and disappoint their designs." In
fact, their plans came to nought, owing, according to French accounts,
to the fright of the Indians; for a soldier having deserted within a
day's march of the English settlements, most of them turned back,
despairing of a surprise, and the rest broke up into small parties to
gather scalps on the outlying farms.[78]

In the summer of 1708 there was a more successful attempt. The converts
of all the Canadian missions were mustered at Montreal, where Vaudreuil,
by exercising, as he says, "the patience of an angel," soothed their
mutual jealousies and persuaded them to go upon a war-party against
Newbury, Portsmouth, and other New England villages. Fortunately for the
English, the Caughnawagas were only half-hearted towards the enterprise;
and through them the watchful Peter Schuyler got hints of it which
enabled him, at the eleventh hour, to set the intended victims on their
guard. The party consisted of about four hundred, of whom one hundred
were French, under twelve young officers and cadets; the whole commanded
by Saint-Ours des Chaillons and Hertel de Rouville. For the sake of
speed and secrecy, they set out in three bodies, by different routes.
The rendezvous was at Lake Winnepesaukee, where they were to be joined
by the Norridgewocks, Penobscots, and other eastern Abenakis. The
Caughnawagas and Hurons turned back by reason of evil omens and a
disease which broke out amon