os frontieres
Porte ses etendards.
Exaucez nos prieres,
Protegez nos remparts."

And as if in answer, one by one, our watch-fires were kindled,
until they twinkled in a long unbroken line from the St. Charles
to Montmorenci.

The long siege had begun. Such an array of ships was never before
seen from the walls of Quebec. There were the flag-ships of Admirals
Saunders, Holmes, and Durell; twenty-three ships of the line,
besides frigates, transports, and a flock of smaller craft nestled
under shelter of the Island; all these crowded with ten or twelve
thousand troops under General Wolfe and his brigadiers, Monckton,
Townshend, and Murray, fresh from triumph, and determined on a
desperate effort for new conquest.

Face to face with them stretched our long line of defenders, as
resolute and as confident--regulars, militia, Indians, and volunteers,
and in the ranks of the latter the grandfather stood by the grandson;
had the wives and daughters been permitted, many of them, I doubt
not, would have held a musket beside those dearest to them.

On land and on water, there was constant change and movement; the
stately vessels moved slowly up and down, small boats plied backward
and forward, troops were landed where unopposed; on our side of
the river every eye was vigilant, guessing what each new move might
portend. No one could look upon it without a swifter-beating heart.
Before us swept all "the pomp and circumstance of war" without any
of its horror--as yet--and the panorama in which it was displayed
added to its dignity and importance.

We became accustomed to the distant boom of heavy guns, and watched
the constant movement of the combatants with much excited comment
and foolish security.

It was Gabriel who first brought us face to face with the reality.
We were surprised by his appearance at the house about the middle
of July; he looked twenty years older; all his former jauntiness
of manner had disappeared, and so dejected was his bearing I could
scarce believe it was the same man I had known.

"Mesdames," he said, "my respects to you all, though I come as a
bearer of bad tidings."

"No one expects compliments in time of war, Gabriel. Tell me it
is not my son, and you may speak freely," said the brave old lady,
with a blanched face.

"Thank God, it is not! He came into camp only yesterday, with a
hundred good men behind him, so worn out that they are fitter for
the hospital than the field, bu