Shortly after the fleet had anchored, Phips despatched an officer under a flag of truce to Frontenac. As soon as the boat touched shore the officer was blind-folded and led to the chief. The French did all in their power to impress him with their strength, leading him over a very circuitous route, and dragging him over barricade after barricade, much to the delight of the mirth-loving inhabitants, ready to enjoy a good practical joke even at such a time as this. As he passed through the garrison the soldiers made as much noise as possible by clash of weapons and heavy tramp of feet; and by the time he reached the council chamber he was ready to tell his comrades a very different tale from the one they had heard from the prisoner. When he was ushered into the council chamber, men in uniforms glittering with gold and silver lace met his unbandaged gaze, and the haughty expression of their faces made him feel ill at ease.

At last he found strength enough to give Phips' letter to Frontenac, who ordered it to be read aloud in French for the benefit of all. The letter was a brief demand for an unconditional surrender. Silently the assembled French officers listened with an expression of growing rage on their countenances, as they heard themselves reviled and their possessions demanded in the name of King William and Mary. The closing paragraph ran: "Your answer positive in an hour, returned by your own trumpet, with the return of mine, is required upon the peril that will ensue."

The very mention of the names-William and Mary-so hated by Frenchmen of that time, made Frontenac's blood boil, and when the English envoy handed him his watch, stating that as it was then ten o'clock Sir William Phips would expect his reply by eleven, he burst into passionate words of indignation.

"I will not keep you waiting so long. Tell your general that I do not recognize King William; and that the Prince of Orange, who so styles himself, is a usurper who has violated the most sacred laws of blood, in attempting to dethrone his father-in-law. I know no King of England but King James. Your general ought not to be surprised at the hostilities which he says the French have carried on in Massachusetts; for, as the king, my master, has taken the King of England under his protection, and is about to

replace him on his throne by force of arms, he might have expected that His Majesty would order me to make war upon a people who have rebelled against their lawful prince. Even if your general offered me conditions a little more gracious, and if I had a mind to accept them, does he suppose that these brave gentlemen" (his councillors) "would give their consent and advise me to trust a man who broke his agreement with the governor of Port Royal, or a rebel who has failed in his duty to his king, to follow a prince who pretends to be the liberator of England and the defender of the faith, and yet destroys the laws and privileges of the kingdom and overthrows its religion? The divine justice which your general invokes in his letter will not fail to punish such acts severely!"

The envoy stood silent and trembling for a few moments after Frontenac had ceased speaking and them timorously requested the French Governor to write his reply to Phips.

"No!" burst forth the haughty old governor, "I will answer your general only by the mouths of my cannon, that he may learn that a man like me is not to be summoned after this fashion. Let him do his best and I will do mine !"

After these words the envoy was blind-folded and led back to the boat awaiting him. As soon as he reached the admiral's ship he related what had passed between him and Frontenac; and, moreover, filled Phips and his officers with very exaggerated ideas of the strength of the defences, which he knew only from the rough experience he had had in his blind passage through them, and the warlike sounds that had saluted his ears.

Just as the twilight was fading into darkness, joyous shouts blended with the frequent firing of distant but approaching guns, as though of a jubilant people, were carried to the ears of the English. The whole city seemed roused. Men, women, and children could be heard shouting for joy. "What does it mean?" was passed from lip to lip on board the fleet, and many faces blanched as they heard the tumult increase rather than diminish.

Granville, their prisoner, at once guessed at the truth. He knew the upper country had been alarmed and that probably the tumult betokened the arrival of forces from Three Rivers, Montreal and other points along the

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St. Lawrence, filling the inhabitants of Quebec with joy and hope. It was even so. De Callières, the Governor of Montreal, had not been idle, but, by forced marches, had brought every available man to Frontenac's assistance.

After another day's delay on the part of Phips, owing to unfavorable weather, the siege of Quebec began in earnest. Major Walley landed with about thirteen hundred men near the mouth of the St. Charles. Frontenac, owing to his increased numbers, felt that he had nothing to fear from the landing of the troops and did not oppose them until they had formed on the muddy banks of the river. But as soon as they attempted to advance French sharpshooters kept up a continuous fire from sheltered positions.

This was unexpected by the English, and threw them into disorder; however, after a short baptism of fire, they showed the stern front that Englishmen have always opposed to danger, and calmly waited their commander's order to charge the enemy out of their position. At last they received the command, and, with the impetuous daring of the Briton, rushed on the enemy's position-visible only by the puffs of smoke rising from behind trees and rocks.

Shot after shot was poured into their ranks as they advanced, but nothing daunted, they continued their charge until the French turned and fled. When they had reached a safe distance they halted, took shelter, and renewed the attack. Walley, seeing it would be useless to charge them again, called back his men and encamped. He had suffered great loss of men, and was moreover disheartened by seeing how useless it was to attempt anything from the landward side.

While Walley was doing his poor best on land, Phips dropped down in front of the citadel and began bombarding it. A steady fire of cannon was kept up from both the fleet and the rock, without doing much harm to either party, until darkness came on, when the firing ceased only to be begun next morning.

On the second day of the fight the boldness of the English gave their foes an opportunity of doing good work. The French gunners were experienced soldiers, who had been through more than one campaign; many indeed having learned their military tactics in old France. Sainte-Hélène, who had