My men strained every muscle, but the pace was impossible--it
could not last; and the rowers in the French boat hung over their
oars also with enthusiasm. With the glass of the officer near
me--Kingdon of Anstruther's Regiment--I could now see Doltaire
standing erect in the boat, urging the boatmen on.
All round that basin, on shore and cliff and mountains,
thousands of veteran fighters--Fraser's, Otway's, Townsend's,
Murray's; and on the other side the splendid soldiers of La Sarre,
Languedoc, Bearn, and Guienne--watched in silence. Well they
might, for in this entr'acte was the little weapon forged which
opened the door of New France to England's glory. So may the little
talent or opportunity make possible the genius of the great.
The pain of this suspense grew so, that I longed for some sound
to break the stillness; but there was nothing for minute after
minute. Then, at last, on the halcyon air of that summer day
floated the Angelus from the cathedral tower. Only a moment, in
which one could feel, and see also, the French army praying, then
came from the ramparts the sharp inspiring roll of a drum, and
presently all was still again. Nearer and nearer the boat of
prisoners approached the stone steps of the landing, and we were
several hundred yards behind.
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