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Besides it would not be polite. The man was perhaps sincere in his devotion to Carleton, though I believe that he rather looked to the reward. But if sincere, that ought to be considered in mitigation of his sentence. Furthermore, he is a friend of M. Belmont, and that too shall count in his favor. I had intended to seize him and deliver him as a prisoner of war to the Bastonnais."
"And the flag fired upon?" "Yes," was the answer accompanied by an oath. "Then, this is what I mean. Your friends within the town are indignant and disheartened because you did not resent this double insult. They cannot explain it to themselves. They reason thus: either the Bastonnais were strong enough to avenge and punish this outrage, or they were not.
"You delivered to him a parcel of letters purporting to have come from Colonel Arnold, the commander of the Bastonnais?" "Yes, sir." "Some of those letters were addressed to citizens of Quebec?" "They were." "You know the names of those citizens?" "I do not." "Did not the Lieutenant-Governor open the letters before you." "He did." "And read them?" "Yes, and read them."
One lively old girl, who was striking her pallet so hard on a bombed bundle of yellowish clothes, that meshes of brown hair broke from under her cap and fluttered on her forehead, seemed to be the oracle of the party. "Perhaps this will be the last time we shall wash clothes here. Those are terrible fellows who have come. They call them Bastonnais. They come from very far, and are very bad men.
"Yes, child, that is my name," said the old man, "and I am come to fetch you." "To fetch her?" asked Zulma with a tone of authority. "Yes, at her father's request." "Come in and explain what you mean." "No. It is unnecessary. Besides, the night is too far advanced. We must return together at once." A few hurried words revealed Batoche's mission. The Bastonnais were on the forward march again.
Whatever might otherwise have been the disposition of the "Bastonnais," or New England people, the attacks on Canseau and Annapolis alarmed and exasperated them, and engendered in some heated brains a project of wild audacity.
The French used their muskets to good purpose; but their mortar practice was bad, and close as was the advanced battery to their walls, they often failed to hit it, while the ground on both sides of it looked like a ploughed field, from the bursting of their shells. The discouragement of the French was increased by greatly exaggerated ideas of the force of the "Bastonnais."
On their way, they heard the confused mutter of the streets: "The Bastonnais have come!" Yes, there they were. Arnold's men stood like a spectral army on the Heights of Levis. It was a damp bleak morning, and the snow was falling fast. Zulma Sarpy sat in her bedroom, indolently stretched upon a rocking chair before a glowing fire.
In historic romance, only three works of merit have been so far produced; and these are 'Wacousta, written by Major Richardson, in 1833; 'Le Bastonnais, by M. L'Esperance, and 'Le Chien d'Or, by Mr. Kirby, since 1867 during the long interval of nearly forty years between these works, not a single romance worth reading was published in Canada.
"As a lover of liberty, as an enemy of the English, as a friend of the Bastonnais, I think, after what has happened, it would be better for your troops to withdraw for a time from within sight of the walls of Quebec." The officer looked up dubiously. "They might retire to some village a little up the river. There they could revictual at leisure." No answer. "And wait for reinforcements."
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