CHAPTER XII
A GLORIOUS VICTORY
It was not a wise, even if it were a womanly, step on Madame La Tour's part to let the Jesuits go, for they, of course, made their way directly to Charnace, and acquainted him with the true state of affairs at the fort—La Tour absent in quest of reinforcements, only fifty men in the garrison, and the supply of powder and shot unduly low.
"Ah, ha!" chuckled Charnace, rubbing his hands. "You bring good news. My time has come. I would prefer not having to fight with a woman, but since La Tour has seen fit to desert his post, he must take the consequences."
Meantime, Madame La Tour, with her faithful supporters, strained every effort to prepare for the assault that could not be long delayed. Everything that could be secured in the way of food was packed into her storehouses; the scanty stock of ammunition was carefully examined and apportioned, so as to be used to the best advantage, and the little garrison was divided up into four watches, of which Madame took command of one, while Raoul, Joe and Jean captained the others, and then, as Madame said:
"We have done all that we can. We now leave ourselves in the hands of God."
Many days of suspense followed, and then the report came from a watcher on the headland, that three large ships were approaching.
Raoul received it first, and hastened to his aunt.
"It is Charnace," she said. "The crisis has come. God grant us strength and wisdom according; to our need."
Confident of an easy victory, Charnace sailed right up within cannon-range, and, having anchored, sent one of his captains ashore under a flag of truce to demand the surrender of the fort, coupling the demand with the threat that, if not immediately complied with, he would level the fort to the ground.
Raoul intently watched his aunt's face as she listened to the message. He devoutly hoped she would not surrender, but he knew better than to volunteer his opinion.
Madame listened gravely to what the captain had to say, and then, after a brief pause, replied:
"Be good enough to say to Monsieur Charnace from me that until he has laid the walls of Fort La Tour level with the ground, it shall not be surrendered."
"I cannot but admire your courage, Madame, although I beg to doubt the wisdom of your decision," responded the captain, bowing low, while Raoul gave a cheer in which the others joined.
The instant the captain returned to the ship the flag of truce was lowered, and with the crash and roar of the first broadside the battle began.
Now among Madame La Tour's many accomplishments, was skill in the firing of big guns. This she had acquired when a mere girl at La Rochelle, and she had kept her hand and eye in by occasional practice after coming to Acadia.
It was therefore but natural that she should direct the firing from the fort, and so, posting herself in one of the bastions, with Raoul as her aide-de-camp to fly to and fro with orders, she pointed the first cannon with her own hands.
"SHE POINTED THE FIRST CANNON WITH HER OWN HANDS."
Charnace's own ship was her target, and the well-aimed shot went straight to its mark, killing three men upon the crowded deck. A second shot was equally effective, and then the whole fort broke forth into flame, the iron missiles hurtling across the eddying waters, and smashing into the bulwarks of the ships, or carrying away their masts and rigging.
Right gallantly did Charnace return broadside for broadside, but his cannon balls had little more effect upon the massive stone walls of Fort La Tour than they would have had upon the rocky cliffs near by, and Raoul laughed triumphantly as the round shot rolled harmlessly back into the moat.
"Charnace can keep that up as long as he likes," he cried. "It won't do us any harm, and it's wasting his powder."
The boy was in the highest spirits. Not a whit dismayed by the roar of the cannon or the crashing of the balls against the ramparts, he stood beside his aunt in the bastion, where she directed the firing as calmly as though it were only some household task, or sped away to the other parts of the fort to see how Joe and Jean were getting on and to encourage them with cheering messages.
The heroic spirit which animated Madame La Tour had communicated itself to the whole garrison, and there was not a man who did not feel prepared to fight to the last gasp rather than surrender to the hated Charnace.
As the cannonading went on, the damage done to the fort was trifling, while the ships were suffering severely. The number of killed and wounded grew rapidly, and the vessels themselves were becoming so riddled with shot as to be in danger of sinking.
At last Charnace's situation became intolerable, and, consumed with futile rage, he gave the order to retreat.
But this was not so easily carried out. The wind had shifted during the fight, and now blew strongly from the east, so that the ships could not get out of range without warping, and while this slow method of movement was being resorted to, the fort guns continued their bombardment, inflicting further damage.
At last, with great difficulty, and the loss of many men, the three vessels were got around Bruyeres Point, and there run aground to prevent them from sinking.
Raoul, accompanied by Joe, set off from the fort to follow the ships as soon as they withdrew, and shouted gleefully after them:
"Ho, ho! Monsieur Charnace. Your spies did not do you much good, did they? Surely you've learned a lesson this time, and will mind your own business in future."
When he saw the ships run aground, he hurried back to the fort, and actually had the hardihood to suggest to his aunt that a party, which he offered to lead, should be sent out at midnight to try and set the ships on fire ere they were floated again.
But Madame wisely refused to sanction any such rash enterprise.
"Charnace will not trouble us any more for the present," she said. "Let him alone; as soon as his ships are repaired he will depart."
And so it proved. The holes having been hastily caulked, Charnace, profoundly chagrined, yet grimly determined to try again, returned to his stronghold at the Penobscot, and a few days after he disappeared, Charles La Tour returned from Boston with an abundant supply of munitions of war, and a strong party of men.
His joy at the successful defence of the fort, and his pride in his heroic wife, was somewhat clouded by his disappointment at being too late to complete Charnace's rout by capturing or burning his ships, but Madame did not hesitate to reprove him for this.
"God has been very good to us all," she said, "and we cannot be sufficiently grateful. Let us unite in thanking Him for His great mercy."
And so a thanksgiving service was held in which all joined heartily, and then followed a feast, the like of which Fort La Tour had never seen before.
A month later, La Tour, having set everything in order, and put Simon Imbert in charge in his place, took ship for France, his wife and Raoul going with him. His purpose was to plead his own cause before the French king, and to have Charnace enjoined from further hostility. In this he was not altogether successful, and there were dark days in store for both him and Constance.
But in these Raoul did not share, because he remained in France, where a career unexpectedly opened for him. What befell him in the future, his successes and failures, his joys and sorrows, his trials and his triumphs, cannot be related here; but this must be told, that through them he never was false to his Huguenot faith, and that he won for himself a place of honour in the history of his country.