"Scoundrel!" roared the dauntless Dieskau; "dare to shoot a man weltering in his blood." The fellow proved to be a Frenchman who had long ago deserted to the English, and he muttered out some excuse about shooting the devil before the devil shot him; but when he found out who Dieskau was, he had him carried carefully to Johnson's tent, where every courtesy was bestowed upon the wounded commander. Johnson himself lay wounded.
All that night Iroquois kept breaking past the guard into the tent.
"What do they want?" asked Dieskau feebly.
"To skin you and eat you," returned Johnson laconically. Whose was the victory? The losses had been about even,—two hundred and fifty on each side. Johnson had failed to advance to Crown Point, but Dieskau had failed to dislodge Johnson. If Dieskau had not been captured, it is a question if either side would have considered the fight a victory. As it was, New France was plunged in grief; joy bells rang in New England. Johnson was given a baronetcy and 5000 pounds for his victory. He had named the lake south of Lake Champlain after the English King, Lake George.
So closed the first act in the tragic struggle for supremacy in America.
CHAPTER XII
FROM 1756 TO 1763
Bigot at Quebec—New France on verge of ruin—Bigot's vampires suck country's lifeblood—Scene on lake—Massacre at Fort William Henry—Louisburg besieged—Surrender of famous fort—The attack at Ticonderoga—Abercrombie's forces flee—Wolfe sails for Quebec—Signal fires forewarn approach of enemy—Both sides become scalp raiders—English fail at Montmorency—Slip silently down the great river—The two armies face each other—Death of Montcalm—Why New France fell