Slowly the flag mounted to the masthead, and unfurled to the breeze. It was the red cross of St. George.
“’Tis our own ship! Quebec is saved! Huzza! huzza!” was the cry, and almost immediately the soldiers went wild with joy, some dancing on the ramparts of the city, in full view of the much-chagrined French, who had hoped the vessel would prove to be one of their own.
Soon the ship, the Lowestoffe, was firing a royal salute, to which the city batteries replied with vigor, the gunners making the river and rocky cliffs echo and re-echo with their glad tidings. In the city the grenadiers marched, sang, and drank toasts, and the gloom of the days gone by was dispelled as if by magic.
The ship that had come in brought news of an English fleet which was expected to reach Quebec in a few days. In desperation Lévis began an immediate attack on the city, but with poor success. Then he assembled his own ships of war, but six in number, and waited bravely for the coming of the English vessels.
It was the middle of May when the English fleet sailed up the river. The battle on the water was of short duration, although the French sailors fought desperately against overwhelming odds. Seeing they could not win, one vessel threw her guns overboard and sailed away and the others ran into the mud flats, where their crews set fire to them, and escaped by wading and in small boats.
“The day is ours; Lévis cannot stand this defeat on the water,” said General Murray, and he was right. The loss of the warships carried consternation into the camp of the French, and that very night they began to retreat, the English sending shot and shell after them to hasten their departure. In their hurry they left many cannon, muskets, and army stores behind them.
“That was a victory worth the winning,” said Dave, as he marched out, several days later, to help bring in some of the abandoned army stores. “A few more like that and I reckon the French will leave Quebec alone.”
“Well, we aint got so all-fired much to crow about,” answered one of the rangers who was working near. “Things looked mighty black all around afore them ships hove in sight.”
“What do you suppose the French commander will do next?” asked Dave, for he knew that the ranger, although not a well-spoken man, was a clever fellow.
“I don’t see how he kin do anything but fall back on Montreal,” answered the ranger. “We’ll blockade the St. Lawrence on him, an’ sooner or later the army at Oswego will be a-comin’ this way, and the army from Crown Point, an’ he’ll have to look out for himself right sharp.”