"And what of the fighting here, sir?" Steve ventured to ask. "We rather feared that we should arrive too late, for we have been very much delayed. It is already September."
"And very soon we shall have to be returning, for the winter will be upon us. But it will not come to that, I hope. Frankly, gentlemen, we are face to face with what would appear to be an insuperable difficulty. We have made attempts on the city without success, and our leader is almost in despair. As to what we have actually done, we brought our fleet right up the river, much to the amazement of the French, who have never dared to do such a thing with their own ships. That proves that our navy is very capable, and, indeed, we owe a tremendous amount to it. We pitched our camp here promptly, while the fleet lay off the island, and were almost at once in difficulties, for the French sent down fire ships. However, our tars made short work of the flaring ships, and, indeed, enjoyed the fun of towing them away. Then we captured Point Lévis, and commenced to build batteries. Our guns have been at work, just as you hear them now, almost incessantly for eight weeks, and the lower parts of the city are crushed to pieces. But still the garrison is there, with strongly entrenched lines stretching east from the city to the Montmorenci, and known to us as the lines of Beauport, while there is also a force watching the ford which exists higher up the river Montmorenci. Our aim is, of course, to get on to that plateau, and on one occasion we landed troops below it, close to the falls, and failed to gain a footing above, though our men made a gallant and very reckless charge, without having received orders to do so.
"At the present moment we are contenting ourselves with a constant cannonade, and with feints here and there, while our ships, some of which have passed Point Lévis, and run up above the city, drift down during the night, thus making the French think that we may attack at any moment. Prideaux has captured Niagara, which has resulted in a movement of Montcalm's troops, Bougainville having been sent with 1500 men to Cap Rouge, which, you know, is some seven miles west of Quebec, at the end of the ridge which faces the river there, and offers an insuperable barrier to us."
"The one on which we lay hidden for a week, or rather where my friends took me after they had rescued me from prison," broke in Steve. "I remember the ridge well. The heights above are known as the Plains of Abraham."
"You recollect the ridge, sir? How do you mean?" demanded the quartermaster-general suddenly, a faint flush spreading over his face.
"We descended to the river that way," came the answer. "There is a rough path, which we scrambled down during the darkness. A canoe was waiting for us at the bank, and we set off in her. After that we captured a ship and——"
"Stop! One moment!"
To Steve's amazement the quartermaster-general came a step closer, and stared at him with a curious expression of excitement.
"You clambered down that ridge, sir?" he asked. "Up to this we have considered that an impossible feat. Are you sure?"
"Certain. I was a prisoner for some months, and was allowed great liberty. I have scrambled down from the plains many a time, and could clamber up again. What defences do they have there?"