There were very many more English colonists than Frenchmen, but the latter possessed the advantage of closer intimacy with the Indians, who proved a powerful and active ally and a cruel and revengeful enemy.
We shall therefore follow the fortunes of the Highlanders through the long struggle with France, first on the Continent and in America, leaving the position in India for a later chapter.
There must be few, if any, to whom the name of Flanders does not instantly recall in all its tragic significance the heroism of Belgium.
How often will the old familiar lines, asking the old unanswered question, recur throughout the coming chapters.
“And everybody praised the Duke
Who such a fight did win.”
“But what good came of it at last?”
Quoth little Peterkin.
“Why, that I cannot tell,” said he;
“But ’twas a famous victory.”