"I ask for nothing better; I am enabled to give you the most positive information."
"Very good; that is the way to speak. I am listening to you."
"Before all, is your garrison strong?"
"I consider it large enough."
"Perhaps so: how many men have you?"
"Sixty or seventy, about."
"That is not enough."
"What! Not enough? The garrisons of blockhouses are never more numerous."
"In a time of peace, it may be so; but under present circumstances, I repeat to you, that they are not enough, and you will soon agree with me on that score. You must send off a courier, without the loss of a moment, to ask for a reinforcement of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred men. Do not deceive yourself, Captain; you will be the first attacked, and the attack will be a rude one. I warn you."
"Thanks for the hint. Still, my good friend, you will permit me not to follow it till you have proved to me that there are urgent reasons for doing so."