"Well, you know all the boats were taken away from the other side of the river, but these men were so frightened that they ran down the bank till they came opposite the Isle of Orleans. Then making a kind of raft with a few logs they got over to the Island. There they found boats which took them to the city. And they immediately spread the news of what they had seen."
"What had they seen?" queried the excited women. "You are provoking, Matilde, with your long story."
"You will not believe me."
"I'll believe everything," said one.
"I'll believe nothing," said another.
"Never mind what we will believe. Only tell us what it is," said the third.
"Well, they told Pierriche that these Bastonnais are terrible men, tall and strong. They suffer neither cold nor heat. Nothing can hurt them, neither powder, nor ball."
"And why not?"
"Because...."
Here the pretty housewife paused suddenly, and with a look of mingled fear and surprise, pointed to the river. Her companions turned and saw a light birch-bark canoe, shooting out from the opposite shore and directed for mid-stream. Three men were in it.