"Montcalm and his men saw that the English camp was broken up, and that the troops were conveyed across to Point Levi, then some distance up the river, by a part of their fleet, while the rest of it remained behind to feign an attack upon the intrenchment at Beauport. Montcalm, though he saw these movements, was at a loss to understand them; so he remained in his camp, while another officer was stationed a little above the Plains of Abraham, to watch that part of the English fleet that had sailed up the river.
"At night the troops were all embarked in flat boats and proceeded up the river with the tide. The French saw them, and marched up the shore to prevent them from landing. Toward daylight the boats moved cautiously down the river, with muffled oars, passing the French without being perceived, and the troops landed safely in a cove below. They were all on shore by daylight.
"Then the light infantry scrambled up the precipice and dispersed a French guard stationed there, while the rest of the army climbed up a winding and steep ravine. Then another division landed, and before sunrise five thousand British troops were drawn up in battle array on the Plains of Abraham, three hundred feet above the St. Lawrence."
"How surprised the French must have been!" exclaimed Lucilla.
"Yes," said Mrs. Travilla, "the first intimation Montcalm had of their intentions was the sight of the English army drawn up there, on what he had doubtless deemed those inaccessible heights. He at once perceived that this exposed his garrison and the city to imminent danger, and immediately marched his whole army across the St. Charles to attack the enemy.
"It was about ten o'clock when he got his troops there and into battle line. He had two field-pieces, while the English had but one; only a light six-pounder which some sailors had dragged up the ravine about eight o'clock that morning.
"At that time the plains had no fences or inclosures, and extended to the walls of the city on the St. Louis side, their surface being dotted over with bushes which furnished places of concealment for the French and Indian marksmen. I will not attempt to describe the relative positions of the two armies, which you little ones would hardly understand. I will only say that Wolfe placed himself on the right, at the head of a regiment of grenadiers who were burning to avenge their defeat at the Montmorency, and Montcalm was on the left of the French, at the head of his regiments.
"Wolfe ordered his men to load their pieces with two bullets each and reserve their fire until the French should be within forty yards of them, an order which every man was careful to obey.
"The English fired several rounds, then charged furiously with their bayonets. Wolfe was urging them on, when some Canadians singled him out and fired, slightly wounding him in the wrist. He wound his handkerchief about it and still went on, cheering his men, but quickly received another wound in the groin; then another struck him in the breast, and he fell to the ground mortally wounded. But he seemed hardly to think of himself, only of his troops and gaining the victory. 'Support me; let not my brave soldiers see me drop,' he said to an officer near him. 'The day is ours—keep it.' Then they carried him to the rear while his troops were still charging. The officer on whose shoulder he was leaning cried out, 'They run, they run!' At that the light came back into the dim eyes of the dying hero and he asked, 'Who run?' 'The enemy, sir; they give way everywhere,' replied the officer. 'What! do they run already?' asked the feeble, dying voice. 'Go to Colonel Preston and tell him to march Webb's regiment immediately to the bridge over the St. Charles, and cut off the fugitives' retreat. Now, God be praised, I die happy!' He spoke no more, but died, with his sorrowing companions about him, just in the moment of victory. Montcalm too was mortally wounded in that battle, and died the next morning about five o'clock."