“Mother, dear lady,” whispered this victorious Countess of sixteen, “I pray you tell no one that last night I wept from fear!”
Her mother smiled as she kissed her, and answered in her gentle voice,—
“Thou hast my promise.”
Defence of Castle Dangerous
1692
I
The sun shone bright and warm on the little frontier settlement of Verchères one crisp October morning in the year 1692.
Though the settlement was small, it was pleasantly placed on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, not more than twenty miles from Montreal, which was considered but a short distance from a place of safety in those days when homes were being hewn out of the wilderness.
The Seignior or Governor of the place was an old soldier, formerly a captain in the renowned regiment of Carignan, which was sent to New France to give aid and protection to the settlers, and to assist them in repelling the Iroquois. The officers of this great regiment were rewarded for their services by large grants of land along the rivers, which were for many years the great highways. The officers in turn rented out the land to the soldiers under them, and none save the Colonel himself was allowed to return to France, so anxious was that country to increase the population of its colonies.