“Surely I see them too, and well I know the poor creatures, since for many a day this summer past have I driven them to pasture.”
The snow had whitened the ground, so that Madelon’s bright eyes had been able to distinguish that the dark forms huddled at the gate were the poor remnant of the cattle that had not been killed or driven off by the Iroquois. Summoning the others from the blockhouse, they took counsel together as to whether they should open the gate and let the cattle in. The men were all anxious to do this, but Madelon feared the crafty foe.
“How canst thou tell but what we let in the savages also? Such creatures of wile are they, that we know not if they be not concealed in the hides of the beasts already slaughtered, and if we are simple enough to open the gate they may enter the fort.”
An hour passed, and still the cattle stood there, and there were no signs that the enemy was among them. So at last Madelon called Louis and Alexander.
“Brothers,” she said, “we must get in the cattle if it be possible. You shall stand on either side of the gate and have your guns cocked, while I go forth and drive the beasts in. If the Indians make a rush, shoot, and then shut the gate as quickly as thou canst.”
The heavy gate was swung back, and Madelon stepped out. It did not take long for her to drive in the few cattle that remained of the generous herd that had gone to pasture that morning.
The remainder of the night passed away without any further alarms, and when darkness disappeared, many of the fears and anxieties of the small garrison disappeared also, as it is always easier to face the fears that may be seen than those that are born of the imagination.
II
With the dawning of the second day of the defence of Castle Dangerous, the spirits of all rose, all, that is, except one, and this was Dame Marguerite, the wife of Sieur Fontaine. She, poor soul, had but lately come from Paris, and was yet a stranger to the difficulties and dangers of life in the wilderness.
Her complaints were unceasing, and she gave her husband no rest, constantly imploring him to carry her to another fort. Her selfish thought was for herself alone, and she cried,—