"By George, Townshend, he'll do! Let him have a seat in the first boat, and his companions too. But see that they are kept in charge of the orderly, and not permitted outside the lines till I send for them."
"Yes, sir."
"By the way, Monckton, is there a guard at that point above the cove?"
"Vergois' guard is stationed there, sir. It is part of Bougainville's command."
"My lad," said the General, half rising from the couch and putting his hand on Jamie's shoulder, "it is a very important duty that I am entrusting to you to-night. I am going to put you in the first boat, along with the other guides, as your knowledge of the spot may be useful, and it is of the first importance that we should not pass that cove in the darkness. The safety of the British army, to a great extent, will be entrusted to you, and perhaps--who knows?--the destiny of Canada. You will be kept under the charge of the orderly till nightfall, as there are plenty of spies about the camp. If you do your duty this night, your King and your country will be grateful to you. Good-bye!"
Darkness came at length on that famous 12th of September, 1759, and as soon as the northern bank disappeared in the gloom of evening, the English camp was astir with quiet and concealed movements. Only to a few was the plan of campaign known, for in the rapidity and secrecy of the movement lay the only chance of success--for against the English the odds were desperate. Wolfe, however, was so far recovered from his sickness that he was able to command in person, and the inspiration that this knowledge gave to the men was equivalent to the addition of an army corps.
An officer who took part in the events of that night has left it on record that despite the reverse at the Montmorency six weeks before, "the men were uncommonly eager and difficult to restrain, and yet," he added, speaking to a comrade a few hours before the event, "if we succeed in scaling and capturing that rock-crowned citadel, I shall think little in future of Hannibal leading his army over the Alps."
At nine o'clock thirty boats collected from the warships and transports, rendezvoused in a line in front of Admiral Holmes' flagship. Then the last "general order" issued by Wolfe was read to the troops by the generals in command. It contained these striking words--
"Now is the time to strike a stroke which will determine the fate of Canada."
Then fifteen hundred men, the forlorn hope of the expedition, selected chiefly from the Highlanders, the Anstruthers and the Light Infantry, were crowded into the boats, and now nothing remained but the final issue, as the troops calmly waited for the second ebb tide, which was to carry them down-stream.