Soon after this the chief was removed to a cabin for greater security, but next morning, when the officer in charge of him unlocked the door, the prisoner was gone and there was no trace of him. He had in some mysterious way slipped his bonds during the night, dropped through the open porthole into the river, and made his way to the shore without being observed.
Great was the consternation on board when it was found that White Eagle, the terror of the settlements, had escaped, but though a search was made for him in every part of the ship, it was only too evident that he had obtained his freedom, and was at liberty to harass his enemies once more.
They had now reached the Ile d'Orleans, a huge island that lay in mid-stream, just below the great Falls of the Montmorency. Now piles of lofty cliffs fringed the northern bank of the river, rising sheer out of the water at high tide. Then they reached the mouth of the St. Charles River, while before them, crowning a lofty summit, with its churches and houses, ramparts and bastions, stood the city of Quebec.
The Sapphire fired a salute, which was replied to by one of the forts, and the next moment she anchored beneath the frowning guns of the citadel--the Gibraltar of North America.
CHAPTER VII
OLD QUEBEC
The old town of Quebec in 1757 was a picturesque and romantic spot. Clusters of pretty white Canadian cottages, many of them surrounded by gardens and orchards, filled with apples, pears and vines, transplanted from Old France, lined the margins of the St. Charles River, and even the lower town, about the banks of the St. Lawrence. Half-a-hundred churches and convents already raised their spires heavenward. The upper town contained the governor's house, and many palatial edifices of timber and stone, while high over all, the frowning citadel crowned the lofty eminence, looking down upon town and river.
For over two hundred years the children of the French king had dwelt here, and no white men had as yet seriously disputed their possession of this mighty fortress, which was the key to half a continent; but the sands were running low. In her late wars with the sea-dogs of Britain, France had lost the command of the seas; her navies, her maritime commerce had been well-nigh destroyed, and the sea-girt island, where dwelt the sons of the Saxon and the Viking, had become the "Mistress of the Seas."
The penalty to be paid by France for this was shortly to be the cession of all her North American colonies to the victors, for she that had failed to command the narrow seas at home, could not hope to retain her Empire abroad. Thus has it ever been with the citadel of Mansoul; the heart of the Empire. Make these impregnable, and all is well. Weaken these, through slothfulness, carelessness or ease, and the borders of the Empire, like dead branches, are soon lopped away.
As our heroes were compelled to remain in Quebec for some nine months or more before they had an opportunity to leave, they did not grumble, but made the most of their time. For the first three months they were more or less the guests of Captain Alexandre, but after the Sapphire put to sea again with a convoy, they entered the service of a Major Ridout, a retired army officer, who had become a fur-trader, which at that time was a very lucrative business, and entailed an adventurous career.