Farther down the St. Lawrence, near the mouth of the Richelieu, stood the fortified home of the Seigneur de la Verchères. This little fort was from its position peculiarly exposed to the attacks of the Iroquois. Yet men must live, whatever the risks might be. Urgent business called the Seigneur to Quebec. Perhaps nothing had been seen or heard of the dreaded scourge in the neighbourhood for some time. At any rate, whether from a sense of fancied security, or from necessity which must sometimes ignore danger, most of the men were working in the fields, at some distance from the fort. Suddenly there was a cry, "The Iroquois!" Madeleine, the fourteen-year-old daughter of the Seigneur, was at the gate. She called in some women who were near at hand, and barred the entrance. Two soldiers were in the fort, but they were paralysed with fear. Madeleine took charge, shamed the soldiers into at least a semblance of manhood, set every one to work to repair the defences, and set up dummies upon the walls to deceive the Indians into the belief that the fort was well garrisoned. She armed her two young brothers, twelve and ten years of age, and an old man of eighty, and carried out the deception by a ceaseless patrol throughout the night. Meanwhile the men in the fields had escaped, and were on their way to Montreal for assistance. But Montreal was far off in those days, and the relief was slow in coming. The next day, and the next, Madeleine, by her own heroic will, kept up the spirits of her little garrison, and they made such good use of their guns that the Iroquois dared not come to close quarters. When day followed day without the appearance of the hoped-for succour, the plucky girl had to struggle with desperate energy to maintain the defence. She herself took no rest, but went from place to place, cheering the flagging spirits of her brothers, and foiling the enemy at every turn. At last, when a full week had gone by, the relief party arrived from Montreal, and at their appearance the Iroquois hastily withdrew. The men had expected to find the fort in ruins; they were agreeably surprised to find all safe; but their amazement knew no bounds when the gate was opened and they discovered what manner of garrison it was that had held at bay for a week a strong party of the ferocious Iroquois. One might fill many pages with such stories as these, for the early history of the Great River of Canada, and of the settlements that grew up along its banks, is packed with romantic incidents and dramatic situations. These must, however, be left to other hands if we are to find space for the stories of other Canadian streams. II THE MYSTIC SAGUENAY