The Sun of Quebec: A Story of a Great CrisisAltsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
History
The Sun of Quebec: A Story of a Great Crisis
Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
United States -- History -- French and Indian War, 1754-1763 -- Juvenile fiction
Mr. McLean went away, after a while, and Robert took a walk in the town,
renewing old acquaintances and showing to them how one could really rise
from the dead, a very pleasant task. Yet he longed with all his soul for
the forest, and his comrades of the trail. His condition of life on the
island had been mostly mental. It had been easy there to subsist. His
physical activities had not been great, save when he chose to make them
so, and now he swung to the other extreme. He wished to think less and
to act more, and he shared with Mr. Huysman and Mr. McLean the belief
that the coming campaign would win for England and her colonies a
complete triumph.
He too thrilled at the name of Pitt. The very sound of the four letters
seemed to carry magic everywhere, with the young English officers on the
ship, in Boston, in Albany, and he had noticed too that it inspired the
same confidence at the little towns at which they stopped on their way
across Massachusetts. Like a blast on the horn of the mighty Roland, the
call of Pitt was summoning the English-speaking world to arms. Robert
little dreamed then, despite the words of Colonel Strong, that the great
cleavage would come, and that the call would not be repeated until more
than a century and a half had passed, though then it would sound around
the world summoning new English-speaking nations not then born.
Rogers, the famous ranger, upon whom Tayoga had bestowed the name
Mountain Wolf, arrived the next day, bringing with him fifty men whom he
supplied with ammunition for one of his great raids. The rest of his
band was waiting for him near the southern end of Lake George, and he
could stay only a few hours in Albany. He gave Robert a warm welcome.
"I remember you well, Mr. Lennox," he said. "We've had some hard
fighting together around Lake George against St. Luc, Tandakora and the
others, but I think the battle line will shift far northward now.
Amherst is going to swoop down on Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and Sir
William Johnson, well of his wound, is to march against Niagara. I'll
punish the St. Regis Indians for all their barbarities. Oh, it's to be a
great campaign, and I'll tell you a secret too."
"What is it?" asked Robert.
"We're to have St. Luc against us near the lakes once more. Could you
ask for a better antagonist?"
Robert smiled at the man's eagerness, but his heart throbbed, as always,
at the mention of the great French chevalier's name.
"He'll give us all we can do," he said.
"That's why I want to meet him," said Rogers. "The whole northern
frontier is going to be ablaze."
Robert left that very day with Rogers and his men. Mr. Huysman purchased
for him a splendid equipment which he forced him to accept, and he and
Mr. McLean bade him good-by, while Caterina wept in her apron.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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