"I find it exceedingly difficult," remarked the officer, "to understand the language of the habitants, though I studied French with an excellent tutor." "We had a terrific storm while anchored at Pointe aux Trembles," said Bearie. "The sky grew densely black; every moment broad zig-zag flashes lighted up the dark, angry-looking water. Father and I were on shore, and we crawled beneath a large upturned tree root to keep dry, for the rain soon began to fall in torrents. It was well we did, for the hurricane swept the masts, tents, cabins, and even the roof of the caboose away down stream, and scattered the cribs in all directions. We were three days looking for lost timber and repairing damages." "I should not omit to tell you of our experience at the Long Sault. We were thirty-six days getting through the rapids. The habitants shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders and said: 'Il n'est pas possible (It is not possible); what has never been can never be, and the man who would attempt such a thing is a fool.' "While camping there one evening we met a priest and some Frenchmen who were on their way to one of the back settlements. The priest was not a bad fellow. He spoke good English and was very kind and affable, and he invited us to go with him and his party to see the site of an old French palisade fort, which he called the Thermopylæ of Canada, and where, he said, the most daring deed ever attempted on this continent took place nearly one hundred and fifty years ago." "Tell us about it," said the officer. "You tell about it, father," said Bearie. "It is a long story," replied the Chief, "but I shall try to tell it as briefly as possible. The priest said that the French colonists had suffered much from the cruelty of the Iroquois tribes, who had decided to destroy the whole French colony. A Mohegan Indian told the French that eight hundred Indian warriors were encamped near Montreal, and would soon be joined by four hundred more from the Uttawas, and that they had planned to take Quebec, kill the Governor, burn up the town, massacre the inhabitants; after which they would proceed to do the same with Three Rivers and Montreal.