EDWARD STRATEMEYER’S BOOKS
Old Glory Series
_Six Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.85._
UNDER DEWEY AT MANILA.
A YOUNG VOLUNTEER IN CUBA.
FIGHTING IN CUBAN WATERS.
UNDER OTIS IN THE PHILIPPINES.
THE CAMPAIGN OF THE JUNGLE.
UNDER MacARTHUR IN LUZON.
Stratemeyer Popular Series
_Ten Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.00._
THE LAST CRUISE OF THE SPITFIRE.
REUBEN STONE’S DISCOVERY.
TRUE TO HIMSELF.
RICHARD DARE’S VENTURE.
OLIVER BRIGHT’S SEARCH.
TO ALASKA FOR GOLD.
THE YOUNG AUCTIONEER.
BOUND TO BE AN ELECTRICIAN.
SHORTHAND TOM, THE REPORTER
FIGHTING FOR HIS OWN.
War and Adventure Stories
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25._
ON TO PEKIN.
BETWEEN BOER AND BRITON.
American Boys’ Biographical Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25._
AMERICAN BOYS’ LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY.
AMERICAN BOYS’ LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
Colonial Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25._
WITH WASHINGTON IN THE WEST.
MARCHING ON NIAGARA.
AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL.
ON THE TRAIL OF PONTIAC.
Pan-American Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25._
LOST ON THE ORINOCO.
THE YOUNG VOLCANO EXPLORERS.
YOUNG EXPLORERS OF THE ISTHMUS.
YOUNG EXPLORERS OF THE AMAZON.
Great American Industries Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.00, net._
TWO YOUNG LUMBERMEN.
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JOE, THE SURVEYOR. _Price_, $1.00.
LARRY, THE WANDERER. _Price_, $1.00.
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AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL
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[Illustration:
As the weapon rang out the red man leaped upward and fell in a
heap.—_Page 53._
]
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Colonial Series
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AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL
OR
A SOLDIER BOY’S FINAL VICTORY
BY
EDWARD STRATEMEYER
Author of “With Washington in the West,” “Lost on the
Orinoco,” “American Boys’ Life of William McKinley,”
“On to Pekin,” “Old Glory Series,” “Ship
and Shore Series,” etc.
_ILLUSTRATED BY A. B. SHUTE_
[Illustration]
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD
1904
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Published August, 1903
COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY LEE AND SHEPARD
Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London
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_All rights reserved_
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_AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL_
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CONTENTS
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CHAPTER PAGE
I. INTERESTING SPORT, 1
II. THE INDIANS IN THE CANOE, 8
III. ON A DANGEROUS MISSION, 18
IV. A SQUALL ON LAKE ONTARIO, 28
V. PERILS OF THE FOREST, 38
VI. AN UNEXPECTED SEPARATION, 48
VII. A BEAR AND HER CUBS, 58
VIII. IN THE HANDS OF FRIENDS, 68
IX. WHAT BEFELL HENRY, 78
X. IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY, 88
XI. ABOARD THE FIRE-BOAT, 97
XII. GENERAL WOLFE’S CAMP, 107
XIII. SCALING THE HEIGHTS OF QUEBEC, 116
XIV. WOLFE’S VICTORY AND DEATH, 126
XV. NEWS FROM HOME, 135
XVI. A FIRE AND AN ESCAPE, 144
XVII. THE HOLE IN THE ICE, 154
XVIII. WINTER QUARTERS, 164
XIX. LOST IN THE SNOW, 173
XX. THE SITUATION AT QUEBEC, 183
XXI. UNDER ARREST, 193
XXII. IN PRISON AND OUT, 203
XXIII. FACE TO FACE WITH THE UNEXPECTED, 213
XXIV. A GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK, 223
XXV. TAKEN AS A SPY, 233
XXVI. DAVE’S JOURNEY TO QUEBEC, 242
XXVII. THE ATTACK OF THE FRENCH, 250
XXVIII. IN THE RANKS ONCE MORE, 260
XXIX. DARK DAYS, 270
XXX. THE RAPIDS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE, 279
XXXI. THE FALL OF MONTREAL, 288
XXXII. FROM WAR TO PEACE—CONCLUSION, 300
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PREFACE
“AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL” is a compete story in itself, but forms the
third volume of a line known by the general title of “Colonial Series.”
The first volume of this series, entitled “With Washington in the West,”
related the fortunes of David Morris, the son of a pioneer who settled
at Wills’ Creek, now known as Cumberland, Va. David became well
acquainted with Washington while the latter was a surveyor, and later on
served under the young commander during the fateful Braddock expedition
against Fort Duquesne.
The defeat of General Braddock left the English frontier at the mercy of
the French and Indians, and in the second volume of the series, entitled
“Marching on Niagara,” were given the particulars of General Forbes’s
advance on Fort Duquesne, and also the particulars of the advance on
Fort Niagara under General’s Prideaux and Johnson, leading up to a
decisive victory which gave the English control of all the vast
territory lying between the great lakes and what was then the Louisiana
Territory.
The French hold on North America was now badly shaken, but not
altogether broken; and in the present volume are related the particulars
of General Wolfe’s brilliant scaling of the Heights of Quebec, the
battle on the Plains of Abraham, and the capture of the city itself.
Following the surrender of Quebec came a winter of dreary waiting for
both sides in this great conflict. Each army looked for re-enforcements,
and early in the spring the French made an attack, hoping to regain the
ground lost. But this attack was repulsed, and then the French
concentrated at Montreal, and hither were hurried the three divisions of
the English army, including a goodly number of Colonial troops. With
these forces was David Morris, doing his duty to the end, until the fall
of Montreal brought this important and far-reaching war with France to a
close.
As in his previous works, the author has sought to be as accurate as
possible in historical detail—no easy task where American, English, and
French historians differ so widely in their statements.
Once again I thank my young friends for the interest they have shown in
my books. May the present volume prove both pleasing and profitable to
them.
EDWARD STRATEMEYER.
_June 1, 1903._
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ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
As the weapon rang out, the red man 53
leaped upward and fell in a heap
(_Frontispiece_)
As the catamount left the ground, White 46
Buffalo fired a second arrow
A short distance away was a 109
broad-sterned brig
He gave it a vigorous kick, which sent 146
it spinning away from the dangerous
spot
“B’ar meat!” yelled Barringford 180
Four troopers were in hot pursuit 222
Dave’s musket was up in an instant 268
“Stand where you are,” ordered the sick 297
man
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AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL.
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CHAPTER I
INTERESTING SPORT
“THIS looks like a good spot for fishing.”
“I don’t know but that you are right, Dave. Those trees back of us cut
off most of the sunlight, and a hollow like that ought to be good for at
least one fair-sized trout.”
“Do you think any of the other soldiers have been down to this part of
the lake?”
“Hardly,” answered Henry Morris. “At least, there are no signs of them,”
he went on, as he examined the ground with the care of an Indian
trailer.
“If we are the first to try this vicinity we certainly ought to have
good luck,” continued Dave Morris, as he dropped several of the traps he
carried to the ground and began to prepare his fishing pole for use. “By
the way, do you think there are any Indians in this vicinity?”
“Only those who are under command of Sir William Johnson. They sent all
the French redskins about their business in short order.”
“How long do you suppose our troops will be kept around Fort Niagara?”
“I’m sure I don’t know, Dave. We may get marching orders at any time.
Now that the fort is ours all Sir William has to do is to leave a small
force in command and then sail down the lake and the St. Lawrence to
Montreal and Quebec. We’ve got the French on the run and we ought to
keep ’em on the run until they give up fighting altogether.”
“I wonder if General Wolfe has had a battle yet.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised. Reckon we’ll get word in a few days. But
come, let us keep quiet, or we won’t get even a perch, much less a
trout,” concluded Henry Morris.
David and Henry Morris were two young soldiers in the Colonial army,
stationed at present at Fort Niagara, a stronghold located on the
Niagara River, close to where that stream emptied into Lake Ontario.
The two youths were cousins, and when at home lived at Wills’ Creek,
where the town of Cumberland, Va., stands to-day. The household
consisted of Dave’s father, Mr. James Morris, who was a widower, and of
Mr. Joseph Morris, his wife Lucy, and their three children: Rodney, the
oldest, who was something of a cripple; Henry, already mentioned, and
little Nell, the family pet.
When James Morris’s wife died the man, who was a trapper and a trader,
became very disconsolate, and leaving his son Dave in his brother’s
charge, he wandered to the West and established a trading-post on the
Kinotah, a river flowing into the Ohio. This was at the time when George
Washington was a young surveyor; and in the first volume of this series,
entitled “With Washington in the West,” I related many of the
particulars of how Dave fell in with the future President of our
country, helped him in his surveying, and later on, when war broke out
between the English and the French, marched under Washington in
Braddock’s disastrous campaign against Fort Duquesne, located where the
city of Pittsburg now stands.
The defeat of General Braddock meant much to James Morris. He had spent
both time and money in establishing his trading-post on the Kinotah, and
though a rascally French trader named Jean Bevoir had done his utmost to
cheat him out of his belongings, Mr. Morris had considered his property
safe until the trading-post was taken and he was made a prisoner. Dave
was also captured by the French, but father and son escaped by the aid
of White Buffalo, a friendly Indian of the Delawares, and Sam
Barringford, an old frontiersman and a warm personal friend of all the
Morrises.
Both England and her American colonies were now thoroughly aroused to
the importance of a strong attack on the French and their Indian allies;
and in the second volume of the series, entitled “Marching on Niagara,”
were given the particulars of another campaign against Fort Duquesne,
which was captured and renamed Fort Pitt, and then of a long and hard
campaign against Fort Niagara, in which both Dave and Henry took an
active part, accompanied by the ever-faithful Sam Barringford.
The march against Fort Duquesne and Fort Niagara had come only after a
bloodthirsty uprising by the Indians, which even to-day is well
remembered by the people living in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York,
whose forefathers suffered from the attack. Cabins were burned, cattle
stolen, and men, women, and children killed or mutilated. In some
instances children were carried off by the Indians, and among these was
little Nell, the sunshine of the Morris household.
The shock to Mrs. Lucy Morris was severe, and for a long time she could
not be comforted. From various sources it was learned that the child had
been taken first to one place and then another by the Indians, and at
last it was ascertained that Nell was in the hands of some Indians under
the command of Jean Bevoir, who had moved to the vicinity of Niagara
Falls, where he intended to keep the little girl until the Morrises paid
dearly for her ransom.
As soon as the capture of the fort was accomplished, and while some of
the soldiers were hunting for game for food, several wounded prisoners
were brought in, and among them was Jean Bevoir, who had been shot
through the leg. The rascally French trader was now thoroughly cowed,
and when threatened by Henry confessed that little Nell was being held a
prisoner in a cave near the Falls. A march was made in that direction,
and after an exciting chase of some Indians the little girl was rescued.
At the fort the whole matter was laid before Sir William Johnson, the
Indian Superintendent, who had charge of the red men aiding the English,
but who was now, because of the sudden death of General Prideaux, in
command of all the troops. By Johnson’s order Jean Bevoir was placed in
the hospital under military guard, to stand trial when physically able
to do so.
The two young soldiers were overjoyed over the rescue of little Nell and
promised themselves that Jean Bevoir should suffer roundly for his
misdeeds. As for the little maiden, she was anxious to get back to her
home, and soon set off with old Sam Barringford, the frontiersman having
promised her folks that, if she was once found, he would not let her out
of his sight again until she was safe in her mother’s arms.
The days following the fall of Fort Niagara had been comparatively quiet
ones for the two young soldiers. It had not yet been decided what should
be done with the French prisoners, although it was certain a large part
of them would be shipped to England. The women and children who had
followed the French to the fort for protection were placed under the
guidance of some Catholic priests and allowed to depart for Montreal and
other settlements in Canada.
The time was July, 1759, and the region for miles around the Niagara
River and Lake Ontario was an almost unbroken forest, dotted here and
there by the remains of an Indian camp or a French or English
trading-post. Game had suffered but slightly from the hunting tours of
the red men, and while the soldiers from England took but little
interest in such sport, the frontiersman in the ranks seized the
opportunity to supply themselves with fresh meat and also add a pelt or
two to their scanty worldly store. Each day they would bring in one or
more deer, and occasionally a buffalo, besides the skins of foxes,
wild-cats, and other small animals, and innumerable birds, until the
fort took on the look of a trading-post in spite of itself.
Dave and Henry were not slow to join in the hunting, and between them
they one day brought in a deer which was the pride of the camp, weighing
thirty-five pounds more than the next largest. This game Dave had
wounded by a shot in the foreleg, and Henry had finished by a bullet
through the left eye, for Henry, as my old readers already know, was a
natural-born hunter and a skillful marksman as well.
Two days after bringing down the deer, and while the two had a half-day
off-time, Dave proposed that they go fishing. His cousin was more than
willing, and the pair lost no time in fitting up their poles and in
obtaining bait, and thus equipped both set off for the lake front,
tramped along until they came to a spot that looked particularly
inviting, and then, as already described, prepared to try their luck.
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