was used as a storehouse and place of arms; the men pitched their tents between it and the graveyard; while Winslow took up his quarters in the house of the priest, where he could look from his window on a tranquil scene.  Beyond the vast tract of grassland to which Grand Pre owed its name, spread the blue glistening breast of the Basin of Mines; beyond this again, the distant mountains of Cobequid basked in the summer sun; and nearer, on the left, Cape Blomedon reared its bluff head of rock and forest above the sleeping waves.

As the men of the settlement greatly outnumbered his own, Winslow set his followers to surrounding the camp with a stockade.  Card-playing was forbidden, because it encouraged idleness, and pitching quoits in camp, because it spoiled the grass.  Presently there came a letter from Lawrence expressing a fear that the fortifying of the camp might alarm the inhabitants.  To which Winslow replied that the making of the stockade had not alarmed them in the least, since they took it as a proof that the detachment was to spend the winter with them; and he added, that as the harvest was not yet got in, he and Murray had agreed not to publish the Governor’s commands till the next Friday.  He concludes:  “Although it is a disagreeable part of duty we are put upon, I am sensible it is a necessary one, and shall endeavor strictly to obey your Excellency’s orders.”

On the thirtieth, Murray, whose post was not many miles distant, made him a visit.  They agreed that Winslow should summon all the male inhabitants about Grand Pre to meet him at the church and hear the King’s orders, and that Murray should do the same for those around Fort Edward.  Winslow then called in his three captains,—­Adams, Hobbs, and Osgood,—­made them swear secrecy, and laid before them his instructions and plans; which latter they approved.  Murray then returned to his post, and on the next day sent Winslow a note containing the following:  “I think the sooner we strike the stroke the better, therefore will be glad to see you here as soon as conveniently you can.  I shall have the orders for assembling ready written for your approbation, only the day blank, and am hopeful everything will succeed according to our wishes.  The gentlemen join me in our best compliments to you and the Doctor.”

On the next day, Sunday, Winslow and the Doctor, whose name was Whitworth, made the tour of the neighborhood, with an escort of fifty men, and found a great quantity of wheat still on the fields.  On Tuesday Winslow “set out in a whale-boat with Dr. Whitworth and Adjutant Kennedy, to consult with Captain Murray in this critical conjuncture.”  They agreed that three in the afternoon of Friday should be the time of assembling; then between them they drew up a summons to the inhabitants, and got one Beauchamp, a merchant, to “put it into French.”  It ran as follows:—­

     By John Winslow, Esquire, Lieutenant-Colonel and Commander of His
     Majesty’s troops at Grand Pre, Mines, River Canard, and places
     adjacent.