Julian was in the same boat as the officer in command of the expedition.  His intimate knowledge of the position of the war vessels would be of use in this murk and darkness.  Humphrey took an oar in the same boat; and the little fleet got together, and commenced its silent voyage just as the clocks of the fortress boomed out the midnight hour.

It was a strange, ghostly voyage.  There was a moon in the sky overhead, and the outlines of the hills and batteries, and even of the fortress itself, could be distinguished wherever the ground rose high enough; but wreaths of white vapour lay lazily along the water, or seemed to curl slowly upwards like smoke from some fire, and the boats rowed along in the encircling mist, only able to gain glimpses from time to time of the moonlit world as a puff of wind drove the vapour away from their path and gave them a transitory outlook upon their surroundings.

The dull roar of the guns filled the air.  Sometimes the batteries were silent at night; but Wolfe kept things alive on this occasion, in order to cover the approach of the boarding party.  Now the mouth of the harbour was reached, and the little fleet gathered itself more compactly together, and the muffling of the oars was carefully looked to.  Directions as to the order to be observed had been given before, and the boats fell into their appointed position with quickness and accuracy.

Julian took the helm of the leading boat, and steered it across the harbour towards the anchored vessels.  He knew exactly where and how they lay.  And soon the little flotilla was lying compactly together, its presence all unsuspected, within a cable’s length of the two battleships.

Now the time for concealment was over.  The men seized their arms in readiness.  The boats dashed through the water at full speed.  The next moment hundreds of hardy British sailors were swarming up the sides of the French vessels, uttering cheers and shouts of triumph the while.

Humphrey and Julian were amongst the first to spring upon the deck of the Bienfaisant.  The startled crew were just rushing up from below, having been made aware of the peril only a few seconds earlier.  Some of them were but half dressed; few of them knew what it was that was happening.  They found themselves confronted by English sailors with dirk and musket.  Sharp firing, shouts, curses, cries, made the night hideous for a few minutes, and then a ringing voice called out in French: 

“Surrender the vessels, and your lives shall be spared.”

It was Julian who cried these words at the command of the officer, and there was no resistance possible for the overpowered crew.  The soldiers were on shore within the fort.  They were but a handful of men in comparison with their English assailants.  It was impossible to dispute possession.

“Take to your boats and go ashore, and you shall not be molested,” was the next cry; and the men were forced to obey, the fighting having lasted only a very brief space:  for it was evident from the first that the English were masters, and needless carnage was not desired by them.