“Yes:  they all speak well of him, and they say that the Governor, Vaudreuil, treats him shamefully, or at least traduces him shamefully behind his back to the Government in France.  He is jealous because Monsieur de Montcalm is so much better a soldier than he.  His jealousy is mean and pitiful.  I hear things that make my blood boil!”

“Yes:  Monsieur de Montcalm has had to exercise great patience and self restraint.  We all honour him for it,” said the Abbe, looking up from his breviary.  “His has been a difficult post from first to last, and he has filled it with marked ability.  The Governor seeks to take to himself all the credit of success throughout the colony and the war, and to heap upon Montcalm all the blame wherever there has been discomfiture and defeat; but from what I can learn, the Minister of France is not deceived.  The powers of the campaign are vested mainly in the hands of the General of the forces, let the Governor rage as he will.”

Colin and Corinne stood at the window watching the hubbub down in the lower town and along the quays.  They could obtain a fair view from the upper window, where the girl spent so much of her time; and whilst the Abbe and Madame Drucour talked of public matters and the political outlook, Colin poured broadsides of information into the ears of his sister.

“They say that the English ships can never navigate the waters of this great river!” he cried.  “I was talking with the sailors on the vessels which have come in.  They dare not bring their own ships up without a pilot on board.  If the English try to sail their great battleships up through the shoals and other perils, they will assuredly, say the men, run them upon the jagged edges of the sunken reefs and wreck them hopelessly.  I was telling them that the English are better sailors than ever the French will be; but they only laughed grimly, and bid them come and see what their sailor craft could do without pilots in the mouth of the St. Lawrence.  I should grieve if the noble vessels were wrecked and stranded in the Traverse, which they say is the most dangerous part of all.  But the sailors are very confident that that is what will happen.”

“I don’t believe it!” cried Corinne, with flashing eyes.  “The English have always been masters of the sea; have they not won themselves the name of ‘sea dogs’ and ‘sea rovers’ even from their enemies?  The walls and guns of Quebec may prove too much for them, but not the navigation of the St. Lawrence.”

“So I think,” answered Colin eagerly; “but that is what the men say.

“The French are always something overconfident and boastful, I think,” said Corinne gravely.  “They like to win their battles before they fight them, and beat back the foe before he appears.  But we shall see—­we shall see.”

Colin and Corinne were both much interested in the General of the forces, Monsieur the Marquis of Montcalm.  In addition to being a very excellent soldier—­brave, capable, merciful, and modest—­he was a very delightful and charming companion in any social gathering; and towards Corinne he showed himself especially tender, telling her, with the tears standing in his eyes, how much she reminded him of the little daughter he had left at home, Mirete; whom he feared he should never see again.