The boy was set on it; he could not be withheld.  Moreover, the Abbe and Madame Drucour were keenly anxious for news.

“Be careful, my boy, be cautious,” he said; “run not into danger.  But I think thou art safe upon the river with those lads.  You will take care of one another, and bring us word again what is happening.”

“Oh, I will come back safe and sound, never fear for me!” answered the boy, in great delight.  “We will bring you news, never fear!  We will see all that is to be seen.  Oh, I am glad the day of waiting is over, and that the day for fighting has come!”

“Would that I were a boy like you, Colin!” cried Corinne, with sparkling eyes.  “It is hard to be cooped up in the city when there are such stirring things going on outside.  But I will up to the heights and watch for the sight of sails; and you will come back soon, Colin, and tell us all the news.”

Nevertheless it was a hard task for the eager girl to remain behind when her brother and their three merry friends went forth in search of news.

By this time the English midshipmen were quite at home in their new home, and the blithest of companions for the brother and sister there.  They did much to foster the sympathies of Colin and Corinne for the English cause.  The boys told of England and the life there, and were so full of enthusiasm for their country that it was almost impossible not to catch something of the contagion of their mood.  Both Colin and his sister had seen much to disgust and displease them amongst the French; whilst round their foes there seemed to be a sort of halo of romance and chivalry which appealed to the imaginative strain in both brother and sister.

Their British blood could not fail to be stirred within them.  They saw and heard of corruption, chicanery, and petty jealousy all round them here.  It was hardly to be wondered at that they inclined to the other side.  England and Scotland were uniting together for the conquest of this Western world.  Their mother’s countrymen were fighting the battle.  They had the right to wish them success.

Corinne rehearsed all this to herself as she stood upon the lofty heights behind the town that afternoon with her uncle and aunt.  They were looking with anxiety and grave misgivings at the clustering sails dimly seen in the distance upon the shining water of that vast estuary.  Montcalm himself had come up to see, and stood with his telescope at his eye, watchful and grave.

“We have made a mistake,” he said to the Abbe in a low voice.  “I did speak to the Governor once; but he was against the measure, and we permitted it to drop.  But I can see now it was a mistake.  We should have planted a battery—­a strong one—­upon Cape Tourmente, and bombarded the ships as they passed by.  We trusted to the dangerous navigation of the Traverse, but we made a mistake:  English sailors can go anywhere!”