It was near to the Montmorency that he designed to make the attack.  The shores of the river were, for the most part, very steep here; but at one place there was at low water a strand of muddy ground about half a mile wide, protected at the edge by a French redoubt.  From there the ground rose steep and slippery to the higher land above.  If the men could land and take the redoubt, Wolfe had hopes of bringing men over by the Montmorency ford—­the one above the cataract—­and effecting a junction there, and by combining the actions of these two detachments, succeed in dislodging a portion of the French army, and effecting a firm foothold upon the north bank of the St. Lawrence.

It was a rather desperate scheme; but it was received with enthusiasm by the soldiers and sailors, both of whom would be needed for the attempt.  The vessels and boats for the transport of the men were quickly made ready, whilst others were told off to hover about the basin in order to perplex the French, and keep them ignorant of the real point of attack.

Wolfe himself took up his position in the battleship Centurion, which anchored near to the Montmorency, and opened fire upon the redoubts just beyond the strand.  Julian was with him, watching intently, and noting every movement made by enemy or friend.  But Fritz and< Humphrey could not be denied their share in the fight.  They were upon an armed transport that was standing in shore to further harass and batter the redoubt, and to be left stranded by the ebb tide, as near to her as might be.

It was at low water that the attack must be made.  Boats from Point Levi were hovering around the strand all the afternoon, sometimes making for one point, sometimes for another, keeping the French always on the alert, uncertain and wondering.  But Montcalm was too acute a general to be long deceived.  He saw where the real attack must be made, and there he concentrated his chief force.  Had Wolfe been able to see how his batteries could sweep with a crossfire the whole of the steep ascent from the redoubt to the heights above, where the men from the Montmorency camp might be able to join with them, he might have withheld his men from the bold attack.  And yet English soldiers have won the victory even against such odds as these!

He stood in a commanding place upon the ship, and his eyes anxiously scanned the scene.  The hot sun had gone in now beneath banks of heavy cloud.  A few splashes of rain seemed to herald an approaching storm; there was a rumble as of thunder away to the right.

The tide was out; the bank of mud lay bare.  Wolfe gave a long look round him and waved his hand.

It was the signal waited for.  The moment after, the Centurion’s guns opened their iron mouths, and a storm of shot rattled around the redoubt.  The batteries from the Montmorency blazed forth, and so did the more distant ones from Point Levi.  The fire of all three was concentrated upon the redoubts and batteries and forces at this portion of the Beauport camp; and the French gave answer back from their well-placed batteries.