“It was the Anenaki chief who first raised the war whoop, and the effect was instantaneous.  They sprang upon us like fiends.  They seized the shrieking women and children and bore them off to the woods, killing and scalping them as they ran.  We had guns, but no ammunition, and were almost exhausted with what we had been through.

“In a moment all was a scene of indescribable horror and confusion.  I can only speak of what I saw myself.  I was set upon by the savages; but I could give blow for blow.  They sprang after others less able to defend themselves.  I saw a little lad rush screaming through the wood.  I at once ran after him, and knocked down his pursuer.  He clung about me, begging me to save him.  I took his hand, and we dashed into the forest together.

“As we did so, I was aware that some French officers, with the Marquis de Montcalm, were rushing up to try to appease the tumult; but I doubt me if their words produced any effect.  The boy and I ran on together.  Then out dashed a dozen or more warriors upon us, with scalps in their hands—­a sight horrible to behold.  I set the boy against a tree, and stood before him; but they were all round us.  I felt his despairing, clutching hands torn from round my waist whilst I was hacking and hewing down the men in front.  I heard the shriek of agony and the gurgling cry as the tomahawk descended upon his head.

“I knew that he was dead, and the rage which filled me drove me on and on with the strength of madness.  I had lost the sense of direction.  I only knew that I had burst through the ring of my assailants, and that I was running my headlong course with the whole pack of them yelling at my heels.  Now and again a cry from right or left would divert one or another of my pursuers, but some of them held resolutely on, and I knew that my strength must eventually give out, and that only a horrible death awaited me.

“Then it was that I heard shouts in the English tongue, and knew that some person or persons had come to my rescue.  But my eyes were full of blood, and my senses were well nigh failing.  It was only by degrees I came to know who had saved my life.  I shall never forget it, though I cannot say what is in my heart.”

He held out his hand first to one and then to the other of his comrades, and they grasped it warmly.  Roche lifted his right hand and shook it upwards.

“May Heaven give me the chance to revenge this day’s work upon the foes of England!  May the time come when France shall drink deep of that cup of suffering and humiliation which she has caused us to drink withal; and may I be there to see!”

And yet, before many months had passed, Roche and his companions had reason to know that their foes could be chivalrous and generous to an enemy in distress.

The comrades lay in close hiding for many days, until the work of demolishing the hapless fort had been accomplished, and the French, together with their savage allies, had withdrawn back to their own lines at Ticonderoga.