Had he been able to speak Canadian French, the matter would have been easy enough, as he could have landed higher up the river and, dressed as a Canadian farmer, have made his way through the French lines without suspicion.  But he knew nothing of French, and, even had he spoken the language fluently, there was sufficient difference between the Canadian French and the language of the old country, for the first Canadian who spoke to him to have detected the difference.

Nor could he pass as an Indian; for, although he had picked up enough of the language to converse with the redskin allies of the English on the lakes, the first Indian who spoke to him would detect the difference; and, indeed, it needed a far more intimate acquaintance with the various tribes, than he possessed, for him to be able to paint and adorn himself so as to deceive the vigilant eyes of the French Indians.

Had his two followers, Nat and Jonathan, been with him, they could have painted and dressed him so that he could have passed muster, but, in their absence, he abandoned the idea as out of the question.  The prospect certainly did not seem hopeful.

After long thought, it seemed to him that the only way which promised even a chance of success would be for him to be taken prisoner by the French soldiers.  Once fairly within their lines, half the difficulty was over.  He had learned to crawl as noiselessly as an Indian, and he doubted not that he should be able to succeed in getting away from any place of confinement in which they might place him.  Then he could follow the top of the heights, and the position of the sentries or of any body of men encamped there would, in itself, be a guide to him as to the existence of paths to the strand below.

The first step was the most difficult.  How should he manage to get himself taken prisoner?  And this was the more difficult, as it was absolutely necessary that he should fall into the hands of French regulars, and not of the Canadians, who would finish the matter at once by killing and scalping him.

The next morning, he again went off to the Sutherland.  He was in high spirits, for his name had appeared in orders as captain, and as appointed assistant quartermaster general on the headquarter staff.  On entering the general’s cabin, he thanked him for the promotion.

“You have earned it over and over again,” the general said.  “There are no thanks due to me.  Now, have you thought out a plan?”

James briefly stated the difficulties which he perceived in the way of any other scheme than that of getting himself taken prisoner by the French, and showed that that was the only plan that seemed to offer even a chance of success.

“But you may not be able to escape,” Wolfe said.

“I may not,” James replied, “and in that case, sir, I must of course remain a prisoner until you take Quebec, or I am exchanged.  Even then you would be no worse off than you are at present, for I must, of course, be taken prisoner at some point where the French are in force, and where you do not mean to land.  My presence there would give them no clue whatever to your real intentions, whereas, were I taken prisoner anywhere along the shore, they would naturally redouble their vigilance, as they would guess that I was looking for some way of ascending the heights.”