Louis to arrest De la Tour; but a little preliminary to the arrest was the possession of the fort of St. John, and this he could not obtain, although be sent all his force against it.  Taking advantage, however, of the absence of De la Tour, who had a habit of roving about, he one day besieged St. John.  Madame de la Tour headed the little handful of men in the fort, and made such a gallant resistance that De Charnise was obliged to draw off his fleet with the loss of thirty-three men,—­a very serious loss, when the supply of men was as distant as France.  But De Charnise would not be balked by a woman; he attacked again; and this time, one of the garrison, a Swiss, betrayed the fort, and let the invaders into the walls by an unguarded entrance.  It was Easter morning when this misfortune occurred, but the peaceful influence of the day did not avail.  When Madame saw that she was betrayed, her spirits did not quail; she took refuge with her little band in a detached part of the fort, and there made such a bold show of defense, that De Charnise was obliged to agree to the terms of her surrender, which she dictated.  No sooner had this unchivalrous fellow obtained possession of the fort and of this Historic Woman, than, overcome with a false shame that he had made terms with a woman, he violated his noble word, and condemned to death all the men, except one, who was spared on condition that he should be the executioner of the others.  And the poltroon compelled the brave woman to witness the execution, with the added indignity of a rope round her neck,—­or as De Charlevoix much more neatly expresses it, “obligea sa prisonniere d’assister a l’execution, la corde au cou.”

To the shock of this horror the womanly spirit of Madame de la Tour succumbed; she fell into a decline and died soon after.  De la Tour, himself an exile from his province, wandered about the New World in his customary pursuit of peltry.  He was seen at Quebec for two years.  While there, he heard of the death of De Charnise, and straightway repaired to St. John.  The widow of his late enemy received him graciously, and he entered into possession of the estate of the late occupant with the consent of all the heirs.  To remove all roots of bitterness, De la Tour married Madame de Charnise, and history does not record any ill of either of them.  I trust they had the grace to plant a sweetbrier on the grave of the noble woman to whose faithfulness and courage they owe their rescue from obscurity.  At least the parties to this singular union must have agreed to ignore the lamented existence of the Chevalier d’Aunay.

With the Chevalier de la Tour, at any rate, it all went well thereafter.  When Cromwell drove the French from Acadia, he granted great territorial rights to De la Tour, which that thrifty adventurer sold out to one of his co-grantees for L16,000; and he no doubt invested the money in peltry for the London market.