PIERRE'S LITTLE ONE.
This question which Lecorbeau asked, all Beausejour was asking in an
hour or two. That night an Indian, sent from Le Loutre, who was lying
in exhaustion at Cobequid, arrived at the fort and told the fate of
the expedition.
As already stated, the English authorities in Halifax had been warned
of the movements of the Indians--though they could only guess the part
that Le Loutre had in them. Without delay they had sent small bands
of troops to each of the exposed settlements, but that dispatched
to Kenneticook arrived, as we have seen, too late. When the breathless
soldiers, lighted through the woods by the glare of the burning village,
reached the scene of ruin, of all who had that night lain down to
fearless sleep in Kenneticook there remained alive but one, the little
child whom Pierre had snatched from death.
When the English emerged from the woods and saw the extent of the
disaster, they knew they were too late. Not a house, not a building
of any kind, but was already wrapped in a roaring torrent of flame,
and against the broad illumination could be seen the figures of the
savages, fantastically dancing. The English captain formed his line
with prudent deliberation, and then led the attack at a run.
Never dreaming of so rude an interruption, the raiders were taken
utterly by surprise and made no effective resistance. A number fell
at the first volley, which the English poured in upon them in charging.
Then followed a hand-to-hand fight, fierce but brief, which Le Loutre
didn't see, as he had wisely retired on the instant of the Englishmen's
arrival.
Pages:
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71