The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-12-05
BOOKII.
For the Empire Of the West.
CHAPTER x,

pSAS VI the OCner vessels caught up the
SLOW refrain and the sound was repeated
FROM ship to ship over the dark river.
Tho character of the night had changed
slightly. Faint clouds We're drifting
hthwart the star-lit heavens. and there
were heavy banks to the southwark which
looked like rain. =
will you show the signals, Admiral
Holiness" asked Wolfe, as he stepped on
deck. I'VE are all ready, I believe sir
j Very we'll general responded the ad-
miral. turning to Captain Rous and giving
him an order. A mornent later two Ian
terms We're hoisted, one above the other,
at the spanker gait end. The signal was
Immediately repeated throughout the
squadron. Shrll whistles rang out as the
! boatswain's mates of the different ships
baWled out hoarse commands.
Instantly the soldiers and sailors came
swarming to their stations.
Colonel Howe" said General Wolfe.
addressing an officer of the light infantry
who appeared at the head Of his men,
after you have mustered your battalion
will you explain to them that I have
designated them to lead the way in the
attack tonight? Choose forlorn hope
of twenty-four men to scale the heights.
SIR"
IT'S an honor indeed. sir and I thank
you answered the young officer. smiling
with pleasure. II myself will lead Them
i expected as much of you. Captain
Grafton he said, turning to the sailor
and resuming' the formal method Of public
address, will you see that your t1otila
of boats IS ready to receive my men,"
Il know it is. sir, but will look again. -
answered Grafton. Captain Rous. may I
take Lieutenant Hatfield in my boat to
assist me?'
= Certainly" answered Rous, a veteran
sailor.
Followed by the delighted officer. Graf
ton sprang to the. gangway and called for
his gig. Meanwhile Howe was address,
ing the light infantry. When he called
for volunteers every man responded, and
It was difficult to make selection Of the
required number. Presently, upon Graf
toms assurance that all was ready, the
men slowly filed down over the side and
took their places in the boats. Taking his
own boat the captain rOwed from ship to
ship. finding that all preparations had
been made everywhere, and that boa is
filled with men and manned by stout sea-
men were already clustered under the
lee of the ships where they could be
screened from the observation Of the
French a Cap-Rouge.
BY IL o'clock, midnight, the embarka-
ton had been completed. and as it was
nearing the end of the flood the boats
slowly put off from the ships and headed
from Cap-Rouge, General :Monckton being
in charge and Wolfe remaining the
Sutherland for the present
The fotila approached close enough to
Cap-Rouge thoroughly to awaken the at
tention of the troops Of Bougainville, who
sprang to their arms In expectation of
the threatening attack. But the advance
had stopped before they were near enough
to engage. After some little maneuver-
ing on the shore. the boats. as if de-
tered by. the promptness of the French
soldiery, rowing back to the ships and
sheltered themselves under the lee Of
their broadsides again, where they could
not be seen. Once there, the men, with
out going aboard the ships, waited
patiently for the turning Of the tide.
At four bells in the midwatch. or 2
o'clock on the morning Of the 18th, Wolfe
entered the heavy cutter which Grafton
had exchanged for his gig, and gave the
signal to shove off. Following the gen
erals boat came the boats Of the light
infantry, and after them the rest of the
fotila.
1t was darker than ever, The sky was
filed with light f1eecy clouds drifting rap
idly across the stars, their wild motion,
driven as they were by some upper cur
rent Of air. only accentuating the stiffness
ON the water. Hugging the opposite shore
for a time the boats f1oated silently down
the river with the young ebb. AS they
appeared to be unnoticed from the camp
at Cap-Rouge and as their maneuvers ex-
cited no attention, oars were broken out
and the boats crossed to the Quebec side.
rapidly down the river.
The men had received strict orders and
they sat in the cutters and ba teauX, which
had been provided to supplement the
ships boats. in silence, broken only here
and there by a. whispered word or two
among the officers aft or by the mufhed
rattle Of the oars In the row-locks. The
ehb was running stronger now and with
the current. but little work was necessary
to enable them to reach the desired point
in good time. -,
Wolfe, wrapped in at-cloak, for the
air had grown chill, sat in the stern
sheets Of Grafton's boat half-reclininc
his long legs stretched out before him
Grafton himself held the tiller Midslip-
man Robinson. Lieutenant Hatfield of the
Sutherland, General Moncl1ton and one
or two staff officers made up the party.
Forward in the boat sat Captain Stobo.
who had discovered the Wherea bouts of
the landng-place while a PRISONER at
Quebec, who had undertaken to pilot them
In. By his side was Scotsman an Off
Ger of Frazer's Highlanders. who, in the
Jacobite court of the Stuarts in France.
mad learned to speak French fluently. He
had recently given his allegiance to King
IT, george and was to serve him we'll
that night. Wolfe respected his
own orders and said but little as thew
foated down the stream past the bla ok
browning cliffs and the tree-clad hills.
-ihere was young man living in England
then named Thomas Gray, who was a
great friend of Wofe's; and certain piece
OF poetry which he had written, and which
was beginning to be much thought of there
and much more thought of snce-came
into the mind of the soldier as they drifted
down the river. Perhaps he unused on the
inevitable conclusion personally before
MIN; perhaps, by one of those strange
premonitions which seem sometimes to
visit those doomed to die, there may have
flashed before his mind in that still hour a
+ vision of his triumph and of his end; the
dawn already beginning with pale gray
ness ito lace the east may have brought
TO his mind the breezy call Of incense
breathing morn,' and have suggested the
poem. At any rate, he broke the silence
ny repeating some Of the mystic. mournf,1]
q lines. He spoke in a low whisper half
soliloquizing, yet all in the boat could
hear him. a.@ < -
tf Inc night. the silence. the broad bosom
issoI the noble river. the towering cliffs close
3 at hand. all impressed the intent listeners.
I Most OF them were blunt soldiers or sailors
i men pred TO the profession of arms, who
n lived the hard life Of the army or navy in
y that rude day, who cared but little for the
b finer arts and graces of life; vet the i'm
& pressiveness of thesmoment the fanc1, of
1t, the pregnant future. the mystery Of TO-
& morrow, their desperate hazard caught
hold Of them in some strange way. with
bated breath they listened to the voice of