In the city of Montreal fourscore men are kneeling in a little church, as the mass is slowly chanted at the altar.

All of them are armed.

By the flare of the torches and the candles--for it is not daybreak yet--you can see the flash of a scabbard, the glint of a knife, and the sheen of a bandoleer.
Presently, from among them, one man rises, goes to the steps of the sanctuary and kneels.

He is the leader of the expedition, the Chevalier de Troyes, the chosen of the governor.

A moment, and three other men rise and come and kneel beside him.