They evidently believed that the fall of Quebec was foreordained of Heaven; but it was possible they might be misinformed as to the true strength of the fleet, and had perhaps, consciously or unconsciously, exaggerated that.
At any rate they were not reticent: they told everything they knew and perhaps more.

They gloried in the thought of the fighting to come, and seemed to take their own captivity very lightly, evidently thinking it only a matter of a few weeks before they could be exchanged or released--before their countrymen would be marching into Quebec.
"And as soon as General Amherst has got Ticonderoga, he will march here to help us, if we are not masters here first!" was the final shot of the senior midshipman.

"Not that Wolfe will need his help in the taking of Quebec, but he will want a share in the glory of it.

And all New England, and all those provinces which have been asleep so long, are waking up, eager to take their share now that the moment of final triumph is near.

There are so many fine troops waiting to embark that Admiral Holmes will probably have to leave the half behind.