"You have heard them speak of the Traverse, and what a difficult place it is to navigate ?" "Yes: Monsieur de Montcalm was saying that no vessel ever ventured up or down without a pilot; but he said that a rumour had reached him that some pilots had been taken prisoners, and that the English ships would get up with their help." "With or without!" cried Peter, tossing his cap into the air.

"As though English sailors could not move without Frenchmen to help them!" "Some of them took pilots aboard; indeed they were sent to them, and had no choice.

But I must not get confused, and confuse you, Corinne.

I'll just tell you what we did ourselves.
"We heard a great talk going on on board one of the transport boats called the Goodwill, which was almost in the van of the fleet, I suppose because the old sailing master, Killick, was so good a seaman; and so they had sent a pilot out to her, and he was jabbering away at a great rate--" "Just like all the Frenchies!" cut in Paul; "calling out that he would never have acted pilot to an English ship except under compulsion, and declaring that it was a dismal tale the survivors would take to their own country--that Canada should be the grave of the whole army, and the St.Lawrence should bury beneath its waves nine-tenths of the British ships, and that the walls of Quebec should be lined with English scalps!" "The wretch!" cried Corinne.

"I wonder the sailors did not throw him overboard to find his own grave!" "I verily believe they would have done so, had it not been for strict orders from the Admiral that the pilots were to be well treated," answered Arthur.