THE POET EXPLAINS TO MONSIEUR DE LAUSON By the next morning all Quebec had heard of the double duel, and speculation ran high as to the cause.

All Quebec, to be sure, amounted only to a few hundreds; and a genuine duel at this period was a rare happening.

So everybody knew that D'Herouville and De Leviston were in hospital, seriously though not dangerously wounded, and that Monsieur de Saumaise was in the guardhouse, where, it was supposed, he would remain for some time to come, in order that his hot blood might cool appreciably.

As for Monsieur d'Halluys, he was not under the governor's direct jurisdiction, and was simply ordered to stay in his room.
The officers and civilians respected the governor's command, and no outsider gathered a word of information from them.

The officers, talking among themselves, secretly admired the poet's pluck.