CHAPTER XII.
_Mar._ I'll fight with none but thee; for I do hate thee Worse than a promise-breaker.
_Auf._ We hate alike; Not Afric owns a serpent, I abhor More than thy fame and envy.
SHAKSPEARE.
La Tour, in the darkness of the night succeeding his departure from St.
John's, had found it impossible to communicate with Stanhope; and, prudently consulting his own safety in view of the approaching storm, he crowded sail, hoping to reach some haven, before the elements commenced their fearful conflict.

In his zeal for personal security, he persuaded himself, that Arthur's nautical skill would extricate him from danger; but he forgot the peculiar difficulties to which he was exposed by his ignorance of the coast, and also, that he was embarked in a vessel far less prepared than his own, to encounter the heavy gale which seemed mustering from every quarter of the heavens.

Perfectly familiar, himself, with a course which he frequently traversed,--in an excellent ship, and assisted by experienced seamen,--he was enabled to steer, with comparative safety, through the almost tangible darkness; and, early on the following morning, he entered the smoother waters of Penobscot Bay, and anchored securely in one of the numerous harbors which it embraces.
The day passed away, and brought no tidings from Stanhope; and De Valette, though their friendship had of late been interrupted by coldness and distrust, had too much generosity to feel insensible to his probable danger.

But La Tour expressed the utmost confidence that he had found some sheltering port,--as the whole extent of coast abounds with harbors, which may be entered with perfect security,--and the night proving too tempestuous to venture abroad for intelligence, De Valette was obliged to rest contented with hoping for the best.
La Tour wishing to obtain more minute information respecting the situation of D'Aulney, intended to proceed, first, to Pemaquid; and, should Stanhope, from any cause, fail of joining him, he might probably receive assistance from the English at that place, who had always been friendly to him, and were particularly interested in suppressing the dreaded power of M.d'Aulney.

But, while busied in preparation, on the day succeeding the storm, and repairing the slight damage which his vessel had sustained, the report of some fishermen entirely changed the plan and destiny of the expedition.