built upon the evidences of opposition among certain Lower Canadians,
happily proved only in part correct. Later, when his plan of campaign
was menaced by still greater disaffection in Upper Canada, he found he
had not reckoned on the influence of his own example, which, added to
his power of purpose, "disconcerted the disloyal." In proof of this fact
Detroit and Queenston Heights were splendid examples.

It was this spirit of unrest among the people of Quebec that moved Sir
James Craig to keep Brock within easy reach until the growing discord in
Upper Canada called for the presence of a man of tact and resolution,
one to whom all things seemed possible--and Brock knew no such word as
"impossible." On one occasion the "faithful sergeant-major" had ventured
to declare that a certain order was "impossible." "'Impossible!'"
repeated Brock, "nothing should be 'impossible' to a soldier. The word
'impossible' must not be found in a soldier's vocabulary."




CHAPTER X.

THE MASSACRE AT MACKINAW.


It was while stationed in Montreal that our hero met Alexander Henry,
ex-fur-trader and adventurer and _coureur de bois_--then a merchant and
King's auctioneer--a notable personage and leader in many a wild exploit
in the far West, an old though virile man after Isaac's own heart.

From Henry he learned much of the Indian wars in the West, and the