stayed the Iroquois blow. The Confederacy dared not attack the
isolated fort lest Quebec should take terrible vengeance on the
hostages.

[Illustration: Jogues, the Jesuit missionary, who was tortured by the
Mohawks. From a painting in Château de Ramezay, Montreal.]

The French decided to send messengers to Quebec for instructions before
closing navigation cut them off for the winter. Thirteen men and one
Jesuit left the fort the first week of September. Mohawk spies knew of
the departure and lay in ambush at each side of the narrow river to
intercept the party; but the messengers eluded the trap by striking
through the forests back from the river directly to the St. Lawrence.
Then the little fort closed its gates and awaited an answer from
Quebec. Winter settled over the land, blocking the rivers with ice and
the forest trails with drifts of snow; but no messengers came back from
Quebec. The Mohawks had missed the outgoing scouts: but they caught
the return coureurs and destroyed the letters. Not a soul could leave
the fort but spies dogged his steps. The Jesuits continued going from
lodge to lodge, and in this way Onondaga gained vague knowledge of the
plots outside the fort. The French could venture out only at the risk
of their lives, and spent the winter as closely confined as prisoners
of war. Of the ten drilled soldiers, nine threatened to desert. One
night an unseen hand plunged through the dark, seized the sentry, and
dragged him from the gate. The sentry drew his sword and shouted, "To
arms!" A band of Frenchmen sallied from the gates with swords and
muskets. In the tussle the sentry was rescued, and gifts were sent out
in the morning to pacify the wounded Mohawks. Fortunately the besieged
had plenty of food inside the stockades; but the Iroquois knew there
could be no escape till the ice broke up in spring, and were quite