"
This indeed seemed to be the feeling of those within the fort.
Although these men were Rangers, part of the band which had
harassed them so sorely through the winter months, the garrison
received them with open arms, ministered to their wants, and vied
with one another in making them at home.
The influence of the venerable Abbe might have had something to do
with this; but it was greatly due to the chivalry of the French
nature, and to the eager desire to show kindness to those who had
witnessed and suffered from that awful tragedy which had followed
upon the surrender of Fort William Henry, which they felt to be a
lasting disgrace to their cause.
Those of the officers who had been there averred that they could
never forget the horror of those two days; and the French surgeon
who had taken over the English sick and wounded, and yet saw them
butchered before his eyes ere he could even call for help, had
never been the same man since.
So when Fritz was able to rise from his bed and join his
companions, he found himself in pleasant enough quarters,
surrounded by friendly faces, and made much of by all in the fort.
He, being able to speak French fluently, made himself a great
favorite with the men, and he enjoyed many long conversations with
the Abbe, who was a man of much acumen and discernment, and saw
more clearly the course which events were likely to take than did
those amongst whom he lived.
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