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[[start page]] drop to the river hundreds of feet below. The throng was left behind as they walked along beneath the impotent guns. Occasionally other couples passed, ghostlike. Reaching the end of the promenade, they continued for a short distance across an open field and turned.
[[paragraph indentation]] The bulk of the old fortress loomed blackly against the studded sky. At the right and far below, the broad St. Lawrence rolled toward the northeast, its surface shimmering with the lights of Levis on the opposite shore. A chill breeze came from the river; leaves rustled like soft voices of the dead long ago fallen here. The full moon was hidden in the east by drifting clouds, fringing them with silver, while the stars burned coldly and brilliantly in the way of the early Canadian autumn.
[[paragraph indentation]] Robert caught his breath as the pale blue and rose of the tremulous, fleeting aurora borealis flamed in the northern sky. Its shape and intensity were constantly changing, great streamers shooting toward the zenith only to recede and fade to be replaced by others. Faint colors rippled along the horizon, a symphony in light that was beautiful, transient, weird, and strangely appropriate on this night of almost unearthly beauty.
[[paragraph indentation]] He turned to Mimi, standing near him, and in the faint light could see her eyes. They seemed to be looking far away, even beyond the fantastic sky, toward the cold wastes of the pole. A chill ran over him.
[[paragraph indentation]] Abruptly she caught his arm. "I have such a peculiar feeling, Bob."
[[paragraph indentation]] "What do you mean, Mimi?"
[[paragraph indentation]] "I can't tell you." her voice, almost invariably animated, was low, calm, nearly unfamiliar, he thought.
[[paragraph indentation]]"But, Mimi, dearest--"
[[paragraph indentation]]"Oh, I'm all right. It's nothing--just a fancy." She smiled at him, an odd unfathomable smile.
[[paragraph indentation]]"Let's walk," he said, hoping to change this mood. He took her to the edge of the high bluff above the river and pointed out the Anse du Foulon far below, where Wolfe, risking everything against awful odds, landed the English in the darkness on that fateful night, scaled the heights and changed the course of history.     
[[paragraph indentation]]"I shall always thrill at that reckless venture," said Robert. "How they floated down under the very noses of the French sentries, who let them pass, thinking they were their own provision barges--how they challenged them and the English answered in perfect French, their hearts in their throats. The future of Canada hinged on the accent of a man's voice that night. You can almost hear it now. 'Qui vive?'from the blackness along that shore. And the reply,'France.' And then, 'A quelle regiment?' Imagine the fear that must have [[end page]]