He tried three more, all without avail, and then Willet picked him off with his long and deadly rifle.

Robert shut his eyes when he saw the body begin its fall, but his vivid imagination, so easily excited, made him hear its thump when it struck the earth.
"And so ends that attempt!" he said.
An hour later he saw a white flag among the trees, and when Willet mounted the palisade two French officers came forward.

Robert saw at once that they were De Courcelles and Jumonville, and his heart beat hard.

They linked him with Quebec, in which he had spent some momentous days, and despite their treachery to him he did not feel hatred of them at that moment.
"Will you stay with me, Mr.Willet, and you also, Mr.Lennox, while I talk to them ?" asked Captain Colden.

"You know these Frenchmen better than I do, and their experience is so much greater than mine that I need your help." Robert and the hunter assented gladly.