But, without him knowing it, there was an ambush of them at the foot of the tree, and as soon as he had climbed it they raised their usual war cry, and were about to fire on him. No less alert than brave, La Lochetière seized his musket, fired straight at one of them, who was aiming at himself, killing his man, but paying the penalty of death at the same instant from his victim's gun. The other two scouts also received a volley, from which they were lucky to escape.
Major Chase quickly put his men in order, but, finding his party surrounded, he directed them to make a rush to a wretched shack near at hand, belonging to an old settler, M. Prud'homme, who had eagerly invited them to enter as quickly as possible, for the enemy were surrounding it. This done, the party made loopholes in the walls for their guns and prepared to open a brisk fire on the besiegers--all except one coward, who, falling flat on the ground, could not be induced by threats or blows to rise. But the Iroquois were now firing at close quarters all around the house and their balls riddled the scanty walls so that one of them struck Laviolette, one of the fighters of the fort, completely disabling him. The loopholes now being ready, the French party answered the Iroquois with such effect that after the first rounds the ground was strewn with the dusky bodies of the slain. The hurly-burly went on, the Iroquois fighting while they attempted to carry away their wounded and dead, until, fearing a dearth of ammunition, Major Closse was only too glad to accept the offer of Baston, whose prowess as a runner was well known, to make a dash to the fort and bring back a reinforcement of men.
Accordingly, under cover of the fire of the defenders of the house, the door was opened and Baston, speeding forth, escaped while the Iroquois were recovering from this last fusillade.
Soon he returned with eight or ten men, all that could be spared, and two pieces of cannon charged with canister shot. Between the scene of battle and the fort there was a screen of trees under cover of which the reinforcement made its way and thus escaped the attention of the savages till it suddenly appeared in view on this side of the screen and commenced firing on the Iroquois. Major Closse's party now went into the open to join fire also and a brisk and hot interchange took place. But the enemy were being overmastered and made their best to retreat, carrying with them their dead as far as possible, according to their custom. Dollier de Casson does not give the number of the enemy slain. "Usually," he says, "they decimated their losses, but, speaking of this occasion, they owned that 'we all died there.'"