The Refugees by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle — Read

But their case was a very evil one. Had the guns been lost so that they / might be turned upon the door, all further resistance would have been / vain, but Du Lhut's presence of mind had saved them from that danger. / The two guns upon the river face and the canoes were safe, for they were / commanded by the windows of the house. But their numbers were terribly / reduced, and those who were left were weary and wounded and spent. / Nineteen had gained the house, but one had been shot through the body / and lay groaning in the hall, while a second had his shoulder cleft by a / tomahawk and could no longer raise his musket. Du Lhut, De la Noue, and / De Catinat were uninjured, but Ephraim Savage had a bullet-hole in his / forearm, and Amos was bleeding from a cut upon the face. Of the others / hardly one was without injury, and yet they had no time to think of / their hurts for the danger still pressed and they were lost unless they / acted. A few shots from the barricaded windows sufficed to clear the / enclosure, for it was all exposed to their aim; but on the other hand / they had the shelter of the stockade now, and from the further side of / it they kept up a fierce fire upon the windows. Half-a-dozen of the / _censitaires_ returned the fusillade, while the leaders consulted as to / what had best be done.

"We have twenty-five women and fourteen children," said the seigneur. / "I am sure that you will agree with me, gentlemen, that our first duty / is towards them. Some of you, like myself, have lost sons or brothers / this day. Let us at least save our wives and sisters."