When Winwood fell wounded in the snow, between the two
blockhouses at the foot of the cliff, that night the rebels met defeat
at Quebec, the pedagogue remained to succour him, and so was taken
prisoner with him. He afterward helped nurse him in the French
religious house, in the walled "upper town," to which the rebel
wounded were conveyed.
Upon the exchange of prisoners, Philip, having suffered a relapse, was
unable to accompany his comrades homeward, and Cornelius stayed to
care for him. There was a Scotchwoman who lived upon a farm a few
miles West of Quebec, and whose husband was serving on our side as one
of Colonel Maclean's Royal Highlanders. She took Winwood and the
pedagogue into her house as guests, trusting them till some uncertain
time in the future might find them able to pay.
When at last Philip dared hazard the journey, the rebel siege of
Quebec, which had continued in a half-hearted manner until Spring
brought British reinforcements up the river in ship-loads, had long
been raised, and the rebels had long since flown. Provided by Governor
Carleton with the passports to which in their situation they were
entitled, the two started for New York, bound by way of the St.
Lawrence, the Richelieu, the lakes, and the Hudson. It was now Winter,
and only Winwood's impatience to resume service could have tempted
them to such a journey in that season.
They came part way afoot, receiving guidance now from some solitary
fur-capped _courier du bois_ clad in skins and hoofed with snow-shoes,
now from some peaceful Indian, now from the cowled brothers of, some
forest monastery which gave them a night's shelter also.
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