The novel opens with a soliloquy in which the author asks the reader to imagine what it would be like to be a Puritan pilgrim in America in 1620. He tells the reader that Puritans hid their true intentions in elaborate disguises and that they found a place in America where they could practice secret rites. The Puritans, he says, "opened a blasted portal to hell" . He tells us that the "beasts" that poured out of hell were mockeries of pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Some say they were driven back by the English forces, while others say they had quarreled with the church. He then tells us the story of the fort at Fort William and its inhabitants, who have fled to the walls of the fortress to escape the "monstrosities" that surround them. The father of one of the soldiers tells his son that his best soldier has come to visit him. The soldier tells him that the first group of English soldiers has fired their muskets and is about to reload when the second group of British soldiers comes to the front line. As they fall back, the sabers will be drawn, and if any of them make it past the "primary defens" , he tells the soldier, "what in God's name?" The soldier says that two riders have come to the Fort and are approaching. He asks the soldier if they want hell, and the soldier replies that they want it. He says that the soldiers give it to the riders and they ride off into the "breaking day." The soldier then tells the man that he stands before the men telling the story because if he and his friend can give the Devil his due, then what can twenty men do? The soldier asks the man if he would believe him if he told him that two men once killed an army of "demons" for ungrateful colonists. The