cold roast venison, a loaf, and a bottle of claret.
These she set before him on a little table.

"Ah, this is comfort," he said after he had gulped a full cup. "Have
you all been well?"

Then he began to tell where he had been, what he had seen, and the many
things he had done. A Frenchman must babble while he eats and drinks. A
little wine makes him eloquent. He talks with his hands, shoulders,
eyes. Madame Roussillon, Alice and Jean, wrapped in furs, huddled
around him to hear. He was very entertaining, and they forgot the
patrol until a noise startled them. It was the low of a cow. They
laughed and the master of the house softened his voice.

M. Roussillon had been the guest of a great Indian chieftain, who was
called the "Gate of the Wabash," because he controlled the river. The
chief was an old acquaintance and treated him well.

"But I wanted to see you all," Gaspard said. "I was afraid something
might have happened to you. So I came back just to peep in. I can't
stay, of course; Hamilton would kill me as if I were a wolf. I can
remain but an hour and then slip out of town again before daylight
conies. The rain and darkness are my friends."

He had seen Simon Kenton, who said he had been in the neighborhood of
Vincennes acting as a scout and spy for Clark. Presently and quite
casually he added:

"And I saw Lieutenant Beverley, too. I suppose you know that he has
escaped from Hamilton, and--" Here a big mouthful of venison interfered.

Alice leaned toward him white and breathless, her heart standing still.

Then the door, which had been left unbarred, was flung open and, along
with a great rush of wind and rain, the patrol guard, five in number,
sprang in.

M. Roussillon reached his gun with one hand, with the other swung a
tremendous blow as he leaped against the intruders. Madame Roussillon
blew out the light. No cave in the depth of earth was ever darker than
that room. The patrolmen could not see one another or know what to do;
but M. Roussillon laid about him with the strength of a giant. His
blows sounded as if they smashed bones. Men fell heavily thumping on
the floor where he rushed along. Some one fired a pistol and by its
flash they all saw him; but instantly the darkness closed again, and
before they could get their bearings he was out and gone, his great
hulking form making its way easily over familiar ground where his
would-be captors could have proceeded but slowly, even with a light to
gui