aves. She put the missal on the
lap of my single garment, and drew back a step, formally standing. My
scarred ankles, at which the Indian children used to point, were exposed
to her gaze, for I never would sit on them after the manner of the
tribe. There was no restraining the tears that ran down my face. She
might have mocked me, but she remained white and quiet; while I sat as
dumb as a dog, and as full of unuttered speech. Looking back now I can
see what passionate necessity shook me with throbs to be the equal of
her who had received me as a superior.

De Chaumont's manor house, facing a winding avenue, could be seen from
where we were. It was of stone, built to enclose a court on three sides,
in the form that I afterwards recognized as that of French palaces.
There were a great many flowers in the court, and vines covered the ends
of the wings. All those misty half remembered hunting seasons that I had
spent on Lake George were not without some knowledge. The chimneys and
roofs of Le Ray de Chaumont's manor often looked at me through trees as
I steered my boat among the islands. He was a great land owner, having
more than three hundred thousand acres of wilderness. And he was
friendly with both Indians and Americans. His figure did not mean much
to me when I saw it, being merely a type of wealth, and wealth extends
little power into the wilderness.

The poppet of a child climbed up and held to the girl's dress. She
stooped over and kissed it, saying, "Sit down, Paul." The toy human
being seemed full of intelligence, and after the first protest examined
me fearlessly, with enchanting smiles about the mouth and eyes. I
noticed even then an upward curling of the mouth corners and a kind of
magic in the liquid blue gaze, of which Paul might never be conscious,
but which would work on every beholder.

That a child should be the appendage of such a very young creature as
the girl, surprised me no more than if it had been a fawn or a dog. In
the vivid moments of my first rousing to life I had seen her with Paul
in her arms; and he remained part of her.

We heard a rush of horses up the avenue, and out of the woods came Le
Ray de Chaumont and his groom, the wealthy land owner equipped in
gentleman's riding dress from his spurs to his hat. He made a fine show,
whip hand on his hip and back erect as a pine tree. He was a man in
middle life, but he reined up and dismounted with the swift agility of
a youth, and sent his h