le. Then she
gave him the gloves, a bit troubled, and nodded to a chair with a deep,
cushioned seat and wide arms. "Please make yourself comfortable, M'sieu
David. I have something to do in the cabin and will return in a little
while."

He wondered if she had gone back to settle the matter with Bateese at
once, for it was clear that she did not regard with favor the promised
bout between himself and the half-breed. It was on the spur of a
careless moment that he had promised to fight Bateese, and with little
thought that it was likely to be carried out or that it would become a
matter of importance with all of St. Pierre's brigade. He was evidently
in for it, he told himself, and as a fighting man it looked as though
Concombre Bateese was at least the equal of his braggadocio. He was
glad of that. He grinned as he watched the bending backs of St.
Pierre's men. So they were betting thirty to one against him! Even St.
Pierre might be induced to bet--with HIM. And if he did--

The hot blood leaped for a moment in Carrigan's veins. The thrill went
to the tips of his fingers. He stared out over the river, unseeing, as
the possibilities of the thing that had come into his mind made him for
a moment oblivious of the world. He possessed one thing against which
St. Pierre and St. Pierre's wife would wager a half of all they owned
in the world! And if he should gamble that one thing, which had come to
him like an inspiration, and should whip Bateese--

He began to pace back and forth over the narrow deck, no longer
watching the rowers or the shore. The thought grew, and his mind was
consumed by it. Thus far, from the moment the first shot was fired at
him from the ambush, he had been playing with adventure in the dark.
But fate had at last dealt him a trump card. That something which he
possessed was more precious than furs or gold to St. Pierre, and St.
Pierre would not refuse the wager when it was offered. He would not
dare refuse. More than that, he would accept eagerly, strong in the
faith that Bateese would whip him as he had whipped all other fighters
who had come up against him along the Three Rivers. And when Marie-Anne
knew what that wager was to be, she, too, would pray for the gods of
chance to be with Concombre Bateese!

He did not hear the light footsteps behind him, and when he turned
suddenly in his pacing, he found himself facing Marie-Anne, who carried
in her hands the little basket he had seen on the cabin t