ut in a roar
at his feet, and shot up, red and glaring, to his waist, he gave
utterance to one terrible cry of agony, and it seemed to me I gazed
fairly into his tortured eyes and could read their pitiful appeal.
Twice I raised my rifle, the sight upon his heart,--but durst not fire.
No consideration of my own peril held back the pressure of the
trigger,--'twas the remembrance of Mademoiselle. It was beyond my
strength of will to withstand such strain long.

"Come," I groaned to De Croix, my hands pressed tightly over my eyes to
shut out the sight, "it will craze us both to stay here longer, nor
dare we aid the poor fellow even by a shot."

He lay face downward on the soft mud of the bank, and I had to shake
him before he so much as moved. We crept on together, until we came
out through the thick bushes into the open prairie, and faced each
other, our lips white and our bodies shaking with the horror of what we
had just seen.

"Mon Dieu!" he faltered, "'twill forever haunt me."

"It has greatly undone me," I answered, striving to control my voice,
for I felt the necessity of coolness if I hoped to command him; "but if
we would save her from meeting a like fate, we must remain men."

"Then, for God's sake, find some spot where I may rest for an hour," he
urged. "My brain seems reeling, and I fear it will give way it I
remain in sight or sound of such horrors."

In spite of all I had seen, it was still my desire to creep in among
the deserted lodges while darkness shrouded the outermost of them; but
I felt that some safe hiding-place must first be found for my
companion. To attempt to take him with me while in such a nervous
state would be only to invite disaster.

"De Croix," I asked, "know you if the Indians have destroyed the house
that stood by the fork of the north river, where the settler Ouilmette
lived?"

"I marked it through Lieutenant Helm's field-glass yesterday. 'T is
partially burned, yet the walls still stand."

"Then 't will serve us most excellently to hide in, for there will be
naught left within likely to attract marauders. Think you that you
could find it through the night?"

He looked at me, and it was easy to see his nerves were on edge.

"Alone?" he gasped brokenly. "My God, no!"

There was seemingly no way out of it, for it would have been little
short of murder to leave him alone on that black prairie, nor would
harsh words have greatly mended matters. We were fully an hour a