hardly to be considered as anything else than the act of Cazeneau
himself, who first attacked Claude, and forced him to fight.

But there still remained to be considered what might now be done.
Claude's first thought was the one which had been in his mind during
the past day; that is to say, he still thought of sending the priest
back to Cazeneau, without thinking of the distance, and the time that
now lay between. His excitement had prevented him from taking this
into consideration. The priest, however, at once reminded him of it.

"I do not see," said he, "what I can do. You forget how long it is
since you left him. He must be dead and buried by this time. Even if
he should linger longer than you expected, I could not hope to reach
that place in time to do anything, not even to bury him. It is a good
two days' journey from here to there. It is two days since you left
him. It would take two days more for me to reach him. That makes four
days. By that time, if he is dead, he would already be buried; and if
he is living, he would be conveyed by the Indians to some place of
rest and shelter.

"As long as I thought that Cazeneau was pursuing us," continued the
priest, "I tried to advance as rapidly as possible, and intended to
go to Canso, where I should be safe from him. But now that he can
trouble us no more, there is no reason why we should not go to
Louisbourg. That will be better for Mimi, and it will also suit my
views better. You, too, may as well go there, since you will be able
to carry out your own plans, whatever they are, from that place
better than from any other."

The result of this conversation was, that they decided to go to
Louisbourg.

CHAPTER XVII.

AMONG FRIENDS.

In order to make their escape the more certain, the priest had
carried off the horse which Cazeneau had used, so that now Claude was
no more obliged to go on foot. Mimi no longer complained of fatigue,
but was able to bear up with the fatigues of the rest of the journey
in a wonderful way. Claude did not seem inclined to make much use of
the spare horse, for he walked much of the way at Mimi's side, and
where there was not room, he walked at her horse's head.

The remainder of the journey occupied about four days, and it was
very much like what it had been; that is, a track through the woods,
sometimes rough, sometimes smooth. The whole track showed marks of
constant use, which the priest explained to Claude as being caused