e. Let her act with whatever bravery and wisdom she might,
her sex still enmeshed us like a silken trap. We could not escape it.
And it was a fetter. Mask it as courteously as I would, the fact
remained that it was undoubtedly a fetter. I felt a certain compassion
for her and her forced dependence, and said to myself that I would hide
my own soreness. But her words had bitten, and I am not a patient man.

I turned my canoe inland, and looked to it that the others did the
same. Then I leaned toward her.

"No, we will land here," I said. "Madame, I am frequently forced to
look behind your words, which are sharp, and search for your meaning,
which is admirable. You resent being an encumbrance. May I suggest
that you will be less one if you follow my plans without opposition? I
mean no discourtesy, madame, when I say that no successful expedition
can have two heads in control."

With all her great self-discipline in some directions, she had none in
others, and I braced myself for her retort. But none came. Instead
she looked at me almost wistfully.

"I lose my temper when I wish I did not," she said. "But I should like
to help you, monsieur."

I laid down my paddle. "Help is a curious quantity," I replied.
"Especially here in the wilderness where what we say counts for so
little and what we are for so much. I think,--it comes to me
now,--madame, you have given me strength more than once when you did
not suspect it. So you need not try to help me consciously. But now I
need your counsel. Will you read this?" and I took Cadillac's letter
from my pocket and handed it to her.

She examined the seal with amazement as I had done, then looked at
Singing Arrow. "The Indian brought this? It must be very important.
Ought I---- Is it right for me to see it, monsieur?"

I laughed. I looked off at the piling thundercaps and the ruffling
water, and the exhilaration of the coming storm whipped through me.
There was a pleasant tang to life.

"Read it, yes," I insisted. "You are Madame de Montlivet. No one can
have a better right. Read it after we land."

It took some moments to make a landing, for the waves were already high
and the shore rough. In spite of ourselves we tore the canoes on
hidden rocks. We unloaded the cargo and had things snug and tidy by
the time the first great drops plumped down upon us. We worked like
ants, and I did not look at the woman. I knew that she was reading the
letter,