All that night in the woods, both waking and dreaming, the thought of
the woman was like a presence near me. I slept some, dropping against
trees, then roused and stumbled on. I do not know that I consciously
searched for her, but I went on and on to meet her. It seemed that I
should always do that while I lived,--should always push my way
forward, feeling that beyond the next turn she stood beckoning.

The stars rose and set. There were multitudes of them and very bright.
If man could only have his orbit fixed and follow it as they did; be
compelled to follow it by a governing power! The terrible cruelty of a
God who throws volition into a man's hands without giving him
understanding to handle it came to me for the first time.

When day arrived I ate a portion of meal and meat, and made my way
back. It was a long trip, for I had wandered far, and when I reached
the camp the sun was three hours high. A large tent had been made of
skins and tarpaulins, and French and savages were gathered there and
waiting. I was late. The calumet was already passing as I went in.

I halted a moment at the entrance. There was no cheer of welcome at
sight of me. Instead there was a hush,--the hush of suspended
breathing. In two days these savages had come to draw aside from me
for what was in my look. "His face is the face of one dead,"
Outchipouac had said. I knew that I had grown to seem abnormal, alien.
I tried to form my expression to better lines, but it was out of my
power. I took my place as interpreter, and the long conclave opened.

The hours of droning speeches went on and on. Each tribe presented its
claims, and metaphor shouldered metaphor. It sounded trivial as the
bragging of blue-jays, but I interpreted carefully and kept the
different headings in mind. Then I asked Cadillac's permission, and
took it on myself to answer.

Sometimes the Power that rules us, and that shoves us here and there to
play our parts in the game, seems to me nothing but a cold-eyed
justice, remote, indifferent, impartially judicial. So I felt now. In
looking at the issue I saw that meaning and vitality had gone from my
spirit, but I had kept equity. I parceled the spoil among the tribes,
and did it without doubt of my judgment or care for its acceptance. I
remembered Outchipouac's plea for his people, and found it just. The
Malhominis had sent the largest force in proportion to the strength of
their tribe, and their pos