mine began to chill, and
I saw the brown throat quiver. I turned to Cadillac. "I have no tent.
May I take madame to yours?"

He placed all that he had at her service. He was moved, for he did it
with scant phrase.

"But one moment," he begged. "Montlivet, one word with your wife
first. Madame, I beg you to listen. Will you look around you here?"

She stopped. "I have looked, monsieur."

"Madame, you see those Indians. They are war chiefs and picked braves.
The brawn and brain of six tribes are collected here before you. Do
you know what that means?"

I saw her look at him gravely. "I should understand. I have lived in
Indian camps, monsieur."

He looked back at her with sudden admiration that crowded the
calculation out of his eyes. "Madame!" he exclaimed. "We know your
spirit and knowledge; we wish that you could teach us some new way to
show you homage. But do you understand your husband's power? You have
never seen him in the field. Look at these war chiefs. They are
arrogant and untamed, but they follow your husband like parish-school
children. It is marvelous, madame."

She lifted her long deer's throat, and I felt her thrill. "Monsieur, I
think that not even you can know half what I do of my husband's
strength and power."

Her words were knives. I would have drawn her away, but Cadillac was
before me. "Wait, Montlivet, wait! This is my time. I have more to
say. Then, madame, to the point. These chiefs that you see are
leaving. They would have been gone now if you had not come. They are
leaving us because your husband said he would not lead them further.
Talk to him. I can hold the tribes here a few hours longer. If he
comes back to sanity by night, there will still be time for him to undo
his folly. Talk to him, madame."

Again I tried to interrupt, but the pressure of her hand begged me to
be silent. "What would you have me say to my husband?" she asked
Cadillac, and she stood close to me with her head high.

He drove his fists together. "I would have you bring him to reason,"
he groaned. "For three days he has lived in a trance. He planned the
attack, and led it without a quiver, but since then he has tried to
wash his hands of us and of the whole affair. It is a crucial time,
and he is acting like a madman. His anxiety about you has unbalanced
him. Bring him to reason, madame."

I saw her steal a glance at me as a girl might at her lover, and there
was a stran