ie, an awful black lie they told my mistress about his
marrying a French girl! By all the moons in a twelvemonth she is his
wife. And you--" studying her with severe scrutiny.

"I am the French girl. It was a mistake. But I must get away, and she
sends me to the White Chief. She said one could trust you to the death."

"I would go to the death for my beautiful mistress. The White
Chief--yes."

Then he helped her into the canoe and made her comfortable with the
blankets.

"I wish it were earlier," he exclaimed. "The purple spirits of the night
are stretching out their hands. You will not be afraid? It is a long
pull."

"Oh, no, no!" She drew a relieved breath, but every pulse had been so
weighted with anxiety for days that she could not realize her freedom.
Oh, how good the blessed air felt! All the wide expanse about her
brought a thrill of delight, still not unmixed with fear. A boat came
bearing down upon them and she held her breath, but the canoe moved
aside adroitly.

"They were drunken fellows, no doubt," said Wanita. "It is told of the
Sieur Cadillac that he weakened the rum and would allow a man only so
much. It is a pity there is no such strictness now. The White Chief
tries."

"Is he chief of the Indians?" she asked, vaguely.

"Oh, no. He is in the great council of the fur traders, but he has ever
been fair to the Indians; strict, too, and they honor him, believe in
him, and do his bidding. That is, most of them do. He settles many
quarrels. It is not now as it used to be. Since the coming of the white
men tribes have been split in parts and chiefs of the same nation fight
for power. He tries to keep peace between them and the whites. There
would be many wars without him."

"But he is not an Indian?"

"Oh, no. He came from Canada to the fur country. He had known great
sorrow. His wife and child had been massacred by the red men. And then
he married a beautiful Indian princess somewhere about Hudson Bay. He
had so many men under him that they called him the White Chief, and
partly, I think, because he was so noble and large and grand. Then he
built his house on the island where one side is perpendicular rocks, and
fortified it and made of it a most lovely home for his beautiful wife.
She has everything from all countries, it is said, and the house is
grand as the palaces at Montreal. They have two sons. They come over to
Fort St. Ignace and Michilimackinac, and he has taken her to Quebec,
where, i