ther. The winter comes early here, and yet it is not so cold as
one would think, with plenty of furs and fire."

"And the--the queen--" hesitatingly.

The dame laughed heartsomely.

"Thou shalt see her. She is our delight, our dear mistress, and has many
names given her by her loving chief. It is almost ten years ago that he
found her up North, a queen then with a little band of braves who adored
her. They had come from some far country. She was not of their tribe;
she is as white almost as thou, and tall and handsome and soft of voice
as the sweetest singing bird. Then they fell in love with each other,
and the good pere at Hudson Bay married them. He brought her here. She
bought the island because it seemed fortified with the great rocks on
two sides of it. Often they go away, for he has a fine vessel that is
like a palace in its fittings. They have been to Montreal and out on
that wild, strange coast full of islands. Whatever she wishes is hers."

Jeanne sighed a little, but not from envy.

"There are two boys, twins, and a little daughter born but two years
ago. The boys are big and handsome, and wild as deer. But their father
will have them run and climb and shout and play ball and shoot arrows,
but not go out alone in a boat. Yet they can swim like fishes. Come, if
you can eat no more breakfast, let us go out. I do not believe Detroit
can match this, though it is larger."

There was a roadway about the palisades with two gates near either end,
then a curiously laid up stone wall where the natural rocks had failed.
Here on this plateau were cottages and lodges. Canadians, some trusty
Indians, and a sprinkling of half-breeds made a settlement, it would
seem. There were gardens abloom, fruit trees and grapevines, making a
pleasant odor in the early autumnal sun. There were sheep pasturing, a
herd of tame, beautiful deer, cows in great sheds, and fowl
domesticated, while doves went circling around overhead. Still another
wall almost hid the home of the White Chief, the name he was best known
by, and as one might say at that time a name to conjure with, for he was
really the manipulator of many of the Indian tribes, and endeavored to
keep the peace among them and deal fairly with them in the fur trading.
To the English he had proved a trusty neighbor, to the French a true
friend, though his advice was not always palatable.

"Oh, it is beautiful!" cried Jeanne. "Something like the farms outside
of the palisades a