ory of Brebeuf and the vision which he had had
in the winter of 1640, when sojourning among the Neutral Nation. How
he beheld in the sky the apparition of a great cross, advancing
towards him from the quarter where lay the Iroquois land. How he had
spoken to his comrades about it, and they had questioned him, "What is
it like? How large?" And he had answered them, saying, "It is large
enough to crucify us all."

Granger interrupted him, smiling grimly to himself and whispering,
"Yes, and I have seen it in Keewatin--_large enough to crucify us
all_."

Antoine, overhearing his words, replied, "I know you have." After
which they fell silent. For perhaps an hour they remained thus, and
the flame of the lamp sank lower and lower as the oil became
exhausted; no one rose to attend to it.

A panting breath was heard outside. The door flew open and a man stood
upon the threshold. "They are coming," he gasped in a rasping voice.
"My God! they are coming."

No one stirred. They did not recognise his tones and it was too dark
to see his face. They were each one wondering who was this stranger,
who could find in the death of anyone, save himself, a matter for
distress.

He closed the door; in so doing, they saw that he carried a bundle,
like a deformity, strapped across his shoulders. They watched him in
silence until, cowed by the coldness of their reception, he was
turning to depart; then Antoine spoke up. "Come nearer the stove, my
son," he said, "where you can warm yourself, and we can look upon your
face."

Slowly the man moved forward, casting a long shadow on the wall. And
now to the four men gazing, the shadow which the stranger cast seemed
to have become of more interest than his face--for there were two
shadows, one of which followed ominously behind. While the first umbra
was dim and blurred, the second was dense and well-defined; moreover
it stood by itself, as if cast by an unseen presence, and was in every
way different from that of the stranger. It seemed endowed with a
separate personality; its actions were independent of those of the man
and shadow which it followed. In watching it, they felt that there
were six people in the room instead of five.

Recognition came to them each one at about the same time; they rose to
their feet fascinated, and stared like men gone mad. The thing stood
upright, a little way out from the wall it seemed, its head turned
towards them, as if conscious of their inspection--_and