ted, was constantly about, now that Charles Seguis had returned.
He was surprised that Seguis had nothing to say to him, and wondered
anew what had been the motive of his sudden liberation. The idea
of connecting Jean and the half-breed never entered his head.

By the following morning the air was clear and prickly with cold,
and the sky seemed as though newly polished when the sun rose. The
days were becoming longer now, and the daylight hours nearly equaled
those of darkness. It was when Donald had given up the idea of
Seguis's desiring to see him that the unexpected happened. The
half-breed approached shortly after noon, and requested his prisoner
to walk a little way into the woods, as he had something to
communicate. Puzzled, but prepared for anything, Donald agreed.
Subconsciously, he felt that this was to be one of the crises of
his life, and he gathered himself to meet it. The same spirit of
aggressiveness and determination that had characterized him since
his liberation possessed him now. He resolved to take command of
the situation if he could; if not, to make his defeat seem a victory.
The first wheels of his machinery of reprisal and revenge had been
set in motion with Thompson's departure, two nights before. Already,
the Hudson Bay men had had thirty-six hours to block the French
approach to the free-traders' camp. Perhaps, it was concerning this
very thing that Charley Seguis wished to speak to him.

For a quarter of an hour they trudged in silence through the forest.
A fallen tree at last projected across their path, and Seguis set
an example by sitting down. Donald followed suit.

"As you can imagine," began Seguis evenly, "what I have to say to
you is not pleasant. I have a message to deliver."

"Who from?" Donald, reviewing quickly the persons with whom Seguis
might have come in contact, could think of no one who would send
him a message.

Seguis parried.

"Perhaps, you remember writing a letter that night in the cabin?

"Yes."

"Well, it was delivered."

There was an instant's silence, as the significance of this flashed
on Donald.

"H-m, I see," he remarked quietly, "and you bring the answer?"

"Yes, here it is." Seguis handed over the letter, upon the back of
which Jean had written.

Donald, with considerable difficulty, read the almost illegible
lines, and, when he came to the signature, laughed aloud.

"This is absurd," he said calmly, putting the letter in his pocket.
"That is n