husband at the Great Lakes he had said those
very words. If the fates had apparently given things into Frank Armour's
hands when he sacrificed this girl to his revenge, they were evidently
inclined to play a game which would eventually defeat his purpose,
wicked as it had been in effect if not in absolute motive. What the end
of this attempt to engraft the Indian girl upon the strictest convention
of English social life would have been had her introduction not been at
Greyhope, where faint likenesses to her past surrounded her, it is hard
to conjecture. But, from present appearances, it would seem that Richard
Armour was not wholly a false prophet; for the savage had shown herself
that morning to possess, in their crudeness, some striking qualities of
character. Given character, many things are possible, even to those who
are not of the elect.

This was the beginning of better things. Lali seemed to the Armours not
quite so impossible now. Had she been of the very common order of Indian
"pure and simple," the task had resolved itself into making a common
savage into a very common European. But, whatever Lali was, it was
abundantly evident that she must be reckoned with at all points, and
that she was more likely to become a very startling figure in the Armour
household than a mere encumbrance to be blushed for, whose eternal
absence were preferable to her company.

Years after that first morning Marion caught herself shuddering at
the thought that came to her when she saw Lali hovering on the bridge.
Whatever Marion's faults were, she had a fine dislike of anything that
seemed unfair. She had not ridden to hounds for nothing. She had at
heart the sportsman's instinct. It was upon this basis, indeed, that
Richard appealed to her in the first trying days of Lali's life among
them. To oppose your will to Marion on the basis of superior knowledge
was only to turn her into a rebel; and a very effective rebel she made;
for she had a pretty gift at the retort courteous, and she could take
as much, and as well, as she gave. She rebelled at first at assisting in
Lali's education, though by fits and starts she would teach her English
words, and help her to form long sentences, and was, on the whole, quite
patient. But Lali's real instructors were Mrs. Armour and Richard--, her
best, Richard.

The first few days she made but little progress, for everything was
strange to her, and things made her giddy--the servants, the formal