as I'm rich enough. Won't you
come along?"

"I don' know," he said, thoughtfully; "mebbe so I stay here, mebbe so I
tak' my canoe an' go away. For long tam' I t'ink dis Flambeau she's de
promis' lan' I hear callin' to me, but I don' know yet for w'ile."

"What kind of place is that land of yours, Poleon?"

"Ha! I never see 'im, but she's been cryin' to me ever since I'm little
boy. It's a place w'ere I don' get too hot on de summer an' too col' on
de winter; it's place w'ere birds sing an' flowers blossom an' de sun
shine, an' w'ere I can sleep widout dreamin' 'bout it all de tam'."

"Why, it's the land of content--you'll never discover it by travel.
I'll tell you a secret, Poleon. I've found it--yes, I have. It lies
here." She laid her hand on her breast. "Father Barnum told me the
story of your people, and how it lives in your blood--that hunger to
find the far places; it's what drove the voyageurs and coureur du bois
from Quebec to Vancouver, and from the Mississippi to Hudson's Bay. The
wanderlust was their heritage, and they pushed on and on without rest,
like the salmon in the spring, but they were different in this: that
they never came back to die."

"Dat's me! I never see no place yet w'at I care for die on, an' I never
see no place yet w'at I care for see again 'cept dis Flambeau. I lak'
it, dis one, purty good so far, but I ain' know w'en I'm goin' get
tire'. Dat depen's." There was a look of great tenderness in his eyes
as he bent towards her and searched her face, but she was not thinking
of him, and at length he continued:

"Fader Barnum, he's goin' be here nex' Sonday for cheer up dem Injun.
Constantine she's got de letter."

"Why, that's the day after to-morrow!" cried Necia. "Oh, won't I be
glad to see him!"

"You don' get dem kin' of mans on de beeg cities," said Poleon. "I ain'
never care for preachin' much, an' dese feller w'at all de tam' pray
an' sing t'rough de nose, dey mak' me seeck. But Fader Barnum--Ba Gar!
She's the swell man."

"Do you know," said Necia, wistfully, "I've always wanted him to marry
me."

"You t'inkin' 'bout marry on some feller, eh?" said the other, with an
odd grin. "Wal! w'y not? He'll be here all day an' night. S'pose you do
it. Mos' anybody w'at ain' got some wife already will be glad for marry
on you--an' mebbe some feller w'at has got wife, too! If you don' lak'
dem, an' if you're goin' marry on SOMEBODY, you can be wife to me."

Necia laughed lightly. "I