ed
cottage with a slanting roof, and knocked at the door with a certain
amount of nervousness, Charlie's astonishment fairly overcame him, and
he was just going to ask Narcisse if he had not made a mistake in the
house, when the door opened. Then he was sure Narcisse had not made a
mistake. Never had he seen a more attractive girlish face. Her eyes
were deep blue, and were tenanted with such a merry, roguish gleam,
that Charlie's hitherto well-regulated heart beat in a most unruly
manner when she fixed her eyes upon his. Her brown, round, vivacious
face took on a deeper hue, as Narcisse eagerly shook hands with her
and introduced her to Charlie. "Jessie Cunningham is a very pretty
name," mused Charlie, as they followed her into the quaint little
kitchen, in the middle of which glowed an old-fashioned wood-burner.

On the long deal table, just behind the stove, were several loaves,
which evidently had just been taken out of the oven. Jessie's sleeves
were rolled up to the elbow, and her well-rounded arms were covered
with flour. She blushed and gave a nervous little laugh, as she
hurriedly pulled down her sleeves and explained that she had been
baking. Both Narcisse and Charlie hurried over to where the tempting,
warm, browned loaves were, and, after hurriedly glancing at them,
looked at each other in open-eyed wonder, and declared that never in
their lives had they seen finer loaves. After that all awkwardness was
swept away, and Jessie would not be content until they both accepted a
generous slice of the admired bread. The day was a little chilly, so
they drew their chairs near the stove, and Narcisse told Jessie, in
his quaint broken English, how he and Charlie had spent the winter in
the woods, how they had eaten and slept together, and how they had
taken a liking to each other the very moment they met.

Charlie was a good talker, too, and told her how they had felled some
wonderfully long trees, and how Narcisse was considered the best
chopper in the camp, and could make a tree fall within an inch of
where he wanted it.

As she listened, her eyes glowed and danced with excitement so as to
make them dangerously attractive. Little wonder indeed that both the
young men found them very pleasant to look into. To Charlie's intense
satisfaction, he decided, after shaking hands with her at the door,
that she had seemed just as anxious that he should come and see her
again as she did that Narcisse should. Narcisse took th