“We are going yonder,” she pointed to the hazy shore of Grenadier Island that was in view from where they stood. “It is said by Mr. Hammond that yonder the man with the little green eyes—the fat man—cannot have us taken.”
“For goodness’ sake!” gasped Helen, “she’s talking of that Bilby, isn’t she?”
“What does it mean? Has Bilby come again?” cried Ruth, speaking directly to Totantora.
“We go,” said the chief. “Hammond, he say so. Now. They come for me and for Wonota with talking papers from the white man’s court.”
“Then Mr. Hammond’s lawyer could not do all Mr. Hammond expected,” sighed Ruth. “The picture will be ruined.”
“I never heard of such a thing,” cried Helen angrily. “I’d like to know what sort of courts and judges they have up here in these woods?”
But Ruth wanted to know more. She held Wonota back as she would have stepped into the canoe.
“Wait,” she urged. “Tell me more, Totantora. Where are you taking Wonota?”
It was the Indian girl who answered.
“Over on that shore,” said she, pointing again to the Canadian island, “these courts cannot touch us. Mr. Hammond told my father so. We go there to wait until the trouble is over. Mr. Hammond spoke of it before. Totantora is informed.”