"O child!" with a quick cry.
"So I am not going. If Monsieur Bellestre wants me he will take you, too."
Pani nodded.
They noted as they went down that a tree growing imprudently near the water's edge had fallen in. There was a little bend in the river, and it really was dangerous. So coming back they gave it a sensibly wide berth.
A canoe with a young man in it came flying up. The sun had gone down and there were purple shadows about like troops of spirits.
"Monsieur," the child cried, "do not hug the shore so much. There is danger."
A gay laugh came back to them and he flashed on, his paddle poised at a most graceful angle.
"O Monsieur!" with eager warning.
The paddle caught. The dainty canoe turned over and floated out of reach with a slight gust of wind.
"Monsieur"—Jeanne came nearer—"it was a fallen tree. It was so dusk I knew you could not see it."