"Oh, I think she is fairly good to her. We do not expect all the graces here in the wilderness. But I could wish——"
Madame Gifford stumbled at that moment and might have gone over a ledge of rock, and there were many there, but he caught her in strong arms.
"How clumsy!" she cried. "No, I am not hurt, thanks to you. I was looking over at that woman with something on her back that resembles a child."
"Yes, a papoose. That is their way of carrying them."
"Poor mother! She must get very weary."
They threaded their way carefully to the citadel. The guard nodded and they passed. An Indian woman was bringing in a basket of vegetables and there was a savory smell of roasting meat.
"Now you are safe," he said. "The Sieur would have transported me to France or hung me on the ramparts if any evil had happened to you."
He gave a short laugh as if he had escaped a danger, but there was a gleam of mirth in his eyes.
"A thousand thanks, M'sieu. Though I can't think I was in any great danger. And another thousand for the sweet little girl. I must see a good deal of her."
The room she entered was within the double fortification and its windows were securely barred. The walls were of heavy timbers stained just enough to bring out the beautiful grain. But some of the dressed deerskins were still hanging and there were festoons of wampum, curiously made bead and shell curtains interspersed with gun racks, great moose horns and deer heads, and antlers. Tables and chairs curiously made and a great couch big enough for a bed.