“It will be difficult,” he said. “The snow and ice are only partially melted; there are still large fields of ice. You do not know our Canada; it is a rude country. If it were mid-winter it would be better than now; then the rivers are frozen over and the land is covered with snow, and with skates, sleighs, and snowshoes we can travel easily and rapidly; but now the thaw has set in, and the rivers are no longer safe, the floods are rising, and the land is inundated.”
“You said you could take my father by land to Quebec,” she answered, speaking imperatively; “therefore you must do it, and I and Marthe must go likewise. You know you can if you will to do so.”
He could not help smiling; she appeared such a child to him, so utterly fearless because so utterly ignorant of danger.
Take her! Of course he could take her, if, as she said, he so willed it; and it seemed suddenly as if he had no will but hers.
“It can be done, General,” he said, turning to the Marquis. “If you will trust me, I will conduct your party to Quebec.”
“Will it be safe?” said Chevalier Levis. “You do not know this man,” he added in a low voice to the General.
“If I say it is safe, who will dare gainsay me?” said Charles Langlade haughtily.
“We will go, father,” said Mercèdes, laying her hand on the General’s arm.
He hesitated one moment; then he looked up at the Canadian hunter, saying, “I will trust you. Go I must, for my duty calls me. When shall we start?”
“It is too late to-day; to-morrow at dawn I will be here to fetch you.”