"You did not expect me, I fancy?" he said.
"I did not," the other answered; "still be assured that the visit, though unexpected, is not less agreeable to me."
The hunter curled his lip in a singular fashion.
"Who knows?" he muttered, answering his own thoughts rather than the Jaguar's remark; "perhaps yes, perhaps no; man's heart is a mysterious and undecipherable book, in which only madmen fancy they can read."
"It is not so with me, hunter, as you know from experience."
The Canadian shook his head.
"You are still young; the heart to which you refer is still unknown to yourself; in the short period your existence has passed through, the wind of passion has not yet blown over you and bowed you down before its powerful impetus: wait, in order to reply with certainty, until you have loved and suffered; when you have bravely sustained the shock, and resisted the hurricane of youth, it will be time for you to speak."
These words were uttered with a stern accent, but there was no bitterness about them.
"You are harsh to me, to-day, Tranquil," the young: man answered sorrowfully; "how have I sunk in your esteem? What reprehensible act have I done?"
"None—at any rate, it pleases me to believe so; but I fear that soon—"