Madeline had been looking straight before her during the greater part of this conversation. But now she glanced quickly up, while a new light of understanding overspread her face. These last words set her thinking.
"Have I made a stupid blunder?" she asked. "I mistook you for a trapper."
"It was quite natural, Miss Normsell."
"And you are really a missionary."
"Yes. That is why I am here."
"Oh, now I see. Now I comprehend."
"Are you a bishop? You look like one."
"No; merely Charles Nordis—who is trying to do some work for the Master among these Northern natives."
"And you have been here for forty years?"
"Not on this side of the mountain. Thirty years were passed on the great Mackenzie River—and only the last ten here."