"Forgive me!" cried the girl. "I had completely forgotten supper. But, the men? Have they not eaten since morning?"
Lapierre smiled. "They will eat," he answered, "when their work is done."
Supper over, the two seated themselves upon the little veranda. Along the beach the fires still flared, and still the men, like a huge, slow-moving endless chain, carried the supplies to the store-house. Lapierre waved his hand toward the scene.
"You see now," he smiled, "why I built the storehouse so large?"
Chloe nodded, and regarded him intently. "Yes, I see that," she answered gravely, "but there are things I do not see. Of course you have heard of the attack by MacNair's Indians?"
Lapierre assented. "At Smith Landing I heard it," he answered, and waited for her to proceed.
"Had you expected this attack?"
Lapierre glanced at her in well-feigned surprise.
"Had I expected it, Miss Elliston, do you think I would have gone to the Southward? Would I have left you to the mercy of those brutes? When I thought you were in danger on Snare Lake, did I——"
The girl interrupted him with a gesture. "No! No! I do not think you anticipated the attack, but——"