Words choked in Cummins' throat when he saw the white-faced figure clutching Mélisse to its breast.
At last he gasped "Jan!" and threw out his arms, so that both were caught in their embrace.
For an instant Jan turned his face up to the light The other stared and understood.
"You have been sick," he said, "but it has left no marks."
"Thank God!" breathed Jan.
Mélisse raised her head, and stroked his cheeks with her two hands.
That night she remembered her prayer, and at its end she added:
"Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for sending back Jan!"
CHAPTER XV
ALMOST A WOMAN
Peace followed in the blighted trails of the Red Terror. Again the forest world breathed without fear; but from Hudson's Bay to Athabasca, and as far south as the thousand waters of the Reindeer country, the winds whispered of a terrible grief that would remain until babes were men and men went to their graves.