"By St. Anthony!" he muttered. "How shall I tell the jade that I have abjured women? Does she then desire me to strip and paint, that she may make of me a heathen husband?"
He shook his head, and the light changed in the eyes of the girl, and her brow wrinkled. He saw the sudden gleam of her teeth and heard her sigh.
"Jezebel of the forest," he cried, "name me this flower!"
He extended it with a sign, and the ready girl spoke softly a dissyllabic word. La Salle repeated it, again indicating the flower, and Onawa nodded vigorously.
"Ah!" exclaimed the priest. "Here is light out of darkness."
He came nearer and took the girl's hand, making the same sign. She spoke again. He touched her hair. Again she spoke. Then her cheek, her nose, her lips, her ears, and Onawa answered him every time, laughing delightedly as the priest pronounced each soft Iroquois word at her dictation.
"A few such lessons, and Gaudriole may be hanged," said La Salle.
Then, with a quick gesture, Onawa put out her fawn-coloured hand, and touched his right eye with the tip of one finger.
"L'oeil," answered La Salle.
She patted his cheek.