"Jean!"
"Pardon, Marie."
"We have come with despair on account of the previous abounding kindness of monsieur, to divulge him—"
"A secret! A secret terrible!" exploded the old man, who was nervously standing first on one foot and then on the other.
"Jean!"
"Oui, Marie."
"If you have an important secret to confide, had we not better enter the house?" suggested the major, who saw from the excited earnestness of the worthy couple that something very unusual had occurred to agitate them.
They accepted this invitation, and the major finally gleaned from their combined and interjectory statements that on the previous day Madame St. Aubin, visiting the Ottawa village, had surprised a number of warriors in the act of cutting off the long barrels of their guns, until the entire length of each weapon was not more than a yard. Moreover, she had overheard an Indian who was somewhat under the influence of liquor boast that ere many days he would have English scalps with which to fringe his leggings.
"Has any one else seen these things or noted symptoms of uneasiness among the Indians?" demanded the major.
"Yes. Basil, the blacksmith, has been troubled for days by Indians begging for loans of files and saws, for what purpose they would not state."