“And, madame, the Iroquois are like leaves for number. But I did not mean our Hurons are forty-three strong. Mituvemeg,[6] the Algonquin, meets my father here.”
“Do you know this country? Have you lived much in the woods?”
“Yes, madame.”
“Have you ever been up the Ottawa River?”
“Yes, madame. The very last summer my father took me up the Ottawa beyond Two Mountains Lake.”
“Two Mountains Lake?”
“Yes, madame; a widening of the river, just as Lake St. Louis is a widening of the St. Lawrence.”
“Could we go up this river in a boat, you and I?”
Massawippa looked steadily at Claire, searching her for cowardice or treachery. The Laval-Montmorency smiled back.