"I would have gone after you," said Robert, with ill-advised eagerness.
"Thank you," she answered coolly; "but I'm not so old yet that I can't row fairly well on still water."
That evening Forsyth had the felicity of sitting on the piazza, with Beatrice beside him, while his rival dejectedly led Queen round and round the Fort. His efforts at entertainment seemed to be unusually happy and effective, though he was too obtuse to notice that she laughed only when Ronald was in sight and, presumably, within hearing.
Mackenzie sat with them for a while, but soon went in. "You take the first watch," he said to Robert, "and call Chan for the second. I've got to get up early in the morning, anyway."
"All right, sir."
"Do you think there's any use of watching?" she asked, when the trader had closed the door.
"Of course," answered Robert, promptly. "If we were all asleep, no one would hear the gun and we might all be taken prisoners before we had a chance to get to the Fort."
"Have you always watched out here?"
"Yes, a part of the night, ever since we knew war had been declared."