"Do you mean you have been swimming since sunset yesterday?"
"Nay, friend; I beg be not over-hasty in conclusions. I merely reposed easily upon my back, with only enough straightening out of the legs to keep my nose fairly up-tilted above the stream. 'T was thus I made the passage with much comfort of body, and relaxation of mind. 'T is no serious trick for one unafraid of the water although it might bring on cramps were I to keep on as far as New Orleans."
I stared at him with an astonishment which for the moment precluded speech. Before I found voice with which to express doubt of his story, Madame called, bidding us join her upon the grass, where our rude meal waited.
CHAPTER XIII
WE GAIN A NEW RECRUIT
There could be no doubt regarding the complete emptiness of the Reverend Ezekiel Cairnes, if the breakfast he devoured from our stock of cold provisions was evidence. I have been commonly blessed with robust appetite, yet where that man found space within his ribs to store away all he ate in that hour remains a mystery. Nothing, except total inability to address him in intelligible language, held De Noyan quiet as our limited supply steadily diminished before the Puritan's onslaught, and long before the latter heaved a sigh of profound satisfaction the gallant soldier had fallen fast asleep. But Madame remained in her place opposite, apparently fascinated by that vivid red crop of hair, now thoroughly dried in the sun, and standing erect above his odd, pear-shaped head. I had whispered in her ear what the fellow claimed for himself, and being a most devout Catholic, and he the first specimen of his class she had ever met, she studied him with no small amount of curiosity and abhorrence.
I can clearly recall the picture, as these two, so widely different, sat facing each other in silence, the golden sunshine checkered over them through an arch of limbs, the broad river shining away to the southward, and De Noyan resting upon his back, with face turned up toward the clear blue sky. The woman, with her soft silken hair smoothed back from the wide, white brow, her intelligent face lighted by eyes of deepest brown, looking, what in truth she was, the aristocratic daughter of a gentleman of France, one whose home had ever been amid refinements of civilization, and whose surroundings those of love and courtesy. Even there, in the heart of that wilderness, the social training of years remained paramount, and she sat silent, toying with untasted food, out of respect to this stranger guest. And he, with shoulders so abnormally broad as to appear deformed, clad in sober Puritan garb, ate serenely on, unconscious of her glances, making use of both his huge hands in the operation, his little gimlet eyes twinkling greedily, his head, oddly resembling a cone, blazing like a fire whenever a ray of sun chanced to fall across it. I noticed he occasionally stole shy glances at her, nor could I wonder, for, in spite of fatigue and exposure, Madame remained a winsome sight, to do the heart of any man good to look upon.
"The Lord God of Hosts be praised; ay! with harps, cymbals, and instruments of many strings, will I give praise unto His holy name," he exclaimed fervently, wiping his wide mouth upon his sleeve, while casting a look of regret over the debris in his front. "Once again hath He abundantly supplied His elect with that which upbuildeth and giveth strength to the flesh. Now my bodily requirements have been duly attended to, it behooves me to minister likewise unto the spiritual, and then seek repose. Friends, will you not both join with me at the throne of grace? It hath been said that I possess much unction in prayer."
"No," I answered, not unwilling to be left alone with Eloise; "you are welcome to put up petitions in our behalf, but this lady is not of your faith, while as for myself, I have known little about such matters since childhood. One thing, however,—if you propose making use of that bull voice of yours, I advise that you select the farther extremity of the island for the scene of your devotions, lest you arouse the Chevalier."