Her heart was full of a gentle delight as at last she turned back from the river, and sought her home in the clearing.
Her eyes were shining radiantly when she encountered Father José passing over to his Mission from his ministrations to a sick squaw.
"Been watching the old ice go?" he inquired, smiling into the eyes which looked into his from under the wide brim of a waterproof hat.
Jessie nodded.
"It's spring—isn't it?" she said smiling.
Her reply summed up her whole mood. The priest understood.
"Surely. And it's good to see the spring, my child. It's good for everybody, young and old. But," he added with a sigh, "it's specially good for us up here. The Indians die like flies in winter. But your mother's asking for you."
The girl hurried on. Perhaps second to her love for John Kars came her affection for her brave mother.
Ailsa Mowbray met her at the threshold.
"Murray's asking for you," she said, in her simply direct fashion. "He's got plans and things he needs to fix. He told me this morning, but I guess he needs to explain them himself. Will you go along up to the Fort?"