The house lost nothing of its charm on a nearer approach, and its interior spake volumes for its keeper's cleanliness—not a common quality in the country, as I discovered later. The furniture was of the simplest description, but the well-scrubbed floor was covered with bright-coloured strips of home-made carpeting—“les catalogues,” as she called it—and in one corner stood the pride of the family, the great bed—a huge construction, covered with a marvellous quilt of patchwork, and hung with spotless valance and curtains.
Gabriel was to set off by the next tide, and left only after charging his Amelia with numberless instructions as to my care and comfort.
“Oh, these men!” laughed the good-natured woman. “They think the world can't turn round without their advice!”
I was too tired and too safe not to sleep well, and when the smiling face of Madame Dufour appeared at my bedside in the morning, it was to inform me that le père Jean's canoe was already in sight, and he would be at the Island in less than an hour.
Eager as I was to see him, I could not but dread the meeting and what he might say of my desertion, though I begged my hostess to meet him and tell him I was awaiting his leisure.
“Oh, mon père, I did not know what to do!” I cried, when we were alone.
“Thank God you are safe and in good hands,” he returned, warmly. “How was it you came to take this step?”
Thereupon I told him of my attempt to signal for Gabriel, of the appearance of Luntook, of my terror, and of my sudden resolve on the pilot's appearance. “It was only when I felt myself safe, mon père, that I remembered what my action might mean to others; and now I am miserable at the thought of the anxiety I have caused. What can be done?”
“I cannot blame you, my daughter; you have been brought face to face with dangers you know nothing of, in surroundings which are strange to you; it is well for your own sake you should be removed from the constant dread of their recurrence. I guessed at your destination, for on landing the same morning you left, André and I saw the beacon had been lighted, and a very little looking about convinced us of what had happened, for we not only found your scarf, but Gabriel's marks in the sand were plain directions.”
“But, mon père, what of them at the house?”