mother has grown
down to be a child! Do you know what I am now, Paul?"

I choked a sob in my throat and told her I did not.

"I am your Cloud-Mother. I live in a cloud. Do you love me while I am in
the cloud?"

I told her I loved her with all my strength, in the cloud or out of it.

"Will you take care of me as I used to take care of you?"

I swore to the Almighty that she should be my future care.

"I need you so! I have watched for you in the woods and on the water,
Paul! You have been long coming back to me."

I heard Madame Ursule mounting the stairs to see if my room was in
order.

Who could understand the relation in which Eagle and I now stood, and
the claim she made upon me? She clung to my arm when I took it away. I
led her by the hand. Even this sight caused Madame Ursule a shock at the
head of the stairs.

"M's'r Williams!"

My hostess paused and looked at us.

"Did she come to you of her own accord?"

"Yes, madame."

"I never knew her to notice a stranger before."

"Madame, do you know who this is?"

"Madeleine Jordan."

"It is the Marquise de Ferrier."

"The Marquise de Ferrier?"

"Yes, madame."

"Did you know her?"

"I have known her ever since I can remember."

"The Marquise de Ferrier! But, M's'r Williams, did she know you?"

"She knows me," I asserted. "But not as myself. I am sure she knows me!
But she confuses me with the child she lost! I cannot explain to you,
madame, how positive I am that she recognizes me; any more than I can
explain why she will call me Paul. I think I ought to tell you, so you
will see the position in which I am placed, that this lady is the lady I
once hoped to marry."

"Saints have pity, M's'r Williams!"

"I want to ask you some questions."

"Bring her down to the fire. Come, dear child," said Madame Ursule,
coaxing Eagle. "Nobody is there. The bedrooms can never be so warm as
the log fire; and this is a bitter evening."

The family room was unlighted by candles, as often happened. For such an
illumination in the chimney must have quenched any paler glare. We had a
few moments of brief privacy from the swarming life which constantly
passed in and out.

I placed Eagle by the fire and she sat there obediently, while I talked
to Madame Ursule apart.

"Was her mind in this state when she came to you?"

"She was even a little wilder than she is now. The girls have been a
benefit to her."

"They were not afraid of her?"

"Who could be af