hardy, and
that whoever undertakes it goes forth to almost certain death."

"Then I shall go alone," said Heald, sternly; "nor do I look forward to
any such disastrous ending to so open a mission of peace."

"Wait," broke in Wells, impulsively. "I have a final suggestion to
make, if you are resolved to go. There rode in my party hither a
rattle-brained gallant, bearing a French commission, who ought to prove
sufficiently reckless to lend you his companionship. Faith! but I
think it may well suit the fellow. Besides, if he wore his French
uniform it might have weight with the reds."

"Who is he?" asked Heald, doubtfully. "I seem not to have memory of
him."

"He calls himself Captain Villiers de Croix, and holds commission in
the Emperor's Guard."

Scarcely were the words spoken when I was on my feet, all vestige of
sleep gone from my eyes. De Croix was hardly a friend of mine, since
late developments, but he had been my comrade for many a league of hard
forest travel, and I was unwilling to have him carelessly sacrificed in
a venture regarding the danger of which he knew nothing. Besides, I
counted on his sword to aid in the defence of Mademoiselle. I
understood thoroughly the desperate chances of Indian treachery that
lay before such a commission as was now proposed. It was rash in the
extreme; and only the terrors of our position could sanction such an
experiment. The savages that hemmed us in were already in an ugly
mood, and fully conscious of their power. To go forth to them, unarmed
and uninvited, as Captain Heald coolly proposed doing, was to walk
open-eyed into a trap which treachery might snap shut at any time. It
was not my purpose to halt De Croix, nor to stand between him and any
adventure he might choose to undertake; but I could at least warn him,
in a friendly spirit, of the imminent danger such a thing involved.

With this thought in mind, I ran hastily across the open parade into
the officers' mess-hall, hoping I might find him loitering there. To
my hasty glance, the place appeared deserted; and I drew back,
wondering where to turn next in search. As I hesitated on the
threshold, the low voice of Mademoiselle fell upon my ear; and at that
moment she emerged from behind the curtain which divided the officers'
quarters.

"May I hope you are seeking me?" she asked, graciously; "for it has
been most lonely here all day,--even Captain de Croix seems to have
forgotten my existence."