r. As he sank back heavily on the cot,
in the room they entered, a thick tress of her hair fell softly upon
his face. He closed his eyes for a space. When he opened them, Marie
was bending over the stove.

And SHE was Thoreau's wife! The instant he had looked up into her face,
he had forgotten the fiddler; but he remembered him now as he watched
the woman, who stood with her back toward him. She was as slim as a
reed. Her hair fell to her hips. He drew a deep breath. Unconsciously
he clenched his hands. SHE--the fiddler's wife! The thought repeated
itself again and again. Jan Thoreau, MURDERER, and this woman--HIS WIFE.

She returned in a moment with hot tea, and he drank with subtle
hypocrisy from the cup she held to his lips.

"Sprained my leg," he said then, remembering his old part, and replying
to the questioning anxiety in her eyes. "Dogs ran away and left me, and
I got here just by chance. A little more and--"

He smiled grimly, and as he sank back he gave a sharp cry. He had
practised that cry in more than one cabin, and along with it a
convulsion of his features to emphasize the impression he labored to
make.

"I'm afraid--I'll be a trouble to you," he apologized. "It's not
broken; but it's bad, and I won't be able to move--soon. Is Jan at
home?"

"No, m'sieu; he is away."

"Away," repeated Blake disappointedly. "Perhaps sometime he has told
you about me," he added with sudden hopefulness. "I am John Duval."

"M'sieu--DUVAL!"

Marie's eyes, looking down at him, became all at once great pools of
glowing light. Her lips parted. She leaned toward him, her slim hands
clasped suddenly to her breast.

"M'sieu Duval--who nursed him through the smallpox?" she cried, her
voice trembling. "M'sieu Duval--who saved my Jan's life!"

Blake had looked up his facts at headquarters. He knew what Duval, the
Barren Land trapper, had once upon a time done for Jan.

"Yes; I am John Duval," said. "And so--you see--I am sorry that Jan is
away."

"But he is coming back soon--in a few days," exclaimed Marie. "You
shall stay, m'sieu! You will wait for him? Yes?"

"This leg--" began Blake. He cut himself short with a grimace. "Yes,
I'll stay. I guess I'll have to."

Marie had changed at the mention of Duval's name. With the glow in her
eyes had come a flush into her cheeks, and Blake could see the strange
little quiver at her throat as she looked at him. But she did not see
Blake so much as what lay beyond him--Duval'