low of the stars, and after that
Marge snuggled down in her cedar bed and went to sleep. But before she
closed her eyes she put her arms about his neck and kissed him
good-night. For a long time after that he sat awake, thinking of the
wonderful dream he had dreamed all his life, and which at last had come
true.

* * * * *

Day after day they travelled steadily into the east and south. The
mountains swallowed them, and their feet trod the grass of many strange
valleys. Strange--and yet now and then David saw something he had seen
once before, and he knew that he had not lost the trail. They travelled
slowly, for there was no longer need of haste; and in that land of
plenty there was more of pleasure than inconvenience in their foraging
for what they ate. In her haste in making up the contents of the pack
Marge had seized what first came to her hands in the way of provisions,
and fortunately the main part of their stock was a 20-pound sack of
oatmeal. Of this they made bannock and cakes. The country was full of
game. In the valleys the black currants and wild raspberries were
ripening lusciously, and now and then in the pools of the lower valleys
David would shoot fish. Both Tara and Baree began to grow fat, and with
quiet joy David noticed that each day added to the wonderful beauty and
happiness in the Girl's face, and it seemed to him that her love was
enveloping him more and more, and there never was a moment now that he
could not see the glow of it in her eyes. It thrilled him that she did
not want him out of her presence for more than a few minutes at a time.
He loved to fondle her hair, and she had a sweet habit of running her
fingers through his own, and telling him each time how she loved it
because it was a little gray; and she had a still sweeter way of
holding one of his hands in hers when she was sitting beside him, and
pressing it now and then to her soft lips.

They had been ten days in the mountains when, one evening, sitting
beside him in this way, she said, with that adorable and almost childish
ingenuousness which he loved in her:

"It will be nice to have Father Roland marry us, _Sakewawin_!" And
before he could answer, she added: "I will keep house for you two at the
Chateau."

He had been thinking a great deal about it.

"But if your mother should live down there--among the cities?" he asked.

She shivered a little, and nestled to him.

"I wouldn't like it, _