It is said in some
places they have put people to death for doing it."

Pani's dark eyes gave a glance of mute inquiry.

"But I asked Touchas. At first she said the great Manitou had taken the
power from her. But the night the moon described the full circle and one
could discern strange shapes in it, she came to me, and we went and sat
under the oak tree where the child first came to thee. There was great
disturbance in Touchas' mind, and her eyes seemed to traverse space
beyond the stars. Presently, like one in a dream, she said:--

"'The child is alive. She was taken by Indians to the _petite_ lake, her
head covered, and in strong arms. Then they journeyed by water,
stopping, and going on until they met a big ship sailing up North. She
is in great danger, but the stars watch over her; a prisoner where the
window is barred and the door locked. There is a man between two women,
an Indian maiden, whose heart hungers for him. She comes down to meet
him and follows a trail and finds something that rouses her to fierce
anger. She creeps and creeps, and finds the key and unlocks the door.
The white maiden is afraid at first and cowers, for she reads passion in
the other's eyes. O great Manitou, save her!' Then Touchas screamed and
woke, shivering all over, and could see no further into the strange
future. 'Wait until the next moon,' she keeps saying. But the child will
be saved, she declares."

"Oh, my darling, my little one!" moaned the woman, rocking herself to
and fro. "The saints protect thee. Oh, I should have watched thee
better! But she felt so safe. She had been afraid, but the fear had
departed. Oh, my little one! I shall die if I do not see thee again."

"I feel that the great God will care for her. She has done no evil; and
the priests declare that he will protect the good. And I thought and
thought, until a knowledge seemed to come out of the clear sky. So I did
not wait for the next moon. I said, 'I have little need for Paspah,
since I earn bread for the little ones. Why should he sit in the wigwam
all winter, now and then killing a deer or helping on the dock for a
drink of brandy?' So I sent him North again to join the hunters and to
find Jeanne. For I know that handsome, evil-eyed Louis Marsac is at the
bottom of it."

"Oh, Wenonah!" Pani fell on her shoulder and cried, she was so weak and
overcome.

"We will not speak of this. Paspah has a grudge against Marsac; he
struck him a blow last summer. My