minded it in her childhood. The
other way she had often tried as well. She held on to the limb above,
and walked out on hers, until it began to sway so that she could hardly
balance herself. Then she gave one spring, and almost came down in the
young man's arms.

She righted herself in a moment, and stared at him. There was something
familiar in the soft eyes, in the general contour of the face.

"You do not remember me!"

"Let me think," she said, with a calmness that amused him. "Yes, it
comes to me. I saw you on the boat that conveyed Madame de Champlain.
You are her brother."

"Eustache Boulle, at your service," and he bowed gracefully. "But I did
not know you, Mam'selle. You were such a child four years ago. Even then
you made an impression upon me."

She was so little used to compliments that it did not stir her in the
slightest. She was wondering, and at length she said--

"How did you find me?"

"By hard searching, Mam'selle. I saw your foster-mother--I believe she
is that--and she gave me a graphic description of your wanderings. I
paused here because the beauty of the place attracted me. And I heard a
voice I knew must be human, emulating the birds, so I drew nearer. Will
you forgive me when I confess I rifled your store? What plums these are!
I did not know that Canada could produce anything so utterly delicious.
We have some wild sour ones that get dried and made eatable in the
winter, when other things are scarce. And the Indians make a
queer-tasting drink out of them."

"I found this tree quite by accident. I never saw it before, and if you
will look, there are only two branches that have any fruit. The other
side of the tree is barren. And that high branch will give the birds a
feast. I do not think I could venture up there," laughing.

"I wondered how you ventured at all. And how you dared come down that
way."

His eyes expressed the utmost admiration.

"Oh," she answered carelessly, "that was an old trick of mine, my
childhood's delight. I used to try how far I could walk out before the
limb would give me warning."

"But if it had broken?"

"Why, I should have jumped, all the same. You did not go with your
sister and M. de Champlain."

"I had half a mind to, then I reconsidered."

She met his gaze calmly, as if she was wondering a little what had
prevented him.

"And I came to Quebec. It begins to grow. But we want something beside
Indians. M. Destournier has settled quite a plant