ght. I hope you will sleep. Rose had better not read any more.
We must not have all the good things in one day."

He ran down the steps to where a street had been straightened and
widened in the summer. The moonlight gave everything a weird glow, the
stars were tinted in all colors, as one finds in the clear cold of the
north. Only the planets and the larger ones, the myriad of small ones
were outshone. What beauty, what strength, what wonders lay hidden in
the wide expanse. He was tempted to plunge into the wilderness, to the
frozen north, to the blooming south, or that impenetrable expanse of the
west, and leave behind the weak woman, who in her selfish way loved him,
and the girl who could create a new life for him, that he could love
with the force of manhood suddenly aroused, that had been clean and
wholesome. He was glad of that, though he could not lay it at the girl's
feet. Miladi had been in this state so long, sometimes rallying, and in
the summer they would go to France. But they would leave Rose of old
Quebec behind.

Over there at the fort a man sat poring over maps and papers, a
solitary man now, who had wedded youth and beauty, and found only Dead
Sea fruit. But he was going bravely on his way. That was a man's duty.

In a few days there was a decided improvement in miladi. She was
dressed, and sat up part of the time. She evinced an eager resolve to
get well, she put on a sort of childish brightness, that was at times
pitiful. But nothing could conceal the ravages of time. She looked older
than her years. She was, in a curious manner, drawing on the vitality of
the young girl, and it was generously given.

Then came to Rose a great sorrow. M. Hebert, who had been such an
inspiring influence to her, died from the effects of a fall. There was a
general mourning in the small settlement. The Governor felt he had lost
one of his most trusty friends. The eldest daughter, Guillemette, who
had married one Guillaume Couillard, came down from Tadoussac, and they
took his place on the farm. Hers had been the first wedding in Quebec.

Rose felt that this must change the home for her. She had counted on
going back to them. There were days when she grew very tired of miladi's
whims and inanities, and longed to fly to her beloved wood.

"If I should die, he will marry her," miladi thought continually. "I
will not die. I will take her to France and marry her to some one before
her beauty fades. She will make a sens