des the oath, yes!"

"And now, I will tell you of the game I played, and lost, M'sieur. In
me alone Josephine knew that she could trust, and so it was to me that
she bared her sorrow. Later word came to me that this man, the father
of the baby, was following her into the North, That was after I had
given my oath to Josephine. I thought he would come by the other
waterway, where we met you. And so we went there, alone. I made a camp
for her, and went on to meet him. My mind was made up, M'sieur. I had
determined upon the sacrifice: my soul for hers. I was going to kill
him. But I made a mistake. A friend I had sent around by the other
waterway met me, and told me that I had missed my game. Then I returned
to the camp--and you were there. You understand this far, M'sieur?"

"Yes. Go on."

"The friend I had sent brought a letter for Josephine," resumed Jean.
"A runner on his way north gave it to him. It was from Le M'sieur
Adare, and said they were not starting north. But they did start soon
after the letter, and this same friend brought me the news that the
master had passed along the westward waterway a few days behind the man
I had planned to kill. Then we returned to Adare House, and you came
with us. And after that--the face at the window, and the shot!"

Philip felt the half-breed's arm quiver.

"I must tell you about him or you will not understand," he went on, and
there was effort in his voice now. "The man whose face you saw was my
brother. Ah, you start! You understand now why I was glad you failed to
kill him. He was bad, all that could be bad, M'sieur, but blood is
thicker than water, and up here one does not forget those early days
when childhood knows no sin. And my brother came up from the south as
canoe-man for the man I wanted to kill! A few hours before you saw his
face at the window I met him in the forest. He promised to leave. Then
came the shot--and I understood. The man I was going to kill had sent
him to assassinate the master of Adare. That is why I followed his
trail that night. I knew that I would find the man I wanted not far
away."

"And you found him?"

"Yes. I came upon my brother first. And I lied. I told him he had made
a mistake, and killed you, that his life was not worth the quill from a
porcupine's back if he remained in the country. I made him believe it
was another who fought him in the forest. He fled. I am glad of that.
He will never come back. Then I followed over the trail