I could see you for a moment as we are,
alone, man to man. Why is it that our Josephine has come to trust you
as she does?"

His voice was low--it was almost soft as a woman's, but deep in his
eyes Philip saw the glow of a strange, slumbering fire.

"Why is it?" he persisted.

"God only knows," exclaimed Philip, the significance of the question
bursting upon him for the first time. "I hadn't thought of it, Jean.
Everything has happened so quickly, so strangely, that there are many
things I haven't thought of. It must be because--she thinks I'm a MAN!"

"That is it, M'sieur," replied Jean, as quietly as before. "That, and
because you have come from two years in the North. I have been there. I
know that it breeds men. And our Josephine knows. I could swear that
there is not one man in a million she would trust as she has put faith
in you. Into your hands she has given herself, and what you do means
for her life or death. And for you--"

The fires in his eyes were nearer the surface now.

"What?" asked Philip tensely.

"Death--unless you play your part as a man," answered Jean. There was
neither threat nor excitement in his voice, but in his eyes was the
thing that Philip understood. Silently he reached out and gripped the
half-breed's hand, For an instant they stood, their faces close,
looking into each other's eyes. And as men see men where the fires of
the earth burn low, so they read each other's souls, and their fingers
tightened in a clasp of understanding.

"What that part is to be I cannot guess," said Philip, then. "But I
will play it, and it is not fear that will hold me to my promise to
her. If I fail, why--kill me!"

"That is the North," breathed Jean, and in his voice was the
thankfulness of prayer.

Without another word he stooped and picked up the tent and blankets.
Philip was about to stop him, to speak further with him, when he saw
Josephine climbing over the bulwark of rocks between them and the
trail. He hurried to meet her. Her arms were full, and she allowed him
to take a part of her load. With what Jean had brought this was all
that was to go in Philip's canoe, and the half-breed remained to help
them off.

"You will go straight across the lake," he said to Philip. "If you
paddle slowly, I will catch up with you."

Philip seated himself near the stern, facing Josephine, and Jean gave
the canoe a shove that sent it skimming like a swallow on the smooth
surface of the lake. For a moment