whistled a little to himself, and smiled bitterly. Then,
all at once, he got up and straightway burned them all. He again tried
to put the matter behind him for the present, knowing that he must face
it one day, and staving off its reality as long as possible. He did his
utmost to be philosophical and say his quid refert, but it was easier
tried than done; for Jacques Pontiac's words kept rankling in his
mind, and he found himself carrying round a vague load, which made
him abstracted occasionally, and often a little reckless in action and
speech. In hunting bear and moose he had proved himself more daring than
the oldest hunter, and proportionately successful. He paid his servants
well, but was sharp with them.

He made long, hard expeditions, defying the weather as the hardiest of
prairie and mountain men mostly hesitate to defy it; he bought up much
land, then, dissatisfied, sold it again at a loss, but subsequently
made final arrangements for establishing a very large farm. When he
once became actually interested in this he shook off something of his
moodiness and settled himself to develop the thing. He had good talent
for initiative and administration, and at last, in the time when his
wife was a feature of the London season, he found his scheme in working
order, and the necessity of going to England was forced upon him.

Actually he wished that the absolute necessity had presented itself
before. There was always the moral necessity, of course--but then! Here
now was a business need; and he must go. Yet he did not fix a day or
make definite arrangements. He could hardly have believed himself such a
coward. With liberal emphasis he called himself a sneak, and one day at
Fort Charles sat down to write to his solicitor in Montreal to say that
he would come on at once. Still he hesitated. As he sat there thinking,
Eye-of-the-Moon, his father-in-law, opened the door quietly and entered.
He had avoided the chief ever since he had come back to Fort Charles,
and practically had not spoken to him for a year. Armour flushed
slightly with annoyance. But presently, with a touch of his old humour,
he rose, held out his hand, and said ironically: "Well, father-in-law,
it's about time we had a big talk, isn't it? We're not very intimate for
such close relatives."

The old Indian did not fully understand the meaning or the tone of
Armour's speech, but he said "How!" and, reaching out his hand for the
pipe offered him, lighted