born
anywhere on the water trail between the Mountain and the Messasebe. What
name have you chosen for the young lady, Monsieur?"

"I have decided," said John Law, "to call her Catharine."

CHAPTER VIII

TOUS SAUVAGES

Had nature indeed intended Law for the wild life of the trail, and had
he indeed spent years rather than months among these unusual scenes, he
could hardly have been better fitted for the part. Hardy of limb, keen
of eye, tireless of foot, with a hand which any weapon fitted, his
success as hunter made his companions willing enough to assign to him
the chase of the bison or the stag; so that he became not only patron
but provider for the camp.

Some weeks after the departure of Du Mesne, Law was returning from the
hunt some miles below the station. His tall and powerful figure,
hardened by continued outdoor exercise, was scarce bowed by the weight
of the wild buck which he bore across his shoulders. His eye, accustomed
to the instant readiness demanded in the _voyageur's_ life, glanced
keenly about, taking in each item of the scene, each movement of the
little bird on the tree, the rustling of the grass where a rabbit
started from its form, the whisk of the gray squirrel's tail on the
limb far overhead.

The touch of autumn was now in the air. The leaves of the wild grapevine
were falling. The oaks had donned garments of somber brown, the
hickories had lost their leaves, while here and there along the river
shores the flaming sentinels of the maples had changed their scarlet
uniform for one of duller hue. The wild rice in the marshes had shed its
grain upon the mud banks. The acorns were loosening in their cups. Fall
in the West, gorgeous, beautiful, had now set in, of all the seasons of
the year, that most loved by the huntsman.

This tall, lean man, clad in buckskin like a savage, brown almost as a
savage, as active and as alert, seemed to fit not ill with these
environments, nor to lack either confidence or contentment. He walked on
steadily, following the path along the bayou bank, and at length paused
for a moment, throwing down his burden and stooping to drink at the tiny
pool made by the little rivulet which trickled down the face of the
bluff. Here he bathed his face and hands in the cool stream, for the
moment abandoning himself to that rest which the hunter earns. It was
when at length he raised his head and turned to resume his burden that
his suspicious eye caught a glimpse o