d! And all the while his face in the filtered
moonlight was marbled and set of expression. He was made of iron,
constitutionally; his resolution, tempered steel.

Anne slept, but not so madame. She listened and listened: to the stir
of the leaves, to the dim murmur of running water, to the sighs of the
night wind, to the crackling of a dry twig when Anne turned uneasily in
her sleep. She listened and listened, but the sound she hungered for
never came.

At Quebec the news of the calamity did not become known till near
midnight. As the wind-drifted pleasure-boat told its grim story,
desolation fell upon the hearts of four men, each being conscious in
his own way that some part of the world had shifted from under his
feet. The governor recommended patience; he was always recommending
that attribute; he was always practising it, and fatally at times. The
four men shook their heads. The Chevalier and Victor bundled together
a few necessities, such as cloaks, blankets and arms. They set out at
once while the moon was yet high; set out in silence and with sullen
rage.

Jean Pauquet and the vicomte were in the act of following, when
D'Herouville, disheveled and breathing heavily from his run down from
the upper town, arrested them.

"Vicomte," he cried, "you must take me with you. I can find no one to
go with me."

"Stay here then. Out of the way, Monsieur." The vicomte was not
patient to-night, and he had not time for banter.

"I say that you shall!"

"Not to-night. Now, Pauquet."

"One of us dies, then!" D'Herouville's sword was out.

"Are you mad?" exclaimed the vicomte, recoiling.

"Perhaps. Quick!" The sword took an ominous angle, and the point
touched the vicomte.

"Get in!" said the vicomte, controlling his wild rage. "I will kill
you the first opportunity. To-night there is not time." He seized his
paddle, which he handled with no small skill considering how recently
he had applied himself to this peculiar art of navigation.

Pauquet took his position in the stern, while D'Herouville crouched
amidships, his bare sword across his knees. The vicomte's broad back
was toward him, proving his contempt of fear. They were both brave men.

"Follow the ripple, Monsieur," said Pauquet; "that is the way Monsieur
le Chevalier has gone."

It was all very foolhardy, this expedition of untried men against
Indian cunning; but it was also very gallant: the woman they loved was
in peril.

So t