with only enough straightening out of the legs to
keep my nose fairly up-tilted above the stream. 'T was thus I made the
passage with much comfort of body, and relaxation of mind. 'T is no
serious trick for one unafraid of the water although it might bring on
cramps were I to keep on as far as New Orleans."

I stared at him with an astonishment which for the moment precluded
speech. Before I found voice with which to express doubt of his story,
Madame called, bidding us join her upon the grass, where our rude meal
waited.

CHAPTER XIII

WE GAIN A NEW RECRUIT

There could be no doubt regarding the complete emptiness of the
Reverend Ezekiel Cairnes, if the breakfast he devoured from our stock
of cold provisions was evidence. I have been commonly blessed with
robust appetite, yet where that man found space within his ribs to
store away all he ate in that hour remains a mystery. Nothing, except
total inability to address him in intelligible language, held De Noyan
quiet as our limited supply steadily diminished before the Puritan's
onslaught, and long before the latter heaved a sigh of profound
satisfaction the gallant soldier had fallen fast asleep. But Madame
remained in her place opposite, apparently fascinated by that vivid red
crop of hair, now thoroughly dried in the sun, and standing erect above
his odd, pear-shaped head. I had whispered in her ear what the fellow
claimed for himself, and being a most devout Catholic, and he the first
specimen of his class she had ever met, she studied him with no small
amount of curiosity and abhorrence.

I can clearly recall the picture, as these two, so widely different,
sat facing each other in silence, the golden sunshine checkered over
them through an arch of limbs, the broad river shining away to the
southward, and De Noyan resting upon his back, with face turned up
toward the clear blue sky. The woman, with her soft silken hair
smoothed back from the wide, white brow, her intelligent face lighted
by eyes of deepest brown, looking, what in truth she was, the
aristocratic daughter of a gentleman of France, one whose home had ever
been amid refinements of civilization, and whose surroundings those of
love and courtesy. Even there, in the heart of that wilderness, the
social training of years remained paramount, and she sat silent, toying
with untasted food, out of respect to this stranger guest. And he,
with shoulders so abnormally broad as to appear deform