"They understand me."
There was a curious dignity in her reply.
"You are French, Mam"selle?"
"I came from France a long while ago, so long that I do not remember."
"Was it in another life? Are you human, or some forest nymph? For you are not out of childhood."
"I do not understand."
"But you must belong to some one----"
"No," she said proudly. "I have never really belonged to any one. M"sieu Destournier is my good friend, and miladi took me when the Dubrays went to the fur country. But she has been ill, and she does not like me as she used."
"But you must have a home----"
"I live at the post, mostly with Wanamee. Some days my lady sends for me. But I like out-of-doors, and the birds, and the blue sky, and the voice of the falling waters that are always going on, and the great gray rocks, where I find mossy little caves with red bloom like tiny papooses, and the tall gra.s.ses that shake their heads so wisely, as if they knew secrets they would never tell. And the birds--even some of the little lizards with their bright black eyes. They are dainty, not like the snakes that go twisting along."
"Are you not afraid of them?"
"I do not molest them," calmly.
"You should have been down at the post. The Governor"s wife has come."
"Yes, I saw her. And I did not like her. But the Sieur was always kind to me. He used to show me journeys on the maps, and the great lakes he has seen. He has been all over the world, I believe."
"Oh, no. But I think he would like to. Why do you not like Madame de Champlain?"
She studied him with a thoughtful gaze.
"M"sieu Ralph told me when he went to France he was betrothed to a pretty little French girl, and that some day he would bring her here to be his wife. I was glad of the little girl. I like Marie Gaudrion, but she has to care for the babies and--she does not understand why I love the woods and the rocks. And I thought this other little _girl_----"
She was so nave that he smiled, but it was not the smile to hurt one.
"She was a little girl then. But every one grows. Some day you will be a woman."
"No, I will not. I shall stay this way," and she patted the ground decisively with her small foot, the moccasin being little more than a sandal, and showed the high arch and shapely ankle that dimpled with the motion.
"I am afraid you cannot. But I think you will like Madame when you know her. I am her brother, though I have not seen her for over two years."
She studied him attentively. The birds began to grow restless and circled about her as if to warn off the intruder. Then she suddenly listened. There was a familiar step climbing the rock.
M"sieu Destournier parted the hemlock branches.
"I thought I should find you here. Why did you run away? Ah, M. Boulle,"
but the older man frowned a little.
"She left the company because my sister was grown up and not the little girl she imagined. Is she a product of the forest? Her very ignorance is charming."
"I am not ignorant!" she returned. "I can read a page in Latin, and that miladi cannot do."
"She is a curious child," explained Destournier, "but a sweet and n.o.ble nature, and innocent is the better word for it. The birds all know her, and she has a tame doe that follows her about, except that it will not venture inside the palisade. I"m not sure but she could charm a wolf."
"The Loup Garou," laughed the younger man. "I think nothing would dare harm her. But I should like my sister to see her. Oh, I am sure you will like her, even if she is a woman grown."
"Come," said Destournier, holding out his hand.
The pigeons had circled wider and wider, and were now purplish shadows against the serene blue. Rose sprang up and clasped Destournier"s hand.
But she was silent as they took their way down.
"Whatever bewitched my august brother-in-law about this place I cannot see. Except that the new fort will sweep the river and render the town impregnable from that side. It will be the key of the North. But Montreal will be a finer town at much less cost."
Rose was fain to refuse at the last moment, but M"sieu Ralph persuaded.
The few women of any note were gathered in the room miladi had first occupied. Rose looked curiously at the daughter of M. Hebert--she was so much taller than she used to be, and her hair was put up on her head with a big comb.
"Thou art a sweet child," said Madame de Champlain. "And whose daughter may she be?"
It was an awkward question. Destournier flushed unconsciously.
"She is the Rose of Quebec," he made answer, with a smile. "Her parents were dead before she came here."
"Ah, I remember hearing the Governor speak of her, and learned that there were so few real citizens in Quebec who were to grow up with the town as their birthright. It is but a dreary-looking place, yet the wild river, the great gulf, the magnificent forests give one a sense of grandeur, yet loneliness. And my husband says it is the same hundreds of miles to the westward; that there are lakes like oceans in themselves.
And such furs! All Paris is wild with the beauty of them. Yet they lie around here as if of no value."
"You would find that the traders appraise them pretty well," and he raised his brows a trifle, while a rather amused expression played about his eyes.
"Is there always such a turmoil of trade?"
"Oh, no. The traders scatter before mid-autumn. The cold weather sets in and the snow and ice are our companions. The small streams freeze up.
But the Sieur has written of all these things in his book."
He looked inquiringly at her for a touch of enthusiasm, but her sweet face was placid.
"Monsieur my husband desired that I should be educated in his religion in the convent. We do not take up worldly matters, that is not considered becoming to girls and women. We think more of the souls that may be saved from perdition. The men go ahead to discover, the priests come to teach these ignorant savages that they have souls that must be returned to G.o.d, or suffer eternally."
There spoke the devotee. Destournier wondered a little how the Sieur had come to choose a devote for a wife. For he was a born explorer, with a body and a will of such strength that present defeat only spurred him on. But where was there a woman to match him, to add to his courage and resolve! Perhaps men did not need such women. Destournier was not an enthusiast in religious matters. He had been here long enough to understand the hold their almost childish superst.i.tions had on the Indians, their dull and brutish lack of any high motive, their brutal and barbarous customs. They were ready to be baptized a dozen times over just as they would use any of their own charms, or for the gain of some trifle.
Madame seemed to study the frank face of the little girl. How beautiful her eyes were; her eager, intelligent, spirited face; the fine skin that was neither light nor dark, and withstood sun and wind alike, and lost none of its attractive tints. But she was so different from the little girls sent to the nuns for training. They never looked up at you with these wide-open eyes that seemed to question you, to weigh you.
"There is no convent here where you can be taught?" addressing herself to the child.
"The fathers are building one. But it is only for the men. The women cook and learn to dress deerskins until they are like velvet. They must make the clothing, for not a great deal comes from France. And it would only do for ladies like you and Madame Giffard."
"But there must be some education, some training, some prayers," and the lady looked rather helpless.
She was very sweet and beautiful in her soft silken dress of gray, that was flowered in the same color, and trimmed with fur and velvet. From her belt depended a chain of carved ivory beads and a crucifix, from another chain a small oval looking-gla.s.s in a silver frame. Her flaring collar of lace and the stomacher were worked in pearls. Many Parisians had them sewn with jewels.
"I can read French very well," said Rose, after a pause. "And some Latin."