I told her I loved her with all my strength, in the cloud or out of it.

“Will you take care of me as I used to take care of you?”

I swore to the Almighty that she should be my future care.

“I need you so!  I have watched for you in the woods and on the water, Paul!  You have been long coming back to me.”

I heard Madame Ursule mounting the stairs to see if my room was in order.

Who could understand the relation in which Eagle and I now stood, and the claim she made upon me?  She clung to my arm when I took it away.  I led her by the hand.  Even this sight caused Madame Ursule a shock at the head of the stairs.

“M’s’r Williams!”

My hostess paused and looked at us.

“Did she come to you of her own accord?”

“Yes, madame.”

“I never knew her to notice a stranger before.”

“Madame, do you know who this is?”

“Madeleine Jordan.”

“It is the Marquise de Ferrier.”

“The Marquise de Ferrier?”

“Yes, madame.”

“Did you know her?”

“I have known her ever since I can remember.”

“The Marquise de Ferrier!  But, M’s’r Williams, did she know you?”

“She knows me,” I asserted.  “But not as myself.  I am sure she knows me!  But she confuses me with the child she lost!  I cannot explain to you, madame, how positive I am that she recognizes me; any more than I can explain why she will call me Paul.  I think I ought to tell you, so you will see the position in which I am placed, that this lady is the lady I once hoped to marry.”

“Saints have pity, M’s’r Williams!”

“I want to ask you some questions.”

“Bring her down to the fire.  Come, dear child,” said Madame Ursule, coaxing Eagle.  “Nobody is there.  The bedrooms can never be so warm as the log fire; and this is a bitter evening.”

The family room was unlighted by candles, as often happened.  For such an illumination in the chimney must have quenched any paler glare.  We had a few moments of brief privacy from the swarming life which constantly passed in and out.

I placed Eagle by the fire and she sat there obediently, while I talked to Madame Ursule apart.

“Was her mind in this state when she came to you?”

“She was even a little wilder than she is now.  The girls have been a benefit to her.”

“They were not afraid of her?”

“Who could be afraid of the dear child?  She is a lady—­that’s plain.  Ah, M’s’r Williams, what she must have gone through!”

“Yet see how happy she looks!”

“She always seemed happy enough.  She would come to this house.  So when the Jordans went to Canada, Pierre and I both said, ‘Let her stay.’”

“Who were the Jordans?”

“The only family that escaped with their lives from the massacre when she lost her family.  Madame Jordan told me the whole story.  They had friends among the Winnebagoes who protected them.”