us to Quebec.  For he is anxious to join the English squadron when it reaches these waters, and my uncle gave him his word of honour that no hindrance shall be placed in the way of his doing so.  Perhaps it may be even well for one who has seen the extreme strength of the town, and the preparations made for its defence by land and sea, to go to warn the bold invaders that the task they contemplate is one which is well nigh if not quite impossible.”

“O Colin, it is good indeed to have you again, out of the very jaws of death!  Let me go myself and thank this noble Fritz for his good offices.  Colin, I fear me I am half a traitor to the cause of France already; for there is that in my heart which bids me regard the English as friends rather than as foes.  And when I hear men shake their heads and say that they may one day be the masters of these broad lands of the west, it raises within me no feeling of anger or grief.  I cannot be a true daughter of France to feel so!”

“And yet I share that feeling, Corinne.  I often feel that I am less than half a Frenchman!  My good uncle sometimes shakes his head over me; but then he smiles, and says that the mother’s blood always runs strong in the firstborn son; and methinks, had our mother lived, she would have been on the side of those who speak her tongue and hail from the grey lands of the north.”

“Ah, it is good that you feel the same, Colin!  I had almost chided myself for being half a traitor.  And now take me to our good friend Fritz, that I may thank him myself and see him again with mine own eyes.”

Brother and sister descended the stone stairway which divided the various floors of that narrow house.  As they reached the foot of the staircase, they heard the sound of voices from a half-open door, and Corinne said with a smile: 

“It is our Aunt Drucour talking with the stranger.  She is ever eager for news of the war.  A soldier is always a friend to her, so as he brings her tidings.”

The room into which Corinne and Colin stepped softly, so as not to disturb the conversation of their elders, was a long and narrow apartment, with the same small windows which characterized the rest of the house.  A table in the centre of the room took up the chief of the space, and at this table sat a bronzed and stalwart man, whom Corinne instantly recognized as her protector in that forest adventure of long ago.  He was seated with a trencher before him, and was doing an justice to the fare set out; but he was also in earnest conversation with Madame Drucour, who was seated opposite, her elbows lightly resting upon the table, and her chin upon her clasped hands.

Upon a couch beneath the window lay the Abbe himself, with a cup of wine beside him.  He looked like a man who has been through considerable fatigue and hardship, though his brow was serene and his eyes were bright as he followed the rapid conversation which passed be tween the pair at the tables.