"I meant it, monsieur," she whispered.

I raised her fingers, and laid them back against her side. "Why tempt
me?" I said rudely. "Happily for you my word is a man's word. We
start toward Montreal to-morrow."

"Monsieur, I beg you. Go west to-morrow."

"No, mademoiselle."

"Then--then--monsieur, I give you warning. If we start toward Montreal
to-morrow I shall escape you at the first opportunity, and try my
fortune alone in the woods."

"You threaten me?"

She stood in front of me. "I would bring you to reason. Yes, I
threaten you, in that I shall do what I say. Come, monsieur, I will
follow you westward. Your years of preparation, your great
opportunity, shall not be wasted because of me."

I took her hand. "You are a strange woman. A sage and a child; a
woman and a warrior. But I will not marry you, mademoiselle."

"Why not, monsieur?"

"Because I will not hoodwink you. So long as I took you blindly
against your will, I felt no shame at going about my own ends. But now
that you have turned the tables on me and come without force, I cannot