"But, Odile," argued the boy, with some sense of equity, "she is not yet
engaged to our family."

"And how shall we get her engaged to us if Monsieur Reece Zhone must
hang around her? Papa says he is the most promising young man in the
Territory. If I were a boy, Pierre Menard, I would do something with
him."

"What would you do?"

"I would shoot him. He has duels."

"But my father might punish me for that."

"Very well, chicken-heart. Let Mademoiselle Saucier go, then. But I will
tell you this: there is no one else in Kaskaskia that I will have for a
second mother."

"Yes, we have all chosen her," owned Pierre, "but it seems to me papa
ought to make the marriage."

"But she would not know we children were willing to have her. If you did
something to stop Monsieur Zhone's courtship, she would then know."

"Why do you not go out on the gallery now and tell her we want her?"
exclaimed Pierre. "The colonel says it is best to be straightforward in
any matter of business."

"Pierre, it is plain to be seen that you do not know how to deal with