As he gave word for the feast to be spread on strips of cloth laid on
the hard-beaten ground before the factory that many might sit round at
once and partake, there came from the direction of the gate the voices
of De Courtenay's men. The stranger and himself, with young Ivrey and
Ridgar should be served in the little room off to the west where were
the small table, the chairs, and the row of books.
Not often did Fort de Seviere have so illustrious a guest as must be
this young adventurer.
CHAPTER V NOR'WESTERS
"Merci, my friend, what extravagance is this! The savour of that pot
does fairly turn my head!"
Alfred de Courtenay settled himself gracefully in one of McElroy's
chairs and smiled across at his host with a twinkle in his laughing
eyes.
A dozen candles, lit in his honour, where three were wont to suffice,
shone mellowly in the little room, and Rette de Lancy, still comely
despite her forty years and a certain lavishness in the matter of
avoirdupois, set down in the midst of the table a steaming dish with a
cover. There were a white cloth of bleached linen and cups of blue ware
that had come with her and Jack from across seas, also a silver coffee-
urn that had been her great-grandmother's.
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