"Men we must have, M'sieu," Maren was saying passionately; "men of the
Hudson's Bay. Against all odds we go of a truth, but strategy and wit
accomplish much, and the Nakonkirhirinons have no thought of rescue.
Besides, the farther north they get the less keen will be their
vigilance. With men, M'sieu, we may retake, by strategy alone of
course, the factor of Fort de Seviere. Therefore have we come across
your way, In the Name of Mary, M'sieu, I beg that you refuse me not!"
She was like some young priestess as she stood in the westering light
on the green-fringed shore, one hand caught in the buckskin fringe at
her throat and her eyes on Mr. Mowbray's upright face.
"Upon my word, Madame--?" he said when she had finished.
"Ma'amselle, M'sieu," she corrected simply.
"Ma'amselle,--your pardon,--upon my word, have I never seen such
appalling courage! Do you not know that you go upon a quest as hopeless
as death? This tribe,--I have heard a deal too much about them, and
once they came to York two seasons back,--are unlike any others of the
Indians of the country. Ruled by a peculiar justice which takes 'a skin
for a skin'--not ten or an hundred as do the Blackfeet or the Sioux,--
they yet surpass all others in the cruelty of that taking.
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