Not without a slight twinge of trepidation did Philip step from
his canoe to her. He had not heard Croisset go ashore, and for a
moment he felt as if he were deliberately placing himself at the
mercy of a wolf-pack. Josephine may have guessed the effect of the
savage spectacle he had beheld from the canoe, for she was close
to the water's edge to meet him. She spoke, and in the pitch
darkness he reached out. Her hand was groping for him, and her
fingers closed firmly about his own.
"They are my bodyguard, and I have trained them all from puppies,"
she explained. "They don't like strangers, but will fight for
anything that I touch. So I will lead you." She turned with him
toward the pack, and cried in her clear, commanding voice:
"Marche, boys!--Tyr, Captain, Thor, Marche! Hoosh, hoosh, Marche!"
It seemed as if a hundred eyes gleamed out of the blackness; then
there was a movement, a whining, snarling, snapping movement, and
as they walked up the bar and into a narrow trail Philip could
hear the pack falling out to the side and behind them. Also he
knew that Jean was ahead of them now. He did not speak, nor did
Josephine offer to break the silence again. Still letting her hand
rest in his she followed close behind the half-breed. Her hand was
so cold that Philip involuntarily held it tighter in his own, as
if to give it warmth. He could feel her shivering, and yet
something told him that what he sensed in the darkness was not
caused by chill alone. Several times her fingers closed
shudderingly about his.
They had not walked more than a couple of hundred yards when a
turn brought them out of the forest trail, and the blackness ahead
was broken by a solitary light, a dimly lighted window in a pit of
gloom.
"Marja is not expecting us to-night," apologized the girl
nervously. "That is Adare House."
The loneliness of the spot, its apparent emptiness of life, the
silence save for the snuffling and whining of the unseen beasts
about them, stirred Philip with a curious sensation of awe. He had
at least expected light and life at Adare House. Here were only
the mystery of darkness and a deathlike quiet. Even the one light
seemed turned low. As they advanced toward it a great shadow grew
out of the gloom; and then, all at once, it seemed as if a curtain
of the forest had been drawn aside, and away beyond the looming
shadow Philip saw the glow of a camp-fire. From that distant fire
there came the challenging howl of a dog, and instantly it was
taken up by a score of fierce tongues about them. As Josephine's
voice rose to quell the disturbance the light in the window grew
suddenly brighter, and then a door opened and in it stood the
figures of a man and woman. The man was standing behind the woman,
looking over her shoulder, and for one moment Philip caught the
flash of the lamp-glow on the barrel of a rifle.
Josephine paused.
"You will forgive me if I ask you to let me go on alone, and you
follow with Jean?" she whispered. "I will try and see you again
to-night, when I have dressed myself, and I am in better condition
to show you hospitality."
Jean was so close that he overheard her. "We will follow," he said
softly. "Go ahead, ma cheri."
His voice was filled with an infinite gentleness, almost of pity;
and as Josephine drew her hand from Philip's and went on ahead of
them he dropped back close to the other's side.
"Something will happen soon which may turn your heart to stone and
ice, M'sieur," he said, and his voice was scarce above a whisper.
"I wanted her to tell you back there, two days ago, but she shrank
from the ordeal then. It is coming to-night. And, however it may
effect you, M'sieur, I ask you not to show the horror of it, but
to have pity. You have perhaps known many women, but you have
never known one like our Josephine. In her soul is the purity of
the blue skies, the sweetness of the wild flowers, the goodness of
our Blessed Lady, the Mother of Christ. You may disbelieve, and
what is to come may eat at the core of your heart as it has
devoured life and happiness from mine. But you will love L'Ange--
our Josephine--just the same."
Even as he felt himself trembling strangely at Jean Croisset's
words, Philip replied:
"Always, Jean, I swear that."
In the open door Josephine had paused for a moment, and was
looking back. Then she disappeared.
"Come," said Jean. "And may God have pity on you if you fail to
keep your word in all you have promised, M'sieur Philip Darcambal.
For from this hour on you are Philip Darcambal, of Montreal, the
husband of Josephine Adare, our beloved lady of the forests. Come,
M'sieur!"