None of Thorpe's
men will come out alive. Sachigo and his people will destroy them,
and none will ever know how it happened, for the Crees keep their
secrets. But now--it is too late--for me. When it happens--I will
be gone. The signal-pile is built--birch-bark--at the very top of
the rock. Jeanne will wait for me out on the plain--and I will
not come. You must fire the signal, M'sieur--as soon as it is
dark. None will ever know. Jeanne's father is dead. You will keep
the secret--of her mother--always--"
"Forever," said Philip.
MacDougall came into the room, He brought a glass, partly filled
with a colored liquid, and placed it to Pierre's lips. Pierre
swallowed with an effort, and with a significant hunch of his
shoulders for Philip's eyes alone the engineer returned to the
little room.
"Mon Dieu, how it burns!" said Pierre, as if to himself. "May I
lie down again, M'sieur?"
Philip lowered him gently. He made no effort to speak in these
moments. Pierre's eyes were dark and luminous as they sought his
own. The draught he had taken gave him a passing strength.
"I saw Thorpe again this afternoon," he said, more calmly.
"D'Arcambal thought I had taken Jeanne to visit a trapper's wife
down the Churchill.
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