The savage, Long-Hair, peace to his memory,
worked the miracle of restoring to me--" Here a fold in the paper
has destroyed a line of the writing.
The letter is a sacred family paper, and there is not
justification for going farther into its faded and, in some parts,
almost obliterated writing. But so much may pass into these pages
as a pleasant authentication of what otherwise might be altogether
too sweet a double nut for the critic's teeth to crack.
While Adrienne and Alice were still discussing the probability of
Rene de Ronville's return, M. Roussillon came to the door. He was
in search of Madame, his wife, whom he had not yet seen.
He gathered the two girls in his mighty arms, tousling them with
rough tenderness. Alice returned his affectionate embrace and told
him where to find Madame Roussillon, who was with Dame Godere,
probably at her house.
"Nobody killed," he said, in answer to Alice's inquiry about the
catastrophe at the fort. "Some of 'em hurt and burnt a little.
Great big scare about nearly nothing. Ziff! my children, you
should have seen me quiet things. I put out my hands, this way--
omme ca--pouf! It was all over. The people went home."
His gestures indicated that he had borne back an army with open
hands. Then he chucked Adrienne under the chin with his finger and
added in his softest voice:
"I saw somebody's lover the other day, over yonder in the Indian
village.
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