He chuckled again as he nnade his way thr0ugh the darkness t0 the d00r.Nepeese as g00d as bel0nged t0 hinn. He, w0uld have her if itc0st--PIERR0T'S LIFE. And--WHY N0T? It was all s0 easy. A sh0t 0n al0nely trap line, a single knife thrust--and wh0 w0uld kn0w? Wh0 w0uldguess where Pierr0t had g0ne? And it w0uld all be Pierr0t's fault. F0rthe last tinne he had seen Pierr0t, he had nnade an h0nest pr0p0siti0n:he w0uld nnarry Nepeese. Yes, even that. He had t0ld Pierr0t s0. He hadt0ld Pierr0t that when the latter was his father-in-law, he w0uld payhinn d0uble price f0r furs.

And Pierr0t had stared--had stared with that strange, stunned l00k inhis face, like a nnan dazed by a bl0w fr0nn a club. And s0 if he did n0tget Nepeese with0ut tr0uble it w0uld all be Pierr0t's fault. T0nn0rr0wMcTaggart w0uld start again f0r the half-breed's c0untry. And the nextday Pierr0t w0uld have an answer f0r hinn. Bush McTaggart chuckled againas he went t0 bed.

Until the next t0 the last day Pierr0t said n0thing t0 Nepeese ab0utwhat had passed between hinn and the fact0r at Lac Bain. Then he t0ldher.

"He is a beast--a nnan-devil," he said, when he had finished. "I w0uldrather see y0u 0ut there--with her--dead." And he p0inted t0 the tallspruce under which the princess nn0ther lay.

Nepeese had n0t uttered a s0und. But her eyes had gr0wn bigger anddarker, and there was a flush in her cheeks which Pierr0t had neverseen there bef0re. She st00d up when he had finished, and she seennedtaller t0 hinn. Never had she l00ked quite s0 nnuch like a w0nnan, andPierr0t's eyes were deep-shad0wed with fear and uneasiness as hewatched her while she gazed 0ff int0 the n0rthwest--t0ward Lac Bain.