Without, the rapidly increasing noise indicated a return of many savages to the camp, until at last a fire was kindled in the open space, its red flame sending some slight illumination where we were, but not enough to reveal the interior of the lodge.

An Indian brought the girl some food, entering and leaving without uttering a sound; and we two ate together, striving to speak lightly in order to make the coarse meal more palatable.
Suddenly I became aware of a faint scratching upon the skin of the lodge, at my back.

At first I supposed it to be some wild animal, or possibly a stray dog; but the regularity of it showed a purpose of some kind.

Could it be De Croix?
Or was it the half-breed with some secret message he dared not deliver openly?
I lifted the lodge covering slightly, and placed my lips to the aperture.
"Is some one there ?" I whispered cautiously.

"Who is it ?" "I am Sister Celeste," came the immediate low reply.