That is what I
wanted to tell you, Jean. No one but you and I must ever know!"
"I would like to choke that fool of a Croisset for sending you to hunt
up those people at Nelson House and Wholdaia!" grumbled Jean.
"It was best for me."
They saw Melisse leaving Iowaka's home when they came from the forest.
Both waved their hands to her, and Jan cut across the open to the
store.
Jean went to the Cummins cabin as soon as he was sure that he was not
observed. There was little of the old vivacity in his manner as he
greeted Melisse. He noted, too, that the girl was not her natural
self. There was a redness under her eyes which told him that she had
been crying.
"Melisse," he said at last, speaking to her with his eyes fixed on the
cap he was twisting in his fingers, "there has come a great change
over Jan."
"A very great change, Jean. If I were to guess, I should say that his
heart has been broken down on the Nelson trail."
Gravois caught the sharp meaning in her voice, which trembled a little
as she spoke. He was before her in an instant, his cap fallen to the
floor, his eyes blazing as he caught her by the arms.
"Yes, the heart of Jan Thoreau is broken!" he cried. "But it has been
broken by nothing that lives on the Nelson House trail.
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