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However theyin these words Conceit is not of h faith in irl hat little hope I possessed, and knew she read the truth behind those utterances which sounded so brave Even as I finished she arose to her feet, standing erect beforea very queen

"Never will I doubt that, Geoffrey Benteen," she declared iotten it If it is any encourageo forth from here, that never did woed into th to conquer

"I--I accept your words in the same spirit hich they are offered," I stareatest worth to ly within ave utterance to some foolish speech Yet even as I turned hastily toward the door, I paused with a final question

"The negro who guided me here, Madame; is he one in whoravely "He has been with the De Noyan family from a child, and is devoted to his master"

"Then I take hier"

With a swift backward glance into her earnest dark eyes, an indulgence I could not denyAlphonse upon the porch, where he evidently felt hi hi ht ahead until I caht I worked ing soldiers, who e, beyond soe of the Spanish fleet

In the character of an unsophisticated frontiers listlessly about in s with awe upon those strange ships of war, swinging by their cables in the broad streaathered, one to awaken interest at any other tieurs from the far-off Illinois country, as barbarian in dress and actions as the native denizens of those northern plains, co freely with Creole hunters freshly arrived from the bayous of the swamp lands; sunburnt fisher-haired flatboat-h the tan and dirt acquired in the long voyage from the upper Ohio; here and there some stolid Indian brave, resplendent in paint and feathers, and not a few drunken soldiers teave these little thought, except to push h thereat ships