Joanne's eyes were flooded with laughter as she nodded at the door. On the
sill was a huge quid of tobacco.

"Stevens!" Aldous chuckled. "God bless my soul, if you frightened him into
giving up a quid of tobacco like that you sure _did_ startle him some!" He
kicked Stevens' lost property out with the toe of his boot and turned to
Joanne, showing her the fresh bread and marmalade. "Mrs. Otto sent these to
you," he said. "And the train won't leave until to-morrow."

In her silence he pulled a chair in front of her, sat down close, and
thrust the point of his hunting knife into one of the two remaining
potatoes.

"And when it does go I'm going with you," he added.

He expected this announcement would have some effect on her. As she jumped
up with the pan of potatoes, leaving the one still speared on the end of
his knife, he caught only the corner of a bewitching smile.

"You still believe that I will be unable to take care of myself up at this
terrible Tête Jaune?" she asked, bending for a moment over the table. "Do
you?"

"No. You can care for yourself anywhere, Ladygray," he repeated. "But I am
quite sure that it will be less troublesome for me to see that no insults
are offered you than for you to resent those insults when they come. Tête
Jaune is full of Quades," he added.

The smile was gone from her face when she turned to him. Her blue eyes were
filled with a tense anxiety.