A ROMANCE OF "OUR LAKE" 165 



ing star to Frank. She did not expect him to announce 

 his coming by any noise of the paddle, knowing well that 

 he would propel his canoe by sculling without lifting 

 the paddle out of the water. So when he glided into 

 view, he seemed to her like a ghostly apparition from 

 another world, causing her a momentary start. With- 

 out speaking a word, she stepped into her canoe, loosed 

 it from its fastenings, sat down in the stern and, offer- 

 ing up a silent prayer for safety and for her father and 

 mother's forgiveness, let her canoe drift away from the 

 rock, and aided by the now favoring wind and the cur- 

 rent which always sets toward the outlet, she cut the 

 gordian knot which bound her to home and kindred. 

 The die was cast ; she had given up everything, father, 

 mother, brothers, home and tribe, and ventured out 

 upon the unexplored sea of marital bliss or misery. She 

 sat passive in her canoe without motion or speech, and 

 with it drifted with the wind and the current as they 

 listed. Anita was dreaming of the unknown future, of 

 the perils that lay before them, of the promised home 

 in the far-away regions which Frank had christened 

 " Our Lake " our lake, hers and his " Our Lake," 

 where all the joys that could ever be hoped for by a 

 true loving maid were to be hers. And she thought of 

 the letter written on birch bark which she had left ad- 

 dressed to her father, mother and brothers, telling them 

 how she had gone away with her heart's choice, apolo- 

 gizing for the manner of her going, because of their 



