162 WITH GUN AND GUIDE 



then following her in his canoe, and that she must ful- 

 fil her mission in catching trout for the use of the 

 camp. Frank, acting impetuously upon the spur of 

 the moment, and impressed with the necessity of 

 promptly " taking time by the forelock " proposed that 

 she should elope with him the following morning, tell- 

 ing her that he had already arranged with the good 

 priest on his trip down the Allegash that if fortune 

 favored him so much as to gain her consent, and if 

 they should succeed in making good their escape, 

 he should marry them, and in proof of his willingness 

 to make them man and wife, he had given Frank his 

 itinerary of travel so that he would know where to find 

 him on the waters of the upper St. Johns, to which he 

 was then journeying. The lover now poured out his 

 passion to Anita with all the eloquence of which the 

 poetic red man is capable, saying to her, " Anita, fire 

 is bright : an equal light leaps in the flame from cedar, 

 plank or weed ; and love is fire. And thus I say, in- 

 deed, I love thee, mark, / love thee ! " Thus was his 

 avowal made, and he waited with breathless interest to 

 hear the now silent maiden's answer. She looked long 

 and lovingly into his eyes and then replied, leaning her 

 head upon his breast, " Wilt thou have me fashion into 

 speech the love I bear thee, finding words enough, and 

 hold the torch out while the winds are rough between 

 our faces to cast light on each ? I drop it at thy feet. 

 Lo, I am thine ! Beloved, I love only thee ! " 



