Marie-Anne heard the
shooting and came--alone--just as you rolled out in the sand as if
dead. It was she who ran out to you first, while my Carmin
crouched there with her rifle, ready to send another bullet into
you if you moved. It was Marie-Anne you saw standing over you, it
was she who knelt down at your side, and then--"
St. Pierre paused, and he smiled, and then grimaced as he tried to
rub his two bandaged hands together. "David, fate mixes things up
in a funny way. My Carmin came out and stood over you, hating you;
and Marie-Anne knelt down there at your side, loving you. Yes, it
is true. And over you they fought for life or death, and love won,
because it is always stronger than hate. Besides, as you lay there
bleeding and helpless, you looked different to my Carmin than as
you did when you hanged her brother. So they dragged you up under
a tree, and after that they plotted together and planned, while I
was away up the river on the raft. The feminine mind works
strangely, M'sieu David, and perhaps it was that thing we call
intuition which made them do what they did. Marie-Anne knew it
would never do for you to see and recognize my Carmin, so in their
scheming of things she insisted on passing herself off as my wife,
while my Carmin came back in a canoe to meet me.
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