"Good! Ha, ha, monsieur le colonel. You hear him? You hear this young officer? _Bien!_ He promises not to escape till he warns us. Truly, you English are droll! But I understand, monsieur, and I know how honourably you will keep your promise. Now for quarters. You will be posted with the colonel, at his express wish, and will be allowed the same rations as our captains. As for pay, perhaps monsieur le colonel will permit you to draw on him, and afterwards you can refund. I hope you will find the time pass pleasantly. There are many here to entertain you." That indeed proved to be the case, for Quebec in those days was filled with young officers, and with a sprinkling of wealthy men. Balls and routs were of frequent occurrence, and for a time Steve was a lion at these entertainments, thanks again to the honesty of the colonel, who had told his tale everywhere. "We hear, monsieur, that our beloved colonel owes his life to you," said one of the numerous ladies then resident in the city. "Tell us your story of this venture." Steve bowed in courtly manner, a trick which he had learned since his arrival, flushed to his hair, and looked embarassed. "Madame must know, surely," he answered, desperately. "I saw the colonel speaking with her a little while ago, and she is good enough now to admit that she has heard this tale." "True, monsieur. But it is your version that I require," was the laughing answer. "Come, monsieur, I will not permit you to disappoint me." Thus pressed, Steve shuffled uneasily, admitted that there might be truth in the colonel's tale, and then blurted out his own explanation, as if he had need to make an excuse for performing what had been a very generous action. "You see, madame, I was there," he said. "I chanced upon the colonel, and could I leave him to die? I brought him in, and since we did not desire to be troubled with a wounded man, why--well, we took him to his friends." There was laughter at that, for some half-dozen other people had gathered, amongst them the colonel, who leaned on his crutch. "You hear that, monsieur le colonel?" called madame, with a laugh, catching sight of the wounded officer. "I thought I should like to hear what this prisoner of yours had to say as to your rescue. You should listen to him. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that these English are naive. Monsieur tells me that having chanced upon our wounded friend he brought him back to his friends for one reason only. Guess at it, if you please. No. You cannot, mon colonel. Very well, monsieur has the effrontery to say that he feared you would be a great trouble to them. He would not be bothered with so useless a person as our colonel." There was loud laughter at that, laughter which sent Steve flying from the group, his cheeks aglow, while the gallant and merry colonel who had so befriended him stood leaning on the back of a chair, shaking his crutch after him.