"No," she answered, smiling at him meaningly; "he wasn't invited." Then she moved away, leaving Lisle more deeply content. Presently the party broke up, and when they reached the tent they jointly occupied, Miss Hume remarked to Millicent: "You look unusually pleased, my dear." "I dare say I do," Millicent smiled. "It's something to feel that one's confidence has been justified, and perhaps rather more to rest assured that everything will now go as smoothly as possible." "I suppose you mean since Mr. Lisle has come? Apart from his practical abilities, I'm fond of that man. No doubt you noticed that he came first to me, as the eldest, though he is aware that I'm only a dependent. In a way, of course, he wasn't altogether right, Bella Carew being married and you the actual hostess." "I wonder if such points are of any importance in the bush," Millicent answered, laughing. "But I'm glad Mr. Lisle's action won your good opinion. I like my friends to be graceful." Miss Hume, faded, gray-haired and formal, looked reflective. "The word you used is not quite the one I should have chosen. Clarence Gladwyne is graceful; I think this Canadian is something better. To-night he was actuated by genuine chivalry. My esteem may not be worth much, but it is his." Moved by some impulse, Millicent kissed her. "I've no doubt he'd value it. But I can't have Clarence depreciated; and it's getting very late." Miss Hume noticed a slight change in the girl's voice as she mentioned Gladwyne. She put out the lamp but it was some time before she went to sleep. She loved Millicent, and she believed there was trouble awaiting her. CHAPTER XXVI LISLE TURNS AUTOCRAT On the morning after his arrival, Lisle called the company together and first of all addressed Millicent. "It's your wish that I should act as guide to this expedition?" Millicent answered in the affirmative and he went on: "The guide must be commander-in-chief, with undisputed authority. Before we start, I must ask if any one objects to that?" They gave him full power, with acclamation, and he nodded. "Well," he continued, "I'd better explain that the main difficulty attending any expedition into an almost uninhabited region is to keep it supplied with food and means of shelter; it's a question of transport. There are two ways of getting over the difficulty--by reducing the weight, or by increasing the number of packers; and the latter are useful only when each man can transport more than will satisfy his personal requirements. I think that's clear?" They assented with some curiosity mixed with a slight uneasiness. "Then," he proceeded, "I'll exercise my authority by asking you to lay out in front of each tent everything you have brought with you." "Including our clothes?" Bella asked. "Assuredly," said Crestwick. "You can put them in a heap; it's the quantity and not the cut that counts."