"Miss Nelson is going away with Stefan in a few minutes," said Hugo, cheerfully. At this Mrs. Papineau's face fell. She looked positively unhappy. "Some'ow," she said, sniffing, "I always 'ope she stay 'ere h'all de time now. I--I never tink she go avay for good. De--de dogs and de calf and--an--de baby and chil'ren dey all love 'er. I h'awful sorry." "But--but I'm coming back, Mrs. Papineau," cried Madge. "I--I can't live away from--from Roaring River now!" "Dey two iss ter be marrit!" roared Stefan. "Hey! What you tank? I tank so all de time, you bet!" At this they all crowded around Madge, and such hand-shakings, and such kisses from the good woman and the children, and such joy depicted on all the faces! She thought that never a bride had received such heartfelt congratulations and good wishes. But in a couple of hours the old horse was quite rested and had finished the small bag of oats Stefan had brought and eaten plenty of the sweet-scented hay furnished by Papineau, and it was time to go. Strangely enough, at the last moment, the usually crowded house was deserted excepting by two, who found themselves in one another's arms. "God bless you, Madge," said the man. "I will come soon." "I shall be waiting," answered the girl, simply. And so she rode away again, in the old buckboard that rolled and pitched and heaved and bucked so that very often she got off and walked at the side of Stefan. Late that night she found herself in the doctor's home, after a wonderful welcome from his wife and himself. The kiddies had been put to bed. "I--I feel that--that I am deserting you, that you trusted me to help you with a splendid work," she said, with head bent down. "That is not so," the man answered gravely. "Remember what I told you when I was trying to enlist you. I say that more than for any other purposes, we wanted women, good women, to come and become the mothers of the strong, fine breed that can alone master our wilderness. Hugo is one of those fellows of brawn and brain who are working towards the common happiness in establishing his own. He needs a helper he can love and trust and cherish, one who will in herself be the biggest reward he can ever gain, and make him feel that the bigger part of the purpose of his life has been secured with your promise to marry him. To me the sick and the halt are paramount--but they will have to wait a little. In some way or other they will be looked after, I promise you, for no man in a responsible position can be anything but a problem-solver, in these places, and I'll find someone, never fear." "Yours will be the more important occupation now, my dear," said the doctor's wife; "you'll be in the front ranks of the fighters." So the doctor went away and the two women made the sewing-machine hum, and cut and basted and threaded needles. Together they managed to put together all that was indispensable and to discard the frivolous, as became the wives of pioneers.