The door burst open and Ronald entered. "What do you think," he shouted; "we've got troops! Captain Wells has brought ten soldiers to the Fort!" "Miss Manning," said Mrs. Mackenzie, "let me present Ensign George Ronald, of Fort Dearborn." Beatrice bowed, but he stared at her for an instant, then brought his heels together and raised his hand to his forehead in military salute. There was an awkward instant, then the deep crimson dyed the Ensign's face. He turned--and bolted. From the window Beatrice saw him, in a pirogue, pulling back to the Fort as if his life depended upon it, then she laughed--a deep, sweet, vibrant laugh, that thrilled Robert to the very depths of his soul. CHAPTER VI COUSINS "Aunty," said Beatrice, at breakfast the next morning, "do you think I scared him to death?" "What do you mean, dear?" "Why, that young man--yesterday. Mr. Ronald is his name, isn't it?" Mrs. Mackenzie laughed at the memory of the Ensign's scarlet face. "I think he'll get over it," she said; "don't you, Rob?" "I certainly do. He's the last man in the world to be afraid of a woman." "Oh, yes, he'll recover," put in Mackenzie, significantly. "I think it's lovely here," observed Beatrice, irrelevantly, "and I know I'm going to like it." "We're going to try very hard to make you happy," said Forsyth, with evident sincerity. "I've wanted to live with Aunt Eleanor ever since last Spring, when they all came to Fort Wayne. Otherwise, I wouldn't have fought. That is, perhaps I wouldn't." Rising from the table, she went out on the piazza, and Robert instinctively followed her. If the long journey on horseback had tired her, she showed no sign of it, for she might have been a part of the morning as she stood there, smiling, with the sunlight on her wind-blown hair. The heavy brown coil, with auburn lights and black shadows in it, had a strange fascination for Forsyth. He liked the way her hair grew around her forehead and temples, and the little curl that escaped at her neck. She was looking away from him, and he thought her unaware of his scrutiny till she said quietly: "Well, how do you like your new cousin? Do you think I will do?" "Yes," he stammered, dimly grateful for the impulse that kept her face still turned away; "that is, very much." "How am I going to get my horse over here," she demanded suddenly. "What horse?" asked Robert, stupidly. "The one I rode from Fort Wayne, of course. Did I understand you to say you had been to college?" "Yes; I graduated." "Really?" Beatrice turned upon him a dazzling smile. "I never should have thought it," she added pleasantly. "Where is your horse?" he asked, crimsoning. "You don't see it anywhere, do you?" "N--no." "Then, obviously, it's at the Fort, isn't it?" "I--I suppose so." "Well, then, we're making progress. Now, how do I get it over here?" "Swim," said Robert, helplessly, at his wit's end.