Adventure and adventurers > Away in the wilderness, or, Life among the red Indians and fur-traders of North America

AWAY IN THE WILDERNESS.
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worn, and that he had no more right to shave
his face than a Chinaman had to shave his head.
Jasper had been so far convinced, that he had
suffered his whiskers to grow. These were now
large and bushy, and had encroached so much on
his chin as to have become almost a beard. Be¬
sides this, not having shaved any part of his face
during the last three weeks, there was little of it
visible except his eyes, forehead, and cheek-bones.
All the rest was more or less covered with black
hair.
No wonder, then, that Marie, who believed
him to be two thousand miles away at that
moment, did not recognise him in the increasing
darkness of evening. The lover at once under¬
stood this, and he resolved to play the part of a
stranger. He happened to have the power of
changing his voice—a power possessed by many
people—and, trusting to the increasing gloom to
conceal him and to the fact that he was the
last person in the world whom Marie might
expect to see there, he addressed her as fol¬
lows :—
“ I am indeed a stranger here; at least I have
not been at the post for a very long time. I have
just reached the end of a long journey.”
• “ Indeed,” said the girl, interested by the
stranger’s grave manner. “ May I ask where you
have come from 1 ”
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