The Hidden Children by Robert William Chambers Chapter 20 Page 20

grey, unfathomable eyes; then I stepped forward uncertainly, bending in silence over the narrow, sun-tanned hand that lay inert under the respectful but trembling salute I offered.

“Euan Loskiel,” she murmured in the French tongue, laying her other hand over mine and looking me deep in the eyes. “Euan Loskiel, a soldier of the United States! May God ever mount guard beside you for all your goodness to my little daughter.”

Tears filled her eyes; her pale, smooth cheeks were wet.

“Lois is still asleep,” she said. “Come quietly with her mother and you shall see her where she sleeps.”

Cap in hand, coon-tail dragging, I entered the single room on silent, moccasined feet, set my