BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
OUR FRESH AND SALT TUTORS; or,
That Good Old Time. With Illustrations
by Winslow Homer and De Haas. In one
volume, 16mo, extra cloth, $1.50.
" An uncommonly pood story for boys; fresh, spirited, and
manly." ffvrth American Re"iew.
" A charming book. The writer has succeeded in making a
genuine ' boy's book.' In leaving boyhood behind him, the door
has not been shut against his return to the mysteries of a boy's
life. This work is so fresh and hearty, so instinct with an appre-
ciation of boy-life, and so winning in its Christian lessons, that we
can heartily recommend it to our young friends as, in its kind, the
most delightful book of the season." Harper* t Weekly.
" Destined, if we mistake not, to take a front rank among the
holiday juveniles of the present season." Boston Daily Advertiser .
"'That Good Old Time' is a narrative of a .summer at Cape
Ann fifty years ago. Five Boston boys, three Graveses and two
Higginsons, stayed there for months with their tutors, both salt
and fresh, one must read the book to know what that mean-.
and two old black servants; and such a glorious time as they had !
Such boating, and shooting, and studying, and frolicking; such
hair-breadth escapes, such wonderful discoveries, and such a light
with real pirates ! It is all told by one of the bovs, and now ' an
old moustache,' who sits in his study, and recalls the old time:
recalls it with boyish enthusiasm and heartiness, and yet with a
touch of sadness at the changes of fifty years. It is bv far the best
book for boys that has come this season." Worcester Spy.
" We have not seen a better book for boys for years." Amer-
ican Baptist.
" This is a grand book for the boys a sort of Tom Brown at
the sea-side. . . . No boy's book has been published for a long
time that we have enjoyed so much." Ke.nne.btc Journal.
" An admirably spirited boy's book, written by one who is as
much a master of tins class of literature as the author of ' Tom
Brown.' . . . The whole spirit and style of the book are at
once manly and Christian; its illustrations, which are numerous,
are full of spirit." Western Episcopalian.
"Breezy and lusty, and good for blood-making in sluggish
veins." Boston Post.
^-,
Sliding down hill on barrel staves. See pa-re lln.
WHITE AND KED;
A NARRATIVE OF
LIFE AMONG THE NORTHWEST INDIANS.
HELEN C. WEEKS,
AUTHOR OF " THE AI.NSLEE STORIES " AND " GKANDPA' S HOCSI."
WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. P. CLOSE.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY HUKD AND HOUGHTON.
1869.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by
HURD AND HOUGHTOX,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New
York.
RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE :
STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BT
H. HOUGI1TOX AND COMPACT.
WHITE AND RED.
CHAPTER I.
"BEARS!" said grandpa.
"Panthers and Lynxes!" said Aunt
Fanny.
" Wolves and Foxes ! " said Uncle
Charley.
"Three hundred miles through the
woods ! " said Aunt Lizzie.
" You will die before you get there ! "
said Aunt Margaret. " The most reck-
less undertaking I ever heard of ! "
" All the wild animals together, are not
as bad as one Indian. Think of willfully
risking your life, and that precious boy's.
It's wicked ! " and grandma lay back in
her chair, and shut her eyes.
"What is it all about?" asked Dr.
Brown, who had come in just in time to
hear the list of animals. "A menagerie
Harry wants to see ! Bears, and pan-
thers, and wolves; well, why should he
not?"
2 WHITE AND BED.
" 'Tisn't a menagerie," said Harry, whv
had been standing by his mother's chair,
waiting for a chance to speak " It's only
the Indian country. Mamma 's got a let-
ter from papa, and he wants us to come
where he is, and everybody says we
shu'n't. It's real mean, / think."
" The best thing that could happen to
you," said Dr. Brown.
Grandma opened her eyes and sat up
straight, and there was such a chorus of
Ohs ! and Whys ! that Dr. Brown put his
hands to his ears. "Yes, the best thing
that could happen," he repeated, when
there was silence. u Harry will never get
well here ; in the first place, because the
air is not good for him ; and in the sec-
ond, because you are not willing he
should have half enough of such as it is.
You coddle him da}' and night, when he
is pining to be let alone. The boy is
growing up with a constitution not worth
one farthing ; and if you are anxious to
kill him keep him here, and give him
plum-cake, as I saw you doing the other
day."
" That piece ! " said Harry with scorn.
" It wasn't big enough for a fly. I wish
I could have a lot, but mamma only gives
me a speck, once -in a while."
WHITE AND RED. 6
" So much the better," said the Doctor.
" Turn you loose in the pine woods for a
year or two, and you and your father will
come home strong together. Your chest
is three inches narrower than it should
be."
"It will kill him, I know, getting out
there," said grandma.
Not a bit of it," said the Doctor. He
will grow better with every mile of the
journey."
Grandma sighed, and shook her head,
and so did the aunts, but mamma's face
looked much brighter.
" Really it is a terrible journey," she
said, " but if you think it would not
hurt Harry, I shall be so glad to go."
" What does Henry say ? " Dr. Brown
asked. " He thinks it safe enough, I
suppose ? "
" Yes indeed," said mamma. " He is so
much stronger himself, that he thinks
another year there will be worth more
in point of health than any amount of
money to be made at home ; so he will
keep his appointment at Red Lake, where
he went in the spring, you know."
"Right in the midst of Indians," said
grandma, in a pitiful voice. " It was bad
enough having him there, but now, with
4 WHITE AND RED.
Mary and Harry going, I cannot have one
moment's peace or rest."
" Papa says they're the best Indians
there are anywhere," Harry broke in.
" He says we shall like them ; and if we
can make up our minds to hardships, we
shall have a real good time. I'm not
afraid."
" How will you go ? " asked the Doctor.
"Through the Lakes, on account of
Harry's head," mamma answered, "and
Henry thinks he will be well enough
when we get to Milwaukie, to bear a
day's ride in the cars easily."
" I don't doubt he will," said the Doctor,
buttoning his coat. "Let me help you
any way I can. Good-night all."
Grandpa followed him to the door, and
there was a sound of talking from the hall
for a few minutes.
" I do wish you all felt differently about
it," said mamma, as grandpa came in
again. " I am sure it is the best thing for
both Harry and his father."
" So am I, on the whole," said grandpa ;
"and now the only thing to do is to get
you off as soon as possible, for the Lakes
will not be open much longer. First,
though, we'll put Harry to bed."
Harry declared he was not sleepy, but
WHITE AND RED. O
went up-stairs at last ; and while grandma
and the rest are still talking over the dan-
gers of the journey, I will tell you who
they are, and why it is to be taken.
Harry's father, Dr. Henry Prescott, had
entered the army as surgeon for one of
the Massachusetts regiments, at the' open-
ing of the war, and remained in it to tho
very end, coming home on furlough once
or twice, but going back after the short
rest had past, without thought of giving
up till all need for him was over. Harry
and his mother were with him sometimes,
but Harry was so sickly a child, that his
father and mother both dreaded having
him anywhere but in their own quiet
home. There had been a time when he
was strong and well, but scarlet fever,
which kills so many children, had taken
away his baby sister, and left Harry al-
most blind, and with headaches which
came sometimes every week, and made
him weak and almost helpless while they
lasted.
Papa came home, when peace was de-
clared, to find his one little boy, what
nurse called " a rack o' bones," and
mamma almost worn out taking care of
him. Harry could but just bear the mo-
tion of a carriage, and the cars brought on
6 WHITE AND RED.
his headaches at once. Papa took him
to Newport, thinking that sea bathing
might help him; and Harry did grow
stronger, though the headaches still re-
mained. They went back to Boston
when fall came; but it was papa's turn
now, and, as the months went on, he
coughed a little hacking cough, and grew
so thin that people shook their heads, and
said he had ruined his health in the army,
and would never get well. Boston east
winds and sea fogs, settling about one like
a wet blanket, made him worse, and worse,
and so at last he found, that, to live at all,
it was necessary to go away again. He
was a doctor, you know, and before this
had sent a good many people, sick in the
same way as himself, to the far North-
west; many of them had come home
well again, and he knew that to follow
the same plan, was the best thing to do.
So they gave up their own little house,
and mamma and Hary went to stay at
grandfather Barnard's till Dr. Prescott
should have tried the West, and decided
whether or not they had better join him
there.
So he went from one town to another
in Minnesota, getting better very slowly,
but never well, and sometimes sadly dis-
WHITE AND RED. 7
couraged, till at last he made up his mind
to try the " Pineries," as the great woods
are called. In the mean time, an appoint-
ment as doctor for the Red Lake band of
Chippewas was offered, and Dr. Prescott,
who knew well how necessary it was that
every one should have some special work
to do, accepted, with the privilege of giv-
ing it up, should his health be no better.
The journey to Red Lake was made, and
from there, at intervals through the sum-
mer, came letters, filled not only with the
good news of returning health, but with
such stories of life there, as made Harry
quite wild to try it. They were all lone-
sonic letters though, and at last, late in
the fall, came the one in which he asked
mamma to join him.
You know how it was received, and so
it will not surprise you to hear that,
though when Harry came down next
morning, he found their going to be a set-
tled thing, still grandma and the aunties
thought it very dreadful to live among
Indians, and coaxed mamma in every way
to leave Harry with them while she was
gone.
Of course mamma only laughed, and
went on making preparations for the jour-
ney. Papa had written that only the
8 WHITE AND RED.
warmest woollen clothes were to be taken.
Everything fine was to be left at home,
and the only thought to be, that of keep-
ing comfortable. It was already the first
of November, and Dr. Prescott's letter
said that he would be at Milwaukie by the
fifth, and wait there for them. So the
packing went on swiftly, and when Dr.
Brown came in, in the evening, mamma
sat by the table putting some warm
" ears " to Harry's cap, while Harry him-
self was looking over a pile of books, and
wondering which he had better take, as
he had been limited to three.
u Only think of it ! " he said, looking up.
"We're going to-morrow afternoon in a
sleeping car, so I can lie down, and the
next morning we shall be where the boat
is."
u Where is that ? " said the Doctor.
" Ogdensburg." mamma answered. " Fa-
ther bought our tickets to-day, and we
can easily be ready to-morrow "
" Going alone ? "
" I suppose so," mamma went on. " 'Tis
only a night's ride, with nothing to do
when we get to Ogdensburg, but go on
board the boat, and I have had to go
about alone so much, that I do not dread
it in the least, except for Harry."
WHITE AND RED. 9
"I'll be at the cars to-morrow, and see
you off," said the Doctor.
" Goody ! " said Harry, who was very
intimate with him. " I wish you were go-
ing all the way. Uncle Charley wanted
to go with us, but he can't, and grandpa
can't either, only to the depot."
" You'll need a doctor before you get
to Milwaukie," said grandma, shaking her
head, " and those lake boats are always
blowing up or sinking."
" We'll write and tell you, the minute
this one does," said Harry; at which every
one laughed, he could not exactly see why.
Grandma felt better after the laugh,
and the evening passed away quietly, as
if it were not the last together for many
long months. The next day, too, went
swiftly by. There was so many last
things to do, with all of them. Harry
made two or three calls on some special
friends, and I am afraid to tell half the
things he promised to bring each one
from the Indian country.
Half-past four came at last, the carriage
was at the door; the great trunk strap-
ped behind, grandpa on the box with the
coachman ; and mamma and Harry, and
grandma and Aunt Fanny inside. Uncle
Charley put a travelling-bag in Harry's
10 WHITE AND RED.
hand, and told him he had better not
open the bundles in it till next day, when
they were on the boat, and then the whip
snapped, and they rolled off through the
crooked streets to the depot. Grandpa
found them nice seats in the sleeping
car, after some trouble, and then came
the good-bys, when even Harry, who
wanted to be very manly, cried a little,
and began to think how he should miss
them all. The whistle sounded, the con-
ductor shouted, " All aboard ! " Grandpa
and the rest hurried out, and Harry, look-
ing from the window for a last glimpse,
saw Dr. Brown, with a satchel in his hand,
swing himself to the platform of one of
the cars as they moved out of the depOt.
u Why, mamma I " was all he had time
to say, for the car door opened, and
mamma, looking up, was quite as much
astonished as he
u You surely do not think of going all
the way to Ogdensburg," she said, as the
Doctor sat gravely down, and put his bag
by the other two.
"I don't know why not," he said. "I
wanted a little change, and this is the best
opportunity I have had for a long time.
What have you there ? You are not to
read in this light"
WHITE AND RED. 11
Mamma knew it was altogether on Har-
ry's account that he had come ; but she
knew, too, that nothing must be said
about it, for this was Dr. Brown's way.
So she only sat comfortably back, feeling
that here was somebody to take all re-
sponsibility, and Harry talked for a while,
and looked from the window till his eyes'
were tired, and then leaned his head on
mamma's shoulder. This was joggly rest,
though, and soon Dr. Brown, who had been
watching him, went out, coming back
directly with a boy, who said, "The
other side of the car, if you please."
Harry watched with great interest, after
they had changed to the opposite side,
while the boy pulled their two seats
toward each other, till all at once they
met, and were a bed. Then, from some
place overhead, he pulled pillows and
blankets, and a thin mattress, and in a
very few minutes had quite a comfortable
bed ready, on which Harry was glad
enough to lie down. Mamma put some
bay water on his forehead, and brushed his
nair, and soon he was sound asleep.
" Better than I expected," said the Doc-
tor. "The roughest place is between
Rouse's Point and Ogdensburg, and he
may get through well with that, though
I'm doubtful."
12 WHITE AND RED.
Harry slept on quietly, and in another
hour or so Dr. Brown took a berth op-
posite, charging mamma to speak at once,
should Harry wake up sick. Mamma was
tired herself, and glad to lie down, and
though Harry did wake once or twice,
and for a moment could not tell where
"he was, and held her hand tight, he went
sound asleep again, and could hardly be-
lieve the night had gone, when he opened
his eyes, and saw the sun shining, and
mamma sitting on the edge of the bed.
They went together into a little room
at the end of the car, where they found
water and a looking-glass. Mamma had
a towel in her bag, and after their faces
were washed, and hair brushed, they went
back to their place. Dr. Brown had just
crawled down, declaring the pillow had
got into his ear, and that he had had to
put his feet in his pocket to keep them
warm, and Harry showed him where the
little room was. When he came back the
boy was there, making the bed into seats
again, and Harry walked down the aisle
with him, watching the way it was done.
The whistle sounded, and he went back to
find out what place they were coming to.
" Georgia was the last," said the Doctor,
looking at his guide-book, "so this must
WHITE AND RED. 13
be St. Albans, where they have the finest
depot east of Chicago. We stop there for
breakfast, so you will see a little of it.
" Twenty minutes for breakfast ! " the
conductor shouted, as the train rolled into
an immense building, arched overhead ;
half a dozen tracks running through the
centre, and doors opening on all sides. '
The Doctor hurried them through the
large, cheerful ladies' room, into a still
larger, more cheerful one, with a long
counter of Vermont marble at one end,
and white covered tables at intervals. In
two minutes more, breakfast was before
them ; golden butter, such as it is hard to
find out of New England ; beefsteak and
coffee, and more good things than it is
worth while to write about here.
Harry had a great goblet of milk, almost
cream, and then another, and ate beefsteak
and brown bread till he wanted no more,
looking now and then around the beautiful
room, paneled in black ash and walnut, like
all the rooms they had come through, and
filled now with a hungry crowd, quite as
busy as they were.
Harry would have liked to buy some of
the nice looking cake on the counter, but
mamma said they were to have dinner on
board the boat, and anything sweet might
14 WHITE AND RED.
make his head ache, so he bought a red
apple instead. The Doctor made a flying
call up-stairs after he had seated them in
the cars again, and said it was the most
perfect depot he had ever seen, and he
should have liked to take them all over it.
To Rouse's Point seemed only a short
time. They looked from the windows at
the long meadows, where the cattle feed in
spring and summer, but which lay now
bare and gray, between the miles of fen-
cing. All about St. Albans is dairy country,
and many hundred thousand pounds of
butter and cheese are sent out yearly from
there. Harry had a long talk about but-
ter-making there and in England, and in-
deed, everywhere, for the Doctor seemed
to know the different ways of doing it all
over the world. Harry was just thinking
what a taste butter must have after being
shaken in a goat-skin for an hour or two,
when the train stopped at Rouse's Point.
Here was a great steamboat, and Harry
thought at first it was the one they were
to take, but the Doctor said, " No, this was
to go down Lake Champlain, " and led
them across some tracks to a train, which
stood waiting, and moved off almost before
they had time to get seated.
It was a long train, and all the cars
WHITE AND RED. 15
seemed filled with people going west by
the Grand Trunk Railroad, which takes
one through Canada. The conductor was
a very fat, very gruff man, in uniform,
with a gilt band around his cap. The
seats were uncomfortable, and though
they went very slowly, or at least it
seemed slow, after the swift travelling of
the train they had left, still they jounced
and rattled in such a way, that Harry's
head was very soon throbbing with pain,
and he lay in mamma's lap with such a pale
face, that an old lady in the next seat of-
fered peppermint drops and camphor, and
s^id, such a sick looking child as that
ought to stay at home.
They rode till nearly noon, when they
reached Ogdenshurg; poor Harry could
hardly lift his head, and mamma was glad
indeed that Dr. Brown's strong arms could
carry him to the propeller close by, and
lay him in the berth, in their fresh, clean
little state-room. After an hour or two,
he began to feel better, and then Dr.
Brown took him out to the deck, and left
him with mamma, while he went for the
Captain, who had just come on board, and
whom, they found, he knew very well.
Captain Davis was his name, and he knew
papa, who had, he said, been very kind to
16 WHITE AND RED.
him, when he was sick in Beaufort, three
years before. He was a short man, with
bright, pleasant eyes, and a quick, ener-
getic way, and Harry and mamma both
thought they should like him very much.
He went away in a few moments, and then
Dr. Brown said it was almost time for him
to go. He meant to go back to Rouse's
Point in the one o'clock train ; sail down
Lake Champlain, from there to Burlington,
that he might have a look at Camel's
Hump, Mount Mansfield, and the Adiron-
dacks, and from there take cars to Boston.
Mamma tried to thank him for the care
he had taken of Harry, but he said,
" Not a word, not a word. I've had a very
good time, and the best breakfast I've
eaten for years."
Then he shook hands with mamma, and
patted Harry, who threw his arms around
his neck, and hugged him tight. Dr.
Brown, taken by surprise, hugged back
again, and then went away, leaving a small
package in mamma's lap. A train came
whistling along. Larry watched, till he
saw Dr. Brown get in, waving his hand to
them as he stepped on the platform ; then,
another whistle, a puff of steam from the
great engine, and t'ie Doctor, was on his
way home to Bosto i. Harry looked up to
see mamma's eyes lull of tears.
WHITE AND RED. 17
Are you sorry now you are going ? "
he said.
" No indeed/' she answered, " for very
soon we shall be with papa. I was only
sorry to say good-by to so dear a friend.
He can tell grandma, though, how well
you bore last night's ride, and what a nice
boat we are in, and that will make her
glad.
" I guess it will," said Harry, taking up
the package. " Why, mamma, this is for me.
See, here's my name. It feels like a book.".
Harry untied the string, and pulled off
the paper.
" It is a book," he said, and the very one
r wanted. 'Swiss Family Robinson/ and
my name in it too ! Is n't he nice ? Now
I shall have something to read all the way."
" You a little, and I a good deal," mamma
said. " That is the dinner-bell you hear.
Are you hungry ? "
" Some," Harry said, putting the paper
around the book again, and they went into
the cabin. The Captain gave Mrs. Pres-
cott a seat by him, but was called away
before he had finished his soup. Harry
looked around the table. On the opposite
side were a long line of men, next to him
several ladies ; and looking down toward
the end, he saw two children, and won-
2
18 WHITE AND RED.
dered if they were nice to play with.
After dinner he went into the state-room,
and, for the first time since his head had
begun to ache, thought of the bag Uncle
Charley had given him.
Mamma said he would enjoy looking
over the packages more after the boat had
started, she thought, though he could do
as he liked.
" Can we take a little walk ? " Harry
asked ; " because, if we can, I'll wait."
" Yes," mamma said. " The boat will not
start before five."
So Harry hung the bag up again, giving
a pinch or two, as if that would tell what
was in it, and then started out with mamma.
Over the railing two children were leaning,
looking down into the water; a boy just
about Harry's age, but tanned and sturdy,
and a little girl, sunburned too, and with
bright brown . eyes, who smiled as they
went by.
"Would you like to come too?" Mrs.
Prescott said.
The little girl ran in, coming out in a
moment with a tall, pleasant-looking wom-
an, who, as she saw Mrs. Prescott, said,
"I'm afraid they,, will trouble you."
" Not at all," Mrs. Prescott said, and the
children, who were looking shyly at Harry,
WHITE AXD RED. 19
went down the narrow little stairs, right
under the wheel-house, and picked their
way through boxes and barrels, to the
plank. The sun shone warm and pleas-
ant, though it was November, and they
walked nearly a mile up the river, talking
faster and faster as the shyness wore off}
and they grew better acquainted. Mrs.
Prescott liked them both, and was glad
Harry should have two such healthy, hearty
companions even for a few days.
" My name's Tom," said the boy, as
they turned again toward the boat.
"What's yours?"
" Mine's Harry Prescott," said Harry,
locking at the little girl. " Yours is Clara,
isn't it ? 'I heard your brother call you
tliat."
"Yes, it's Clara." she said, laughing.
" Our other name's Twitchell. 'Tisn't a
bit pretty name, like yours."
" It's good enough," Harry said. " I
guess we shall have a real good time, all
of us."
"Yes, if you're not sick," said Tom;
" you'll be dreadful sick when you get out
on the Lakes."
"I went way down South once in a
steamboat," said Harry, "and wasn't sick
a bit ; " and hearing this, Tom asked so
20 WHITE AND RED.
many questions, that they were at the
boat again before the talk was half through.
The two children sitting in the cabin,
seemed surprised when the other three
came laughing in. Harry looked at them
a moment, thinking they had not as good-
natured faces as Tom and Clara, and then
went into the state-room with mamma, this
time really to find out what was in the
bag. Mamma sat down on the edge of the
berth, while Harry pulled out one package
after another, each marked with the name
of the giver.
There was something from each one
at home ; grandma's gift was a box of
dominoes, which Harry thought he should
use that very evening. Then came two
or three puzzles ; queer-shaped bits of
paper, which, when put together, made a
picture, - one, of a monkey sitting on a
barrel ; another, a boy fishing.
" From Uncle Charley," was on a little
box, which, when opened, showed a Craig
microscope, a thing Harry had wanted a
long time, and which so delighted him he
could hardly wait to look at the other
bundles. One held "Holiday House,", a
nice story some of you have read, I dare
say ; and the very last was a box of can-
died fruit. The bag itself was not a com-
WHITE AND RED. 21
mon bag, for one side was a complete
dressing-case, filled with brush and comb,
tooth and nail brushes, an oil-silk pocket
for soap and sponge, and a small glass,
which slipped 'into a place of its own.
Harry drew a long breath as he finished
the search, finding, at the very last, some
pencils and pieces of drawing-paper in
another pocket.
" I should think it was Christmas," he
said. " I wish I could thank them all."
" You can in a little letter," said mamma.
" These are Christmas gifts coming before
Christmas, because then you wiU be away
from home. You can write a letter to-mor-
ro>v, if you like, and mail it when we stop
at Oswego."
" Perhaps I will," said Harry. " They're
pulling ropes ! They're going to start.
Let's go out on deck, mamma."
Harry ran out, followed more slowly by
mamma, to find Clara and Tom there be-
fore him. There was no wide deck where
passengers could sit; only a small open
space at one end, where heavy coils of
rope lay, and where the Captain or mate
stood when giving orders. A narrow way,
hardly more than three feet wide, ran
around the boat, and here at any mo-
ment one was liable to be tripped by
22 WHITE AND RED.
ropes, which seemed to come from every-
where, and end nowhere. Harry thought
it too bad that there was no more room
outside, but you will see by and by why
it had to be so.
The men were running through this
narrow passage-way, and Mrs. Prescott
drew the children into the door-way,
where they could still see, and stood there,
till the boat, after a few more whistles,
much shouting and running, and some
hard bumps against the wharf, steamed off
down the St. Lawrence.
It was almost six o'clock. The sun had
set, and night was fast coming on.. It was
chilly, too, and Harry and mamma both
were not sorry to hear the tea-bell ring.
The Captain was not at the table, which
was almost filled, more people having
come on board since dinner-time. The
four children were not there. They sat
at the end of the cabin, but seemed to
have very little to say to each other.
Hurry went to them when he had finished
supper.
" Why didn't you come ? " he said.
" There was plenty of room."
"That's why," said Tom, pointing to
some " Ruks for Passengers" framed, and
hanging close by; and then reading,
WHITE AND RED. 23
"'Children not allowed at the first table'
Mother read that, and said we must wait."
"I suppose you think you're great
things," said the oldest of the other two
children, a boy about twelve. "I don't
see what business you have at the first
table any more'n the rest of us."
" Look here, mamma," said Harry, pay-
ing no attention to the boy. " See what it
says about children. I can't go to the
table any more with you."
" Perhaps you can," said mamma. " The
rule hardly seems necessary on so small a
boat. There is room enough at the first
table, and it is better for children to be
with their fathers and mothers than to eat
alone."
" 1 think so too," said Mrs. Twichell, who
had just come up to them. " For my
part, 1 had rather wait with them, than
have them go alone. I don't see the use
of .such a rule, unless perhaps in. summer,
when the boats are crowded."
" There's no sense in rules for passen-
gers, anyhow," said a loud-voiced woman
' behind them. " Folks that pay, have the
right to do as they're a mind to. My
Clarence and 'Melia are going to the table
to-morrow, rule or no rule. If your boy
goes, I calculate mine has as good a
right."
24 WHITE AND RED.
Mrs. Prescott had stepped into her state-
room and so lost this remark. Harry fol-
lowed to get his bag, which he wanted to
show to the Twitchell children ; and all
of them sat down, after a time on a sofa,
and looked at everything. "Clarence
and 'Melia " came too, but snatched and
pulled in such a way, that Harry, who was
very careful of his things, finally put them
back in the bag, leaving out only the box
of dominoes, with which they played two
or three games.
It was soon bed-time. Harry stood up
on the stool in their state-room after he
had said good-night, and tried to see some
of the thousand islands through which
they were passing. It was too dark,
though, and he could but just see the dim
outlines of trees as they passed by. Mam-
ma helped him climb to the top berth
after he had said his evening prayer, and
very soon he was sound asleep, while the
boat went steadily on, nearer and nearer
to the waters of the first great lake, On-
tario.
When morning came, a high wind was
blowing; the boat rolled and creaked, and
Harry, looking from the window, saw only
the faintest line of land in the distance.
He wondered, as he dressed, that his head
WHITE AND RED. 25
should swim, and his legs feel as if they
did not belong to him.
" After I've been on the real sea, I
couldn't be sea-sick here ; could I, mam-
ma?" he said.
" I think you are sea-sick now, just a
little," she said. " Lie down while I dress,
and then we will go on deck."
Hardly any one was in the cabin as
they went through. Harry could but just
keep his feet, and outside it was still
worse. Captain Davis came to meet
them, and laughed as he saw Harry stag-
ger.
" This is only the beginning," he said.
"It's breezy now, we shall have wind
pretty soon."
" I thought we were having it now,"
Harry said, looking at the sail, against
which the wind seemed really to pound,
for a hollow sound, like a .drum, came
from it. " I didn't know anybody could
be sea-sick on a lake ; but this boat jerks
so."
" That is because we are in what sailors
call a ' chopping sea,' " said Captain Davis,
" which is worse than a long /oiling wave.
Over that you can ride easily, but these
short waves play the mischief with even
good sailors. I've been sea-sick myself
26 WHITE AND RED.
on Lake Michigan. Keep in the air all
you can."
" I would, if there wasn't so much," said
Harry. "But mamma I guess I
must "
Poor Harry ! He had to lean over the
railing just then, and looked so like
u green and yellow melancholy," when he
lilted his head again, that mamma had not
the heart to laugh at him. The breakfast-
bell rang, but even the thought of break-
fast was dreadful. Mamma led him in,
catching at chairs and tables to keep from
falling, and he lay down, finding it no use
to try and sit up. So the day went on.
Mamma read to him now and then, and at
noon brought him some soup, which he
could not taste. There was an hour's rest
at Oswego, which Harry improved by eat-
ing his apple and some bread and butter ;
for the strange part of sea-sickness is, that
if the boat stops, one is just as well as
ever. Trouble began again with starting,
and as the rolling, and creaking, and blow-
ing went on, even mamma felt uncomforta-
ble, and was glad to think that this would
not last all night.
WHITE AND RED. 27
CHAPTER II.
* HARRY tossed and tumbled through the
night till one or two o'clock, when the mo-
tion suddenly lessened, and in a few mo-
ments they were going on quietly, though
the wind blew furiously. He was too
sleepy even to wonder ; but when morn-
ing came, looked out at once on awaking,
to see what it could mean.
" We're in a river ; we're not in a lake
any longer," he called to mamma. " What
is it?"
" The Welland River," she said, " where
we have been stopping for the last two or
three hours. We are going now into the
Welland Canal, and we shall be a long time
in getting through, though it is very short."
" Why," Harry asked.
"Because there are so many locks;
twenty-seven in all, in a distance of thirty-
six miles, and some of them only a stone's
throw apart."
Harry dressed quickly and went on deck,
as the boat entered a lock, the great gates
of which were just shutting behind it,
28 WHITE AND RED.
while in front was a high wall of stone.
Harry, who had never been in a lock be-
fore, looked in wonder, as the water pour-
ing in, gradually lifted them, till another
pair of gates in front swung open, and they
passed out, to enter another set in a few
moments. The boat seemed to fit tight
in the lock they had just left, and he won-
dered at their getting through at all. The
next was wider, but still it was very easy
to see why the boat must be narrow.
" It feels like being in a well ; and it's
like going up-stairs too, isn't it?" Harry
said to Captain Davis, who stood njsar.
" Yes," said the Captain, " and a long
flight too. When we get to Port Colburn
where we go into Lake Erie, we shall be
three hundred and forty-six feet higher
than we were at Port Dalhousie, when we
left Lake Ontario. You can get out to-day
and have a walk, if you like."
" Can we ? " said mamma, who had just
come out. How ? "
" This way," said the Captain, stepping
to the railing around the boat, which was
now on a level with the wall of the lock,
and off and on again in a moment. " You
see it is very easy, and we go so slowly,
you can keep ahead of us without trouble."
" See, what a big ship," said Harry, look-
WHITE AND RED. 29
ing over the side of the boat, at a large
brig they were passing. " There's ever so
many ahead."
" Work then for us," said the Captain,
"for two or three are aground, waiting for
us to pull them off. "
" Torn and Clara came out as he walked
away, and were as interested as* Harry in
watching the ships. Breakfast interrupt-
ed them for a little while ; and then till
dinner-time they stayed on deck, going
only three or four miles. The two vessels
aground were heavily laden, and the pro-
peller pulled and backed, and whistled and
cracked, and strained the great ropes, till
Harry was sure they would crack. One
brig got off, and then they went through
another lock before reaching the next one,
which was harder to manage than the first.
Then, when this was done, they had to
wait for a vessel to come through a lock
and make room for them, watching as it
entered, at first far above them ; then set-
tling down, down, till the great gates
opened, and she slid through.
After dinner, mamma and he, with Tom
and Clara, got out at one of the locks, and
walked on for a mile or two, till Harry was
tired, and went into a little store to rest.
Here he bought some apples, and the clerk
30 ' WHITE AND RED.
gave him two Canada pennies for change,
which he wrapped in a piece of paper, and
decided to keep, as they were the first
foreign money he had ever had. Here
they waited two or three hours, watching
some ships go through the lock, and won-
dering why their boat did not come. They
walked back a little way, but Mrs. Prescott
said it was better not to go farther ; be-
cause if they should meet the boat between
the locks, there would be no way of get-
ting on. She was in sight as they turned,
and the people came out of the store to
see them get on, as she rose in the lock.
Harry began "Holiday House" in the
afternoon, lending "Swiss Family Robin-
son " to Tom, who sat down in a corner with
Clara, and read aloud. Harry listened af-
ter his eyes were tired, and wished they
could go all the way as quietly.
" We shah 1 get out to-night, after all,"
the Captain said, at the tea-table. "I did
not think so, when I saw the line of boats
this morning."
" How long .are you, generally, in going
through ? " mamma asked.
" I have done it in nine hours ; but that
is uncommon. Anything from nine hours
to a day and a half, and more."
Harry's eyes opened wide. " A day and
a half," he said, and only thirty-six miles!"
WHITE AND RED. 31
" You will see slower travelling than that
before your journey's end," laughed the
Captain, rising from the table. " What do
you think of six miles a day ?"
" Nothing could go as slow as that ; not
even a mud-turtle," said Harry, getting
into a discussion with Tom at once, as to
how far a turtle really could travel in a
day, which, with some playing of dominoes,
went on till bed-time.
In a pouring rain next day, they went
through Lake Erie to Cleveland, reaching
there in the afternoon, and staying till late
night ; and here Harry wrote and mailed
a little letter home. Next day through St.
Clair, a mere speck of a lake, to Huron,
and here began a wind, which blew and
blew, till Harry, sea-sick again, hardly
cared what became of them. Great waves
dashed over the boat, which rolled from side
to side. People with pale faces crawled
out now and then, holding tight to the
railing. Things in the steerage seemed to
be having their own way altogether, and
loose pots and pans went bumpity-bump
against the sides, one going overboard, and
bobbing up and down in the waves some
time before it sunk. Through the Straits
of Mackinaw it was tolerably quiet. Harry
went on deck, and looked through the
32 WHITE AND RED.
Captain's glass at the trading post at Mack-
inaw ; but as they entered Lake Michigan
ijt grew worse and worse, till at last, late in
the afternoon, the Captain said it would be
unsafe to go on through the night, and
put in to shore.
Look on your maps at the northwestern
shore of Michigan and you will see a point
called Sleeping Bear. Right under the
nose of this bear they went into harbor ;
and here they lay two days, while the wind
howled down the pipes, and tugged at the
ropes which held them to the pier, and al-
together went on in all sorts of improper
ways. Half a mile back from shore were
two or three log-houses ; and nearer by, a
store, owned by the company which ran
this line of propellers. They called it Glen
Harbor City, and of course every one on
board visited it, for time hung heavy in the
two days of waiting.
The pier was long, and almost danger-
ous for the children to cross, for the wind
swept over it with such force, as almost to
carry them away. Once on shore, they
plunged into deep, white sand, which
whirled into their eyes and filled their
shoes, and was in every way uncomfortable.
Harry did not mind it, and he and the other
children dug a great hole in the sand, and
WHITE AND RED. 33
played they were in a fort. He found, too,
one beautiful cornelian ; and on seeing it,
almost every one on board went out in
search of more, and scattered along the
shore for a mile or two. All the neighbor-
hood came down to see the boats, for by
this time two or three more had corne in
to escape the wind. The second day,
while they were at dinner, a tall man in a
red shirt, appeared in the door way.
" There's goin 'ter be a ball ter-night, an'
any of you that's a mind ter, can come," he
said, looking around, and then went away
without waiting for an answer.
" Well, ladies," the Captain said, laugh-
ing, " I am at your service. How many
shall I have the pleasure of escorting ? "
" Mamma and me," said Harry, at which
they all began to laugh, and the engineer
asked whether he would go in pink silk or
white, and would he allow him the pleasure
of the first waltz. Mrs. Twitchell and one
or two others said they would go ; and so,
when seven o'clock struck, quite a party
went on shore. Clara said she had read
stones about balls, and wasn't it splendid
to think they were really going to one ?
Miss 'Melia had frizzed her hair, on a pipe-
handle, heated in a lamp, till Tom said she
looked like a walking hornet's nest, and
34 WHITE AND RED.
Clarence had smoothed his down with
something which smelled very strong of
winter-green.
The house at which the ball was to be
was a log one, divided into two rooms. In
one, eight or nine girls sat solemnly; and
in another were the men, wood-choppers
and teamsters, waiting for the music. The
only fiddler in the country lived two miles
back, and had not got there yet. The chil-
dren sat down, feeling, in the dead silence,
a good deal as if they were at a funeral.
By and by a faint squeak was heard com-
ing down the road. It grew louder and
louder, and soon an immensely tall man
came in, dressed in a blue shirt, with red
braid zigzagging up the front.
" All you that ain't goin' to dance, set
tight to the wall," he shouted, beginning
" Money Musk."
The men poured in from the next room,
seized partners, and began at once a cotil-
lon. No walking through the figures, but
a double shuffle whenever the least chance
for one came in ; and coming down on
their heels at the end of each figure with
a rattle and clatter, quite delightful to
Harry. Captain Davis took a partner
when a second dance began ; a fat girl in
green calico, trimmed with alternate rows
WHITE AND RED. 35
of yellow and black braid, and evidently
the belle, for two or three came up to
engage her; and one young man stood
and glowered at the Captain through the
dance, and led her away as soon as it end-
ed. The refreshments were root beer and
gingerbread ; one in tin cups, the other in
chunks.
" We did use to git up a supper,'' said
the woman to whom the house belonged.
"But you see we don't have nothin' but
what we raise, 'cept what the boats brings
along in summer time ; an' in the winter
we git down to hog an' hominy mostly,
unless a sled maybe goes back for a load
o' store things, an' that ain't often. It's
stylisher, they do say, to have cake, an' a
drink o' something tasty; an' it's handier,
any way."
"Do you have many balls in the win-
ter ? " asked Mrs. Prescott.
" Two a week, straight through," the
woman said. " Them, an' a meetin' now
and then, is the only things there is to pass
away the time when work's done. They
have 'em here, mostly. Ourn's the biggest
house round ; and that short young man
over there," pointing to the jealous young
man, " he's got a horse he wouldn't take
a thousand dollars for; an' he rigs up
36 WHITE AND RED.
a sled and goes after 'em. That's my Cor-
nely he's standin' by. They'll be jined
afore long. She got the pattern for that
dress o' hern out o' a fashion-book. It's
tasty, ain't it?"
" Quite gay," Mrs. Prescott said, wanting
so to laugh that she was very uncomfort-
able, and wondered if the squaws had
fashion-books, and wore trains. The mate
came in just then, and whispered to the
Captain, who came to them at once.
" The wind has changed," he said, " and
is driving us on shore. We must start to-
night," and he hurried them away. It was
not easy getting on board, the boat rose
and fell so, grinding against the heavy
timbers of the pier, as if her sides would
be crushed in. But they were safely on
board at last, and Harry hurried to bed,
knowing that more sea-sickness was com-
ing. He was not mistaken ; and that
night, and next day, it was hard to say
which felt the worse, he or mamma. All
day long they labored through Lake Michi-
gan. One paddle came off the screw ; and
as another had been lost in one of the
locks, they went very slowly, not getting
into Milwaukie till ten that evening.
It was the twelfth of November, and Dr.
Prescott had been waiting there nearly a
WHITE AND RED. 37
week, watching for the boat, which had left
Ogdensburg the third, and should have been
but five days in getting through. You
will know how anxious he must have been
at the delay, and how glad to hear, as he
started down to the docks for the last time
that night, that the Akron was in. Harry
sat up as soon as the dreadful motion
ceased, though he felt weak and dizzy ; and
mamma put on her things, just in time for
papa, who hugged them both so hard, and
so many times, that it was doubtful whether
they could get off that night. There was
a carriage waiting for them ; and after
they had said good-by to Captain Davis,
they went to a hotel, and slept deliciously
till morning.
After breakfast they went through some
of the principal streets of the city, taking
cars for Prairie Du Chien at eleven, and
reaching there in the evening. The steam-
boat which they expected to find waiting,
had been delayed, so there was another
night at a hotel, and a walk about town
next morning, while waiting for the boat.
Harry did not like it a bit. Pigs ran every-
where through the streets, as they do in
too many Western towns, and the prairie
stretched away on all sides, dull, brown,
and gray.
38 WHITE AND RED.
The Mississippi was another disappoint-
ment A mud-colored stream, flowing
swiftly between high bluffs, sandy, and
crumbling away on either side. The boat
came about ten, looking to Harry like a
three-story house afloat. The lower deck
was entirely open, and the freight piled
here, the cabin being up-stairs. The
smoke-stacks were taller than any he had
ever seen before, and a constant shower of
cinders fell from them. The cabin ran the
whole length of the boat ; a bar was at one
end, where were always people drinking,
and the other intended for ladies, though
neither doors nor curtains separated it from
the main saloon, where the long table
stood. Their state-room was at the ladies'
end of the boat, opening by a second door,
as did all of them, on a gallery running
entirely around the boat, and roofed, to
protect it from the cinders, which lay in
little piles wherever they could find lodg-
ment. On one of the velvet sofas near
their door, sat an old woman with her hus-
band, both smoking short black pipes. At
dinner they sat opposite, and near them
was a man with such tightly curling hair
and dark skin, that Harry could hardly be-
lieve him white.
There was nothing really good to eat on
WHITE AND RED. 39
the table, but everything was showy. Lit-
tle glass dishes, with dabs of jelly ; great
glass dishes, with pink and blue frosted
cakes, and pies and tarts between.
" If this ain't a lay-out ! " said the curly-
headed man. "It's sech a lay-out as I
hain't seen, no, not for eighteen year."
"Where have you been?" asked Dr.
Prescott, at whom he looked, with two or
three little nods, as if expecting an an-
swer.
"Where I hain't been would be easier
to tell," he answered. "I've been where
there ain't many that has : down in Ari-
zona, and pretty much anywhere you like
in South America. Then I got tired rovin'
round, and settled down to my trade a
spell, blacksmithin', in Nicaragua. I'm
goin' to a queerer place yet, now. Likely
you don't know nothin' about it ? Red
Lake."
" I left there a month or so ago, and am
on my way back now."
" You ! " said the curly-headed man.
" I'm beat ! Them your folks alongside
o' you ? You ain't goin' to take them
through ? "
" Yes," said Dr. Prescott. " Are you
going through directly ? "
" No, I ain't," said the man. " I'm goin'
40 WHITE AND RED.
through some time the last o' December.
Goin' to trade up there a while. Reckon
you're working for Government Doctor,
maybe ? "
" Yes," said Dr. Prescott, half smiling ;
" so we shall see each other again."
" You was off on a hunt with the red
skins," said the man, " when I was up last
summer. I'm Bob Aikens, and you're Dr.
Prescott, I take it. You don't have a lay-
out like this up to Red Lake every day, I
tell you now.'*
Mr. Aikens stopped talking here, and
paid strict attention to every article of the
" lay-out ; " so strict, that he was not half
through the bill of fare when Harry had
finished his dinner. He joined them on
deck after a little while, and talked most
to Harry, looking at Mrs. Prescott now
and then, and saying, " Well, I'm beat !
To think you're going through ! "
In the two days' journey they became
well acquainted. He was as thoroughly
uneducated as a man could well be ; and
yet, having watched closely everything he
had seen in his wanderings through strange
countries, was more entertaining than any
one else on board. A crowd gathered
about him, as he sat talking of adventures
here and there, and everywhere, and all
WHITE AND RED. 41
were sorry to say good-by when he got off
at Red Wing, shaking hands with the
Prescotts as heartily as if he had known
them for years. You will hear more of
him as the story \goes on.
The morning of the third day brought
them to St. Paul, a city on a hill, or what
seemed a hill, after the prairie all about,
and the last point on the Mississippi to
which boats run. Sometimes one goes up
to the foot of St. Anthony's Falls, between
Minneapolis and St. Anthony, but St. Paul
is considered the head of navigation on
the river. Here Harry saw a crowd of
stern- wheelers, or " dew boats," as they are
called, which are of such light draught,
that 'tis said they will run in three inches
of water, and which have only one small
wheel at the stern. Just below the city
they passed the longest raft they had seen,
though several had been met on their way
down, some large and some small.
This one was entirely of boards, and
laden with thousands of shingles in neat
bundles. In the middle was a sort of
house, made of some of these boards ; a
woman sat in the door, knitting, and two
children were by her. Three men were
at each end, all working at long oars,
which seemed to be pieces of timber.
42 WHITE AND RED.
They were trying to get the raft a little
nearer the shore, and Harry saw the rea-
son in a moment ; for, though their boat
was far enough away, the swell she made
quite covered one end of the raft, which
swayed as if it would come to pieces ; one
end went down so far, that the man on it
had to jump ; but the woman sat quite
still, watching her biscuit, which were
browning in a tin baker before the fire.
Harry had thought, on first seeing these
rafts, that the fire was built right on the
boards ; but he soon found out that there
was a large box on each, filled with sand,
on which the fire was made. There were
posts set up on each side, and a cross-piece,
with two or three hooks dangling from it,
on which they hung the kettles for cook-
ing. They had blankets and buffalo skins
in the house ; and on one side was a boat,
so that they could go ashore if they got
out of provisions, for sometimes they are
weeks in getting down the river.
Harry waved his handkerchief to the
children, who did nothing but stare at him ;
and then he went to the other side, to
have one more look at the curious flat-
boats which they had taken in tow at
Hastings, and which were exactly like
great Noah's Arks, and used for carrying
WHITE AND RED. 43
grain. If I were not in such a hurry to
be at Red Lake, I should tell you more of
the strange sights on and along the river,
but there is no more time for that.
They left St. Paul at noon for Minneapo-
lis, stopping just beyond grim Fort Snell-
ing, at a station, which was what do
you think? The Falls of Minnehaha !
Harry had read the " Song of Hiawatha."
Indeed, in many of the long days spent in
a darkened room, mamma had cheered him,
by telling, among many other stories, the
wonderful adventures, which she knew by
heart, of Hiawatha and his friends ; and
best among them, Harry liked his wooing
of Minnehaha. The Falls were as beauti-
ful as our dear poet's words which describe
them, and which you can all read for
yourselves. They spent the time till the
train came at four, going on all sides, to
get every possible view of them ; at the
very last, walking over the narrow, slip-
pery path in the rocks, right behind the
sheet of water, where there is a cave, a
little like the Cave of the Winds at Niag-
ara, and where the roar almost deafened
Harry.
At Minneapolis, where they waited two
or three days, expecting to see the Indian
Agent, were the Falls of St. Anthony,
44 WHITE AND RED.
roaring and tumbling over the rocks.
Here are the largest saw-mills on the Mis-
sissippi, and indeed, this wonderful water-
power is used for every sort of mill, and
Harry was never tired of going from one
to another, watching the making of tubs
and pails, sashes, and blinds, and doors,
.woollen goods, and paper. The great
buildings seemed, many of them, right on
the smaller Falls. One in particular had
a little gallery running around it, and,
leaning over, he watched the water, green
here, brown there, churned into foam
among the rocks, plunging at last to more
rocks below, which tossed it back in clouds
of spray. Sometimes a stray log escaped
from some " boom," whirled along, stand-
ing almost upright as it neared the main
Fall, and then leaping down to the foam.
He liked, too, to cross the suspension-
bridge between Minneapolis and St. An-
thony, and feel it spring under his feet as
he walked ; but, though there was so much
to do, he was not sorry to hear one day
that the Indian Agent had come, and that,
in the afternoon, they could leave for St.
Cloud, the last point northwest of St. Paul
to which railroads are yet built.
They reached St. Cloud in the evening,
Harry too tired to care for anything but
WHITE AND RED. 45
bed, or even to look out when the hotel
omnibus crossed the Mississippi on a ferry-
boat which slid over on a wire. The stage
for Crow Wing left at six the next morn-
ing, and Harry was just enough awake to
see that two boys were sitting on the back
seat, by a woman who held a baby. The
sun came up as they stopped at Sank Rap-
ids to take in a passenger, and Harry,
looking out, saw that they were on an
unbroken prairie stretching miles and miles
away.
It was a weary day's ride. The roads
were frozen just enough to be bumpy, the
baby cried, and when it did not cry the
mother talked to anybody who listened,
about the fine house she had left " down
the river," how well she could dress if she
chose, and the excellent table she always
set. Harry listened with wide-open eyes
as she went on.
"Why, there wasn't a day we didn't
have fresh and salt, and we could a-had
pound-cake every meal if we'd been a
mind to."
" Then, if you could a-had pound-cake
whenever you was a mind, it's a mean
shame you never did," said the eldest boy,
at which the mother, turning very red,
boxed his ears, and told him he didn't
know what he was talking about.
46 WHITE AND RED.
They stopped for dinner at a little place
called Swan River, where the woman left
them, and went on again through the
afternoon, crossing the Mississippi as twi-
light came on, to Fort Ripley, which, four
years before, had been besieged by Indians
for over a week, crowded all the time with
women and children who had gone in
there for protection when the raid began.
Harry looked at the high stockade of logs
inclosing the buildings, and at some soldiers
pacing up and down, but was too tired to
think much of anything. Papa was hold-
ing him, and, lying in these strong arms,
he shut his eyes and was so sound asleep
that he knew nothing more till the stage
stopped, an hour later.
" What place is this ? " he said, sitting
up suddenly, and rubbing his eyes.
" Crow Wing," papa answered. " We
are going on in a few minutes. Only four
miles now to the Agency."
The stage started again while he spoke,
and Harry looked out at the lights in
the little village, dimly seen -through a
drizzly rain, and then down to a river,
which, hi a few moments, they crossed by
ferry-boat. Then came more bumping
over the frozen road ; another river, this
time crossed by a log bridge, another
WHITE AND RED. 47
mile of prairie, then lights and voices.
The stage stopped; papa jumped out,
mamma and Harry found themselves on
the ground, and a kind, slow voice said,
"You are welcome to Chippewa Agency."
" Don't keep them out there one min-
ute Alvin," said a brisk voice, belonging
to a very tall, very energetic lady, who
led them at once into a large room, where
a bright fire burned, and a table covered
with books and work, and the bright lamp
lighting up some pictures on the walls,
made it look more home-like than any
place they had seen since the real home
had been left behind.
" Starved you are, and pretty nearly
frozen, too, I do believe. Sit and get
warm, and we'll have supper in a minute,"
said the lady, bustling out.
" Who is she ? " Harry whispered, look-
ing at a boy who stood behind the stove
looking at him.
" Mrs. Brenton," said mamma. " This
is Dr. Brenton's house, where we shall
stay till we start for Leech Lake."
The two doctors came in just then, and
Mrs. Brenton called them all to supper.
Mamma's fingers were so cold she could
but just untie her bonnet-strings ; papa
helped her, and pulled off some of Harry's
48 WHITE AND RED.
wraps, and they went out to a long room,
and a long table, with everything to be
thought of on it. Harry had said he was
too tired to be hungry ; but home-made
bread and sweet butter, the first they had
seen since coming West, developed an
appetite, which Mrs. Brenton seemed to
think was not half what it should be.
a You'll learn to eat before you've been
in Minnesota long," she said. "That's
about all you can do when you get up
yonder. I can't believe my ears that
you're really going through, Mrs. Prescott.
You don't know any more about it than a
baby."
" She soon will," said Dr. Brenton, in
his slow, pleasant way. u She is a brave
woman, of whom we shall all be proud."
" Day after to-morrow we are to go,"
Dr. Prescott said. " The Major and clerk
are going up in an empty team, and so we
shall get through with only one night's
camping."
Harry's eyes sparkled, and the boy on
the other side of the table laughed. He
laughed again when they had gone back
to the sitting-room.
" I guess you'll get enough of it," he
said. " Why, you have to sleep on
sticks."
WHITE AND RED. 49
"But we've got blankets, plenty of 'em,"
said Harry, " and a buffalo skin."
" Well, you see if you don't have to
sleep on sticks. Can you talk Chip-
pewa?"
" I know two words," said Harry, " that
papa told me. He can talk it."
" Hoh ! " said the boy. " I don't believe
you can shoot with a bow and arrow, or
walk on snow-shoes, either. Do you
know how to trap ? I don't believe you
do."
" Come, Frank," said Dr. Brenton, " ask
your questions to-morrow, when I rather
think you will find Harry knows some
things that you, in this Indian country,
have never learned."
Harry walked away to bed, thinking
that when morning came he would soon
find -a way to surprise Frank, but went to
sleep before he had planned what it should
be. When he woke, the sun was shining
brightly in ; and, as he jumped out of bed,
mamma came in.
" You and Frank have both done well,"
she said. "'Tis almost nine o'clock, and
you are just awake." Harry dressed in a
hurry, and, when his late breakfast was
over, went out with Frank, leaving
mamma writing letters.
4
50 WHITE AND RED.
The Agency buildings formed a hollow
square, in the centre of which was a tall
flag-staff. At one side were two long, low
log-houses, and about them a stockade
like that at the Fort.
" There's where they keep the Indian
goods," said Frank, seeing Harry looking
at them. " They used to be barred, and
the gates shut and everything, when the
Sioux was here. There was a stockade
round all the buildings, but it's cut down
since the Sioux are driven away. They
were the fighting Indians. Chippewas
don't fight the whites : they fight Sioux,
though. Here cornes ' Hole in the
Day.' " 1
" Who ? " said Harry, turning, and al-
most wanting to run, as a tall Indian,
wrapped in a scarlet blanket, went by
towards the office. Mamma, who had
seen him pass, came out on the porch for
her first look at the chief of all the Mis-
sissippi Indians. Dr. Prescott took them
over to the office after a time, and intro-
duced them to his majesty, who shook
hands and said, " Bo jau," which means,
" How do you do ? "
He stayed but . a few minutes, having
1 Since this was written, Hole in the Day, whose picture
is given here, has been killed.
" Hen- mines ' Hole in the Day." " Sec page 5*1
WHITE AND RED. * 51
come up to see the Agent, who was not
there, but who came at evening. Harry
wrote a letter home, and went to bed to
dream all night that he was walking on
Boston Common, followed by a procession
of little Indians, every one with snow-
shoes and a bow and arrow.
52 WHITE AND RED.
CHAPTER III.
HARRY was roused before sunrise by the
bustle all about him. They were to start
by eight o'clock, and the Major had risen
very early to attend to some Indians who
wanted to see him.
Harry went into the kitchen when he
had dressed. Mrs. Brenton was there,
and before her a large wooden box, with
leathern hinges and lock, like a trunk,
into which she was putting bread and pie,
and a great pan of doughnuts.
"I'm filling the mess chest," she said;
" you'll be hungrier on the road than you
ever were before."
Harry did not doubt it, for he was so
hungry now that he could but just wait
for breakfast; nor did he have to wait
long.
" Good-by to hoops," papa had said, just
before breakfast. "You may as well
leave yours here, Mary, for it will be only
in your way after this."
So mamma came to breakfast in a very
loose, short dress, made for just such trav-
Th> jnuriii-v thnuiirh thi-
WHITE AND BED. 53
elling. Dr. Brenton said she knew ex-
actly what to wear, and was a sensible
woman. At the door stood a long wagon
painted blue, and with heavy wheels. In
the back were some boxes of goods, going
to the Upper Agency, for the Indians.
The big trunk was in front, with papa's
valise ; a buffalo skin was spread over the
boxes, and in the middle of the wagon
were five or six pairs of blankets, folded,
to sit on. Mrs. Prescott took a place
here, and Harry next to her. Dr. Pres-
cott, and Mr. Peal, the clerk, sat oppo-
site; and the Major, sitting high up on
the big trunk, drove the two fat horses.
The Indians had stayed to see the white
squaw who was going to Red Lake, and
all the Agency people came out to see
them off, even to the tall blacksmith, who
shook his head as he went back to work.
The morning was frosty, but very clear.
The horses trotted briskly over the prai-
rie, their bells jingling, for all horses in
the Indian country wear each a bell, win-
ter and summer. Soon they came to
pine woods, which grew thicker and den-
ser as they went on. No snow had fallen
yet ; and which most covered the ground,
pine leaves or winter-green, it was hard to
tell. Winter-green, loaded with bright red
54 WHITE AND RED.
berries, Harry never had seen in such
quantities. He soon found that it was
easy to drop off behind when the horses
were going slowly, and so he did it now
and then, climbing back with handfuls
of the berries, which were spicy and cold,
and better than any he had ever tasted
before. He found, too, sometimes, huckle-
berries, frozen but still clinging to the
bush. They all ate them ; but a bushel
would hardly have taken away the appe-
tites given by the pure, clear air, and
hungry did not begin to express their
feelings when noon came.
The mess chest was whisked out to the
ground. Dr. Prescott cut some strips of
birch bark, while Harry picked up small
dry sticks, with which they kindled a fire
near a log, which must have been used
for the same purpose the night before, as
it was still warm and smoking, while a
pile of brands lay before it.
A little lake was close by, for there are
lakes and creeks every few miles, from
Crow Wing to Pembina. Harry brought
a tin pail full of the clear, sparkling wa-
ter, while his father cut down a little
pine-tree, and chopped it up for the fire.
The Major stuck a stick into the ground,
which bent down to just the right dis-
WHITE AND RED. 55
tance from the fire, when the pail was
hung on it. Tongues of yellow flame
shot up, and as the heavier wood caught,
blazed steadily around the pail, into
which, as the water boiled, the Major
threw a great handful of tea. Mamma
wondered at the quantity, but found soon
that every one in camp drank tea, the
stronger the better, and that it was made
regularly three times a day, summer and
winter. The Major took some tin basins,
and a cup of brown sugar from the chest ;
every one helped himself to a tin plate
and iron spoon, and ate bread and cheese
and doughnuts, and drank tea in aston-
ishing quantities, while the two horses
buried their noses in a box of oats,
and looked around contentedly while
they ate.
Gull Lake, the Major told Harry it was,
where they were camping, eighteen miles
from the Agency, and he showed him
where a logging camp was to be in a
week or two. Lumbermen go up to the
" Pineries," as they are called, generally
in December ; go into camp, and, through
the winter, cut logs, which, during spring
freshets, float down the various rivers to
the Mississippi ; and through that to the
great mills, where they are sawed into
56 WHITE AND RED.
lumber. There will be more to tell you
of these camps, by and by.
At one o'clock they started on, passing
in an hour or two an Indian village, on
the edge of a creek. There was one log-
house, with a piece of white cotton cloth
stretched in the window, to take the
place of glass. All the rest were wig-
wams, some large, some small, covered
nearly to the top with birch bark, and a
blanket hung before the opening which
served as door. The Indians all flocked
out to look ; very few men among them,
as nearly all were off hunting ; but plenty
of women, half-grown boys, and little chil-
dren, who ran after the wagon, calling,
" Pequaiggeekan, Ogema ! " which means,
" Some bread, chief ! "
The Major threw them some ship bis-
cuit, which they took with delight, for
anything made of flour they are anxious
to get. Two or three, among them a tall
boy sixteen or seventeen years old, fol-
lowed for a while, and Harry, looking
back at his blanketed figure, and black elf
locks, thought of tomahawks, and almost
imagined he might throw one.
They passed now at intervals the sites
of old villages, the poles still stuck in
the ground, marking where wigwams had
WHITE AND RED. 57
been, and ready for future use. Toward
evening they went through what are
called " Abraham's Plains ; " flat, very
swampy ground; black, skeleton pines
standing here and there, and wild rice
and flags growing to the edge of the road,
which here is corduroy, else the horses
would sink to their breasts.
Corduroy road is made by cutting
down trees, trimming away the branches,
and laying the logs side by side in the
swamp. Some settle deeper than others ;
the result being, sometimes an upset, and
always such jolts and bumps, such a
tumbling off of everything loose, and
dancing up and down of everything else,
that mamma, in terror, as she saw the
big trunk and the Major sliding back to-
gether, declared she would walk.
Wonderful walking it proved to be.
Mud holes, over which she jumped ; stand-
ing water, a thin crust of ice on it,
through which rubbers took them safely ;
up and down the round logs sinking under
them in some places, making the most un-
comfortable footing you can well imagine,
till, quite tired out, Harry said he meant
to get back to the wagon, and climbed up
behind. Corduroy ended before he was
really in. They left the swampy ground,
58 WHITE AND RED.
and entered again the thick woods, stop-
ping in a few minutes for the night, as it
was now almost dark.
The tops of the tall trees swaying over-
head showed that a gale must be blowing
on the open prairie, but low down in the
woods it was hardly felt. The air was cold
and clear, but not one shivered, as they
would have done at home, after being out-
of-doors all day. A fire was the first thing
to be thought of. Harry got the birch
bark this time, and some small sticks too.
The Major and Dr. Prescott dragged up
two or three logs lying near by, as a founda-
tion, and, having lit the fire, which crackled
and spread through the smaller branches,
and seizing on the pine logs, blazed up
at once, took their axes and went in-
to the wood, while Mr. Peal unharnessed
the horses, and after rubbing them down,
went to the creek for water. Harry stood
by mamma, warming himself, and listening
to the sound of the axes, and the crash of
one tree after another, till four had fallen.
" What do they want so many for ? " he
said. " There is fire enough for tea."
But not for all night," said Mr. Peal,
who had come back with water, which the
horses were drinking now. "Thee has
never camped, so thee does not know that
we keep a fire ah 1 night."
WHITE AND RED. 59
" To keep off bears ? " said Harry, who
began to think of all the stories of camp-
life he had ever read. " Do you suppose
bears will come ? "
" The bears have gone West," said Mr.
Peal. " They are not fond of society, and
had too much of it after this road was
made ; so they left."
" I thought this was as west as it could
be," said Harry.
" No," said the Major, who came bear-
ing one end of a log, while Dr. Prescott had
the other. " The West is several hundred
miles off. Minnesota is East ; didn't you
know that ?"
Another log was on its way in before
Harry could answer, and soon six or seven
lay near the fire, ready for use when want-
ed. The water which had been put over
at once on lighting the fire, was boiling,
and ready for tea. The mess chest was
lifted out again, the wagon drawn up one
side, that the load might be under guard
all night ; the horses allowed rope enough,
to give them liberty in case they preferred
winter-green berries to oats ; and then, sit-
ting around the fire, they ate supper with
appetites quite equal to those they had
brought to dinner. Mamma washed the
dishes to-night, with a branch of white-pine
60 WHITE AND RED.
for a dishcloth, and stood them up against
a log to dry. Harry, in the mean time,
amused himself with breaking off bits from
more of these branches, and throwing them
on the fire, where they crackled a moment,
sending up such lovely gold and violet
flames, that, delighted, he dragged up larg-
er branches, and threw them on, one after
another.
* Come down the road a little way, and
you will get the effect of a camp better
than by staying hi it," said papa to mamma.
Harry threw on three or four more
branches, and followed, turning in a few
moments, as they came to a little log bridge
over the creek, and looking back to the
camp, lit by the firelight, which leaped up
against the background of tall black pines,
each one standing out clear and distinct ;
here and there a white birch or popple, the
pale ghost of a tree, and everywhere
strange, distorted stumps and roots, which
one could imagine at pleasure, wild animals
or Indians. Standing still on the little
bridge, the dark water flowing softly be-
low, and looking off beyond the fire-lighted
circle, to depths of shadow, a note or two
of music came from the distance ; and turn-
ing suddenly, Harry almost cried out, as he
saw the tall figure of an Indian close be-
WHITE AND RED. . 61
hind them on the bridge, the silent tread
of his moccasined foot not having been
heard by one of them.
Papa safd a few words which Harry did
not understand, and walked back to camp,
followed closely by the Indian, who sat
down on his heels, and without speaking,
looked steadily at them. A woman came
in in a few moments, carrying a birch bark
pan full of fresh fish, whose gills were still
quivering, and asking for " pequaiggeekan"
in exchange. The Major gave her some
crackers ; at which, the man rising, said,
" Hawhaw ! " and the woman, " Megwetch,"
which means, " thank you."
Harry, with mamma and papa, followed
them back to the wigwam, the music grow-
ing plainer as they drew nearer. Here
they found a whole family, gn their way to
Leech Lake, but staying here for a day or
two, and comfortably at housekeeping, as
all Indians can be, on ten minutes' notice.
The rolls of birch bark and rush mats, the
two or three pails for cooking, and the
corn and other provisions, are carried on
the women's backs, everything rolled in
a rush mat, tied up with thongs of skin, or
a rope of braided grass, and held in place
by a wide band passing across the woman's
forehead. A few poles are cut when night
62 WHITE AND RED.
and camping time come, and a wigwam set
up, or an old one taken possession of. The
birch bark is put around to keep off the
wind, the rush mats laid down, as seat, ta-
ble, and bed, and after a supper of parched
corn, and sometimes fish from the near-
est lake or creek, they roll themselves in
their blankets, which, winter and summer,
an Indian always has with him, and go to
sleep.
The musician was an Indian boy, who
had a flageolet made from a reed, on which
he played something which could hardly
be called a tune, for it had but four plain-
tive minor notes.
Hung to a pole was a baby : that is,
the baby was fastened to a board, and the
board to a pole of the wigwam, and the lit-
tle thing, bound down by two bead-work
bands, so that neither hand nor foot could
stir, looked around with its bright black
eyes, and even smiled at Harry, who, you
may be sure, was looking hard as he could
at everything in the first wigwam which
he had ever visited. The women seemed
pleased at their call, and Harry went back
to camp, wondering what some of his Bos-
ton friends would say, if they knew he was
sleeping on the ground in the woods, with
an Indian camp close by.
WHITE AND RED. 63
The Major sat by the fire smoking, while
Mr. Peal was breaking off pine boughs, and
strewing them over the ground.
" Old campers can do without this," he
said to Mrs. Prescott, " but thy bones are
not used to bare ground, and thee will find
these boughs comfortable as a spring mat-
tress."
Dr. Prescott helped him in the work till
a thick bed had been made ; then spread
their blankets, while the Major stretched
one at the back, to keep off the wind.
" Take off your shoes, else your feet will
be very cold before morning," said papa,
" and all your wraps, too."
Harry saw with surprise that the Major
and Mr. Peal had both taken off their boots
and coats, and thought to himself that that
surely was the right way to shiver through
the night ; he was still more surprised as
they laid down, to see that they did not
keep their feet under the blankets, but put
them out toward the fire, on which two or
three more logs had been piled. Raising
his head, after all were settled for the night,
he saw that Dr. Prescott's feet, too, were
out toward the fire, and could keep still
no longer.
" Did you know your feet weren't
covered up, papa ? " he said.
64 WHITE AND BED.
Why, yes," said Dr. Prescott. u Feet
are always warmer put out in this way,
than they are under cover ; and even in
coldest winter, the teamsters and lumber-
men who may be camping out, always take
off their boots or moccasins, and lie with
their feet to the fire."
" 0, what's that ? " said Harry, suddenly,
as a long howl came through the forest,
followed by a quick, sharp bark.
" Wolves, and a fox," said papa ; " and
that is a screech owl," as a most dreadful
scream was heard overhead, which made
both mamma and Harry jump.
" I never can go to sleep," said Harry,
sitting up, while mamma seemed inclined
to do the same.
" Thee need not fear," said Mr. Peal,
drowsily. " There is no danger."
" Not a particle," said papa ; " no wild
animal comes near such a fire as this. Try
and go to sleep."
Harry lay down again, getting close to
papa, looking up to the deep blue sky, and
then off to the woods, which the moon, now
risen, lit up only too distinctly. He started
as the howls came again, and half fan-
cied a stump near by must be a bear, but,
too tired to look about long, was soon
sound asleep. Mamma kept awake longer.
WHITE AND BED. 65
Indians and wolves seemed strange com-
pany; but soon she, too, forgot to be
troubled, and was quietly asleep, half wak-
ing, when the Major got up to renew the
fire, but drowsing again at once.
It seemed to Harry that he had not
slept an hour, when he opened his eyes,
to see papa throwing another log on the
fire ; while in a frying-pan, the fish sizzled
and browned, with some slices of pork.
The moon was still shining, but gray twi-
light in the east showed that daylight was
coming.
" Breakfast in ten minutes," said the
Major. " Half-past four now, and we must
be off soon, or we sha'n't get in to Leech
Lake to-night. The road isn't so good
to-day."
" Good morning, my aged friend," said
Mr. Peal, as Harry stood up. " Thy locks
are white. Did thy fright turn them ? "
" Yours are, too," said Harry, " and mam-
ma's some. Why, what is it ? It comes
off on my hand."
" Frost ; hoar-frost," said papa, laughing.
" My beard was covered when I woke up."
Harry laced his shoes, and went down to
the creek with mamma, to freshen their
faces in the cold water. Cold it was, with
needle-like particles of ice floating in it,
66 WHITE AND RED.
and the Indian girl filling her pail, looked
on in surprise at this way of using water,
her own face seldom, if ever, being
washed, except by the rivers through
which she might chance to wade or swim.
Papa followed them down, and they went
back to breakfast, hungry as could be.
The Indian who had come into camp the
night before, received the remnants of the
meal, carrying them to his wigwam, and by
half past five our party were off.
To-day was like yesterday ; no. swamp
to go through, being the only difference.
Till afternoon the sun shone, and they en-
joyed it ; but then a fine, cold rain began,
and the last four or five hours they sat
wrapped in rubber cloaks, almost too cold
and stiff to talk, even. Woods, woods,
woods, till Harry would have shouted at
the sight of open country. He was too
tired and achy for that, though; when
about eight o'clock they saw lights and
dim shapes of houses, and, stopping at
last, through the dark, drizzly night, were
led into a large room, lighted by a fire in
an open chimney, where they went to bed
at once, inclined to think that feathers,
were altogether better than pine boughs.
Harry woke next morning thinking he
heard the ringing of a school-bell, and for-
WHITE AND RED. 67'
getting for a moment where he was. A
bell certainly was ringing, and in the next
room he heard the tramping of many feet,
and sounds as if the confusion of tongues
at Babel had begun all over again. News
of the Major's coming had spread, and
brought together Indians and half-breeds
from every quarter ; and going out to
breakfast, they found in the wide, low
room, a crowd, at which Harry stared in
such wonder, as to be almost unable to eat
his breakfast. A very good one it was,
set out on a long table two boards wide.
Harry sat by his mother, and the Major
and clerk, with his father, on the same
side. Directly opposite him sat George
Bunga, the interpreter, a tall, powerful
negro, talking English, French, or Chip-
pewa, just as it happened. He is so noted
a man in the Indian country, that by and
by I shall tell you more of him.
Next to him was Be-ghe-kee, or " Old
Buffalo," head chief at Leach Lake, and a
firm friend of the whites, wrapped in a
dirty blanket, and using his long scalping-
knife in eating fried pork. Next to him,
a civilized Indian, his hair cut, and wear-
ing the white man's dress, but with beaded
shirt bosom, and gay leggins. Then came
three or four half-breeds, with ear-rings
68 WHITE AND RED.
an.d bright shawls twisted around their
waists, and all with the long knife which
every one wears there. At the head of
the table stood Oliver, the owner of the
house, pouring coffee ; a Kentuckian, who,
from long life in that country, was
more than half Indian, and with his long
black hair, and dark skin, seemed quite
one of them.
Chippewa, Cree, broken English, and a
barbarous French, mixed with the lan-
guage of any tribe among whom the half-
breeds had lived, sounded in Harry's ears,
who, trying to understand everything,
grew distracted, and understood nothing.
Papa left them after breakfast, coming in
after a time, with a troubled face, and sit-
ting down, as if he did not at all know
what to do. 9
" I have been out to the warehouse,"
he said, " expecting to find our boxes of
goods there, but not one has come ; and
Daggett, who was to have brought them
up, says he went twice to Crow Wing for
them, finding nothing there. We must
get up to Red Lake as soon as possible,
and I see no way to do but to return with
Daggett, who starts to-morrow morning,
and see to things myself. I went at once
to the engineer's house, and his wife is
WHITE AND RED. 69
quite willing you should board there till I
can get back."
" I am very glad of that," said mam-
ma, who had been looking anxious and
troubled. " It would have been very dis-
agreeable to stay here in such a houseful,
and of course we cannot go on without
provisions, and other things."
" Then," said papa, " we will go over to
the engineer's;" and wrapping up warmly,
they left the noisy house, and went out to
the cold air and bright sunshine.
As at the Lower Agency, the buildings
formed a hollow square ; but, unlike them,
these were near a beautiful lake ; low hills
rising from the opposite shore, an island
or two in sight, and points of land run-
ning far out into the lake, which papa
said was longer than Lake George. Com-
ing nearer, they saw the quaintest little
steamboat, built, he told them, the year
before, which the Indians, he said, disliked
very much, and had threatened to burn,
saying that the Great Spirit did not like
fire-boats on the waters he had made, be-
cause they frightened and killed the fish..
Ci Here comes George Bunga," he went
on, hurriedly. " He thinks himself far
above any Indian, or even the few white
traders who come up here, so be very re-
spectful."
70 WHITE AND RED.
Bunga came up as he finished, and bowed
low to Mrs. Prescott, taking off his skin
cap, and showing a round head covered
with grizzly wool, quite white in spots.
He was full six feet tall, and though
dressed in great part like a white man,
still wore moccasins, the long knife in a
deer-skin sheath worked with beads, and a
bright shawl around his waist
" Not much like your far-off home,
madam," he said, with another bow, and so
courtly a manner, that she was amazed.
" You see a wild country, but I remember
a time when it was wilder. I came here
to trade for the Hudson's Bay Company,
in 1840, and am the first white man that
ever saw Leech Lake. My house was the
first one built here, and "
Unfortunately the Major, who did not
know half a dozen words of Chippewa,
was hemmed in by a crowd of them, all
talking at once, and called to Bunga to
come and interpret ; and mamma, waiting
till he was out of hearing, laughed at
Harry's astonishment, and Bunga's idea of
his own color.
" I believe the man really thinks he is
white," said papa; "and "he is in every
way far beyond the ordinary white men
here ; has fewer vices, and tries to educate
WHITE AND RED. 71
his children as well as he can ; while the
whites, or, at any rate, the traders among
them, who all have squaw wives, seem to
be more brutish than the worst Indians,
and do them nothing but harm."
Walking on as they talked, they met
Mr. Kitchen, the engineer, and went into
his little house, which seemed very quiet
and pleasant after the noisy one they had
left. *Mrs. Kitchen was one of the only
two white women at Leech Lake, and had
been there a year. Her two little children
were playing about the room ; so fat, that
when they tumbled down, it seemed as if
they never could get up ; and when they
did get up, as if it must hurt them to run
with such heavy legs to lift at each step.
Mrs. Kitchen showed them the mission-
ary's house, and said there was to be a
meeting there at ten o'clock. It was al-
most ten now, for they had had a very
late breakfast ; so they all went down to-
gether, and were introduced to the mis-
sionary, a gray-headed, kindly-looking,
weather-beaten man, who said he had
been among them twenty years. There
were long, narrow benches, for the use of
his scholars, who soon filled them, the
older Indians as they came in, sitting
down and balancing in some queer way
72 WHITE AM) BED.
on their heels. All the service was in
Chippewa, except the last prayer, which
Mr. Wright made in English, translating
into Chippewa each sentence as he went
along, which made it sound very strangely.
They took dinner at the sort of board-
ing-house where they had had breakfast,
meeting the same queer crowd at table ;
and after dinner, went over to Mrs. Kitch-
en's to stay, where the rest of the day
went by like a dream, the last thing
Harry remembered at night, being the
dropping of the curtain over three or four
Indian faces pressed against the window
panes, and looking, with their bright black
eyes, at all they could see within. Papa left
them next morning ; and now, before go-
ing on with the story, I will tell you a
little of who these Indians are, and why
we call Leech Lake, and other places you
will hear spoken of, Agencies.
Far back as you may go in American
History, whether you begin with the
old Northmen, or with Columbus, whose
ships sailed into Hispaniola Bay, almost
four hundred years ago, or with the Pil-
grims who came to the stormy New Eng-
land coast, long years after, you will
find all of them meeting Indians, who
WHITE AND RED. 73
were the real Americans, but who gave
place to the white man, some willingly,
some fighting against it. 'Tis the old
story you will all learn as you grow older,
a strong race, conquering and driving
out a weaker one ; and, fight as they
would, these Indians gave place more and
more each year, to whites, who came from
every nation of Europe to the new coun-
try.
In 1667, hundreds of tribes, some peace-
ful, some warlike, and each one number-
ing many thousands, occupied the larger
part of the United States. In 1867 you
find two thirds of these tribes extinct, and
the remaining ones driven west of the
Mississippi, lessening in numbers each
year, but clinging to old customs, and in
no way changing from the Indian of two
hundred years ago. Government buys
their land, agreeing to pay them so much
money and goods yearly ; moves them far-
ther west, and appoints for each tribe an
agent, sometimes two, who sees that their
annuities are paid regularly and that the
provision, blankets, and other goods, are
divided among them justly. The Chippe-
was, or Ojibways, are a powerful tribe ;
once very numerous, but now only about
ten thousand, whom we hear of first at
74 WHITE AND RED.
the time the French discovered Sault
Sainte Marie, on Lake Superior. They
owned then the whole country, from
Green Bay in Wisconsin, up to the head
waters of Lake Superior. All through
this country are wonderfully rich mines
of iron, copper, etc., and these having
been discovered, the Government, in 1855,
bought them of the Ojibways, who gave
them up as hunting-grounds, a few bands
remaining, but the greater part going
northwest into Minnesota, where they
now are. They are divided into different
bands, each one under a head chief: the
principal ones being the Mississippi Ojib-
ways, about Lakes Winnipeg and Itasca ;
the Mille Lac band ; the Pillagers of Leech
Lake, called so by their own people, from
their thieving habits ; and last, the Red
Lake band, the best of all Ojibways, and
numbering some three thousand, includ-
ing the Pembina band.
Till within a few years, the Agency for
the Ojibways was near Crow Wing, Min-
nesota. Here lived the Agent, whose
duty you know ; a doctor ; a farmer, to
help them in cultivating their fields, and
show them how to use the farming tools
given by the Government ; a blacksmith,
who mends their guns, and sharpens their
WHITE AND RED. 75
axes ; an engineer to run the saw-mill,
which provides boards for their houses;
a carpenter to build them; and last, a
teacher, or missionary, whose work is the
most discouraging of all, because all In-
dians distrust all missionaries, and, with
very few exceptions, are unwilling to be
taught, or to give up their own faith. I
shall tell you why, farther on.
The Ojibways have always been friend-
ly to the whites, and are inclined to be
peaceable', fighting only against the Sioux
or Dacotahs, who are their deadly ene-
mies, and indeed, the enemies of every
tribe but their own, making peace only
to break it, and never faithful in their
treaties with the whites.
There are many other Indian tribes on
the great plains, both this side of and be-
yond the Rocky Mountains ; but Chip-
pewas first and Sioux now and then, are
all we shall have to do with ; and as we
go on, I shall try and show them to you
just as they are, so that when Harry's life
among them ends, you may know them
almost as well as he does.
76 WHITE AND RED.
CHAPTER IV.
THE first snow fell the day after Dr.
Prescott left ; a heavy storm, lasting
nearly two days,; and when the sun shone
out again, cold weather came with him,
and the ice formed fast on the pretty lake,
through which Harry had hoped to sail in
the steamboat. Hard paths were -quickly
made by the Indians, a hundred or two of
whom lived back of the Agency build-
ings ; and mamma and Harry walked
every day, sometimes going to the wig-
wams, but oftener along the lake shore,
listening to the strange noises under the
ice ; moans and groans, and sometimes a
long howl, followed by a sharp crack, as
if some wild animal were coming over the
ice. Harry was alone the first time he
heard these sounds, and certain that either
a bear or wolf was after him, ran home
fast as he could go, meeting Mr. Kitchen
on the way, and finding out what it was.
He went, too, every day, to Mr. Wright's
school, and never tired of looking at the
little Indian boys, dressed exactly like
WHITE AND RED. 77
their fathers, but as full of sly mischief as
any boys could be. He played with them
now and then, learning in this way a good
many Ojibway words ; but boys and girls
both smelled so strongly of fish-oil, and
were so wonderfully dirty, that he could
not like them. Two or three whom Mr.
Wright had taken into the family, were a
little cleaner, being obliged to wash their
faces every day, and they sometimes spoke
a few English words when alone with him,
though never when any other Indian was
near. J will tell you why.
An Indian dreads being laughed at
more than any other thing in this world,
and Mr. Wright, in talking of them to Mrs.
Prescott, told her this was the great reason
why the missionaries, though living among
them for many years, had been able to do
so little good. If an Indian became a
Christian, the whole tribe jeered at him
for leaving the faith of his fathers. If
they learned and spoke any English, they
laughed again, saying the Great Spirit
had given them a good language, and did
not want His children to speak any other.
If a white man's tools were used, or work
done as they did; or if one learned to
read and write, many were against him,
above all the Medicine men, who live on
78 WHITE AND RED.
the superstitions of the Indians, and, hav-
ing wonderful influence over them, can
almost always succeed in undoing the
greater part of what the missionaries have
tried to do.
The Pillagers of Leech Lake are, as I
have told you, the worst among all the
different Ojibway bands, never telling the
truth under any circumstances, and steal-
ing even from one another, which is very
unusual among Indians. Men whose bad
deeds have driven them out from other
bands, come to the Pillagers, sure of a wel-
come. Many are too lazy even to hunt,
and sit all day before the fire, sometimes
all night too, gambling, and beating the
small drums, which one of the number
always does at such times, only stopping
to eat the fish or dried meat which the
hard-working women have prepared.
Mrs. Prescott, who had meant in this
waiting time to go about a good deal, and
learn all she could of their ways, found
that, between gambling, vermin, and dirt,
the wigwams were places they had better
keep away from, and charged Harry never
to enter one, unless he went with the
engineer or Mr. Wright.
Dr. Prescott was away more than a
week not getting back till the fifth of
WHITE AND RED. 79
December ; and even then was forced to
walk all the way from Crow Wing, the
only team he could get being too heavily
loaded to allow of any one's riding. More
trouble seemed in prospect, too. Though
the ice on the lakes was now thick enough
to bear a team, and thirty miles of the
journey could be made on them, still, snow
had been falling so heavily, that the road
beyond, at the best of times only a track,
would now be almost impassable, and not
one of the regular teamsters would go
through at any price.
" Bunga may help you out," said Mr.
Wright, to whom Dr. Prescott had been
talking. " He trades up there, you know,
and means to send a load up very soon.
He may take you and some of your things,
and Oliver will see to the rest, for he goes
up in a fortnight I believe."
So Dr. Prescott went over to the trading-
post, where Bunga lived, coming back in
an hour or two in good spirits. Bunga's
team was to start the next morning ; a
small box-sled, drawn by two Indian
ponies, under the care of Paul Boulanger,
a half-breed. Bunga assured him that
they need camp out but one night, as the
first one they could spend in a house on
Cass Lake Island ; the second in the hard
80 WHITE AND RED.
woods ; and the afternoon of the third day,
at latest, would find them at Red Lake.
The half-breed was to furnish his own pro-
visions, food for his horses, etc., and to
take them, and not over six hundred
pounds of their goods.
" We will take four, days' provisions, so
as to be quite safe," said Dr. Prescott ;
" and now, as the most of our things are
to go by Oliver, we must decide what we
had better take with us. Suppose we go
out to the warehouse, and look over the
boxes."
This took some time ; but finally the
smaller boxes were put in order for Bou-
langer to pack them in his sled, and the
cooking-stove, packs of flour, and other
heavy things, covered up in one corner,
ready for Oliver, when he should go up.
His wife baked bread and fried doughnuts
for them, and by evening every prepara-
tion was finished, and they were quite
ready for the morrow's journey.
Friday morning, Harry, dressed, as he
said, in " four pair of everything," found
the house too warm for him, and went out-
doors to watch for Boulanger, who came
about nine. An hour was spent in loading,
and it was not till nearly ten that they
were quite ready to start ; Mrs. Prescott
WHITE AND RED. 81
and Harry sitting on a feather-bed, and
wrapped in heavy Mackinaw blankets ;
Dr. Prescott on the trunk in front, up to
his eyes in buffalo overcoat ; and Boulan-
ger, with axe over his shoulder, going in
advance to sound the ice, and thus prevent
their getting on any weak places. He
went on a curious little jog-trot, keeping
easily ahead of the horses, and Dr. Prescott
said that all the half-breeds travelled in
this way, sometimes sixty and seventy
miles a day, when carrying important
messages, and that they never seemed
tired, no matter how steadily they had kept
it up.
The ponies trotted fast over the smooth
ice, and though a loud crack sometimes
startled mamma and Harry, they were
soon used to it. The thermometer had
stood at fourteen below zero when they
started, but they were too well wrapped up
to feel the cold, and were surprised when
one o'clock came, and they stopped for
dinner.
Boulanger cut a hole in the ice, where
the horses drank, and from the same place
brought a p'ail of water for the tea ; then,
as the provisions were taken out, looked
through the sled a moment, and sat down
by the fire, sighing deeply.
82 WHITE AND RED.
"What is the matter?" Dr. Prescott
asked. Boulanger began a long explana-
tion, the sum of which was, that he had
forgotten his bag of crackers, and had
nothing to eat unless Monsieur was kind,
and shared with him as a brother.
Dr. Prescott had been with half-breeds
enough to know that, in lying and cheat-
ing, they go beyond even a Pillager, and
was thus sure that the bag had been left
behind purposely, or never made ready at
all. There was no help for it though, and
crackers were given, Dr. Prescott telling
him they had but four days' provisions,
and that at Cass Lake he must buy for
himself, or go without. At two they went
on, reaching the first portage, thai is, the
land between Leech and Cass lakes, about
three. Here trouble began. The road
across had been marked out by the cut-
ting down of trees in the thick forest, so
, that a wagon could pass along ; but the
stumps remained, and no track, save that
of an occasional train, had ever been
made. Eed Lake is off from all known
lines of travel ; and the country near,
given up to Indians, required no road,
save at payment time, when goods ' were
taken up.
Over these stumps a wagon with its high
WHITE AND RED. 83
body could easily go ; but with a sled, only
a few inches from the ground, 'twas quite
different ; and almost as they touched land
again, they found themselves stuck on one,
from which no pulling or backing could
free them.
" Sac rrrreCrrr apaud ! " Boulan-
ger roared, with each blow of his whip,
but it was no use. Dr. Prescott jumped
off, and together they tried to lift the sled,
and push it. either forward or back,
finding at last, that the only way would
be to cut poles, and pry it off
Half an hour was spent in this way, and
then they started again, Boulanger still
going ahead and chopping off the sharp
ends of the tallest stumps, thus enabling
them to go perhaps a mile farther, when
they were pinned once more. This time,
getting on his knees, he contrived to chop
away the sharp point which held them ;
but as the horses went on again, pointed
to an opening under three or four great
trees, and said in French,
" A good place for camp ; here we rest
at present."
" No," said Dr. Prescott " You are to
go on to Cass Lake to-night"
u Impossible, quite ; Monsieur does not
feel how the horses have worked. It is
84 WHITE AND RED.
still nine miles to the house on the Lake ;
night will come, and Monsieur and his
amiable lady, fall, perhaps, in a hole, and,
alas ! drown," and Boulanger looked so
miserable, that Dr. Prescott, who had never
been over this road before, having made
his journey to and from Red Lake by
canoe, hesitated. He knew this portage
was seven miles long ; that there must be
at least three more to go before reaching
the lake, which it would hardly be safe to
cross at night, when the air-holes could
not be seen. It was now after sunset, and
so, very unwillingly, he set about clearing
away the snow from their camping-ground,
while Boulanger unharnessed the horses,
and gave them the hay which had been
tied on the back of the sled. Harry and
his mother sat still till the fire began to
burn, and then climbing down, pulled off
sprays from the branches of a fallen pine-
tree, and strewed them thickly over the
cleared space. No water being near to-
night, they melted snow for the tea ; and
finding the bread to be frozen hard, thawed
it by putting it on a pine-branch before
the fire. After supper they cut poles and
set up the tent, which they found must be
so far from the fire, to keep sparks from
falling on it, that they would perhaps suf-
WHITE AND BED. 85
fer with cold before morning. The night
was clear, the stars shining brightly, and
mamma said she thought they would be
quite as comfortable without the tent ; so
Dr. Prescott stretched a blanket to keep
off the wind ; brought the bed from the
sled, and laid it on the pine-boughs ; put a
shawl on the cracker-sack for a pillow, and
soon they were settled for the night.
Boulanger had, they found, forgotten
his blanket as well as his provisions, and
had only a miserable little one made of
rabbit-skins. So they were obliged to give
one of their nice ones, in which he rolled
himself up with great satisfaction, and was
sound asleep at once. Harry followed
next, and knew nothing more till next
morning, when, half-asleep and half-awake,
he felt something settle on his face. "A
fly," he thought, without opening his eyes,
and brushed it away, to feel another
directly. He sat up now, and looked
around. What a sight ! The fire burned
dimly ; near it lay Boulanger, so covered
with freshly-fallen snow, that Harry could
not tell which was head and which feet ;
and all over their own bed it lay an inch
or two deep. Harry stood up and began
to brush it away, waking papa, who sprang
up at once; and pulling the brands to-
86 WHITE AND BED.
gether, and throwing on a fresh log, soon
had a blazing fire, on which the snow-
flakes made no impression.
It was hard to rouse Boulanger, who
grumbled at everything when he did roll
out from his blankets, and kept them wait-
ing long after the rather forlorn breakfast
was over, while he fussed about the horses.
At last they were off, and then began
again the trouble of yesterday. A dozen
times the sled caught on stumps, and when
they reached the lake it was almost noon ;
the snow still falling fast, and everything
and everybody in the sled covered with it.
A keen wind blew over the lake. Mamma
pulled the blankets over her own and
Harry's head, but papa, who must drive,
had no such protection ; and when, at two
o'clock, they reached the other side of
Cass Lake, and saw the island near shore,
and the log houses on it, he was numb
with cold.
Pillagers, who had been watching the
sled coming over the ice, were on the
shore as they stopped ; and Dr. Prescott,
telling Boulanger that if any part of the
load were missing when they came back,
it should be taken out of his pay, hurried
them up to the house, too thankful at
finding shelter and warmth, to care for
WHITE AND RED. 87
the crowd of smoking Indians all about.
There were two chairs and a bed here, for
the owner of the house was a half-bree,d,
and lived a little a very little, as you
will see like a white man.
The clay chimney was in one corner of
the room, and over the roaring fire the
two squaws began at once to boil fish and
potatoes in one pail, and water for the tea
in the other. From a hole behind the
chimney they took some tin plates and
spoons, and a few pint basins ; spread a
rush mat on the floor, and arranged them
on it in order, putting in the middle a
large tin pan, into which, when they were
cooked, they ladled the fish and pota-
toes; saying, " Weesinna, neechee " (Eat,
friends).
There were no knives or forks ; and
Mrs. Prescott, after one little look at her
husband, sat down on the mat and began
to peel a potato with her fingers, while he
put some of the fish on her plate. One of
the women brought a cake of bread,
baked in the ashes but tasting sweet and
good ; and taking a tin cup, went out,
coming back soon with some milk, warm
from the cow. which made their tea much
better. There was maple sugar for it, too,
and salt for the fish ; and altogether, the
88 WHITE AND BED.
dinner tasted very good, though every bit
of it was eaten with the fingers, which
had to be washed in snow, and wiped on
a handkerchief.
Boulanger told them, when he had
eaten enough for any three men, that he
had lost off the rest of the hay, and a
keg of powder, which must have dropped
somewhere on the portage, and that he
must go back, to Leech Lake, if necessary,
in order to find it, as he would have to
pay George Bunga its value, if he did not.
This was too much. Dr. Prescott told
him it was his business to see that the
load was properly fastened on, and that
he would not return ; at which Boulanger,
who had, until now, had no trouble in
understanding all that was said to him,
declared that Dr. Prescott's French and
Ojibway he knew nothing about, and that
he should go back at once. Finally, on
being told that if he would go on without
more trouble, a part of the loss should be
made up, and a letter written to Bunga,
explaining it, he went down to his horses.
Then came another battle with the
half-breed, who wanted ten dollars for the
dinner and two bundles of hay. Like
Boulanger, he suddenly found it impos-
sible to understand; and declared, finally,
WHITE AND RED. 89
putting his hand on his long knife,
that he would use it if the money were
not paid at once. The Indians, who had
before sat silent, staring at the white
medicine man, gathered about, siding with
the half-breed ; but drew back as Dr. Pres-
cott threatened them with the Ogema's,
or Major's, anger, if they said anything.
The half-breed at last agreed to take
seven dollars, throwing in two cakes of
bread, and followed them down to the
sled, wishing them a good journey. The
house had proved to be no place to stay
at for the night, as they had planned, and
they were glad to get once more on the
sled. Three or four squaws stood about
it ; and a tin pail, which had been in the
bottom, between some boxes, stood now
on the bed.
" What does this mean ? " Dr. Prescott
said in Ojibway; and Boulanger, who
could understand perfectly now, answered,
pointing to some Indian dogs on the
hill,
" The dogs, Monsieur. They have smelled
the cheese within ; and as I bring down
my hay, I regard them leaping at the pail.
I fly upon them ; it is too late ; the cheese
is fallen ; and behold, Monsieur, how it is
eaten ! "
90 WHITE AND RED.
Truly, the heart of the cheese was
gone ; but it was strange how much more
like fingers than teeth the marks upon it
seemed. There was nothing to be said,
however; and thankful to get away so
easily, they started on. One mile more
of the lake, and then they reached the
road, fifty miles of which must be gone
over before Red Lake could be seen.
Thirty-five lay behind them ; and. glad
that even so much of the journey was
over, they camped at night, this time
sleeping under the tent.
When morning came the sun was shin-
ing, and the air not so cold as the day be-
fore, but going on was weary work. A
constant catching on stumps ; huge trees
blown across the road in many places, so
that they were forced to go round through
the woods the best way they could ; and
were almost discouraged when night
came, by finding they were only ten
miles from Cass Lake. Boulanger, too,
began to talk of a river they would come
to the next morning, which might or
might not be frozen hard enough to bear
them, and things began to look a little
dark.
" Why do you not cook some of your
pork, Boulanger?" Dr. Prescott asked,
WHITE AND RED. 91
next morning, knowing that the fifteen
pounds, intended as part pay, were in the
bottom of the sled.
" But, Monsieur, I have nothing to cook
it in."
" A stick will do very well, and the fat
can drop on your cracker."
Boulanger looked up sadly.
"But, Monsieur, there is no more any
pork."
" What have you done with it ? " Dr.
Prescott said, sternly.
" I, Monsieur ? nothing ; but the horses ;
ah ! the greedy reptiles ; they have eaten
it in the night."
" Very well," said Dr. Prescott. " The
pork was yours ; you or your horses could
eat it, as you pleased."
This was a new view of the case to
Boulanger, who had thought he should
get another fifteen pounds at once, and
who now shrugged his shoulders, but
could think of no lie which would help
him at all. So breakfast was eaten with-
out pork, the usual loading and tying on
gone through with, and the fourth day's
journey began. Harry tried once or twice
to walk, but the deep snow made it very
hard, and he was glad to get back to the
sled and roll himself in a blanket. Hardly
92 WHITE AND RED.
an hour had passed, when Boulanger, who
had been some distance ahead, came run-
ning back, the picture of despair.
"Hi, hi, hi!" he called; that being
the half-breed exclamation, when just
ready to give up everything. " Hi, hi, hi !
the river, Monsieur, is open ; it is deep,
and the load heavy. We shall never
cross j we must return ! " and he took
hold of the horses' heads, as if to turn
them.
"Take care there," Dr. Prescott said
sharply, urging on the horses, and coming
soon to the top of a little hill, at the foot
of which rolled the river, narrow, but
deep ; no bridge, and snow drifted along
the reedy, marshy shore, so that it would
be hard to tell where sure footing was to
be found. You will wonder at hearing
that it was not firmly frozen over, but the
current is so swift and strong, that in the
coldest weather, this river, and many
others about Red Lake, are almost open ;
and as none of them have bridges, cross-
ing is not only difficult, but dangerous.
Mamma had not lost courage for a mo-
ment, "Can't you cut down a tree for
a bridge ? " she said. " There is one
close to the bank, and Harry and I can
go over on that"
WHITE AND RED. 93
" The best thing to be done, I believe,"
said Dr. Prescott; while Boulanger, slap-
ping his breast, stared at the river, con-
tinually crying, " Hi, hi, hi ! Sunny-
gert ! Tiyah ! " which means that things
are just as bad as they can be, and no-
body had better do anything. " But the
load. Monsieur," he went on, as Dr. Pres-
cott took out his axe. " The amiable
lady ; the little, little boxes ; the cher-
ished son."
" The amiable lady will walk over on a
log; and the little, little boxes, on our
backs," said Dr. Prescott. Mamma, who
had been translating to Harry, for all this
talk was in French, laughed till some
tears had frozen on her cheeks, while
papa walked down the bank, followed
sulkily by Boulanger, both sinking, in
some places, up to their waists. Footing
around the great pine was quite firm ;
and Boulanger, finding that the river must
be crossed, grew cheerful, and chopped
with a will. Mamma and Harry, at the
top of the hill, watched the chips fly, and
the great tree bend over, till, with one
crashing sweep through the air, it fell,
Boulanger running out on it, cut' ing off
branches as he went, and dancing up and
down at the other end, to see that it was
94 WHITE AND RED.
firm in the snow. Then he ran back,
and with Dr. Fresco tt, stamped down the
snow all the way up to the sled, so that
mamma and Harry had a good path to
the log, which they crossed without
trouble, papa leading them over, one at a
time. Boulanger, holding a balance-pole
in one hand, trotted after with the bed
and blankets ; a fire was built, and they
sat down comfortably, to wait till all was
ready for another start. The u little, lit-
tle boxes" were easily managed, being
slung over their shoulders by some rope ;
but the heavier ones needed two to carry
them, and Dr. Prescott and Boulanger
both very nearly rolled from the log into
the river several times. At last the
greater part of the load was over, only
some things remaining in the sled, which
water would not hurt. The ponies looked
very doubtful as Boulanger led them down
the hill; and more so, when, getting into
the sled, he urged them on. They snort-
ed and kicked, but yielding at last, floun-
dered into the river and swam over, Bou-
langer snapping his whip, and yelling,
" Sac r r r r e ! " till they were on the
other side. Here was a deep drift of
snow and ice ; and as they plunged
through it and went to the road, a loud
WHITE AND RED. 95
crack was heard, and the body of the sled
slipped one side.
" Ah, ta ! " Boulanger cried, dancing
about, while tears ran down his face. " My
sleigh it is broken. Ah, hi, hi, hi ! Now
we go on no more. ! this terrible Doc-
tor, who would cross ! Ah, hi, hi ! "
The " terrible Doctor" examined the sled,
finding that the wooden pegs which held
the body on, had broken off on one side.
Luckily an auger was in one of the boxes ;
and telling Boulanger to stop crying and
attend to his horses, Dr. Prescott went to
work boring new holes, cutting new pegs,'
and in an hour had all in good order
again. It was past noon now, so they
made tea, and took dinner here, finding,
when they drove on again, fewer stumps
than the day before. Just before dark
they came to the top of a hill, where
stood, side by side, two immense Norway
pines ; and here papa stopped the horses
while Mrs. Prescott read the lettering on
each.
" Twenty miles to Red Lake? on one ; on
the other, "Top of the tvorld"
" What does that mean ? "Why is it the
top of the world ? " Harry asked.
" Because from this point," Dr. Prescott
said, " rivers flow two ways : those behind
96 WHITE AND RED.
us, south, to the Valley of the Mississippi,
and thence to the Atlantic ; all beyond
here, northward, into Hudson's Bay, and
the Arctic Ocean. The surveyors . who
laid out this line of road, two years ago,
marked these trees, and their names are
all written on the other side. So it is
true, that at this moment, we are on the
tiptop of the world."
" Hurrah ! " Harry shouted ; and back
on the wind came a deep sound, which
mad6 him start. " Is it wolves ? " he
said.
" Dogs, I think," Dr. Prescott answered,
going on. " Yes it is," as the sound came
again, this time very plainly, a tremen-
dously deep bow-wow-wow. " There must
be a dog train on the way down."
Almost as he spoke, they saw the light
of a camp-fire, a tall Indian by it, and near
him three dogs, looking to Harry like
lions, with their great heads, and long,
shaggy hair.
" It is Little Thunder," said papa, quite
pleased ; " one of the best men at Red
Lake. He is a chief, and his Indian name
is Que wee ah."
" He's handsome," said Harry ; and
mamma looked in surprise at the tall,
stately man, who came forward, quite as
WHITE AND RED. 97
pleased as Dr. Prescott, and shook hands
heartily with all of them. His wife, almost
as tall as he, was cutting down some trees
for the night, but soon came back to get
supper, and they found themselves in the
most comfortable quarters they had had
since camping with the Major. Que wee
ah treated them as guests ; seated them on
his largest rush mat ; and, though glad of
some of their bread, would take nothing
else, but gave them boiled white-fish and
maple sugar for their tea. Dr. Prescott
knew just enough Ojibway to understand
that Boulanger was telling a pitiful story of
the wicked treatment he had received on
the way up ; but Que wee ah only smiled,
and shrugged his shoulders, as the tale
ended.
" Big mouth ; talk much ! " he said in
English. " No talk good ; no good man."
Harry looked up quickly on hearing
English ; but Que wee ah, laughing a little,
would say no more except in Ojibway,
and went on smoking.
"He understands English very well,'*
said Dr. Prescott, "but this is the first
time I ever heard him speak it," and then
he went on talking to him in that lan-
guage, but getting only Ojibway answers.
The great dogs, who had each had a fish,
98 WHITE AND RED.
lay by the fire, winking lazily ; and the
little o ta ban, or flat-train, which held the
provisions and other things, and which
they had dragged all day, leaned now
against a tree. Little Thunder said they
were on their way to Lake Superior, to
see some relations, but that the snow was
getting so deep, he thought they might
have to turn back. As he talked, Mrs.
Little Thunder strewed pine boughs for
the bed, and soon they all lay down for
the night
Harry watched the harnessing of the
dogs next morning. They growled and
snapped, and had to be dragged to their
places in which they were held by ropes
of twisted skin, fastened to collars about
their necks, and then to the train. They
went off with heads down, followed closely
by Mrs. Little Thunder, holding a long
stick in her hand, with which to guide
them.
Through the morning, the road seemed
so good that they almost hoped to get
through to the Lake that day ; but after-
noon ended any such thought, for about
two they came to another river, a very
small one, over which lay two trees, mak-
ing a good foot-bridge, but through which
the horses must swim. Then came the
WHITE AND RED. 99
weary work of unloading, and carrying
everything to the other side. This went
well, however ; the horses got through
bravely ; they loaded once more, and went
on for a mile or two, when a stump,
harder and sharper than all the rest, not
only caught them, but would not let go.
Prying and pulling were useless: more un-
loading came ; and when the sled was lifted
off, they found it so broken about the
tongue, that it would be impossible to take
on any load in it. Still nine miles from
the Lake ; to walk there was out of the
question, even could Boulanger have been
trusted with the boxes ; and papa, feeling
that this last trouble was almost too much
for mamma and poor little Harry, was try-
ing, as well as Boulanger's lamentations
would let him, to think what had better
be done, wfren the welcome sound of
" Gee-haw ! " was heard, and four oxen,
drawing a long sled, came in sight, guided
by a half-breed, whom Dr. Prescott knew
at once as Neddo Cotinasse, the farmer's
man. Neddo, after listening to the story
of their troubles, said he could not go back
with them himself as he was on his way
to Leech Lake, to bring up the farmer's
winter provisions ; but that he would take
one of the ponies, ride back as fast as pos-
100 WHITE AND BED.
sible, and engage an Indian who had two
oxen, to come down at once. So he
mounted and rode away, and our party
went into camp, making themselves as
comfortable as they could.
Neddo did not return till evening, but
said then that young Quay wa sauce
would be down early next morning.
The night was a miserable one, each
hour growing colder and colder ; and next
morning Boulanger did his best to per-
suade Neddo to start back at once with
him to Leech Lake, leaving Dr. Prescott in
camp till Quay wa sauce should come.
This Neddo would not do ; and they waited
till nearly ten, when the new team came.
Then there was more loading, and another
attempt at starting ; only an attempt, for.
with the first pull on the forlorn old sled,
snap went the tongue, and the oxen
walked quietly off, dragging it after them.
Evidently the load was never to get
through on this sled. Neddo had gone
on with Boulanger, and Dr. Prescott ran
after them, explaining the trouble, and
telling Boulanger that as he had agreed to
go through to Red Lake, he must take part
of the load, and Neddo the rest. This
Neddo, urged by Boulanger, refused to do ;
and Dr. Prescott went on, offering him one
WHITE AND RED. ' 101
sum after another till the amount reached
ten dollars, Boulanger assuring him all the
way, that the Doctor was a wicked man,
who would never pay him one penny.
The new team was going on to Red
Lake. Mamma and Harry, numb with
cold, sat in the sled ; and Boulanger, com-
fortably settled in the bottom of Neddo's,
his horses tied at one side, and his .<k-d
fastened behind, struck the oxen and urged
them on.
" Once more, Neddo," said Dr. Prescott,
slowly, " I offer you ten dollars and a
blanket, if you go back. What is your
answer ? "
Boulanger whispered something. Ned-
do hesitated a moment ; then, with face
turned away, said, " It is quite impossi-
ble, Monsieur. Boulanger wishes to re-
turn with me.* You can walk, leaving your
goods with Quay wa sauce, and some one
will return for them. It is not so far, even
for Madame."
Neddo looked up very suddenly, for Dr.
Prescott's pistol was in his hand, and his
eyes flashed dangerously, as he said,
" Turn your oxen ! "
Boulanger's hand went to his knife.
" Have a care there," said the Doctor ;
" not one word from you ! Neddo, I did
102 WHITE AND RED.
not think you the man to leave a woman
and child to perish in the cold. Turn
your oxen, sir, or you know what will
make you."
" He shall not, then," Boulanger cried,
springing up. " Ah ! you would force him,
would you ? " and he sprang toward the
Doctor with drawn knife, to find himself
very suddenly on his back in the deep
snow, his knife caught from his hand, and
stars before his eyes.
" Another word from you, and you shall
be tied hand and foot," the Doctor said ;
while Neddo, a little ashamed, and a great
deal afraid, turned his team, and began to
load up at once. Boulanger crawled into
his own sled and lay there without speak-
ing, and, soon as possible, they were off,
Neddo, whose sled was on high runners, so
that it could clear the stumps, urging his
oxen to the top of their speed. Mamma
and Harry were too cold to speak; for two
days they had been on short rations, and
when, late in the afternoon, reaching the
last hill, they saw from it four or five log-
houses, a crowd of Indians standing about,
and off on one side a great expanse of
snow-covered ice, strength was almost gone,
and they had no thought for anything but
fire and food. The farmer's wife, an Indian
WHITE AND RED. 103
woman, had made supper ready for them ;
she took Harry in her arms and carried
him in, for he was too cold and weak to
walk, and, putting him on her bed, he fell
at once into a heavy sleep, while mamma,
lying down by him, with the delicious
warmth all about her, cried, because she
was too weak and too comfortable to do
anything else.
Mrs. Campbell let them lie still an hour,
till the load had been taken into their own
house, and then brought a cup of hot cof-
fee to Mrs. Prescott, who, after drinking it,
felt quite well enough to get right up.
Harry had waked, and they all sat down
to supper. The room was filled with In-
dians, all wanting to talk, but papa said,
u To-morrow, to-morrow ! " and as soon as
the meal ended, they went to their own
house, which was just opposite the Camp-
bells'. Here Harry was put to bed in a
packing-box, on some goods, with a bag of
coffee for a pillow, and close to the fire,
going sound asleep in two seconds, and
followed at once by mamma and papa, none
of them waking till late next morning, when
Harry, sitting up suddenly, saw a sight,
about which I shall tell you in another
chapter.
104 WHITE AND RED.
CHAPTER V.
How did it happen that the door had
been left unlocked ? for unlocked it surely
was ; and not only that, but wide open too,
and in it stood an Indian, so tall that he
had to bend low as he stepped in. After
him came another, and another, and an-
other, all smiling as they saw Harry sitting
up there, too astonished to speak, while
mamma and papa lay sound asleep. Dr.
Prescott opened his eyes slowly as Harry
leaned over and shook him, but sprang up
as the tall Indian came forward, saying,
"How, how, how! Bo jou neeche" (Wel-
come, friend).
The room was full now, and women and
children crowded around the door, all
anxious to get in, and many of them hold-
ing up little bottles, given them by the
Doctor in the summer, and saying, as they
met his eye, "Po me ta sharbaseeken,
muskeekee wayninnee" (Castor-oil, medi-
cine man). They were all prepared to
stay ; for, though there was no fire, the
men, wrapped hi their blankets, settled
WHITE AND RED. 105
down comfortably, and took out their to-
bacco-pouches, ready for a smoke.
There are no proprieties among the In-
dians. If you want to call on them at two
o'clock in the morning, somebody will
wake up to entertain, you ; and why a
white man should not be just as ready to
receive them at any hour, they cannot see.
So old Ma dwa ga non hid, head chief of
all the Red Lake Ojibways, hearing that
the Doctor had come, had dressed in his
finest blanket and leggins, and walked six
miles to make a call. It would never do
to turn him away, for this was a very
great honor; and there were three of his
wives, too, smiling at the door, one with a
pappoose on her back.
Dr. Prescott built a fire at once, and
then explained, as well as he could, that
they were very tired, and had as yet had
no breakfast ; that he was very glad to see
them all, and that if they would go to
some of the wigwams near by, they could
soon come back and visit. Georgy Camp-
bell, who knew just enough English to
interpret tolerably, came down to say that
breakfast was ready, and explained mat-
ters.
" Kaget, kaget," the old chief said, which
means, " You are right ; " and drawing his
106 WHITE AND RED.
blanket closer, he walked away to the
blacksmith's, followed by the whole crowd.
Papa locked the door in a hurry ; and then
mamma, who had been laughing under the
blankets, crept out, and tried to melt some
water, which had frozen solid in the pail.
It took too long, however ; so they washed
their faces in fresh snow, and hurried up
to the farmer's, where, I think I have told
you, they were to take their meals, till
Oliver came with the provisions. Another
crowd was waiting there, and though Mrs.
Campbell said "Maja" (Go away) several
times, they only laughed a little, and
stared attentively. The farmer and black-
smith were both away, having gone for
supplies; so there was no rallying point
but the Doctor's house ; and there, after
breakfast ended, they followed them. Mrs.
Prescott looked about a moment, before
going on, and I will tell you what she saw.
Standing in the farmer's door, and look-
ing east, right opposite, was their own
house, built of sawn logs, with a great
black pipe sticking out from the clay
chimney, which she afterward found had
been part of the boiler for the saw-mill.
To the right of it, the blacksmith's house
and forge, all in one ; back of that the
Government warehouse, where payment
WHITE AND RED. 107
goods were stored in the fall ; and beyond
that still, some low log-houses and wig-
wams. There were two or three log-barns,
and all these buildings were on the brow
of a low hill, at the foot of which lay a
little lake, close to the edge of which were
seen the remains of a saw-mill which had
blown up in the fall. All about were the
melancholy looking black pines, save at
the northwest, where, a quarter of a mile
distant, lay Red Lake, stretching far out
of sight. Everywhere, save at this one
point, the thick black forest surrounded
them, the smoke from scattered wigwams,
or log-huts, curling up in the clear, frosty
air. The bright spots were the Indians in
red, green, blue, and white blankets; no
half-starved, dirty looking ones, as at Leech
Lake, but with a general air of comfort,
even among the women and children.
Neddo was there, shining in bead-worked
leggins of dark blue cloth ; and near him,
miserable little Boulanger, smaller, dirtier,
meaner than ever, in comparison, but with
a smirk on his face as Dr. Prescott passed,
which showed that he did not intend to
let any trouble of yesterday stand in the
way of his receiving a parting gift to-day.
" I am going to the blacksmith's a
few minutes," said Dr. Prescott, throwing
108 WHITE AND RED.
open the door. " Lock the door, and don't
let any one in till I come back."
Boulanger, who had fully intended to
step in, stepped back instead, while mam-
ma and Harry went to work at once, try-
ing to bring about some sort of system
in the chaos of boxes, bags, and bundles,
which filled one end of the room. Do
you want to know how it looked? A
room -exactly ten feet by twelve ; half-win-
dows on each side : at one end, a great
clay chimney, where now a fire of Ihe
black, pitchy pine, burned fiercely. The
walls just logs, nothing more, through
the chinks in which the daylight shone.
Overhead, a ceiling of rough boards, leav-
ing a space of four or five feet between
them and the ridge-pole ; a sort of attic,
which they found very useful in the stow-
ing away of odds and ends. A heavy
beam running the length of the house,
and just in the middle, supported these
boards.
" Is this all the house we've got ? "
Harry asked, as Dr. Prescott came in again,
followed by the old chief.
" I'm afraid it is," he answered, looking
troubled. " When I left, it was with the
understanding we should have the engi-
neer's house, which is quite comfortable j
WHITE AND RED. 109
but it seems it was turned over to the
blacksmith, who has rented it to a trader.
The Major would make all right if he
knew how things were going ; but it will
take five or six weeks at least, to write
and get an answer from him, and in the
mean time this is our only place. What
will you do, Mary ? "
Mamma looked just a little dismayed.
" Can't you have a place for an office ? "
she said. " We can't well live in the same
room with all this crowd of Indians."
"Neddo tells me Beauchamp can build
on a room at once," said Dr. Prescott.
" The great trouble will be that there are
no boards for doors or floors. We can use
poles, perhaps. The first thing now, is to
pay Neddo, who will soon start again for
Leech Lake."
Neddo wanted calico and some ribbon,
and an hour went by in opening the box
of goods and showing them to him, and to
the old chief. Money is almost useless in
the Indian country : a few among them
have some idea of its value ; but furs, corn,
and potatoes, are their usual currency, and
goods, the trader's, so many yards of calico
being counted as a dollar. Three are gen-
erally given, so Neddo was more than sat-
isfied at receiving at the rate of five for a
110 WHITE AND RED.
dollar. He chose also some bright rib-
bons, tying them at once to the tail on his
fur cap, and walking away with Boulanger,
who had also received some calico, and an
end of red ribbon, which, pulled through
the band of his greasy hat, made him look
dingier than ever. Harry looked on for a
time, while his father filled some of the
countless bottles waiting for castor-oil,
which the Indians love as you love butter,
and would drink all day if only they could
get it
Georgy came down after a while, and
asked Harry to come and slide down hill ;
and Harry, bundling up, went out, expect-
ing to find a sled. At the top of the hill
were a dozen or more Indian children of
all ages, each of the boys having a barrel
stave, with a string at one end.
Where's the sled ? " Harry asked, look-
ing about.
" Here," Georgy said, picking up his
stave. " See ; I show you ; do as me."
Laying the stave on the ground, and
putting one foot on it, Georgy pushed it
along, holding the string till some momen-
tum had been gained ; then, ' suddenly
bringing the other foot to it, shot down
like an arrow far out on the little lake, fol-
lowed by two of the Indian boys, slender
WHITE AND RED. Ill
and straight as the pine-trees all about,
who, as they dashed after, shouted " Hiyah,
yah, hiyah ! "
Close by stood a little girl nine or ten
years old, her black hair standing out all
ways, but with beautiful, bright, dark eyes,
and white teeth gleaming between the
reddest lips Harry had ever seen. She
had been looking at him with the greatest
interest ; and now, as Georgy came up,
said something, and then laughed.
" What is it she says ? " said Harry.
" She looked right at me."
" She say white boy not know anything,"
Georgy replied ; " she say you no can go
down as^me."
" We'll see," said Harry, indignantly ;
u give me your stick, Georgy."
Harry watched a moment one of the
Indian boys who flew by him, and then,
very sure he knew all about it, started
down. All went well till he brought the
other foot to the stave, when, exactly how
he could not tell, he found himself flat on
his back, and the stave which he had jerked
up by the string as he fell, lying by him.
A shout went up from all the company,
Georgy and the little girl laughing louder
than any. Harry laughed too, though
with a very red face.
112 WHITE AND RED.
" I'll do it, anyhow," he said, getting up.
" I guess I can do what they can," and he
started again, this time rolling over at
once, and going almost to the bottom of
the hill with the boy who had run into
him.
u You'd better look out how you do that
again," Harry said, choking, and scramb-
ling out from a drift, with his mouth full
of snow ; and then laughing, as he remem-
bered English was no use here. The boy
pointed to his feet, and said something, the
only word Harry understood being " moc-
casin."
" He say," Georgy interpreted, " white
boy boots no good : moccasin good, and
then you slide."
"But I haven't got any," said Harry.
The little girl who had been watching
him, sat down in the snow and pulled off
hers ; and Harry, after a moment's hesita-
tion, took off his shoes.
" What's her name ? " he said.
"Sozette Josance," Georgy answered.
"Her father's French, but she not know
French talk ; only Ojibway talk."
Sozette, in the mean time, had slipped
her feet into Harry's shoes, and stood now
looking at them, while Harry, who felt as
if he had on nothing but stockings, once
WHITE AND RED. 113
more took the stave, finding that now his
feet could cling to it, as the thick shoes
would never have let them do. Two or
three more trials and tumbles, and he
went down safely to the bottom, though
quite unable to stand straight as the other
boys did. His feet were cold now, and he
ran up the hill to where Sozette stood, in-
tending to take his shoes and go into the
house.
" Tell her I want them," he said to
Georgy ; but Sozette, with a little nod at
Harry, said, " Ka win ; neen sarga tow ;
neen margeetone." (No j I like the shoes ;
I will take them away.)
" She not give 'em back," said Georgy ;
she like 'em."
"But I want them," said Harry, mak-
ing a motion towards them ; when Sozette,
with a push that sent him backward into
another snow-bank, dashed off, her black
hair and little red blanket flying loose be-
hind her as she ran. After her Harry
plunged, angry enough now to think of
nothing but the shoes: and after him
rushed the crowd of children. Sozette
disappeared in an open door-way, and
Harry followed, tumbling over an Indian
dog, which yelped and snapped as it ran.
114 WHITE AND RED.
A tall man rose up from the floor where
he was sitting.
" Maja, waywif," he said ; " wagonind,
Sozette ? " (Off with you, quick ; what is
the matter, Sozette V)
Sozette laughing and panting, stood
behind her father, while Harry, burning
with wrath, pointed at his feet and then
to hers. Luckily, Dr. Prescott, who had
seen the rush by the window, came in
just in time to hear Josance accusing
Harry of having taken Sozette's mocca-
sins ; an exchange was made, at which she
pouted, and Harry walked home, warm
enough now, and ready for more play, if
papa had not said he had done quite
enough for that morning.
Beauchamp had come, sent by Neddo.
He knew a little English, in which he
took great pride, and was listening to a
plan for the new room, which was to be
begun at once.
" You no talk more," he said presently ;
"me know nuff; me go now, cut much
stick," and shouldering his axe., he went
off with his brother Baptiste.
Josance came after dinner; heated wa-
ter in a great pail, and thickened it with
clay which had been left from the chim-
ney, and which was found only in one
WHITE AND RED. 115
spot near the lake. With this he filled
up some of the great chinks between the
logs, though there was only enough to
finish one side ; while Sozette, delighted
at the chance of being there, stirred the
clay with her chapped little hands, and
looked at everything. Georgy and Fanny
Campbell were also there, and a steady
flow of Indian visitors came and went, till
at night Mrs. Prescott was almost as tired
as on the last day of the journey.
The next day building began, and went
on briskly ; and Harry, in blanket socks
and moccasins, trudged after Beauchamp
and Baptiste, who had brought a load of
small trees, five or six inches in diameter,
notched them at each end, after they
were cut to the right length, so that they
would fit into each other; and in a day
had finished a room at the back of the
house, eight feet by ten, with a roof of
poles, filled in with hay.
Another clay was spent in digging a
hole in the frozen ground, on which a fire
had been built to partly thaw it; then,
taking out the earth, mixing it with hot
water to a thick mud, and filling in be-
tween the logs. This would freeze, and
do till spring, when clay could be had.
Then came the question, where boards for
116 WHITE AND RED.
a floor could be found; and Beauchamp,
ever ready with his " You no talk ; me
know where me find some," trotted away,
appearing again after a time, with half a
dozen weather-stained ones, which, they
afterward found, he had pulled from the
Government barn. Two were saved for
a door, which Dr. Prescott put together
while Beauchamp laid the floor. By the
evening of the fourth day, the door was
up, a window cut, and a sash put in,
which, as there was no glass, had to have
panes of white cotton cloth. A partition
made of small trees, one side chopped off
to make them look as much as possible
like boards, was put up in the new room,
making a place just wide enough for the
cooking-stove, which was to come by and
by. From some shingles and a box Dr.
Prescott made a little closet in their
kitchen for his medicines, which were to
be handed to the Indians through a square
hole cut in the partition. An opening
was made into the main room, ready for a
door, in case boards enough to make one
should be found ; the little sheet-iron stove
was set up, the pipe going out through a
hole in the roof, and in a little more than
a week everything was in order, and the
Indians, unless very special friends, re-
ceived in the new office.
WHITE AND RED. 117
Then began the work of improvement
in the main part. They had brought
coarse sheeting, and rolls of bright wall-pa-
per. This sheeting was torn into strips
and pasted over every crack, not only in
the logs, but in the boards of their ceiling,
through which the cold air poured down
at night. Over this the wall-paper was
put, the black eyes looking in at the win-
dows at all hours, staring in astonishment
at what they thought to be this dreadful
waste of calico. Mamma pasted paper
over two of the boxes, making little
shelves in them with shingles, and papa
nailed them up; one under the looking-
glass, as a sort of bureau ; and the other
larger one at the opposite end of the
room, where they filled the two shelves
with their few books.
" for a barrel ! " mamma said often,
" and then we might have another chair,"
for now they had but one, a rocking-chair,
which had lost a rocker on the way up by
crashing against a tree. Papa had mended
it as well as he could, but 'twas still
joggly, and, at the best of times, had never
been meant to hold three people, so Harry
sat on a block of wood or at the foot of
the bed.
By Christmas Day the little house could
118 WHITE AND RED.
hardly have known itself. Nothing could
beautify that obstinate clay chimney, but
the open fire more than made up for it ;
and Harry, sitting on his block, saw won-
derful pictures in the red embers, and de*
clared it just the place for Santa Glaus to
get down without the least trouble.
Santa Glaus evidently had heard of Eed
Lake, for the stockings which were hung
up Christmas Eve, were found full Christ-
mas morning ; in Harry's, some new moc-
casins, an Ojibway Testament, and a piece
of red ribbon he was to use in trading, if
he liked. Mamma had all the dry goods
made over to her, and found beside, in
her stocking, "Longfellow" and "Whit-
tier," in the little Diamond Edition, which
is such a blessed thing for people who are
where they can take but few books, and
want much in little space.
Papa rejoiced in a pair of red flannel ]
shirts, and delighted the Indians by ap-
pearing at once in one. Out of the trunk
had corne two passepartouts ; one of Lin-
coln, which, with a wreath of ground pine
about it, hung over the table; and the
other, Harry's head of Raphael, which
Uncle Charley had given him. There was
no church to go to, but after breakfast
they sat about the fire and sang Christ-
WHITE AND RED. 119
mas carols ; and at last all went out for a
walk. Their thermometer said thirty-one
below zero, and papa's beard and mous-
tache were white with frost three minutes
after they started, yet none of them felt
really cold. Harry rancor walked, as the
mood took him, and they went down the
hill past Josance's house, and on toward
two wigwams standing alone. As they
passed a little log-barn, where Josance
kept his cow, mamma spied something
she had wished for every day since she
came.
"A barrel! there certainly is a barrel,
Henry," she said. u Do get it out."
"It's Josance's barrel," said Harry.
"I'll run back and tell him to come.
There he is now ; I guess he saw us."
Josance came up quickly, looking,
mamma declared, like a disguised prince.
Certainly he was very handsome ; and
small Sozette, dancing behind him, had
his eyes and brilliant teeth, and, dirty or
clean, was surely beautiful.
" C'est le fete de Noel," said Josance,
with a bow, as Mrs. Prescott told him her
wishes. " Je fais du baril un cadeau pour
Madame, s'elle me fera 1'honneur de 1'ac-
cepter." ('Tis Christmas Day. I make the
barrel a gift for Madame, if she will do
me the honor of accepting it.)
120 WHITE AND RED.
" Many thanks," Mrs. Prescott said ; and
Josance, with another bow, stood watch-
ing, while Dr. Prescott brought the barrel
and rolled it up the hill to the house.
"You are fortunate," he said, "for I
doubt if there be another one here. The
boys break up the very few which come
through, to use for sliding, so this is prob-
ably your last chance till next payment
time."
Two or three Indians were sitting on
the floor in the office, enjoying the heat
from the red hot stove, and smoking a
mixture of tobacco and kinnikinick, which
is the inner bark of willow, dried on little
frames before the fire, and then rolled
fine.
Mrs. Prescott marked out the back and
arms of her chair, and then papa sawed it
to the right shape, first knocking out the
top, which was to be nailed together, fast-
ened on a piece of tree between three and
four feet high, and made into a little work-
stand, covered with calico. Three days
later the two stood completed by the west
window, and the Indian women said,
" Ah, ta ! ah, ta ! " as they saw the pretty
stand covered with Turkey-red, to match
the chair and curtains.
Everything was now ready for house-
WHITE AND RED. 121
keeping, and they watched each day for
Oliver. Little Thunder had returned,
finding the snow too deep to go on, and
called almost every day ; and the old
chief, who could never be denied, doubled
up by the fire and spent hours watching
them at work. Harry was learning
Ogibway very fast, picking it up, word by
word, from the children with whom he
played, especially Georgy and Sozette,
who were now firm friends.
New Year's morning the sun shone so
brightly, that Harry, full of spirits, went
out for a run before breakfast. A little
scuffle was heard, and then a loud laugh-
ing outside, as he rushed in again, locking
the door behind him.
" What is the matter ?" said mamma.
u Why, they all tried to kiss me," Harry
answered. " Sozette, and Nah gon a sake,
did ; and then I ran, when that dreadful
fishy one caught me."
" What is it for ? " Mrs. Prescott asked,
as Dr. Prescott, who had opened the door,
hastily shut it again, while a very fat
squaw looked in at the window and
laughed.
" This is their day," he said ; while Harry
danced around, delighted with the idea
that his father, too, was to be attacked.
122 WHITE AND RED.
" I don't see but that I must stay in the
house. The squaw who can take the first
kiss from any man she meets on New
Year's morning, can claim a present from
him ; and there are twenty, I should
think, lying in wait by the door. All the
men who are not off on their hunts, will
be here by and by. Tis Manitou Gee-
shickuck, the Great Spirit's day, when
they all shake hands and give good wishes,
and they will expect some present from us."
" We haven't anything, unless it is this
card of brass buttons," said Mrs. Prescott ;
" there are four or five dozen of those."
" The very thing," said the Doctor ; and
just then Georgy came down to say
breakfast was ready, and put up his lips
so confidently, that Mrs. Prescott kissed
him at once.
A dozen women surrounded the Doctor
as he went out ; but he broke away from
them, laughing, saying that the white
man kept Manitou Geeshickuck in a differ-
ent way, and did not want to kiss. Harry,
pursued by a crowd of little girls, had to
run under Mrs. Campbell's bed to escape
them ; and, coming out with feathers in
his hair, was attacked, by Fanny and So-
zette together, and came to breakfast
very much disgusted at this new way of
WHITE AND RED. 123
keeping New Year's. The old chief stood
by their door as they went home, and
shook hands heartily. His face was
blackened, and as this is a sign of mourn-
ing, the Doctor asked if any friend was
dead.
No," said Ma dwa ga non ind, with a
chuckle. " But when it is black, the
squaws keep away, and I save my flour.
Kissing is for the young men, and there
are many ready and waiting for the white
medicine-man. Does the white woman
care ? " and he chuckled again as he
looked at Mrs. Prescott, and then settled
down by the fire.
All day long the Indians came and went,
shaking hands, and then sitting down to
smoke. The buttons gave out after a
time ; and having plenty of matches, Dr.
Prescott decided to give some to each of
the remaining callers, who were delighted
to have something so much more conve-
nient than the flint, steel, and tinder,
which all carry in their tobacco-pouches.
Toward evening, Kah wiss kinniky
(Crooked Arm), a handsome young chief,
called, and with him the dandy of the Red
Lake Ojibways, who was so impressed by
his own appearance, that he had little to
say to the inferior white people. You will
124 WHITE AND RED.
want to know just how an Ojibway dandy
looks, and as, though there are several at
Red Lake, " Shoo goosh kan dah way "
(Flying Squirrel) is the most important
one, you shall hear what he is like
First then, around his right eye a care-
fully drawn circle of vermilion; and around
the left, one of white. On each cheek
three stripes, red, blue, and yellow; and
on his forehead, spots of the same colors.
His thick hair carefully braided in two
long tails behind, and in front one small
one, on which are sewed nine brass but-
tons, while the parting is half vermilion
and half yellow. A bead-worked band
passes around his head, in which are stuck
some feathers. Then conies a Mackinaw
blanket, gaily painted in stripes, and a
blanket cap which he draws over his head,
and is cut in scallops on the top, and or-
namented with ribbons. Then a short-
skirted frock coat, bought of some trader,
below which hangs his calico shirt, which,
even when they wear pantaloons, always
hangs outside. Around his waist is a bead
belt, with the sheath for the long knife,
and over the right shoulder passes another
wider belt, to which the tobacco-pouch is
sewed, both covered with beads. Leggins
of scarlet cloth, also worked in beads, reach
WHITE AND RED. 125
a little above the knee, and are fastened
by bead-work bands, with long ends of gay
colored yarn ; and his moccasins are the
finest skin, and covered with more beads.
From each ankle trails a skunk skin, with
a brass thimble on the tail ; and around his
neck is another skin, that of a small fox,
from the tail of which hang large blue
beads, and twenty or thirty thimbles.
He was tall and stout, but too fine, as
well as too disagreeable, to be talked with ;
and Mrs. Prescott, after taking notes of his
dress, gave her attention to Crooked Arm,
who, though one of the best hunters and
warriors among them, had a very quiet,
pleasant manner, and seemed a thorough
gentleman.
. You will laugh at this ; but Mrs. Pres-
cott soon found there were a great many
gentlemen at Red Lake, and preferred
Indian society to that of the white men
stationed there.
Night came at last, and Harry was get-
ting ready for bed, when a trampling and
pulling was heard. Gee ! haw ! sounded
through the air ; and throwing open the
door, the expected teams were seen mak-
ing their way up the last hill.
126 WHITE AND RED.
CHAPTER VI.
"WHERE is the kerosene, Oliver?" Dr.
Prescott asked, as Oliver brought in the
last bag of flour, and stood as if he had
nothing more to do.
" The karosene," repeated Oliver. " Wall,
you see, 'twouldn't do ter bring flour an'
karosene along together, nohow, for one
might a-sprung aleak, and spiled the other.
Government teams is comin' up afore long,
they say, and we'll send it along on them.
I ain't none so sure about 'em, either, for
we did find the snow worse an' worse, the
further we come. 'Tain't been such a win-
ter for snow, no not in ten year."
" Why, we've been waiting for it ever
since we came," said Harry, " for it's dark
by four o'clock, and then we have to burn
pine knots."
" Ef I was you," Oliver went on, " an'
wanted that karosene bad enough, I'd send
dogs down for it, for I believe you won't
get it no other way. Little Thunder's got
some, ain't he ? He might go below with
us. Kind of comfortable lookin' in here,
you be now, ain't you ? "
WHITE AND RED. 127
" We have just three candles left," said
mamma, after Oliver had said good-night.
"We'll cut each one into three pieces
and allow ourselves one piece an evening.
Nine days will surely be time enough for
Little Thunder to go and come."
" Oliver says he shall only stay here one
day," Dr. Prescott said, " and it takes an
Indian so long to make up his mind about
anything, that I'll go over now ^to Quee
wee all's house, and talk about the matter,"
and bundling up at once, papa started off,
returning in an hour, to say that Little
Thunder seemed quite pleased with the
idea, and would come over next afternoon
for bread and pork, as it is customary to
supply with provisions all Indians or half-
breeds, who undertake any journey for
one.
The new cooking-stove was set up in its
place next morning, and mamma experi-
mented with Little Thunder's bread, which
came out of the oven in good order, and
was much admired by Mrs. Little Thun-
der, who came over with a muskemote,
or bag of woven rushes, full of potatoes,
which she had raised herself, and wanted
now to exchange for calico and buttons.
With her came her daughter, carrying a
pappoose, and, by the way, the Indians
128 WHITE AND RED.
do not like to have their babies called by
this name, which has, they say, been made
up by the whites, and means nothing at
all. Wahboose is the word they use, which
means, little thing, and is also the name
for rabbits. This wahboose, like all In-
dian babies, was fastened down on a board
with bead-work bands, and carried on
the mother's back, held by a band passing
over her forehead. As she came in, with
the blanket drawn close about her, Harry
thought her deformed, for this great hurnp
never stirred ; but when Mrs. Little Thun-
der had chosen her calico, the blanket
was thrown off, the baby set up against
the wall, and Dr. Prescott asked to look at
it. Its eyes were shut, and it moaned a
little now and then.
" 'Tis a very sick child," said Dr. Pres-
cott, presently, " and if it were anything
but an Indian baby, I should say was go-
ing to die. Take it home," he went on, in
Indian, to the mother, "and soon I will
bring you some medicine. I would tell
her to keep it quiet, were there any use in
such a direction ; but the sicker it is, the
more noise there will be."
" Let me go with you when you get
the medicine made," said Harry. " I know
her. She's the Red River Indian's wife :
WHITE AND RED. 129
she lives right across the road, in that
mud house. I saw her give the haby a lot
of hulled corn yesterday. It can walk,
but she tied it on to the board again, be-
cause it was sick ; and I saw it eat a po-
tatoe-skin. She lets it have fishes' tails to
suck."
" Why, that is dreadful," said mamma.
" It ought to have milk. Suppose I fix a
cupful of condensed milk and warm water."
" Well," said papa, " and we'll all go
over together."
So presently they went, mamma carry-
ing, in their one little pitcher, the milk,
which froze hard on the way, though the
houses were hardly a stone's throw apart,
and which had to be put by the fire at
once, to thaw.
The room was very small ; the logs so
carefully stopped with clay, and such a
great fire burning in the chimney, that
the heat was almost stifling. The baby
had been set up in one corner, near the
fire ; all around the room were the friends
and the relations, for whenever any mem-
ber of a family is sick, it is etiquette for as
many as can, to spend all their spare time
with them. In front of the child was
squatted one of the medicine-men, shak-
ing a sacred rattle, made generally of a
130 WHITE AND RED.
dried gourd, with beans in it ; but in this
case, an old oyster-can, with a stick in the
top, used as a handle. A small drum,
which he beat occasionally, stood by him,
and he sang the monotonous chant, by
which these sittings are always accom-
panied.
" The child has had no sleep for two
days, they say," said Dr. Prescott, " and
how can it get any in this noise and heat ? "
and then he went on in Ojibway telling
the mother that if the baby did not go to
sleep, it would die; and she must send
away the medicine-man, or, at any rate,
tell him to keep still. The old man shook
his head as he listened.
"The white medicine-man's words are
bad," he said, " though his heart may be
good. The sound of the Great Spirit's rat-
tle and drum, can alone drive out the evil
manitou, who has entered the lodge.
Would my brother see the soul of the lit-
tle one torn away?" and he rattled and
drummed together, as if determined to
make up the time lost in speaking.
" If the baby could only be washed,"
said Mrs. Prescott. " It is a mass of dirt."
' " Water and sleep would cure it," said
Dr. Prescott, " but it is not likely to have
either. A doctor's hands are tied here,
WHITE AND RED. 131
for if an Indian is really sick, these medi-
cine-men step in, and prevent the possibil-
ity of any good being done. Government
might better appoint two farmers, and do
without the doctor, who is of no earthly
use ; he must give them medicines when
they are not needed, and be tormented by
seeing all those who might be cured, if let
alone, drummed to death before his eyes,
and his own scalp in danger, if he inter-
feres."
The baby opened its eyes a moment, and
the mother put a piece of fish into its
mouth at once.
" don't ! " said Mrs. Prescott, starting
forward, and forgetting that English was
useless. " Do give it some of this milk,"
and she poured a little into a cup she had
brought
" No, no ! " the old medicine-man said,
as the mother took the cup. " Milk from
the white man's cup is manitou."
At the word " manitou," the mother
pushed it away, and looked frightened ;
but the father said, " The white medi-
cine-man's drink is good. Let the child
have it."
" Manitou, manitou ! " the old man said,
throwing down his rattle, and rising, as if
to go.
132 WHITE AND RED.
A general cry of dismay was uttered by
all the Indians.
" They say," said Georgy, who had
come in, " that your milk kill a baby when
it sick ; for why, your dish manitou."
" They may do as they please about the
milk, but the child must take this medi-
cine, or it will surely die ; " and papa took
the bottle and poured some drops from it
into the child's mouth, before any one
could interfere ; walking away with the
bottle afterward, and saying he would
come again soon, and give another dose.
" It is almost hopeless work," he sighed,
after they were home again. " I did my
best all last summer, to give them some
notions of cleanliness, which might help
them when sick ; but, except in a very
few cases, there is always the trouble you
have seen to-day."
" What is manitou ? " Harry asked.
" Anything which an Indian fancies
may, or which he is told by the medicine-
men will, do him any harm. Manitou
means spirit, you know, and everything
they cannot understand is called so, as well
as everything they admire, or fear strongly.
Those two great trees you saw at the top
of the world, are manitou ; so is my watch,
because it ticks ; and your little umbrella,
WHITE AND RED. 133
because it is something they never saw be-
fore. Leading-Feather's manitou is a wolf.
He would not kill one if he could help it ;
or if he did, would beg its pardon before
cutting it up. The young man whose
tooth I pulled yesterday thought it ached
because he had offended his manitou, the
woodpecker, who had entered it and was
tapping there ; and the old man who
wanted medicine for the rheumatism,
thought his manitou, the bear, was angry,
and had got into his bones, which he
gripped, and tried to crush. The longer
you live here, the more manitous you will
find. The missionaries, when here, were
able to influence a few ; and, on the whole,
the Red Lake band are far less supersti-
tious than many others, but still the medi-
cine-men do much as they will with them."
u Here is Little Thunder, come for his
bread," said Harry. " I wonder what his
manitou is,"
" I don't know," papa answered. " He
prayed to a red stone, when we were on
the hunt last summer, and offered some
duck-feathers to it. That was to insure
success, I believe ; and the stone had no
special sacredness of its own, for he left it
behind as we went on."
" He's got his Grossest wife with him,"
said Harry.
134 WHITE AND RED.
" The Grossest one ? " mamma repeated.
Has he two ? "
* Three, I think, unless one has died
since fall," said papa. " The one we met
when coming up is his first and most hon-
ored wife, and 'tis her son who has the
right to succeed him as chief. This one
has a terrible temper, and dislikes the
whites. She has come, probably, to see
that her husband makes a good bargain."
Campbell, the farmer, who had lived
among the Ojibways for many years, hav-
ing married a wife from the Mille Lac
band, came down to interpret, so that
everything might be understood before-
hand, and no chance given for saying that
more pay had been promised than was re-
ceived. Making a bargain with an Indian
is tedious work, and Little Thunder, like
all the rest, began by asking for five times
as much as he expected to get ; and on
hearing the utmost that Dr. Prescott would
give, first smoked a pipe, and then de-
clared he could not and would not go for
that.
Very well," said Dr. Prescott. " Then
I will get Baptiste, who is willing ; " and
Little Thunder, saying, " His train is weak
and old ; he could not go through," smoked
another pipe, and looked at his wife.
WHITE AND RED. 135
Finally, an agreement was made, by which
he was to receive his own provisions, fish
for his dogs, and four dollars for every
hundred pounds he should bring ; and Mrs.
Little Thunder number two walked away,
carrying the bread and pork, which papa
was very much afraid would be eaten be-
fore they started.
"What do you think Georgy told me
about the moon ? " said Harry, as they sat
that evening around the fire. "You know
it's new now, and Sozette and all of us
were looking at it ; and Sozette began to
talk, and make Georgy interpret what she
was saying. She said her grandmother
said the moon was made of something
very good to eat, and that when it was full,
ever so many thousand mice began, and
ate and ate, till it was every speck gone ;
then it grew again, and they ate it up
again, and that's the way they keep doing
all the time. I told Georgy to tell her it
was a world, and those spots on it were
mountains and everything. Georgy said
he wouldn't tell her such stuff ; and when
he did, they all laughed. So then I told
him what old Nokomis told Hiawatha, you
know, about the warrior getting very angry
with his grandmother, and thro.ving her
up into the moon so hard, that she stuck
136 WHITE AND RED.
there. Sozette said that was true, and
Beshquay said he could see her nose and
her blanket. Beshquay says his uncle is
windigo."
a What is that ? " mamma asked.
" Why, Georgy said, and he truly thinks
so, too, that when anybody's windigo, a
manitou gets into him, and he grows, and
grows, till he's tall as a pine-tree. Then
he is manitou, and nothing can kill him ;
and he eats up the children, if he wants to.
Sozette said, to be windigo was worse than
Jah bah e : what is that ? You called me
in before Georgy could tell."
" The spirit of a bad Indian, who could
not get into the happy hunting grounds,
and so wanders about, doing harm to
everybody. They can keep fish out of the
net, and loose all the animals that have
been trapped ; and the children are told,
that, if they are naughty in any way, Jah
bah e will chase them after dark, and pull
their hair, or sometimes wrestle with them,
and take away all their strength."
"If I could only understand Sozette,"
Harry went on, " she'd tell me something
about everything ; but Georgy gets tired
interpreting, and half the time he can't
tell what the English of it is, because
he doesn't know enough himself. I wish
I knew Ojibway."
WHITE AND RED. 137
" Sunday I shall begin to teach Sozette,
and some others, how to read," said papa,
" and that will help you in learning it ;
but 'tis such a hard language, you know,
that even Mr. Wright, who was here six-
teen years, says he does not feel that he is
master of it yet."
" What makes all the women talk just
as if they were angry ? " Harry said. " I
thought Mrs. Campbell was scolding aw-
fully this afternoon ; and Leading-Feather's
wife was there, talking back, just like her.
I asked Georgy what made 'em so mad at
each other, and he said they weren't mad
a bit ; they were talking about the sugar
bush, and the moccasin Fanny made."
" They all do it," said mamma, " while
almost all the men speak so quietly. Poor
women! they are little better than animals :
my heart aches for them every day."
" They don't have to do a thing till
they're ten or twelve," said Harry, " and
then they begin, and work till they drop
down dead. One of them said, why didn't
you chop the wood, mamma, instead of
having papa do it ? I said white women
didn't chop wood, and Beshquay said they
ought to ; and if he ever got a white wife,
he'd make her."
" That reminds me that our potatoes are
138 WHITE AND RED.
still in the muskemote, and must be put
down cellar, or they will freeze," said papa.
" Hold up the board, Harry, and I'll pour
them in."
The cellar was a hole in the middle of
the room, which would hold three or four
bushels, and a board in the floor over it,
had been sawed out, and a support put
underneath, so that it need not fall through
when walked over. Indian cellars are
made in this way, whenever they have
houses. For the wigwams, they are dug
outside, lined with grass or moss ; and the
potatoes being put in, are closed up, and
kept there till needed. The corn, after
being shelled, is sewed up in muskemotes,
and kept in the same way, to secure it
from mice.
Next morning, Harry, who had been
sent for a pail of water, came up from the
little lake without it.
"I don't want to get water at that place
any more," he said ; " Nokomis is putting
a dog down the hole."
" Nokomis ! " said mamma ; " what is
she doing that. for?"
" Some charm," papa said, shouldering
his axe, and going down to cut another
hole. Georgy was close by, watching ;
and Nokomis, who was the sick baby's
WHITE AND RED. 139
grandmother, looked a little disturbed as
she saw the Doctor coming, and began
talking very fast to Georgy, who inter-
preted.
" She say your medicine good make
baby sleep; pretty soon, while it asleep,
medicine-man take out manitou, put it
into the dog, and tell her, drown the dog,
and then baby get well quick."
" Tell her, if she must drown dogs, to
do it in the great lake, and not here," said
papa, " for she spoils our water. The
child is better, so it must be the dog that
has helped it. Why is it that Sozette
seems to be out-doors all the time ? "
" Josance gone away," said Georgy.
" Gone to the long hunt, and Sozette not
got much place to stay. She eat all round ;
we give her breakfast."
" Yes," said the farmer, who had come
down for water. " It's a wonder that child
don't starve to death ; she would, if 'twarn't
Injin fashion to share all round. Now, last
summer, Josance was down below, gettin'
goods to go off tradin' with, an' she went
on to Pembina, 'long with an old Injin ;
she walked nigh four hundred miles afore
she come back, and Josance never worried
his head. She's cute, Sozette is, though.
She's like to get all she wants."
140 WHITE AND RED.
Sozette was looking in at the window
as they went back, and began to pick up
chips industriously, saying as they passed,
" White people have much to eat. Per-
haps, if I take them chips, they will give
me some bread."
"Fill the little chip-box full," said Dr.
Prescott, " and you shall have some."
Sozette, delighted, whirled round on
one heel, till blanket and hair stood out
straight together, and then went to work.
u Somebody must see to that child," said
mamma, as they went in ; " she's a bundle
of rags. Do you know, Henry, she has
nothing on but that torn calico dress, and
some pieces of rag on her feet ? She
needs everything ; and yet, if I make her
a comfortable suit, it will be stolen, I'm
afraid."
" That is not likely to happen here,"
said papa ; " and I think she could be
taught to take care of her clothes. You
might have her bring water, and pick up
chips, and let her feel that she is earning
them. She depends on the squaws, now,
for all she has, and is the loneliest little
body up here, I believe, for she has only
that old grandmother, six miles away, to
think anything about her."
Sozette, hearing her name, listened at-
WHITE AND RED. 141
tentively ; and when asked, through Geor-
gy, if she would try to be a good girl, and
do everything to please Mrs. Prescott, if
she were allowed to stay, her brown eyes
danced, and she promised so many things,
that Georgy gave up trying to interpret,
and summed it all up, " She say she love
pork ; she say coffee is good ; she say
white folks have lots to eat ; she love
white folks ; she work all the time ; she
eat good deal ; she love to eat."
"There is no doubt about that," said
Mrs. Prescott, after a little time of watch-
ing Sozette, whom, finally, she had to send
away from the table. " The child has
eaten nearly as much as we three. She'll
be sick."
" No fear of that," said Dr. Prescott;
" she's too active to have dyspepsia, though
you must put her on allowance, for it is
Indian nature, you know, to eat just as
long as any food remains before them.
When we came where elk were plenty, on
the hunt last summer, they ate six or
eight times a day. But what is the mat-
ter ? "
The blacksmith ran round the house;
and looking from the window, they saw
that Sozette, who had been sent out to
empty some water, had run up his roof,
142 WHITE AND RED.
which sloped almost to the ground, and
was dropping snow-balls down the chim-
ney, into the forge-fire.
" If you're goin' to see after that little
varmint," said Hugh, as Sozette, before he
could catch her, had run into the house,
" why, you'll have yer hands full. There
ain't no kind o' mischief she don't do,
every minute o' the day."
"Not a nice white man," said Sozette,
shaking her head. " He slapped me once.
I shall do something to him."
Mrs. Prescott turned down the hem of
an apron for her, and, after the dishes
were set away, gave her a little thimble,
and began to teach her to sew. The
teams started about ten; Wade, with
his horses, which had brought up Aiken's
goods, and Oliver, with his oxen. Little
Thunder's dog-train went at the same
time, followed by some half-dozen Indians,
who were going a few miles for com-
pany ; and Sozette, who was half-sister to
Oliver's wife, said she wanted to ride a
little way, and would come back pretty
soon, and sew some more. Harry went
out with Georgy Campbell ; and mamma,
who was making gingerbread, listened
at the same time to papa, who was re-
peating one of the thousand tenses of an
WHITE AND RED. 143
Ojibway verb. Suddenly he stopped.
u There's a curious sound coming from the
blacksmith's ; what is it ? "
"He's shouting and pounding," said
mamma. " Go and see what the matter
is, won't you, Henry ? "
Harry and Georgy, who had also heard
the noise, came running, as papa went
out.
" Maybe he's sick," said Harry, looking
in at the window.
" Open the door," roared old Hugh.
" Open the door, I say ! "
But it's locked," said Harry. " Here's
the key, though, dropped out."
" Has she gone off with the key ? "
shouted Hugh. " I'll roast her, if I catch
her."
Dr. Prescott unlocked the door at once,
and Hugh stepped out, blushing at being
caught in such a fix, but angry enough
to knock down somebody.
" Darn that Sozette ! " he said. " I'll
give it to her ! She's spiled the best axe
I've made yit."
What does it all mean ? " Dr. Prescott
asked.
" Why, the little varmint came runnin'
round the house, pretty soon after the
teams started. I'd put my steel to red in
144 WHITE AND RED.
the forge fire, an' jist stepped out, to put
a stick on the one in my part, for you
see I was bakin' bread. I left the key
outside the door; an' the very minute I
stoops down to the baker, she bangs the
door to, and turns the key, an' then stans
there by the window, makin' faces. * Open
the door ! ' I says ; an' off she puts, hol-
lerin' out her Injin lingo, an' sayin' I
could go up the chimbly, ef I wanted to
git out. There warn't a soul round here,
for they'd all gone off with the teams, an'
I've been stampin' an' yellin', nigh half an
hour. I'll give it to her, you'll see ! "
Sozette came back just in time for din-
ner, but showed no penitence for her
morning's work, only shaking her head
a little as Dr. Prescott told her she must
not do mischief. Old Hugh was seen
chasing her in the course of the evening,
and declared through the window, that
he'd " rather have the sea-sarpint himself
to deal with, than that child."
Two days went by; and on the after-
noon of the third, Hugh, who had walked
in, said, " Here's news for you : Little
Thunder's home."
" What ! " said Dr. Prescott, astonished.
" He cannot have been to Leech Lake and
back."
WHITE AND RED. 145
" He could a done, ef he'd been a mind
ter," said Hugh. "Them dog-trains goes
fifty miles a day with a load, easy, but he
didn't get no farther'n Turtle River, that
fust one you come to, yer know, where
yer sled broke. His son's been over to
sharpen his knife, an' he told me all about
it. Yer see, Turtle Lake, that the river
runs out of, has froze over since yer come,
and they crossed it well enough gettin' up
here. So they thought it would bear
easy, an' started across. Wade got over
all right with his bosses, an' then comes
Oliver lumberin' 'long with them oxen.
There was one pretty ticklish place,
where the ice was thin on account o' the
current, settin' out strong to the river, an'
Wade he hollered back to him to look out.
Oliver thought he'd steered clear of it, an'
just went ahead. A hoss would a known
better ; but them oxen, big fools, walks
right into a air-hole ; one went in all over,
an' dragged along 'tother half-way. He
fit and bellered, but, yer see, kep gettin'
pulled in more'n more, when the other
one kind of settled under the ice. Wade
run back, an' him an' Quee wee ah, an' the
rest, pulls an' hauls with ropes, till they
gits this last one out; but yer see the
cold was down to nowhar, an' the critter
10
146 WHITE AND BED.
friz stiff in five minutes. I tell yer, I'm
level beat ef that Oliver ain't the on-
luckiest feller the Lord ever made. He
don't have no kind of a chance no-
how. He jest give them oxen to Little
Thunder, an' piled into Wade's sled, with-
out say in' one word, good nor "bad; an'
that's what's happened. You ain't like ter
git yer karosene yit awhile, fur there's
high times among them Injins. A lot's
started down to fish out the other ox, an'
they'll bile an' roast, till there ain't a
square inch o' either on 'em left. You'd
better be huntin' up more pine knots,"
and old Hugh walked away.
Little Thunder was not seen for several
days, but appeared at last with some beef
as a peace-offering, and said, if they would
provide more bread, he would start the
next day without fail. So more bread
was made, of course, for the kerosene
must be had, and also a box with beans,
and other provisions in it, which Oliver
had forgotten ; and Little Thunder really
did start the next morning, though a
heavy snow was falling. The precious
pieces of candle were burned, one each
evening ; and while they lasted, mamma
sewed, and papa read aloud, till each one
burned down to the bit of wood which
WHITE AND RED. 147
served as candlestick, when they threw
on pine cones, and by their light talked,
or sang songs, which Georgy and the
other children, who often spent the even-
ing with them, learned rapidly. " Tramp,
tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,"
was a special favorite, and Sozette rubbed
knives, and picked up chips, and sewed
to this one tune, till Harry said he was
tired to death of hearing that, and be-
gan to teach her, " Old John Brown had
a little Indian," trying to make her say
the English words, which she utterly re-
fused to do. Finally, with Georgy's help,
he translated it into Ojibway, and the
song was learned and sung with great ap-
plause by Georgy, Fanny, Sozette, Nah
gou a sake, and Harry. You will like to
see how it looked in its Indian dress, so
I will write it for you. The words are
pronounced exactly as I spell them for
you; and if you learn this thoroughly,
you can some day, perhaps, if far enough
West to see Indians, astonish an Ojibway
by repeating it to him :
" Keka John Brown bungee Snarby
Keka John Brown bungee Snarby
Keka John Brown bungee Snarby
Pashick bungee Snarby qua wa zance
Pashick bungee neesh bungee niswe bungee Snarby
148 WHITE AND RED.
Neez washwe bungee nis washwe bungee
Shouguswe bungee Snarby
Quage bungee Snarby qua wa zance.
" Quage bungee shouguswe bungee nis washwe bungee
Snarby
Neez washwe bungee gutwoss bungee narnoon bungee
Snarby
Newin bungee niswe bungee neesh bungee Snarb
Pashick bungee Snarby qua wa zance."
WHITE AND RED. 149
CHAPTER VII.
A WEEK or more went by before Little
Thunder returned. The candles were
burned, every one of them, and no more
to be had. Mamma tried to get a little
tallow from some of the Indians who had
brought up the last ox from Turtle River,
thinking that a tallow candle would be far
better than no light at all ; but tallow had
been eaten by them with just as much rel-
ish as any other part, and not an ounce
remained for candle or anything else. So
all necessary work was done by daylight ;
and the evening, which began at four in
the afternoon, was given up in great part
to the children, six or eight of whom they
had begun to teach, hoping that by and
by these might learn to read.
Dr. Prescott had brought up some prim-
ers, but his Ojibway botiks were the Tes-
tament and a small hymn-book only, as
these are the only books of their language
in print. The feeling against learning
English seemed to be just as strong with
the children as with the parents; and
150 WHITE AND RED.
though Nah gou a sake would sometimes
repeat an English word, she colored
after doing it, and all the other chil-
dren laughed. Even the little Campbells
seemed ashamed of what they knew, and
spoke Ojibway altogether, when not with
their father. Mrs. Campbell, too, though
she understood all that was said to her in
English, spoke nothing but her own lan-
guage. She wore the dress of a white
woman, and was neat in her ways, but in
all other points she was thoroughly Indian ;
and the children, growing up more under
her influence than that* of the father,
would, if they remained here, have less
and less in common with the whites.
The farmer himself was anxious they
should learn to read, and talked now and
then of " going below," where his children
might attend school ; but long years
among this wild people had unfitted him
for any other life. He had had a tolera-
ble education, and seemed capable of fill-
ing a far better position than the one he
occupied, and Mrs. Prescott often won-
dered how he could have separated him-
self so completely from his own people.
Aiken, who came over often from the
trading-post to see them, explained the
reason one evening.
WHITE AND RED. 151
" I tell you, ma'am," he said, " we're all
savages the wust kind down at the bot-
tom. There ain't a man with any grit to
him, I don't care if he's got D. D. and
all the other D's tacked to his name, an*
stan's in books up to his neck, but
what, if you'd take him an' set him down
plump 'long with a tribe o' Injins, so't he
couldn't get away, would take to huntin'
an' fishin' for a livin', as nat'ral as a fish
takes to water ; an" what's more, wouldn't
give it up, either, if he had a chance.
You look at Daniel Boone, an' all the
rest o' them sorfy straight through. They
couldn't be white folks, to save their lives.
Natur was too strong. I tell you, men is
nat'rally savages. This boy'll be one, ef
you don't look out."
"No I won't," Harry cried. "I'll go
home fast as I can, when we've stayed
long enough."
"That's it," Aiken went on. "Maybe
you'll find there ain't no such thing as
stayin' long enough. Now, there's old
Hugh ; been up in this country hard on
fifteen year, movin' on, movin' on, to get
out o' the way o' white folks. He says
there's too many here now, an' he'll have
to go off to Devil's Lake, or White Earth,
maybe. Madder'n hops, he is, at the Pa-
152 WHITE AND RED.
cific Railroad. Says there won't be a
spot, pretty soon, where a man can be
alone ef he's a mind to. He's like all the
rest that comes here ; got an old mother
to home, an' relations round in one place
an' another, an' he don't write a word to
one on 'em. Might as well be dead, for
all they know about him. There's just
Injin blood enough in me to keep me go-
in' ; an' go I shall, till I die."
" You're sort of black,* said Harry, " but
you've got blue eyes and curly hair ; that
doesn't look much like an Indian."
"That's so," Aiken replied. "This is
the way it is : my father was a Scotchman,
a trader for the Northwest Company, over
to Lake Superior; he was blue-eyed an'
red-headed. My mother was a ( bois
brule,' an' I was raised mostly by a Yan-
kee."
What is a ' bois brule ? ' " Mrs. Pres-
cott asked.
"French and Injin mixed; half-breed,
you know. ' Burnt-wood,' the words is.
They called 'em so, for their skins was
darker'n an Injin's, without that kind o'
reddish look to 'em. I talked Chippewa to
my mother, an' Scotch English to my
father, an' French to my grandfather.
We lived at La Pointe, an island in the
WHITE AND RED. 153
lake, you know. My mother died when I
warn't over three, an' my father right af-
ter ; an' then a Yankee, from Maine, took
a fancy to me, an' said he'd see after me.
So you see I learned Yankee o' him, for
talk Chippewa he wouldn't ; and between
Spanish I learned down on the Isthmus,
an' forty 'leven lingos from the natives,
my tongue gets so tied up I don't know
what I am ; Yankee, mostly, I guess. It
paid to* hold on to that, for it got me
good berths when I wanted 'em ; an'
many a one has said they'd take me to be
straight from Maine. I'm obleeged to
that man, for though he got plenty o' pay
out o' me, yet ef it hadn't been for him, I
might 'a been a ' coureur du bois ' this
minute."
" What's that ? " Harry asked.
" A fellow that's always paddlin' a ca-
noe ; an' when he ain't doin' that, carries
' pieces.' "
" ' Pieces ? ' " repeated Harry, puzzled.
" Pieces of what ? "
" I may as well tell you from the begin-
ning," Aiken said, laughing, " or else
you'll have to ask questions all night. La
Pointe is in the lake, I told you ; an'
there's a trading post, an' mission there.
It's easy enough gettin' at through Mack-
154 WHITE AND RED.
inaw. Now there's steamboats running
all the time ; but thirty years ago we
went by canoe or bateaux, and there
wasn't any other way. I was about nine
then, but could go all day, jest like an
Injin ; an' the man I was with got tired o'
La Pointe. I was going to Mr. Ayre's
school, for he'd just come there then for
missionary; but we started right off for
Lac du Flambeau, jest as I'd begun to
read pretty easy, an' that's the last school-
in' I've had to this day, though I did pick
up writin', an' some figgers, as I went
along, an' made use of 'em.
" Well, this man was goin' to trade at
Lac du Flambeau, an' took goods along.
We had one bateau an' two canoes, an'
about fifteen, all told, went along ; eight
to row the bateau, an' the rest for canoe
an' loose work. Two was Injins ; then me
an' the man, Preston his name was,
an' eleven ' coureurs du bois.' The ba-
teau I see you want to know about.
That was a light-built boat, forty feet
long, an' ten or twelve wide, maybe, in
the middle. Our'n held five tons, easy.
We had grub for a year, an' all the goods,
powder, an' the like, that would be wanted.
When we got to Forty-five Mile Portage,
that's between Montreal River and Por-
A bntfmt on the lake. See pnpo 154.
WHITE AND RED. 155
tage Lake, I took my first ' piece/ though
really 'twarn't much more'n quarter of a
' piece.'
" You see that's all wild country, or
'twas then ; no kind of road, only a trail
made by the Injins an' coureurs du bois,
goin' back an' forth. 'Long the lake
shore, it's mostly sand an' rocks ; but you
get back a ways, an' there's hard-wood
enough to build boats for all creation.
This fust portage was all timber ; forty-
five mile o' the thickest kind o' woods, an'
every pound o' flour, an' salt, an' pork,
all the 'bacca, an' powder'n shot, every-
thing you want to eat or to sell, just had
to be taken over on men's backs. The
furs, too, all went jest so. The fur com-
pany at Mackinaw'd send out their run-
ners to buy up the furs ; an' they'd go all
through the country, where there weren't
no reg'lar trading-posts, sometimes on
water, sometimes on land, hundreds o'
miles. We got all our goods at Mack-
inaw, took 'em through the lake to Mon-
treal River, an' then you go up that to
the first portage.
" When you get there, everything's put
up into packs an' bales, handy for carryin',
eighty pound weight about, to each, an'
each one o' them packs is a 'piece.' They
156 WHITE AND BED.
put a barrel o' flour into two bags, an' one
o' them's a ' piece.' So's a keg o' pork or
gunpowder ; an' every man's expected to
carry two o' them ' pieces ' to once. He
takes them Injin fashion: has a leather
band to go over his head, portage-collar
they call it, three inches wide, maybe,
at the back, an' from this there's straps
long enough to tie round the packs.
Then he ties on his two pieces : hists up
one, an' bends forrard a little, so't rests on
his back an' hips .mostly. It's easy
enough then to pull up t'other, an' lay it
on top, an' off he goes on a jog trot;
pretty fast, too. Each man has his share
o' the load given him at the start, an' he's
got to keep it all together. I mean, if a
man's got ten pieces to take over the
portage, that's five loads, you know,
he'll carry the first load, half, or a third of
a mile, maybe, an' then trot back for the
next one, an' so on, till he's got 'em all
together agin. There's what they call a
hundred an' twenty - two { poses ' that
means stopping - places on that portage,
an' it takes nigh on four weeks to get
across with much of a load. We was
twenty-four days ; an' after that there was
two more portages; one a hundred rods
long, maybe, an' the last one three miles.
WHITE AND RED. 157
" When I was at the lake there warn't
much of a post there, but more'n two
hundred o' these 'pieces' had to be
brought over every year. I stayed there
till I was pretty near eighteen, an' was as
good a coureur as any of 'em. Then
Preston died, an' left me his trade an' a
good bit o' money. I had coureurs then
o' my own ; but I've carried my ' pieces '
year after year, sir, an' hard work though
it is, I never had a sick day in my life, till
I got the darned Isthmus fever. I've
trotted over pretty much all this country,
for goods had to come here just the same
way, till three or four years ago, when
this road was made. I've seen all kinds
o' sights : fights between Sioux an' Ojib-
ways ; white folks scalped, an' the devil's
own work goin' on in all ways. I was
right in the inidst, when the Sioux raid
began in 1863, an' came nearer then
losin' my scalp'n I ever did ; but I got
away. Me an' Hugh was together then.
He learned me blacksmithin'."
" 0, tell all about the raid," said Harry.
" Not to night," Aiken said. " I've
talked enough for once ; but I will, some
day. There's yarns enough I might tell.
I never thought much about 'em at the
time, but there's lots that's asked me ques-
tions since then."
158 WHITE AND RED.
"How is it that you went to South
America ? " said Dr. Prescott. " I thought
that those who have been brought up to
this life seldom, if ever, left it."
" Well, I'll tell you. I told you I was
' coureur du bois ' till I was eighteen or so ;
and the white people that carne in as set-
tlers always took me for one of the ' man-
geurs de lard,' pork-eaters, you know. I
mean a Canadian, tied up like all of 'em.
You see the traders an' their clerks was
the aristocracy of the country. French
they mostly were, 'n some English or
Scotch now an' then. The fur company
had its head-quarters at Mackinaw, an'
other trading-posts round in different
places. Their men, the coureurs du bois
I've been talkin' about, came mostly from
Canada. They'd hire 'em for five years,
an' agree to give 'em five hundred livres
a year, that's about eighty-four dollars.
They gave 'em an outfit every year,
two cotton shirts, a three-point blanket, a
portage collar, an' pair o' shoes. Get 'em
off in the Indian country, an' they had to
buy their own moccasins, tobacco (for they
can't do without that), an' everything else
they needed of the traders ; an' they
charged 'em any price they liked. So,
you see, they'd run in debt, an' at the end
WHITE AND RED. 159
o' the five year, be head over ears,
over a hundred dollars, maybe. Then
he'd have to stay on till he'd paid; and as
he never could catch up (for, you see,
'twas the trader's interest not to have
him), he'd stay on all his life. The traders
lived high often, but these fellers didn't
have nothin' but hulled corn, an' some tal-
ler or pemmican in it for flavor. Once in
a while they'd get a little salt or pork for
it, but it cost awful. They called 'em
pork-eaters because they never had no
time to hunt for better meat ; an' as I was
all the while with 'em, they called me that
too, till I got to be trader myself. They
did it then too, for they don't care for a
trader that's come up from the ranks ; and
that's the reason I left, and sha'n't go back
there no more, though things be different
now. This is a good place, an' good In-
jins, too. Ojibways is the best there are."
" Then you have not forgotten the lan-
guage?"
" Cried in it afore I could speak," Aiken
answered, "so I ain't likely to. I've al-
ways sort of held to it. You've picked it
up pretty well, too, but I shouldn't wonder
if I could help you."
"You could, indeed," said Dr. Prescott.
" We have no way of learning it, except
160 WHITE AND RED.
word by word from the Indians ; and you
know English so well, you could translate
it into Ojibway for us, and it would be the
greatest help to talk with you, and have
you correct us."
" Well," said Aiken, looking very much
pleased, u traders ginerally are agin whites
learning the language, for they think, you
see, ef you know too much, you'll spile
their trade ; but I ain't one o' that sort,
an' you're welcome to any help I've got to
give."
So it happened that, three or four even-
ings in the week, Aiken came over ; and
though he knew nothing about grammar,
still helped them in many ways ; so that
before the winter ended, though far
enough from knowing Ojibway, they could
easily make themselves understood, and
were each day gaining more. Georgy
and Fanny improved in their English, too,
and the other children could read a very
little in the Testament, and were delighted
with all they learned. They could spell
now, in three or four letters ; and Mrs.
Prescott began an experiment, which did
not succeed so well as she had hoped.
Georgy had a slate which had been
brought from Crow Wing. On this slate
she made rough drawings of animals, and
WHITE AND RED. ' 161
printing the English name in large letters
underneath, had the children spell them.
Sozette, the quickest of the scholars, gen-
erally led off. For instance, Mrs. Prescott,
drawing a cat, would point to the name
underneath, and say, " Wagonind ?" (what
is it ?)
" C-a-t, meenoose" Sozette would answer.
u C-a-t, cat, " Mrs. Prescott would say.
" Spell it together, children."
" C-a-t, cat? came from Georgy and
Fanny ; but " C-a-t, meenoose" from all the
rest, till told they must speak the English
word ; when " C-a-t, cat" would be heard,
almost whispered.
" Now, what is this ? " Mrs. Prescott
would go on, rubbing out the cat, and
drawing an ox.
" 0-x, bezheekee" would sound ; and then,
began the same trouble all over again.
" English has short, easy words," Mrs.
Prescott would say, taking up a pin.
" This is p-i-n, pin ; but you say, ' ish te gou
sharboneeken' " (needle with a head).
u Ojibway nisheshin ; Shogenos ka win
nisheshin" (Ojibway good; English not
good), was always the answer, till mamma
was almost discouraged, though she per-
severed in making them learn two or
three English words every day. She could
162 WHITE AND RED.
teach them to sew neatly, and to wash
their faces ; and as they were much inter-
ested in the pictures in " Harper's Weekly,"
and some other papers, she finally made
seeing them the reward of all who had
spelled and pronounced three English
words, and who came looking tolerably
neat. A tin pan was hung in the Indian
room, and a coarse towel ; and as most of
them had no convenience for washing in
the wigwams, they were, on the whole,
rather pleased at doing it there, above
all as a piece of brown soap was given
them, for this costs the Indians, as the
traders sell it, seventy-five cents a small
bar.
Josance had returned from his hunt, but
was too well pleased at finding Sozette in
such good quarters, to think of taking her
away ; and so she stayed on, tormenting
and amusing them by turns. Little
Thunder had come long before this, for
'twas now the middle of February ; and
though his train had proved to be not
wide enough for the box of provisions, the
kerosene had been safely brought, and
they enjoyed the bright evenings all the
better for having, at one time, been forced
to depend on pine-knots. The keenest
cold was past, for twenty below zero is
WHITE AND RED. 163
warm for Red Lake ; and four times, in
the month of January, their spirit ther-
mometer had fallen to from forty-five to
fifty-four degrees below. The coldest win-
ter for years, all said ; and in the one mail
which had come to them by one of the
traders, since reaching there, the papers
spoke of it as very severe everywhere.
Iron skinned the fingers, if touched with
an ungloved hand ; and now and then an
Indian came in with shockingly frozen
feet. One in particular, Harry will not
forget, who walked across the lake, fifteen
miles, to get some ointment. Three of
his toes were entirely gone, and the raw
flesh seemed to quiver as Dr. Prescott
dressed it; yet the young man sat still,
smoking, and humming the sort of minor
chant they all know, and smiling as Mrs.
Prescott gave him some bread.
"Kaget, sunnygut " (That is dreadful),
Harry said, looking at his foot.
" It is nothing," the young Indian an-
swered ; and though he winced as he bore
his weight again on the foot, he walked
off as freely as if nothing were the matter.
Snow fell constantly. So much had not
fallen for years, old Hugh said, and it lay
now between three and four feet on a
level, and drifts every now and then of
164 WHITE AND RED
twice that depth. No teams could come
through from Leech Lake; a road had
been made by the dog-trains which went
back and forth for the traders, but it was
only a narrow ridge, hardly a foot wide ;
no horse could stand on it, and a sled,
whether drawn by them or oxen, \vould
tip off, first one side and then the other,
while they struggled through the drifts.
The paths to the wigwams are like this :
the Indians walk always in single file, and
there was but one path where Harry and
his mother could walk side by side, with-
out tumbling off! With such deep snow,
snow-shoes are very little use, and many
of the Indians were unable to go to the
winter hunt, and remained at home, so
that the traders' supply of furs was less
than usual.
There are three hunts : the long one in
the fall, beginning in October generally,
and ending early in December ; a short
one in January and another long one,
beginning the last of February, and end-
ing at sugaring time. The trader whom
the Indian may choose, supplies him with
traps, powder and shot, tobacco, and what
other things he may need, the Indian bind-
ing himself to give a certain number of
skins in payment. Generally he keeps
WHITE AND RED. 165
his promises faithfully ; though sometimes,
if he gets angry for any cause, he goes to
another trader and disposes of his furs.
On this account they are always on the
watch ; and each trader sends out men,
who fill the office of the coureurs du bois
I have spoken of, travelling long distances
through the snow, and often getting the
skins in the hunter's camp. When, too,
it is heard that an Indian is on his way
in, men from the different stores go out,
each one trying to persuade him to sell to
them. Aiken complained bitterly of this,
saying that Fairbanks, the other trader,
watched all night for the Indians, who
travel most at that time in the winter, as
going over the snow by daylight often
brings on what is called snow-blindness.
They hunt sometimes in twos or threes,
but more often alone. The traps for mink,
otter, and musk-rats, are set near their
haunts ; and how many are caught in a
good season, you can judge, when I tell
you that nearly fifteen hundred of mink
alone were brought in to the two posts at
Red and Leech lakes, last winter.
The hunter eats the bodies of the ani-
mals taken, and through the day busies
himself in skinning them, scraping and oil-
ing the inside of the skin, and drying it
166 WHITE AND RED.
near the fire. Wolves and foxes, which
prowl about any camp, find pieces of meat
lying around, and eating them, are soon
attacked by a sickness, which stretches
them out stiff and stark. The hunter con-
siders his traps too precious for them, and
uses poison instead, a little of which he
sprinkles on the meat. A bear is some-
times, though rarely, met ; the Indians sel-
dom go out to attack them alone, but in
parties of two or three, follow their track,
and drive them out of the caves, where
they spend much of the time in winter.
To every Indian he is more or less " mani-
tou," for the medicine-men wear necklaces
of bears' claws ; and whoever kills one is
accounted a brave.
Sometimes a moose or elk is started, and
then a furious chase on snow-shoes follows.
The dogs, one or two of which always ac-
company the hunter, and have the pointed
nose and general appearance of the fox,
chase the poor animal till it is exhausted,
and then penning it in some corner, the
Indian, on coming up, either shoots, or
cuts the throat with his long knife.
All the meat which cannot be eaten is
cut in strips, and smoked a little over the
fire, ready to be taken home for family
use. Soup made of this smoked meat, and
WHITE AND RED. 167
thickened with flour, is almost as great a
luxury as dog soup. Harry and papa
grew to like moose meat very much, but
mamma could never quite get over the
strong, smoky taste. Rabbits were very
plenty; and on the scaffolds put up for
that purpose before every lodge, hung
many hundreds of white-fish, which, being
caught late in the fall, are frozen and
strung on poles, by a hole made in the
head. The meat is pure white, firm, and
delicate ; so much prized, indeed, that
large quantities caught in Lake Superior
are packed in ice, and sent inland, and
numbers more salted like cod. It is said
to be found only in Lake Superior, and
those connected with it ; and there are
none at Leech Lake, tullibees, a smaller
and somewhat coarser fish, taking their
place. The country lying northwest of
Superior, between that lake and Red Lake,
is almost unexplored ; and Dr. Prescott
often said that if alone, he should be
tempted to start off with some of the In-
dians, when spring came, and try to dis-
cover the stream which must somewhere
connect the two lakes, if what they told
him was true ; to which mamma always
answered that he had been on one wild
expedition, and that was enough.
168 WHITE AND RED.
Sozette had been warmly clothed.
Mamma wanted to cut her hair, but this
was contrary to all Indian custom, and
could not be thought of. So the wild
locks were braided and tied ; but Sozette's
fashion of rolling down hill when she went
for water, generally untied them, and she
came back with them flying around her
face. Still, she was clean now, and very
proud of her two dresses ; and still more
so of a new apron, on the bottom of which
were sewed several rows of red braid, pre-
sented by Harry.
One Sunday morning she did not appear,
and a boy of fourteen or fifteen, who lived
in one of the wigwams close by, was seen
parading back and forth, with this apron
tied about his head. Noon came, and still
no Sozette. Harry went down to her
father's wigwam, to which he had moved
after renting his house to Aiken, and
which was shut up. That is, Josance, hav-
ing gone away for the day, had put a pine
bough in front of the door, to show that
he was not at home ; and on seeing that,
no one would enter, though his things
were lying on the floor, and a fox-skin,
worth several dollars, hung from the pole
of the wigwam.
Night came; and at dusk Sozette was
WHITE AND RED. 169
seen stealing up to the Campbells', from
whence Georgy presently walked down,
looking very much disturbed, and holding
a ribbon in his hand.
" Sozette up with us," he said ; " she
'fraid to come here."
" Why ? " asked Mrs. Prescott.
" For coz she throw stick all night"
" Do what ? " said Dr. Prescott.
" Throw stick, as you saw good while
*/
ago ; all shape stick, you know, throw
'em down : sometime lie good one way,
then sometime lie very bad ; then you
lose."
" I know," said Harry ; " it's what they
gamble with, mamma. Sticks, cut in all
sorts of shapes, like arrows and things ; if
they lie straight when you throw them
down, you win ; but if they cross, you
lose."
" She lose all the time," said Georgy. "I
play some, an' she bet this ribbon. 1 win ;
then bum by, pretty soon, my father know,
an' he say, ' Bring it here ; ' so I do.
Then she bet her stockings, an' lose them ;
an' she bet her apron, an' Waskiss get
that. That was Sattleday. Then I go
home, an' she play all night with some
more, till the sun come, an' lose her
clothes most all. Waskiss get 'em, an' she
170 WHITE AND RED.
go to sleep. She 'fraid to come back. She
say she tell her father you whip her, an'
took 'em away, an' tell her not come here
any more."
" What will you do ? " said Harry, after
Georgy had gone.
" Go first and see Waskiss's mother,"
papa answered, " and tell her that as the
clothes were not Sozette's, but ours, he
must give them back. They were given
to her to wear so long as she was good,
and Nah gon a sake was to have them if
trouble came up."
So papa went down to the wigwam,
coming back presently with dress, petti-
coat, stockings, apron, and moccasins, which
he said Waskiss had at first refused to give
up, telling him they had been won in fair
play, but pulling them out from behind
the chimney when he heard that they
were not hers to lose. Sozette hovered
about the windows, having heard from
Georgy that it would be no use to go to
her father; and on being brought in, began
to cry, and promised never to do so again.
Josance was called up and told the true
state of the case, that she need not think
it was to be passed over lightly, and then
she was sent home for the night, very
much in disgrace.
WHITE AND RED. 171
m
Mamma sat in a brown study for some
time after she left, till roused by papa, who
said, " What are you thinking of, Mary ? "
"That the child is hardly to blame.
They have so few amusements, that I can't
wonder at their playing anything which
will pass away the time. I wish we had a
checker-board."
" That last piece of board up-stairs, shall
make one," said papa, " and black and
white buttons will do for the men. I am
glad you thought of it."
" ' Tit tat to ! ' " said Harry, suddenly
jumping up. "I'll show her how to play
Hit tat to,' to-morrow. I can make the
marks for that on the slate, and maybe
they could learn dominoes too."
So, when to-morrow came, and Sozette's
morning sewing was over, Harry, who had
his slate, and some red and white corn
ready, went out into the Indian room, and
explained the game to her. She caught
the idea at once, and both Georgy and she
could soon make a row. Two Indians,
who came in for medicine, stopped to look,
and Sozette immediately began giving les-
sons. The two squatted down on the floor,
with the slate between, joined soon by two
or three more, who were equally interest-
ed. Harry drew another set of lines on
172 WHITE AND BED.
the board in the corner, and played there
for a little while with Sozette, giving up
his place, finally, to Ma dwa ga non ind,
who had come for' a visit; and, surprised
to find several of his subjects on the floor,
over a slate, stopped to see what it meant.
He learned the game, and was pleased
with the paper for it which Harry gave
him, putting it carefully into his tobacco-
pouch.
"One good deed done," papa said, laugh-
ing, when Harry came in. "'Tit tat to' is
surely better than cards ; and you have all
the credit, Harry, of having introduced it
into the Ojibway nation. How do you
like my work ? "
Papa held up the board, which he had
planed thin and smooth ; then marked on
it the right number of little squares, and
painted them red and black. A line of
red and black made a border for the whole ;
and when it was set up to dry, where one
could not see the rough edges, Harry de-
clared it was just as pretty as a store one.
At any rate, it answered the purpose ; and
Sozette, learning to play the game, gave
up " throwing stick " altogether. The
white buttons she called Ojibways, and the
black ones Sioux ; and many a fierce bat-
tle was fought that winter by the children.
WHITE AND RED. 173
Waskiss grew to like the game very much ;
but if he found that the Sioux were beat-
ing, dumped black and white together on
the table, and began again. Leading
Feather begged for a board, and Dr. Pres-
cott made him one in the same way ; the
older Indians, too, enjoying the game, and
spending at it many hours which would
otherwise have been given to cards. So
days went on, and by and by came to
Harry an adventure, of which you shall
hear soon.
174 WHITE AND BED.
CHAPTER VIII.
ON the other side of the lake lived E
sen e wub (Little Rock), chief over a band
of some hundred Indians, and the tallest
man, not a giant, that Harry had ever
seen, for he was six feet four and a half
inches. This winter, when not off on a
hunt, he had spent with his youngest
wife, who lived near Little Thunder's, call-
ing now and then on the two who were
on the other side of the lake.
A new lodge is made by the Ojibways
for every new wife taken ; and though the
common Indians generally have but one,
the chiefs take as many as they can
clothe. " Hole-in-the-Day " has six, Ma
dwa ga non ind four, and the other chiefs
in proportion to their rank. The oldest
son always succeeds the father, and so the
right is handed down, unless the chief die
without children ; in which case, the
brother next in age takes his place. Ma
dwa ga non ind is head chief, you know,
and to him are referred all disputes which
may arise among the different bands.
WHITE AND RED. 175
His four brothers are also men of great
influence, two of them being medicine-
men, and his sister is Little Rock's wife.
Mo se mo ranks next; a surly, discon-
tented Indian, always growling because
he was not made head chief. Then come
E sen e wub, Nab gou a ga nabe, and
last, Little Thunder, whose band numbers
about twenty. So far as Dr. Prescott
could find out, no tribute is ever paid these
chiefs; on the contrary, as they receive
more money and provisions from Govern-
ment, they are expected to aid any who,
through sickness, or any other reason, are
unable to hunt. They take the seat of
honor in lodges, and speak first in council ;
but further than this, no more respect is
paid to them than to any other Indian.
Little Rock's eldest wife was sick, on the
other side of the lake ; too sick to come
herself for medicine, and her husband, hav-
ing heard of it, was very anxious that Dr.
Prescott should go over with him, carry
some medicine, and tell him if she was in
any danger. The night, he said, could be
spent in the well wife's lodge, where his
oldest son lived, and where there was much
meat.
" 0, let me go too," Harry said, when
he heard the plan.
176 WHITE AND RED.
" You cannot walk fifteen miles," papa
answered, " and you must stay to take care
of mamma."
" The white squaw shall come with the
child," said Little Rock. " She cannot
walk like our women, and the dogs shall
take her across the lake."
" Would you like to go, Mary ? " papa
said. " It will not be like our coming up,
you know, for the weather is milder now,
and the dogs go fast."
Mrs. Prescott hesitated at first, but Little
Rock urged all to come, and Harry begged
hard, telling her she could not stay alone,
and would keep him at home too, if she
did not go. So at last it was decided to
lock up the house, and leave it in the
farmer's care ; and early next morning, E
sen e wub came over with Little Thun-
der's dog-train, which you know all about.
Mamma put all the bread in the house in
a basket,, knowing that they would find
none where they were going ; and with it
a little pail of apple-sauce for the sick
woman.
The train was exactly a foot wide, and
nearly eight feet long ; and on each side
Little Rock had put a stick for mamma to
hold by, knowing that she was not used to
balancing. A low box was in the middle,
WHITE AND RED. 177
and on it she sat down on three blankets,
laid out flat, which, when she had made
herself as narrow as she could, were rolled
about her, and tied down to keep them in
place. Just in front of her sat Harry,
wrapped in the same way. Little Thun-
der had come, partly to guide the dogs,
and partly because the sick woman was
his cousin, and the train started, encour-
aged by a cheer, which Georgy began, and
in which everybody who had come out to
look joined. E sen e wub's tall figure led
the way, wrapped in scarlet blanket, with
cap of the same ; then the dogs, and Little
Thunder close behind with his whip, and
all in white from head to foot ; and last
papa, in an army overcoat, and blanket
cap, with green goggles on, to prevent
snow - blindness. Indeed, they all wore
green goggles, except mamma, who had
a green veil instead ; and you may fancy
Harry, grown fat and brown since his
coming to Red Lake, rolled up to his ears
in blankets, and these green goggles
astride of his small nose.
Mamma held fast to the two sticks as
they started, for, so close were they to the
ground, there seemed no reason why she
should not find herself at any moment on
that instead of the train : and Harry sat
12
178 WHITE AND RED.
up straight, and pushed his feet against
the curving front, to steady himself.
" Suppose the dogs should see a deer
and just run," he said ; " we're all tied up,
and couldn't get off! Wouldn't it be fun ?
Or suppose we should meet a bear the
other side ; that's where they are, you
know, mamma, and they could bite our
heads right off, just as easy, before we
could get away. There's ever so many
things that might happen."
As he talked the train went by the trad-
ing-post, and Aiken brought out a cake of
maple-sugar for him, and laughed at the
goggles. The path lay now through the
hard- woods, as all timber, which is not pine,
is called. Here it was principally maple
and white birch, and they soon left the
narrow belt behind, coming out on rather
high ground, passing the old Jesuit mis-
sion, forsaken years before ; and, though
the cross still surmounted one building,
given up to the Indians, many of whom
came out to watch them down the bluff.
There were graves here of those who had
died in the Roman Catholic faith, the cross
on each rising above the snow which cov-
ered them.
The path led down between two very
steep bluffs, and the train bumped from
WHITE AND RED. 179
drift to drift, till safely on the lake, when
the way for some miles was marked by
poles stuck down in the snow, so that if
Indians became snow-blind in crossing,
they could have some guide on the way.
Here the dogs would have run, had not
Little Thunder held them back, knowing
that Dr. Prescott could not keep up at
that pace, though he had learned the little
trot of the Indians, which is far easier than
walking. Now and then he slipped from
the narrow ridge, but the crust of the deep
snow on either side was hard enough to
prevent his sinking into the water, though,
had he been fifty pounds heavier, he would
have been soaked up to his knees. You
will wonder how water could be there, and
stay water, with the thermometer at eigh-
teen degrees below zero, as it was that
morning, and I will tell you.
When so great a quantity of snow falls
as did last winter, the weight gradually
presses down the ice ; and on the same
principle that a full pail of water will run
over, if you drop any heavy body into it,
so the water rises over the ice and under
the warm covering of the crusted snow.
As more and more falls, more water of
course rises, kept from freezing by the
white blanket Dame Nature has spread
180 WHITE AND RED.
over it ; and at the time Harry crossed the
lake, the last of February, five or six inches
of water, or rather slush, lay between the
ice and snow, and would, when warmer
days came, make it almost impassable.
As they left the bluffj they saw a dark
speck on the ice, coming toward them, and
a little more than half-way over, met it.
It was Ma ja ke osh, brother to Nah gou a
gan abe, who had been off on a hunt ; and
by the way E sen e wub said. " Ah, ta !
ishtay ! " Harry knew that something more
than common was being brought home.
" What is it ? " he said to papa, who had
gone forward to look.
"Something which they say has not
been taken here for years, and will make
Ma ja ke osh rich. He has trapped a black
fox ! It will bring three or four hundred
dollars at St. Paul, and Aiken will give
him one hundred at least for it."
Mamma looked at the wonderfully fine,
beautiful fur ; and then Ma ja ke osh, who
had also a bear - skin, and with whom were
two dogs, which snapped and sprung at
the others, passed on, looking well content
with his work.
A little after noon they reached the
other side, going up even higher bluffs
than those they had left behind. Look on
WHITE AND RED. 181
your maps, far up in Northern Minnesota,
and you will see that Red Lake narrows
in the middle, and broadens out again.
This strait, narrower really than it looks
on the map, is formed by a point of land
running out some four miles. The coun-
try between this lake and Lake Wini-
peg is made up of small lakes, countless
streams, and much swamp, and only the
Indians know it well. Going northeast
through a little stream, called Sturgeon
River, and across one portage to Rainy
River, they pass down to Superior in the
summer ; and it is, they say, by a stream
on this portage, filled with rocks and rap-
ids, that the white-fish from Superior enter
Red Lake.
Little Rock's lodge stood with nine or
ten others, under the shelter of the pine
woods, which had at some time extended
to the edge of the bluff, but gradually had
been cut down for fuel. The Indians came
out to meet them, saying, " Bo jou," cor-
dially ; and Harry and mamma, who were
stiff from keeping so long in one position,
went into the wigwam of Little Rock's
well wife, and sat down on a rush mat
before the fire, while papa went into the
next one to see the sick woman, who
proved to be much better, and really
182 WHITE AND RED.
needed no medicine at all, though she
insisted on taking some. In the wigwam
where Harry sat, everything seemed neat.
Muskemotis of corn and potatoes were in
one corner; bundles of rushes, used in
making rush-mats, lay about; strips of
meat hung from a pole across the wigwam,
and a young girl was pounding corn in a
trough made from a block of wood hol-
lowed out. In the corner lay an old
woman rolled in a blanket ; and near her
sat the wife, making bead-work bands, and
looking shyly now and then at the visitors.
Three fat puppies slept near the fire, and
a yellow cat lay with her head resting on
the neck of one.
a Pussy, pussy ! " Harry called, but pussy
paid no attention.
" Pussy, pussy ! " he said again ; and
then, remembering where he was, called,
" Meenoose, meenoose ! "
Pussy opened her eyes, and came at
once to be stroked, and mamma said
gravely, " Meenoose kawin kendun Shoge-
nos ; kee kendun Ojibway" (Pussy does
not understand English ; she only knows
Ojibway).
What a laugh this little joke made!
Bashfulness ended at once, and mamma
found it more than she could do to answer
WHITE AND RED*. 183
all the questions asked. Two children,
who had been rolling about almost naked
on the rush mats, finding that Harry could
understand them pretty well, slipped on
their little blanket coats, and took him out
to see a moose which had been brought in
whole that morning ; and mamma, who was
now warm, went into the next wigwam
to see the other wife, who was much
pleased with the apple-sauce. A medi-
cine-man was there, beating a drum ; and,
distracted by the noise, Mrs. Prescott soon
went back to the first tent, where Win a pe,
the other wife, was busy getting dinner.
She had lived with Mrs. Campbell the year
before, and learned a very little house-
keeping, and mamma was glad to see that
her pails and frying-pan were tolerably
clean, for generally she had a very reason-
able dislike to food from Indian dishes.
Slices of moose-meat had been cut and
were frying now in a pan with some Govern-
ment pork ; potatoes bubbled in a tin pail
over the fire, and soon a dinner was ready,
which with the addition of bread and salt
from the basket they had brought, seemed
delicious. Little Rock, if he found a spe-
cially tender bit of meat, presented it, on
the point of his long knife, to mamma, and
Mrs. Little Rock peeled potatoes for her
184 WHITE AND RED.
with her fingers, both of which kindnesses
she could have very well done without;
for the fingers, dripping with pork-fat, were
first sucked, and then wiped on the
blanket; and the scalping-knife had cut
tobacco not long before, to say nothing of
skinning the moose. There were no plates,
and only two tin basins for the tea, from
one of which, papa, mamma, and Harry,
took turns in drinking, while the other
one did duty for all the rest. A small
mocock, a birch-bark box, was brought out,
filled with maple-sugar ; and after the
meal ended, Little Rock insisted on their
taking it home with them, only ceasing to
urge when he heard that they had a
large mocockful, which would last till su-
garing-time came.
That afternoon they went about among
the wigwams, visiting all, close by. Mam-
ma, who finally grew tired, went back and
stayed with Win a pe, who toward evening,
probably in honor of her visitors, took the
youngest child and washed him in the pail
in which the potatoes had been boiled.
They had more for supper, cooked in this
same pail, when the bath was over ; but
mamma, who had lost her appetite, ate
only some bread, and drank a little tea.
At evening, as many Indians as could
WHITE AND BED. 185
get into the lodge, gathered there ; some
had been off on the hunt with Dr. Prescott,
and knew him, though he had forgotten
them, and all were ready to be entertained
by the pictures in a " Harper " he had put
in his pocket on starting, and which he
explained to them as well as his stock
of Ojibway would allow. At last he took
out the little Testament, and read from it
by the flickering light, some of the most
interesting chapters in Matthew ; telling
them it was Gitchee Manitou's book, in
which He told His will to all His children.
Reading Ojibway so that one can be
understood, is easy, after the sounds of the
letters have been thoroughly learned, and
they understood him perfectly. He read
last the eighteenth chapter, which closes,
you know, with the story of the servant,
who, being in debt to his master, was for-
given, but who afterward put his fellow-
servant in prison for the same reason.
" Ka win nisheshin zhee mo koman," the
Indians said. (Not a good man.)
" White men are seldom good," Lit-
tle Thunder said. " Indians would be
ashamed to do what they do. The white
man does not scalp the head, but he poi-
sons the heart, and that is worse. Gitchee
Ogema Lincoln (the great white chief. Lin-
186 WHITE AND BED.
coin) was good, and there are some like
him ; but a white man killed him, and
the man the book talks to you of was also
killed, because he was good. The white
man does not love goodness. His heart is
bad."
There was little to say to this, and soon
they separated. The blankets were spread,
and they lay down by the lodge-fire, white
and red, side by side, and slept the long
night through.
By eight next morning they were offj
E sen e wub returning with them, and at
two o'clock were in their own little house
again. Que we zan schus, Ma dwa ga non
ind's oldest brother, came in before the
fire was lighted, and asked papa to go
home with him at once, as his little girl
was bleeding from the lungs again. An di
so ge zhe coke, was her name, and she had
been over often to see them this winter,
looking thinner and paler each time. She
had had one hemorrhage before, which had
been checked, but papa was afraid she
could not live till spring, as she was at the
age when very many of the young Indian
girls die of consumption. He went with-
out waiting for dinner, coming back in an
hour or two, looking grave and tired.
" Poor child ! " he said ; " they are beat-
WHITE AND RED. , 187
ing their drums about her, and one of the
men has put at the door a piece of white
cloth, painted red, to drive away the mani-
tou which has made her bleed."
Will she die ? " Harry asked.
" Not this time, I think, though she is
likely to at any time. You know what a
stern, silent Indian her father is, and yet
he is as tender as a woman with that little
girl. He has hardly slept for three or four
nights, and she will take nothing except
from him."
" I will go over to-morrow and carry her
something," said mamma. "Now corne to
dinner, for you must be famished."
The next day was the twenty-ninth of
February, and the first leap-year Harry
could remember. He celebrated it by
staying in-doors, for heavy snow fell all
day long, and spring opened in a whirl-
wind ; at night hail and rain fell together,
and a faint rumble of thunder was heard.
Then the mercury went down, down, and
by morning keen, bitter cold was upon
them once more. Papa went over to Que
we zan schus' every day, and gradually An
di so ge zhe coke grew strong enough to
walk about again. The cold lessened, and
in another week the sun shone down warm
through the middle of the day. Dried ap-
188 WHITE AND BED.
pies they had plenty of, so three or four
times a week Harry and mamma carried
over apple-sauce for her, and became inti-
mate with both the child and her father.
One morning, going over early with
papa, they found women clearing away the
snow from the open ground back of Que
we zan schus', with their snow-paddles,
which are like immense wooden spoons ;
while others were cutting and trimming
long poles, and bringing pine boughs. In
the house the women were pounding corn,
and washing potatoes ; and large tin pails
filled with both were in the fire-place,
waiting for boiling.
" A medicine dance, surely," papa said ;
" when will it be, An di so ge zhe coke ? "
" To-day," she answered ; " very soon.
They are killing the dogs now."
"What will they dance for?" Harry
said.
" For me," said An di so ge zhe coke.
a The blood still comes into my mouth, and
they will take away the manitou to-day.
See, I have new moccasins. Come when
the sun is high, and you shall see."
So at noon the family came over, find-
ing the Indians gathered together, and
every preparation made for a " Grand
Medicine." Poles had been put up, cover-
WHITE AND RED. 189
ing a space a hundred feet long, from
which the snow had been carefully cleared.
Against these poles on the outside, pine
boughs were thickly piled, to keep off the
wind. Within, rush mats were spread, on
which were seated over a hundred Indians,
men, women, and children ; and in the
centre were two posts, on the cord be-
tween which hung the gifts that day made
to the medicine-men by the father of the
sick child : blankets, long pieces of calico,
and two or three gay shawls.
Among the Ojibways this dance is a sa-
cred ceremony, including as many myste-
rious rites as Freemasonry, or the old Dru-
idical worship which you learn about in
early English history, and all are initiated
when very young. There are many de-
grees, the highest of which can only be
reached by the oldest men ; and no Indian
who has not at some time of his life been
received into the circle, can pass at death
to the happy hunting grounds.
Between this world and the world of
spirits, they believe there lies a pitch-black
lake of boiling water, crossed by a very
slender pole, held by an old woman, who
sits on the other side. The Indian, who
in this life has listened to the counsels of
the medicine-men, been brave on the war-
190 WHITE AND RED.
path, a good hunter, and just in his actions,
crosses the pole easily ; but if he has
wronged any one, and failed to repair the
wrong, has been a coward, or slighted the
medicine-men, he falls when in the middle
of the pole ; and being swept down by the
boiling current into the land of shadows,
wanders forever, vainly seeking the happy
hunting grounds.
When he has sinned lightly, though not
enough to forfeit his place, the old woman
turns the pole over and over, so that every
nerve is strained to keep his balance, and
he crosses in mortal terror of falling.
Harry knew this story, and was curious
to see what the ceremonies were. Crooked
Arm, after consulting a moment with one
of the medicine-men, gave them places in
the middle of the lodge. Opposite stood
Que we zan schus, wrapped in his blanket,
his head bowed upon his breast, and mov-
ing up and down as the Shakers dance,
though his hands were quiet. Three fires
burned at regular distances from each
other, taking the place, so Dr. Prescott
said, of three posts, each painted with
three stripes of different colors, which are
used in summer. At one end of the lodge,
wrapped in blankets, and leaning against
a stump, was the sick child ; at the other,
WHITE AND RED. 191
five medicine-men of different grades, the
oldest with a handkerchief tied about his
head. He had been scalped by the Sioux,
when a young man, on the war-path, and
left for dead ; but reviving, had crawled
into some bushes, where the Ojibways, who
had been put to flight, found him. From
that time, professing to have entered the
spirit world, he devoted himself to the
medicine dances, and was now the leader
in them.
Four held the sacred rattles, while the
fifth, seated in the middle, beat two drums
which stood before him, with such energy,
that the sweat rolled in great drops down
his face. All held medicine-bags : those of
the people, who sat in the circle, of weasel-
skins, with red beads where the eyes had
been, and some charms inside ; those of
the medicine-men, of mink.
As the Prescotts entered the circle, corn
and potatoes had just been passed around,
which all were eating. As they finished,
the. head medicine-man, holding his sacred
bag in both hands, and bending very much
forward, trotted around the lodge, in a
space which had been left for that pur-
pose, saying, " How, how, how ! " and fol-
lowed by the four others, each shaking his
bag over the child, as they passed. This
192 WHITE AND RED.
was to clear the lodge of all evil manitous,
which might be waiting to take the place
of the one they intended to drive out
from the child. Then returning to their
former places, the head man began a sort
of chant, growing louder and louder,
spoken very rapidly, and in a language
which, the Indians say, only the head men
among them know, ending it with the rat-
tle of drums, and the sound of " How, how,
how ! " from all the people ; after which
they bowed their heads, and lifted the sa-
cred bags before the medicine-men.
An di so ge zhe coke, who till now had
sat still, was lifted to her feet ; and a medi-
cine-woman coming forward, the child,
taking hold of her blanket, stepped behind
her. A row was formed, reaching half the
length of the lodge, and made up, first of
the medicine-men, and then of all those
who meant to become such, each one hold-
ing the blanket of the one before him,
and all beginning to march very slowly
and carefully to the sound of the drums.
Harry saw that the woman who led,
pushed away even a splinter, if it lay in
the path ; and before each step looked to
see if the ground was clear before her.
Three times they went around in this way,
faster and faster, shaking the medicine-bags
WHITE AND KED. 193
at the end of each round, and waiting for
the bow and answering " How, how, how ! "
of the people. Then the drums beat, and
the rattles were shaken furiously, and a
chant in Ojibway began, in which they
said that the road through life, and to the
spirit land, had been made clear ; that the
tender feet could walk over it in the dark-
ness, finding nothing to hurt them, or
against which they could stumble ; and
that if the Master of Life, Gitchee Manitou,
so willed it, His child could easily come to
Him by the narrow path.
As they sang, Que we zan schus still
moved up and down, never raising his
head ; and when they ended, more corn
and potatoes were passed around, even to
the Prescotts, who ate with them, in
token of good-will. Crooked Arm, as he
sat by them, showed a little shell which
he held in his hand ; and Harry saw that
those who had marched around, all held
one. Soon Que we zan schus, turning,
took from the line all the gifts, and laid
them in order on the ground, the whole
company marching around them. Then
they were lifted, and put about the child
in a circle, and again all marched around,
dropping into her lap the shell which they
had put in their mouths, and picking it
13
194 WHITE AND RED.
up at the second round. This was done
three times ; and then the head medicine-
man, kneeling down by An di so ge zhe
coke, began with her right foot, while the
march went on, rubbing it furiously, then
patting it gently, and passing to the left
one, going in this way over the whole
body, ending with her head. As he
touched her over the crown, the spot at
which the manitou was now passing out, a
howl went up from the whole crowd, the
sacred bags were pointed towards her,
and men and women rising, danced up
and down, while the rattles and drums
sounded loud, then as suddenly all sank
down, and for a moment there was dead
silence. Those who had joined in the
sacred march, now stood up, and each re-
ceived a gift from Que we zan schus, the
most valuable ones being given to the head
medicine-man. Then came the grand fea-
ture of all medicine dances : the dogs,
which, as a peculiar luxury, are kept ibr
such occasions, and two of which had been
made into soup for to-day. Neither
Harry nor mamma cared to try it ; and
as the principal ceremony was over, they
went home, astonished to find that they
had been there over three hours.
" You saw that Crooked Arm led to-day
WHITE AND RED. 195
once or twice, said papa. u He was ini-
tiated last summer, and I saw the whole
ceremony. "
"I wish you'd tell about that, and
your hunt, and everything," said Harry.
"You've never told us half you did."
" After all my letters home ! "
"But that isn't like telling," persisted
Harry. " Tell some to-night, and let's all
sit around the fire, as we did before the
kerosene came, and you begin at the
very beginning, and tell all the nicest
parts."
" Well," said papa ; and Harry that eve-
ning had all his own way. Sozette was
sent home early ; and drawing around the
hearth as night came on, papa began the
story you will find in the next chapter.
196 WHITE AND RED.
CHAPTER IX.
u THE mosquitoes had never been so
savage," Dr. Prescott began, " as this par-
ticular day in August They are worse
here in summer, Harry, than anything
you have ever seen, even in the salt mead-
owS ; but, that day, they came in by the
thousand. Mrs. Kennedy kept a mosquito
bar over her head while she worked, and
Mr. Kennedy came up from the mill, say-
ing he couldn't and wouldn't run the saw
that day, for he felt as if every drop of
blood in his body was going. Tired out
with pilling, I went and sat on my bed
under the bar, trying to write a letter, and
feeling so homesick that, if anybody had
asked me, I should have been glad to
leave the lake that moment.
" The Kennedys, you know, lived in half
of what is now the blacksmith's house, and
I had the little room at the back, so dark
one can but just see in the brightest day.
So I sat there on the bed, watching one
big mosquito, which had managed to get
under the bar, and was bent upon a bite,
WHITE AND RED. 197
when down the hill came a party of In-
dians, two of whom had, I knew, been off
on a hunt for some days. I caught their
word for buffalo, as they went round to
the blacksmith's, and jumped up at once.
1 Buffalo,' I thought. 'They have not
been within two hundred miles of Red
Lake for seventeen years, so they all
say, but I'll go and ask what they are
talking about.' In the mean time more
Indians had come down, and as I went out,
a group of some twelve or fifteen were gath-
ered about the forge door.
" * Yes, it's buffalo for sure, this time/
said old Hugh. ' One o' these fellers has
brought in a buffalo tongue, and says
they're not three days from here. Now's
your chance, Doctor. The old chiefs
band's a-going, and they'll see the Sioux
don't get you.'
" Now here was the greatest trouble of
that summer : the constant fear of the
Sioux coming down upon their deadly
enemies, the Ojibways. In winter there is
nothing to fear, for the deep snow drifts
over the trails, and there are no berries or
roots on which war parties could feed.
Then, too, the Indians go out singly, or in
twos and threes; but in summer, each
chief goes off with his band, leaving only
X98 WHITE AND RED.
the women, and children, and aged, at
home. Mo se mo's band left for the Plains
just after I came up, the last of May ; but
the heavy rains, in June, swelled all the
streams, and the old paths were com-
pletely flooded. So Ma dwa ga non ind's
band stayed at home for two reasons : at
first, on account of these floods ; and then,
at last, to guard the few white people at
the lake, for whose lives they were re-
sponsible.
"The last of June a stray party of
Sioux came down, and though not daring
to come near the cluster of wigwams near
the lake, killed and scalped a family, who
lived alone in the maple woods. The
same morning that their bodies were
found, an Indian brought in word that a
large war party were out, and the old
chief told us not to leave our houses after
nightfall, and to sleep with doors and win-
dows barricaded. The Sioux, you know,
hate the whites as much as the Ojibways,
and would have liked our scalps quite as
well as those of their old enemies.
" Old Hugh made iron bars for all the
doors and windows, and for three or four
weeks we were careful to keep in-doors
after sunset. This was growing unbeara-
ble, though ; we all wanted a change, and
WHITE AND RED. 199
I made up my mind at once to go out on
this hunt for a few days, if Mr. Kennedy
would take his wife down to Leech Lake,
as he had talked of doing. This we talked
over in the afternoon, and decided upon ;
and then I went to work to pack up odds
and ends, to leave in Hugh's care, and to
make ready a hunting-suit. On the breast
of my heavy flannel shirt, Mrs. Kennedy
sewed a stout canvas pocket, or rather, a
piece of canvas with twenty little divis-
ions, each one holding a cartridge. I had
my belt and long knife, the rifle slung
across my shoulder, and my old rubber
army blanket made into a sort of knap-
sack, and holding a change of clothing,
some strong medicines, and the bread and
pork Mrs. Kennedy made ready for me ;
enough to last four days, or till we reached
the buffalo, when, of course, there would
be plenty to eat. I had no wired mos-
quito-net to cover head and neck, so Mrs.
Kennedy made me a sort of havelock of
canvas, covering my forehead and chin,
and leaving out only eyes, nose, and
mouth. My watch and money I left with
old Hugh, for money would be no use on
the Plains, and I had no good place to put
the watch; and when Kay bay no ten
came down next morning, I was all ready
for the start.
200 WHITE AND RED.
" ' For a man that ain't naterally bad-
lookin' you're about the humbliest one I
ever did see,' said Mrs. Kennedy, as she
bade me good-by, and I think she must
have been quite right.
"The morning was delightful, fewer
mosquitoes than usual, and a cool breeze
blowing from the lake ; but when, in an
hour or two, we got deeper into the woods,
we lost this, and by noon the heat was
almost stifling. My rifle and knapsack
seemed to weigh a hundred pounds ; and
when the only Indian on horseback offered
to carry the latter for me, I was very glad
to let it go, and saw him ride on ahead,
not thinking that that was to be my last
sight of him for six weeks."
" Then he stole it ? " said Harry.
" No, he didn't steal ; he only went away
with it, for the last of September we met,
and he gave back the knapsack in as good
order as could be expected, when meat
had been shut up in it so long. At noon,
as he was too far in advance of us to get
at, I shared the old chiefs meal of dried
fish ; and then we pushed on, leaving
woods behind us, and striking into the
brush. This was hard walking, for no trail
was to be seen, and I followed on after
the Indians, all walking in file, as they
WHITE AND RED. 201
always do, and seldom speaking. The sun
set at last, as we found ourselves near an-
other long line of woods, by which we
were to camp, and I looked around for
my horseman. No signs of him any-
where ; and at last I asked the old chief
where he was, and if he had taken a dif-
ferent road. I knew very little Ojibway
then, and could but just understand, that
the horse could not follow the road we
had come over, but had taken another ;
and that if I went on about two miles, I
might find him in a wigwam just made on
the edge of this line of woods, by Wan e
ding, a young brave, who had taken a wife
the week before, and was living now with
her, and his old father, in this solitary
place.
" ' A few pipe-smokes from here, four
perhaps,' the old chief said, for this is their
way of measuring short distances, one pipe-
smoke being about ten minutes' walk.
The trail was well marked, and I went on
fast, reaching the wigwam in about an
hour, and stopping a moment to look at
the picture, before I spoke. It stood
under a white birch, the bark of which
had been partly taken to cover the wig-
wam. The sparks from the fire, kept
burning to drive off mosquitoes, flew up
202 WHITE AND RED.
from the opening at the top, and glanced
among the delicate green leaves of the
birch. By the fire, his head drooping on
his breast, sat the old man, his eyes bent on
the coals. His face was quiet and happy,
as if pleasant thoughts were going through
his mind ; and, as I stood there, he raised
his head, and through the opening in the
wigwam, looked steadily off to the west, as
if the happy hunting grounds lay before
him. Wan e ding and the young wife
were on the other side of the fire, she
combing his long hair, and making ready
to sew on one of the braids the nine little
brass buttons I had always seen him wear.
"As I moved forward a step, the old
man sprang up, and came out, gun in hand,
recognizing me in a moment, and welcom-
ing me heartily. He had seen nothing of
the Indian or pony, however, and I was
turning back a little discouraged, when he
insisted on my going into the wigwam
and eating with them, saying that I could
sleep there, and join the other party in
the morning. I was too tired to say no,
and hungry, too, and the potatoes and
dried fish they gave me seemed one of the
best meals I had ever eaten. Hot as the
day had been, the night was cold, as all
nights are in that region; and notwith-
WHITE AND RED. 203
standing the fire. I felt too chilly to sleep,
and long after the others were breathing
quietly about me, lay, turning first one side
and then another, to the fire, and sighing
for my blanket.
It must have been nearly midnight,
when I was roused from a half sleep by
a crackling sound outside the wigwam ;
and sitting up, listened a moment, lying
down again, as I heard nothing more,
and shutting my eyes, to open them the
next moment on a more horrible sight
than even the battle-field had ever given
me. Right through the side of the wig-
wam sprang a tall Indian, battle-axe in
hand ; and as I sprang to my feet, struck
it deep into the brain of the old man ly-
ing near me. Another moment: and as
I cried out, ' Murder ! ' changing the half-
spoken word to <Ne po! ' the Ojibway for
murder, Wan e ding sprang up, and with
his knife struck away the tomahawk just
descending on his wife's head ; not soon
enough, though, to prevent its giving her
a deep wound in the shoulder as it glanced
off. With a yell, the Sioux leaped away
into the woods, followed by Wan e ding,
who fired twice without hitting him, and
then returned, fearful that a party of them
were concealed in the woods.
204 WHITE AND RED.
" My little case of surgical instruments
was in my pocket, with plaster, and one or
two bandages, and with these I bound up
the cut shoulder. The old man was past
help : he had died almost instantly ; and
throwing his blanket over the corpse, Wan
e ding sat by his side, and mourned till
the faint gray light came up in the east,
and I started on to tell the others of the
dreadful night's work."
" How could you ? 0, how could you? "
said Harry. " They might have killed
you too, papa."
"No, my boy! Sioux are not much to
be dreaded in the day-time ; night is their
time for working; but, for' all that, it was
nervous work, going over that three miles.
The old chief was the only one awake
when I got into camp ; but as soon as he
understood what had happened, he sent
off three or four to bring in the body, and
then held council as to what should be
done. The younger Indians were bent
upon forming a war party, and giving up
the hunt altogether ; and though the old
chief objected, it was easy to see that he
did it because a white man was in his
charge, and feared being made accountable
for his death. Little more was said ; but
when, after the morning meal, Nah gou a
WHITE AND RED. 205
gah nabe's brother, and three others,
started off together, I knew that it meant
a Sioux scalp was to be taken if possible.
" In another hour the first party re-
turned, bringing with them on poles the
body of the murdered man, but so covered
with green leaves and branches, that there
was no thought of death in the burden.
Then Ma dwa ga non ind selected five,
who were to return to Red Lake, and see
that the body was buried with honor. As
he talked with them, he laid his own blan-
ket over the leafy bier, and the Indians
stood about with bowed heads, as a last
mark of respect. Then the five turned
into our yesterday's trail, and we pushed
on to the northwest.
" By the end of the second day's tramp
through swamp and brush, the dried fish
had given out, and that night we went to
bed supperless, the Indians feeling sure,
however, that some game would be killed
for breakfast. They were mistaken. Not
even a duck showed itself; and we pushed
on the third day in the pouring rain, hun-
gry enough to have eaten anything in the
shape of food. To-day we crossed several
rivers, and it seemed odd enough to see
the Indians, as we came to them, walk
right on, as if dry land lay before them,
206 WHITE AND RED.
swimming when the water rose above
their necks, and walking out and on with
streaming clothes, which they did not seem
to mind one bit. They laughed at me for
stopping to undress, and before the end of
the tramp I learned to go through just as
they did.
" No signs of buffalo yet, though this
was the day we had expected to see them,
and we lay down at night hungrier than
ever, and I thinking it would be impossible
to walk another day without a meal. In
the morning we shot two ducks and a
small bird, and these were divided among
the nine who made up our party: not
much for each one, you can see, but it
gave a little strength to go on, and that
was surely needed for this day's work.
tt You remember, Harry, coming up to
Leech Lake, the openings in the woods
made by tornadoes, and how wild the
great roots of the fallen trees looked to
you. Now, imagine that your road for
half a day, or more, lay through just such
places, and that you were either climbing
through and over these immense roots, or
wading in water always up to your knees,
and often to your waist. It was the hard-
est day's work I have ever done. Even
the Indians panted, and said, " Ti yah ! "
WHITE AND RED. 207
and when, late in the afternoon, we left
this behind us, and came out near a river,
I had barely strength to get through it,
and refused to go on further that night.
Something to eat must be had, and we
scoured the banks of the river for an hour.
There were no fish in it, and no ducks on
it ; and when, about eight o'clock, Kay bay
no ten came in with two little skunks, I
was ready to eat every bit of both."
" Papa, you never did ! " Harry said.
"You couldn't. I never knew that any-
body would."
" I did* and could, sir ; and, as I said,
wanted them both. The meat is tender,
and tastes very much like rabbit ; and
though, at most times, one could hardly
be tempted to try it, I even chewed the
bone, to get every possible bit of food, in
the mean time drying my dripping clothes
by the fire. My feet were swollen and
blistered by my heavy boots, and the old
chief, seeing how they looked, gave me a
pair of his own moccasins, saying that
white men's moccasins were good for noth-
ing, and I had better throw them away. I
didn't follow his advice, however, but kept
them for a change, when the thin skin of
my new ones should be worn out.
" Only one day now lay between us and
208
WHITE AND RED.
the Plains, where game of some sort was
always to be found ; and so, though we
must go on without breakfast next morn-
ing, we started on early in better spir-
its than before. Toward noon we came
once more to another forest upside-down,
through which we must crawl ; and here,
for the first time, I lagged behind. Faint
and dizzy from want of food, I stumbled
often, and at last it seemed as if a separate
effort were required for each step, and the
blood must be pumped down into my feet,
before life enough could be gained to carry
them forward. So far I have said nothing
of the mosquitoes, swarming all the time ;
but in this half wood, half swamp, so thick,
that you, who have never seen Minnesota
mosquitoes, would hardly believe what I
could tell you of them : they were a cloud
about us. My face was swollen and bleed-
ing from the continual stings, and my
whole body seemed so on fire, that it was
a relief sometimes to put my head under
water, and escape them for a moment.
Half wild with the pain, I covered face
and hands, at last, with clay, as the Indians
had done, this serving the double purpose
of soothing the smart, and keeping off
fresh blood-suckers.
" At last this dreadful labor ended. We
WHITE AND RED. 209
climbed the last root, and came out on the
open plains of Pembina, separated from us
only by a river. By the shore of this I sat
down, too exhausted to go another step.
The trail now was well marked, and as I
knew the Indians would camp near a wood
I saw some miles distant, I told them to
go on, and let me follow by and by.
They objected a little, but soon went on ;
and I sat under a tree, eating a root of the
wild potato the old chief had given me,
thinking that to-night, at last, we should
have plenty to eat, for there were traces
of deer all about ; and while I sat there,
I heard the crack of a rifle, and knew we
were certain of something for supper.
" As I sat still, holding my aching feet
in the water, a rabbit ran down towards
the shore. I fired and hit it, and was just
getting up to kill at once the poor little
thing, which lay there struggling, when I
heard a soft step behind me. Supposing
it one of our own Indians, I hardly turned
as I pointed to the rabbit, but a moment's
glance showed me he was an entire stran-
ger. He was shorter than most of these
Red Lake Indians, but I had not seen
Sioux enough then to know the difference
between them and Ojibways. As I turned,
he made a spring and lunge at me with
u
210 WHITE AND RED.
his knife, which I threw up with my gun,
and fired at once at him, shouting at the
same time, loud as I could yell, to our In-
dians, who were now out of sight. I had
not hit him ; but as he leaped away into
the wood, from which it seemed to me I
heard voices, I fired again, and wounded
him in the arm, which dropped by his
side. Evidently thinking that a party
were with me, he ran on ; and now I saw,
from the fringed skin leggins he wore,
that he was a Sioux.
" For a minute my courage was almost
gone. Then I walked into the river, and
down its bed, fast as I could, to the roots
of a great tree growing there, and almost
gone to decay. The trunk was hollow
for a little way up, though this you could
not know till right under the roots, which
were partly covered with water. In the
shelter of these I crouched, my back
against the back of the hollow trunjj:, and
only my nose and eyes above water. My
gun I loaded first, it carried seven balls,
you know, and I had determined, if at-
tacked, to sell my life dearly. Then I
pushed it up into the hollow of the tree,
that it might be kept dry ; plastered my
face anew with the river clay, and crouch-
ing, as I have said, under the roots, waited
and watched.
WHITE AND RED. 211
" I had barely settled myself here, when,
from the wood we had left a little while
before, crept out cautiously five Indians,
one tall one seeming to me the murderer
of the old man. From the way they
pointed to the northwest, I knew they saw
one of our Indians, and a moment after, as
I heard again the crack of a rifle, they re-
treated into the wood.
" It seemed an hour before they once
more came out, this time walking boldly
down to the river, and across to the trail,
plainly marked as I have told you. I saw
them examine it, and then cross again to
the place where I had been sitting, and
where I had dropped my handkerchief.
This they picked up, and there, was a
noisy talk over it; then they separated,
two going down one side of the river, and
two the other, while the wounded man
sat under the same tree where I had
rested. Twice they climbed over the
.very tree under which I lay hidden. I
felt no fear ; only an intense watchfulness,
as I kept one hand on my rifle, and waited,
expecting each moment to be discovered.
Flashes of light seemed to pass before my
eyes, and I felt that I should never die
in their hands. 1 stooped there, hardly
breathing, hours it seemed, till the Indians
212 WHITE AND RED.
had gone over every inch of the shore.
The only sign of trail, I knew, was that by
which we had come ; and that they dared
not follow on, lest they should meet our
party. For a few moments they talked
together as they joined the wounded man,
and looked again up and down the river.
Then, shouldering their guns, they went
swiftly down the shore, following its course
far as I could see. I knew they were not
likely to return, and though I still kept my
place, thanked God that they had gone
on, and that, thus far, He had given me
my life. Don't cry Harry, boy, we are
all safe here together."
" I know it, papa," said Harry, whose
head lay in mamma's lap ; " but how can I
help crying a little, just thinking what a
dreadful time you had. What if they had
found you ? "
Mamma shivered.
There, there," said Dr. Prescott. T
must stop, if you feel so. This is the last,
of the bad troubles. There was no more
dreadful danger, only little, small dangers,
out of which we came well enough."
" You didn't come out from under the
tree right away, did you ? " Harry asked.
" No, my boy. I didn't know but that
more Sioux might be in the wood, and so
WHITE AND RED. 213
I kept my place, till, from weariness, and
hunger, and excitement, I felt myself
growing faint. It was late twilight then.
I could see or hear nothing of the Sioux,
and after raising my head very carefully
higher and higher, ready, at a sound, to
draw back, I rose up gradually, so numb
and stiff I could hardly stir, and waded
down stream to the trail I had a little
flask of brandy in one pocket, which I had
been saving for great need, and now, if
ever, seemed the time to use it. I drank
half, and then pushed on, just dragging
one foot after another. There was more
water, and swamp, and roots, but I went
through it with good courage, for friends
and plenty to eat were getting nearer and
nearer, and about midnight I got into
camp, and fell by the fire, so used up, I
did not even want to eat. There were
plenty of rabbits now, and they had some
already roasted, and waiting for me. Old
Que we zan schus had spread branches for
my bed, and Kay bay no ten stretched my
soaked moccasins, and dried them before
the fire. He had seen the five Indians,
and known they were Sioux ; but being
alone, kept at a safe distance, thinking all
the time I was with the others. He dried
my clothes while I bathed in the little
214 WHITE AND RED.
lake close by, having first made a f smudge,'
to keep off mosquitoes, and then I lay
down on my branch-bed, and slept as you
did, Harry, your first night at Red Lake,
sounder if anything.
" Next day we saw one solitary buffalo
far off on the plain, but nobody caught up
with, him ; and that afternoon the Indians,
who had gone back to bury the old man,
came up to us, and said a large party of
Sioux were between us and Red Lake, and
that we were not strong enough in num-
bers to give them battle. There was then
nothing to do but to go on, and return to
Red Lake in some other way. So on we
went toward Wild Rice River, and the
seventh day out I shot my first elk ; the
first one, too, killed by our party. You
saw the great horns at the Agency, Harry,
and can think how the elk looked to me,
as I lay behind a bush, and took aim. I
had crept up through the long grass,
stalking, it is called, very slowly and
carefully, keeping my eye all the time
on this elk, one of half a dozen feeding
together ; and when, as the smoke from
my rifle cleared away, 1 saw him stagger
and fall, it seemed almost a wicked thing
to have killed the beautiful creature.
After that, though, I had the true ' hun-
WHITE AND RED. 215
ter's fever,' and brought down my deer
whenever I could. Those horns were my
greatest difficulty, for I carried them all
the way, determined to get them home
some day ; and they went up to George-
town on the Red River, and then down
toward Fort Abercrombie. I did not see
the face of a white man for six weeks after
we left Georgetown."
<_/
" Did you hunt all the time, papa ? "
Harry asked.
" Yes, hunted and ate. I never knew
before, what could be done in that way.
An elk would be brought in and skinned.
Kay bay no ten's wife, the only squaw in
the party, generally did this, and cut up
the animal. Each one took what he liked,
roasted it on a stick, and when the outside
had cooked a little, eat that off, and then
roasted the rest, smoking between times.
We took from ten to fifteen .meals a day
in this way, drying what was not eaten,
and packing it to take home. They cut
the meat in strips, and hung it on poles,
where it soon dried. Meat never decays
in this clear northern air, but dries up."
" Didn't you get sick, papa ? "
" Not a bit of it. In fact, I was never
better in my life, and grew as brown as I
did fat. so that when we came in sight of
216 WHITE AND RED.
Fort Abercrombie in September, nobody
could have told me from a real Indian,
except by my beard. There were wander-
ing parties of Sioux all about, and when
we came up to the fort, the sentinel at
first ordered us off; and then, when he
heard me speak English, said, 'No half-
bloods could come in, for they were just
as bad as Indians.'
" I wrote my name on a leaf of my note-
book, and got him to take it in, and very
soon found myself face to face with the
old General. I had been through a region
where no white man had gone before, or,
at any rate, no white man had ever come
back to give report of that wild country,
and they all wondered to see me alive. I
had no clothes, you know ; but one lent
me a hat, and another a coat, and so on ;
and after a day or two of resting. I started
on to St. Cloud, and then up to the Agen-
cy. At the fort I bought crackers and
pork for the Indians who had been so kind
to me, and who returned home by way of
White Earth Lake, killing just one buffalo."
" There's more," said Harry, as his
father stopped. " About the quaking-bog,
and Kay bay no ten's pony running right
into the wigwam, and knocking Mrs. Kay
bay no ten into the ashes ; and about that
WHITE AND RED. 217
pretty Indian girl at Georgetown that
offered to marry you, and make all your
skins into moccasins ; and 0, papa, about
that Indian that put a deer's skin and
horns on to himself, and went right into a
whole herd."
" You know all I have to tell, it seems,"
said papa ; " so, Harry, I think this will do
for to-night."
218 WHITE AND RED.
CHAPTER X.
"TELL me a story this evening, papa,"
said Harry ; and Dr. Prescott, who had laid
down the book he had been reading, some
moments before, said, " What about ? "
" 0, an Indian story ; one of those Aiken
told you the other day, and that I don't
know."
" Well," said Dr. Prescott, after thinking
a minute, " here is a little one."
"Then if it's little I shall want two,"
interrupted Harry. " Will you tell two ? "
" Perhaps," said papa, and began.
" Long, long ago when the animals ruled
the earth, they had eaten up almost every-
body but a little boy and girl, who lived
in the depths of a thick wood, so tangled
and twisted, that the big animals were
caught if they tried to get in, and the lit-
tle ones stayed away, because they were
afraid they might be.
" The boy truly was little ; so little, that
his sister hardly ever dared leave him
alone, lest some big bird should swoop
down and carry him off. So they stayed
WHITE AND RED. 219
in the wigwam together, till, by and by,
the animals growing tired of that part of
the world, went away altogether, to see if
there were not a better place, and more
people to eat. Then the sister determined
to go out, and look for wood, day after day,
till she had brought home great piles of it
for the winter fire. She made for the lit-
tle boy a bow and some arrows ; showed
him how to use them, and then said,
" ' Sit in the door of the wigwam, and
when the snow-birds come to pick worms
from the logs, shoot one.'
" All day the little boy sat there, shoot-
ing away every arrow, but never hitting
one bird ; and at night, when the sister
came home, she found him very angry at
his bad luck. She picked up the arrows
and said,
" ' Never mind. To-morrow you can
go outside the lodge, since I see nothing
which can hurt you.'
" So the next day, when the sister had
gone for wood, the little boy hid behind a
brier-bush, and soon shot a snow-bird,
which he showed to his sister at night.
" ' Skin it,' he said, ' and stretch the
skin.'
" So the sister skinned it, and bending a
twig into a circle, fastened the little skin
220 WHITE AND RED.
upon it, and hung it up to dry. Then they
boiled the body and ate it, and this was
the first meat ever cooked and eaten in
the world. The next day the little boy
shot another, and so on for ten days, when
there were ten little skins hanging in the
wigwam.
" ' Now sew them together, and make me
a little coat,' said he.
" The sister sewed them, and soon the lit-
tle boy had a beautiful coat, which he wore
everywhere. One skin was left though, for
nine made a very large coat.
" As he grew bolder, he went farther and
farther from home, and one day found a
pretty knoll where the snow had melted,
and being tired, lay down and slept.
While he slept the Sun. who is always very
inquisitive, came so close to look at him,
that the bird-skin coat was singed and
shriveled up, till good for nothing. The
little boy stamped and raged, when he
woke up and found the coat pinching him
tight.
" ( you Sun ! you are Ke-ko-pat-tis ;
you are a fool!'' he cried. 'I will teach
you to let me alone.'
(i Then he ran home very angry, and told
his sister, who came bending under a great
load of wood.
WHITE AND RED. 221
"'Give me a noose/ he said, 'I must
catch that impudent Sun/ and he showed
her the coat, and stamped again as he told
the story. The sister looked through the
wigwam, and brought him at last a piece
of thread-like root, such as canoes are
sewed with.
" * Kah, kah ; no, no/ he said ; ' I will
not have that.'
" Then the sister went back, and cut the
tenth bird skin into strips, and twisted a
snare.
" ' Kah, kah/ he said again ; ( I will not
have that.'
" Angry herself a little, at having so
much trouble for nothing, the sister went
outside the wigwam, and soon had a
thought. She pulled out some of her own
long hair, and braided it into a long cord,
which she took in to the brother, who
pulled it fast through his hands, to try the
strength, and then coiled it around his neck.
" ' Now I must fast/ he said, ' for this is
what I wanted/ and he laid down on his
right side, and never stirred for ten days.
u The tenth day he turned over to his left
side, and there he laid ten days longer.
On the twentieth day, long before the first
signs of daylight were seen in the sky,
he stood up and said,
222 WHITE AND RED.
" ' Now I am going to snare the Sun/ and
went out.
" Soon he came to the knoll, where the
Sun had first singed him, and, setting his
snare here, sure enough, at sunrise, the
Sun, which always touched this spot first
on his way up, was caught and held tight.
Now there were times, for the animals had
started back to their old home, and won-
dered why there was no light. At last
the Weasel, the sharpest of all, discovered
the noose, and going back, told what he
had seen. In the meantime, the Sun pulled
at the noose, but could not escape. The
animals talked together, and by and by
the Dormouse, who at that time was much
bigger than a mountain, said that this
noose must be gnawed apart, and who
would do it ? Not one was brave enough,
and the little boy laughed to himself
where he lay hidden. But soon he laughed
no longer, for the Dormouse, being angry
at the others, who were afraid, went nearer
and nearer himself, and at last began to
gnaw. As he gnawed, the Sun pulled, and
so helped him, but the heat, strong as
many fires in one, burned his back, and
burned and burned it, till it shrunk away
and fell in ashes, and when the Sun at last
was free, and rose with a bound to his
WHITE AND RED. 223
place, the Dormouse was no longer than
your finger, and to this day is the tiniest
animal in the world.
" The little boy said,
" ' If my sister's shining black hair cannot
hold the Sun, nothing can ; ' and he went
home to shoot snow-birds, for this business
he knew all about. Soon he had ten more
skins, and the sister made him a new
coat ; this time he kept away from the Sun,
so that to this day 'tis unharmed, and he
still wears it."
" That is a nice story," said Harry, who
had listened, hardly stirring. " Now can't
you tell just one more?"
" I will tell one for you and mamma
both," Dr. Prescott answered. " Do you
remember, Mary, the lonely grave we saw
near Gibe way shis, yesterday. There is a
story connected with that, which I heard
from Mrs. Ayre, last fall, and have always
meant to tell you. You have not seen the
site of the old mission yet, but the snow is
going so fast that you soon can. 'Tis on
the other side of the little river we cross
going down to Little Rock, and very near
the lake. There is where they built their
log houses twenty years ago."
Where are they now ? " Harry asked.
Burned down, after they left, by some
224 WHITE AND RED.
bad young Indians," said Dr. Prescott,
"but till then there was quite a settle-
ment; three families of missionaries, who
came here by way of Lake Superior ; a
long, weary journey indeed, and a lonely
ending at Red Lake.
" They built houses at once, however, and
before a year had passed, were comfortably
settled and working in all ways hard as
they could. The Indians, at first a little
doubtful as to what was to be done, con-
sented finally that their children should be
taught to read and write and even to work
a little, laying out their gardens, hoeing
and digging, and the missionaries hoped
strongly that in time the whole land might
be civilized. Habit and tradition were too
strong for them however. Work of any
sort, save that involved in hunting, de-
grades a warrior, and the few who took
tools provided, and imitated the white
man's ways, were considered as not worthy
the name of Indian. Still the children
were allowed to learn, as a favor to the
missionaries, whose hearts often grew
heavy, thinking how little could be done.
" Years went on, and the children whom
they had taught grew up into young men
and women. Among them was one who
had dropped her Indian name and been
WHITE AND RED. 225
baptized as Hannah, and who had never
returned to her wigwam life, but lived on
with one of the missionaries, whom she
loved and trusted entirely. Her mother
had died years before, and her brothers
were warriors, who were always on the
war path, or hunting. Her father, too, was
a famous warrior, and it went to his heart
that a daughter of his should leave the
faith of her own people. He was one of
the very few who hated the missionaries,
and believed they were doing harm contin-
ually, but Hannah, though she loved him,
could never be influenced against them.
She talked often of how beautiful the life
must be where all were Christians, and
begged the missionaries to take her with
them if they went away ; but until she was
nearly twenty, there was no change, and
the little band worked on, expecting to
live and die there.
" At last one of their number, who had
been in failing health a long time, deter-
mined to go for a little while to his old
home in Oberlin, Ohio ; and now Hannah
urged that she should be taken too, so
strongly, that at last they promised to let
her go, if her father would say she might.
The old man refused at once, but after
long and persistent urging, relented so far
15
226 WHITE AND RED.
as to say she might go, but that if any-
thing happened to her while absent, the
missionaries should be held responsible.
'Tis a law among the Indians, that if a
member of a family be killed, whether by
accident or design, that the nearest rela-
tive must avenge the death ; and the mis-
sionaries knew, that should Hannah die,
among strangers, the tribe would justify
her father in killing those whom they
would say had persuaded her to leave them.
She was urged not to go, but nothing
could induce her to remain at Red Lake,
and though Mr. Brent started without her,
at Cass Lake she appeared, and went on,
so happy in the prospect of seeing " all
Christians," that no one urged her return.
" Months went by, and letters came now
and then from Hannah as well as Mr.
Brent, telling of her delight in being where
people thought of the " Great Spirit " all
the time, and of her perfect happiness in
going to church and Sunday-school. Then
there was a long silence, and the father,
who came to question them about his
daughter whenever letters were brought
in, scowled darkly as he met them, and
they grew more and more anxious to hear.
At last came a letter from Mr. Brent.
You can think how eagerly it was opened,
WHITE AND RED. 227
and how the faces paled as they read that
Hannah had suddenly been taken ill, and
died within a few days.
"'When she knew she must die/ he
wrote, ' I said to her : " It is well with
you, Hannah, but ! what shall be done
about the teachers there ? Your father will
surely kill them. Why did you ever leave
him ? " She lay quiet a few minutes and
then said: "I do not think I was wrong;
nothing speaks to my heart to tell me that I
was. I shall say much to the Spirit about;
it," and indeed she did say much, for till
within an hour of her death, she hardly
ceased to pray that her father's heart
might be turned away from any thought
of revenge. At the last she took my hand,
smiling, and said, " Do not be afraid for the
teachers ; they will not die ; Jesus has told
me so. Write to them not to be afraid.' "
" The missionaries talked long together
before they could decide what to do. At
last they determined to speak of her death
to those who had known her, and when
her father returned from the hunt, to send
for him and read the letters, in which were
messages for him and her brothers. A
month went by before he returned, but
some one, met on the trail, had told him,
and he came in raging, vowing that one at
228 WHITE AND RED.
least should die. He painted himself for
the war-path ; put on all his scalp-feathers,
and with tomahawk and scalping-knife,
went to the mission. The missionaries
had gone that day to cut logs for the mill,
and only the women and children were at
home.
" ( When we saw him,' said Mrs. Ay re,
who told me the story, ' we looked for
nothing but death, and yet, strange as it
may seem, I never felt calmer. I went on
with my sewing for a moment, and then,
looking quietly at him, said, " What do you
want, Kay bay gwa ? "
" ' " My daughter. Where is she ? "
" ( " The Great Spirit has taken her. She
has gone home. Do you want me to read
you all that we know about her ? "
u ' I took the letter from the table and
read it to him, without waiting for an an-
swer. The veins in his forehead swelled,
and his eyes glared, they told me, but he
did not speak till I had finished. Then
he said, " You are murderers ; if you had
never come, the child would have stayed
with her own people and lived. You are
murderers, but I shall not kill you yet. I
shall listen to the voice of the Great Spirit,
and do as it wills." He went away then,
and that night, Leading Feather told us he
WHITE AND KED. 229
had gon off several miles to keep a fast
alone, and find out what he ought to do.
They believe, you know, that if they keep a
fast faithfully, the Great Spirit speaks to
their souls, and tells them all they desire
to know.
" ' So we waited three days, not know-
ing what would happen, but believing the
prayer of that dying child was stronger
than the savage instinct of her father, and
the third evening he came silently as we
sat together, and stood among us.
"'"I shall not kill you," he said; and
there were great drops of sweat on his fore-
head as he spoke. " I shall not kill you,
for last night, as I sat alone in the lodge,
the Great Spirit spoke to my mind and told
me to leave you unharmed. I do it, for
the child loved you, but you are murder-
ers. Kay bay gwa has spoken." '
" ' And was there no more trouble ? ' I
asked.
" ' None,' said Mrs. Ayre. ' He never
spoke to us again or indeed came near us,
but when we left Red Lake finally, came
silently and shook hands. He died shortly
after, and I think often that his dreadful
conflict against his own savage nature was
a victory that may have given him a bet-
ter entrance into those " many mansions "
230 WHITE AND RED.
than we know of. He was an Indian and
a heathen, but who shall say that the All-
merciful had not a place for him after
all?'"
WHITE AND RED. 231
CHAPTER XL
" JUST a little story this evening, papa,"
Harry said, a week or two after he had
heard about ' The Boy who set a Snare
for the Sun.' " Tell some more about the
missionaries. I've been over the brook to-
day, looking at the place they used to live
at What a shame the Indians burned all
the houses down."
"It was the boys who did that," said Dr.
Prescott. " The men were sorry, all of
them, I think. Have I never told you
about Mr. Ayre's sermon ? "
" No," said Harry, " I hope it ain't any-
thing real sorry, like that about Kay bay
gwa. I don't want to hear it to-night if
it is."
" No, " said papa, " I don't think you'll
call it a sorry story, and if you do, I can
tell you a very gay one to make up for it.
I have one all ready."
" Save it for the last, papa, and I hope
it's long."
" Well," said papa. " then I will tell first
232 WHITE AND RED.
about the missionaries, who had been here
about three years when this happened.
There were then several converts among
the women, but these and all the rest stole
continually, and the children too, so that
whenever they came to the teachers'
houses, somebody had to watch all the
time, very much as we do now. It was
doubly an evil for them, because then, you
know, every article had to be brought on
the backs of men, and supplies could only
come once or twice a year, and the thiev-
ing was done so skillfully, that they were
hardly ever certain just who to charge
with it At last it could be borne no
longer, and when the only remaining
auger disappeared from the mill where
they had been working, and the keg of
nails was found to have been skillfully
tapped, Mr. Ayre determined to make a
personal application in the sermon he was
preparing for the next Sunday, and accord-
ingly urged, even harder than usual, that
as many should come as the room would
hold.
"Sunday came; a fair spring day. and
not only were the women and children in
their usual places, but all around the room
squatted the older men, chiefs, braves,
and old hunters; fresh paint on their
WHITE AND RED. 233
faces ; hair shining with fish oil ; the gayest
blankets and finest bead-work, and all with
the pipe they would have smoked steadily
had not Mr. Ayre made special request
that they would not. Many of the women
had by this time learned to sing the -hymns
which had been translated into Ojibway,
and as they joined with the missionaries
in the sweet old tunes, the Indians listened
with great satisfaction. A little, a very
little, stir was perceptible, as Mr. Ayre
slowly and solemnly gave out his text,
'Thou shalt not steal.' Every eye was
fixed steadily on him as he went on, tell-
ing them in the simplest . and most forci-
ble words he could use, of the guilt and
meanness of taking what is not one's own,
and how fully the Bible showed them the
wrong of such a course.
" ' You are honest with one another,' he
said. ' Whether you are Christians or not,
I go by your lodges and see them left with
only a pine bough across the door, and
yet all respect that sign, and would be
ashamed to steal from the one who had
left it unguarded. You teach your children
not to steal from one another. Why then
do you steal from us ? We come among
you only to do you good. We have left
our homes and our own kindred behind us.
234 WHITE AND RED.
We are alone here with you, trying to
show you the right way to heaven ; try-
ing to make you do as the Great Spirit
wishes. Some of you are really His chil-
dren, and wish to obey Him, but do you
do this when you take from us the little
we have ? Is there not some one here this
very day, who has stolen, perhaps often ? '
u Looking about as he spoke, Mr. Ayre
paused a moment, never dreaming an an-
swer would be given, but simply stopping
to give his words more effect, when, right
before him, uprose the old chief.
" Ma dwa ga non ind, tall and stately and
wrapping his blanket closer about him,
said, slowly,
" ' Who is there here who has not stolen ?
Let my children speak to the teacher if
there is one who has not, or let them tell
what they have taken.'
" There was a murmur through the whole
assembly. Then an old woman near the
door stood up, and in her cracked and
shaking voice, said,
" ' I have stolen many times, but every-
thing is now gone. Here, though, is one
needle I took yesterday, when my hand
had no thought in it ; ' and coming for-
ward, she laid the needle on Mr. Ayre's
desk, while he with difficulty kept from
smiling. Then came a buzz of confessions.
WHITE AND RED. 235
" ' I have taken a gimlet ; ' ' I have many
times stolen thread and pins ; ' ' I have
taken away at night the young peas and
beans ; ' 'I have taken the auger, but shall
bring it back to-morrow.'
" ' Now you are nearer right, my friends,'
said Mr. Ayre at last, when there was
silence. ' Bring back what }'ou have
taken, and resolve never to steal again.
The Great Spirit forgives all who repent
of wrong-doing and try to do better, and
He will forgive you.'
"'Ho! Ho!' said all together, their
strongest sign of approval, and so the ser-
mon ended.
" The next morning a crowd of men,
women, and children, were at the mission-
aries' doors, each one bearing some stolen
thing, or the substitute for it ; from a pin
up to a sack of potatoes, and from that
time, save in a very few instances, their
property remained untouched.
" Would a white congregation have been
as ready to make restitution, even if they
had been equally impressed ? "
" Are any of them alive now ? " asked
Harry, as his father finished. " I'd like to
see the old woman that gave back the
needle."
" She is dead long ago, I suppose, but
236 WHITE AND RED.
many who were children then will remem-
ber it. Gib e way she's wife was one, and
Nah gon a gah nabe, and a good many
others."
" I wish I could talk Ojibway well enough
to ask just how they felt," Harry went
on. " Now, papa, tell the other story. Did
Aikin tell it to you ? "
Yes," said Dr. Prescott. He told it,
just as he heard an Indian repeat it at the
trading post. Tisn't a very long one."
" It's nice any way, if he told it, papa.
I never heard him tell any but first-rate
stories. Now go on and tell it just as long
as you can."
" Far oft' in the woods," papa began,
smiling, " lived all alone an Indian mother,
with only her baby and one little dog for
company. Lonely, you would think, but
that she never was. All the time when in
the wigwam she talked to the baby and
dog, and all the time when out of it, she
talked to herself, and so the days went by,
and the baby was almost old enough to
take off from the board to which he had
been tied ever since he was born.
" One morning, the mother, who was
going into the forest for wood, felt some-
thing which told her that trouble was in
the air, and the Mudgee Manitous, or bad
WHITE AND RED. 237
spirits at work. At first she determined to
stav at home, but the day was cold and the
fire almost out. So she swung the cradle
back and forth, till the baby slept, and then
called the little dog, who was stronger than
the spirits of the air, and whose name was
Manitou Pe wau bik, Spirit Iron.
"'Take care of -your brother/ she said.
1 Bark if I am wanted, and soon 1 shall
return,' and she walked swiftly into the
forest.
" Now it was not the Mudgee Manitous
who were brewing mischief this morning,
but an evil old woman, known as Mu kah
ke Min de mo ya, or the Toad- woman.
For a long time she had watched the soli-
tary wigwam, waiting for the day to come,
when she might steal the baby and bring
him up as her own. Why she wanted to
do this, you will soon know.
" Hardly had the mother lost sight of the
wigwam, when she heard the dog barking
fiercely. She ran back, but dog and child
were gone ; only some fragments of the
wampum with which the cradle had been
covered, lay on the floor, proving there
had been a struggle. A tuft of bear's hair
told who had done this, for the Toad-
woman was sister to all bears, and wore
their skins about her. The mother hur-
238 WHITE AND RED.
iied off over the western trail, leading, she
knew, to the Toad-woman's lodge. As she
ran, she passed many wigwams where very
old women lived alone. Each one gave
her magic moccasins to wear, telling her
when she reached the next lodge, to get
a fresh pair, and set the others on the
trail, the toes pointing homewards, when
they would return of themselves. This
she did, but for all her speed many win-
ters came and went before she reached the
Far West and saw the Toad-woman's lodge.
Here, the last grandmother had directed
her to build a wigwam of cedar boughs,
and to then make a little bark dish and
fill it with grape-juice, when by this means
her son would find her out.
"All this the mother did, and then
watched the Toad-woman's lodge. Soon
she saw her son, now a tall young man, go-
ing out to hunt, followed by Spirit Iron.
And now you will know why the Toad-
woman had stolen him. It was to make him
.a great hunter, so that bear's meat might
.always be plenty in her lodge, for she loved
nothing in the world so much as bear's
meat, and yet, as she was sister to them,
could never kill one without losing her
own life.
" The young hunter walked on, but the
WHITE AND RED. 239
dog who, like all dogs, continually ran into
every queer corner he could find, soon saw
the mother's wigwam, and the little bark
dish from which he drank. At once his
eyes were opened; he remembered the
past, and could plan for the future, and
now, without stopping to speak to the
mother, he rose up on his hind legs, and
walking like a man, went after his young
master, who stopped in surprise as he came
up. Soon he had heard the story, but
could not believe it."
" * 'Tis a stranger, and no mother of mine/
he said. 'She deceives you, Spirit Iron.'
" Still the dog persisted, and the young
man, to satisfy him, promised to visit the
new lodge. Eeturning home at night with
much meat, he said, while eating,
" ' Let some of this meat be sent to the
stranger.'
" At once the Toad-woman sent one of
her children with a large piece, which she
had first bewitched, thus making it so bitter
and disagreeable, that the mother threw it
away into the bushes, and sat waiting for
her son, who would come, she knew. Soon
he was before her, but listened coldly and
with many doubts to the story.
" ' Ah, my son,' the mother said at last
with tears, 'you believe neither me nor
240 WHITE AND RED.
Spirit Iron. Here are pieces from the
wampum of your cradle, broken off by
your brother in his struggle with the Toad-
woman. Now go home and ask to see it,
and you will then know my tongue has
not lied.'
" The young man put the pieces of blue,
shining wampum in his bosom, and went
home with Spirit Iron, who encouraged
him all the way. As they entered, the
Toad-woman knew at once where they
had been, but said nothing, for she thought
'This woman can never take him from
me ; ' and the young man sat down and
thought how he should manage to see the
cradle. By and by an idea came, and lean-
ing heavily on Spirit Iron, he pretended
to be very sick. At first the Toad-woman
paid no attention, but as he rolled and
groaned, asked at last what she could do
for him.
" * Show me my cradle/ he said, ' and
that will cure me.'
" The Toad-woman went out, and soon
returned with a cedar cradle.
" ' No, that is not mine,' he said ; ' I am
worse than before ; ' and he groaned so ter-
ribly that the Toad-woman brought, one
after the other, four cradles which had be-
longed to her four children.
WHITE AND RED. 241
" ' None of these are mine/ he said, ' I
shall soon die ; ' and he groaned again and
seemed to faint, till the old woman, very
much frightened, brought in a cradle of
wampum, and handed him.
u t This is mine,' he said, for the shining
wampum was the same ; and there, on
the edge, were the marks of Spirit Iron's
teeth.
" ' I am better now,' he said, and then
lay still, thinking what next to do. To
get away from the Toad-woman was the
next thing, and to do this a very fat bear
must be killed. Spirit Iron knew where
such a one was to be found, and the next
day showed his young master, who killed it
after a dreadful battle, and then stripping
off the bark and branches from the tallest
pine-tree he could find, set the bear on
the very top, with his nose to the east,
and his tail to the west. Then he went
home and said,
" ' Mother, I have a fine fat bear for you,
but 'tis at the end of the world.'
"'Not so far off but that I can find it,'
said the old woman, and she set off in great
glee. As soon as she was out of sight, the
young man and Spirit Iron blew a strong
breath in the faces of the four children,
who were every one bad spirits, and at
u
242 WHITE AND RED.
once life left them. Spirit Iron then put
a long strip of bear's fat in the mouth of
each, and setting them up against the side
of the lodge, started with the mother and
son for their old home.
" In the meantime, the Toad-woman had
with the greatest difficulty, and after many
times sliding down the smooth tree before
she could reach the top, succeeded in get-
ting the bear, and now came joyfully home,
to find the lodge empty and her children
dead. Full of fury, she set out at once to
overtake the fugitives, and was fast gain-
ing on them, when Spirit Iron, breathing
on the ground, whispered, ' Snake-berry.'
" At once the snake-berry spread before
her ; and the old woman, who loved them
as well as she did fat bear, stooped to pick
and eat, and though she wished to go on,
could never resist the bright red berries.
There she is to this day, tangled in snake-
berry vines, and always eating, while the
young man and his mother and Spirit Iron
live peacefully in the wood where we first
saw them."
WHITE AND RED. 243
CHAPTER XII.
" BAPTISTE is at the warehouse door, with
his pony train, mamma," Harry said, com-
ing in one day in March. " There's such
a queer-looking long bundle on the train,
and Ma dwa ga non ind, and a lot of other
Indians are out there, too. Do come and
see what it is. Where's papa ? "
" He went to Gib e nay she's wigwam
to look at his frozen foot," mamma said,
laying down her work. " Here is Georgy ;
he can tell us perhaps."
Georgy ran in, holding the warehouse
key in his hand.
" My father gone away," he said, " and I
open door for dead man."
" For what ? " said Harry, drawing back
a little.
" Very old dead man," Georgy went on.
" He two grandfathers for Besh quay :
three, maybe. Come see me open door."
" What does he mean ? " said Harry.
" How can anybody be most three grand-
fathers ? "
" He means that the old man was Besh
244 WHITE AND RED.
quay's great-grandfather, I suppose," inam-
ma said, putting on a shawl and going out
with the two children. " When did he die,
Georgy?"
" Not know much," Georgy answered.
" Two three day, maybe. Not die good
way. Die coz he son not come home. He
not have plenty eat for coz the woman
take it away."
" Do you mean he starved to death ? "
said mamma.
" That's it," answered Aiken, who had
come up to them. " I'll tell you all about
it ma'am, in a minute. I'll stop in when I
come back from Josance's," and he went
on down the hill.
The warehouse stood some distance
back from the other government buildings,
on a little rise of ground, almost a hill, and
was used at payment time, as a place for
the annuity goods, flour, and the like. In
winter it was empty, save the canoes which
the Indians brought and piled up there, to
protect them from the weather. These,
and some nets, Harry saw on one side, as
the door opened, but all his attention now
was fixed on the train, where lay the dead
Indian, bound in birch bark, a cap drawn
over the face, and tied on his breast, a
blanket, and a roll of bark. As he looked,
WHITE AND RED. 245
the old chief stepped forward, and taking
his own blanket from his shoulders, threw
it over the corpse, the women at the same
time beginning a death wail, melancholy
and piercing, which ceased as Ma dwa ga
non ind lifted the blanket again. Two In-
dians untied the cords which bound the
body to the train, and carrying it into the
warehouse, laid it on a blanket in one cor-
ner. Baptiste drove swiftly away : the
door was locked, and the Indians sat down
in a half-circle on the snow, and lighting
their pipes, smoked silently. Their faces
were blackened, and the women sat with
their blankets drawn over their heads, and
now and then broke into the wail for a
moment.
" Why didn't they put him in the
ground where the others are buried?"
Harry asked, as they went slowly back to
the house.
" I don't know," mamma said, " unless
because the ground was frozen so hard.
Mr. Aiken can tell you."
" Look over toward the trading-post,"
said Aiken, who had come up. "See
that smoke ? Well, that's where they've
got fires burning to soften the ground : by
to-morrow morning they'll have a grave
ready. They won't keep him out of the
246 WHITE AND RED.
ground longer'n they can help, fur yer see
his sperrit carn't start for the other side
till he's buried."
" What made them put him in the ware-
house ? " said Harry. " Why didn't they
leave him in his own wigwam ? "
" Indian dogs might a got at him," said
Aiken. " They're fierce sometimes. Don't
s'pose the daughter-in-law would a cared
much, but the son would, an' so Baptiste
took him up here."
" Who is it?" said Dr. Prescott ; who had
just come in.
" Nobody you ever see, I reckon," Aiken
went on. "He was a big warrior once.
Pe dosh ah nish ka, was his name. That
means, He-comes-in-a-canoe. He'd a good
row o' scalps too. He was older'n old
Kah wis kiniky, and he's nigh a hundred.
Most all his relations was dead too, only
this one son that was most too old himself
to go off hunting. There was this woman,
an' she was pretty old too. There was a
lot of 'em, but you see they got killed on
the war path, a good while ago. They
lived down to Big Rock, nine mile away I
guess, an' the son went off on his hunt, an'
lef the old man for this woman to see to.
Most ginerally they're pretty good to their
old people, but this woman always seemed
WHITE AND RED. 247
to have a grudge agin him, sence her t.wo
sons was scalped by the Sioux an' he come
home alive, an' kep' livin' along. So after
the son's been gone a day or two, maybe,
she just chops a little wood, so's to say
she'd left him some, an' she gives him some
parched corn and starts off He thought
she was goin' after fish or somethin', an'
staid contented enough by the fire, but
when night come, an' he all alone, he be-
gan to think. He couldn't help himself,
you see, for when he come back from that
last war-path, one o' his sides was cut an'
slashed all to pieces most, and sort of drew
up, so 'twarn't no use to him.
' Well, he managed to pull in a little more
wood from outside, an' rolled up in his
blanket. He'd eaten the last o' the corn,
coz he thought she'd be along with more,
an' there he went without five days. Then
Nee chee just happened to go by, goin'
off on a hunt, an' thought it queer there
warn't no smoke, so he looked in, an'
there was the old man. jest most gone.
Nee chee give him corn, an' built a fire,
an' the old man brightened up some, an'
told him what I've been tellin' you, an'
then he jest died, without another word.
The woman's down to Cass Lake, an' the
son don't know a word about it. He'd a
248 WHITE AND BED.
died pretty soon anyway, an' 'twarn't no
use to hurry him so. They've hunted up
the relations, all there is ; an' the old chief,
he'll see that they keep the fire burnin'."
What for ?" said Harry.
" 0, so's to light him to the spirit-land,"
said Aiken. "Keep him warm too. It'll
be seven days, you see, after he's buried,
afore his soul you know gets to the river
where it goes over the pole, an' so they
keep a fire burnin', an' put plenty to eat
in the grave. If they didn't, he'd come
back, rovin' among the lodges, an' do all
the harm he could. It's all the same,
whether they bury 'em, or stick 'em up in
the air. There's got to be some sort o'
doins to keep 'em quiet, an' I guess that's
the way mostly, everywhar. I remember
the time when they used to put most of
'em up on a sort of scaffold, nine or ten
feet high, maybe, an' let 'em go to bones
in the air. The Sioux an' some o' the rest
does it now, but Ojibways bury their dead
mostly."
" But this is a case of actual murder,"
said Dr. Prescott. " Can nothing be done
to punish this woman ? "
" Well, no," Aiken answered slowly.
"The old chiefs mad. He's gettin' into
years, himself, you see, an' ain't likely to be
WHITE AND BED. 249
pleased, thinkin' there's any chance they'll
serve him so. 'Taint likely though, for
his daughters is good kind o' women as
squaws go, an' his son thinks a heap of
him. He says her tongue ought ter be
slit ; but she'll stay to Cass Lake till it's all
blown over, an' there won't be a word,
you'll see. They're all goin' into birch
camp pretty soon, anyway, an' then you'll
have an easy, lonesome time, six weeks an'
more. Come, I'll tell you what birch camp
is, to save ye the bother o' askin'," Aiken
went on, laughing at Harry, who was just
ready to say, "What's that?" "They
go to the birch woods first, so's to be
where bark's handy, so't they can make all
the pans they want to catch sap in."
" 0, sugar time ! " said Harry, delighted.
u Sure enough, it's most sugar time. 0,
can't we go to the camp ? "
" 'Tain't time yet," said Aiken, " not for
most a fortnight yet. My woman'll be
goin' along after a while, an' maybe then
you'd all like to go down a day or two.
It's a pretty sight for them that ain't used
to Injins, an' it's goin' to be a first-rate
sugar year, I guess."
u You will go, won't you ? " Harry asked,
after Aiken had gone.
" We'll see," was all papa said ; but Harry,
250 WHITE AND RED.
satisfied, went to work at the lesson, which
was to have been learned an hour before.
Georgy came down presently to say his
multiplication table, in which, though he
had been studying it a month, he had got
no further than three times eight, and
seemed likely to stay there. Reaching
this point, and saying, as usual, "Three
times eight are forty-two," he was sent to
the end of the room to study, and soon be-
gan a talk with Sozette, to which Harry
listened.
" What was that last she told you ? " he
asked presently, as Sozette drew down her
chin, and imitated an old woman eating.
" She say," Georgy answered, " she glad
old man dead. Old mens, old womans
not any good. They eat mum-num
chew so. She kill her father when he get
old ; not hurt him any ; sit on his mouth,
maybe."
" 0, what an awful girl ! " said Harry,
really growing pale. " Mamma, hear what
Sozette says, and I saw her kiss her father
this morning. What shall we do with
her ? "
" I don't know indeed," mamma an-
swered, looking for a moment at Sozette,
who, having shocked people as she intend-
ed, sat now with her great eyes dancing,
WHITE AND RED. 251
and all ready for a scolding. Not a word
was said then. Harry looked at mamma
and wondered, but kept still, and Georgy
went on with his table. When evening
came, Sozette seemed unwilling to go
home, and hung about the room, till Mrs.
Prescott had once or twice told her to go,
and then began talking to Harry about Ja
bah e and the Gitchee waw ki a gen.
u What is it ? " mamma asked, presently.
" She's afraid to go home," Harry said.
" She says the Ja bah e, in the warehouse,
will come out and chase her, because it
hasn't been put in the ground, and hasn't
any fire."
" Maja, Sozette," Dr. Prescott said, with-
out looking up.
" Ka, ah ka," Sozette said, beginning to
cry. u Keen tugishin." (No, no ! You
come with me.)
Dr. Prescott put on his cap, and walked
down to the wigwam with the frightened
child, who came close to him as they
passed the warehouse. As well as he could,
he told her that she had nothing to fear
from this or any other spirit, for the Great
Spirit only had power over people, and no
lesser one could do harm to any one. He
told her too, that Christian men and women
were kind to the aged, and what a dread-
252 WHITE AND RED.
ful thing it was to have starved this poor
old man, who had had little children like
her once, and done all he could for them.
Sozette made no answer then, but told
Harry next morning, that her tongue was
long when she said she should kill her
father; and this meant, that she had not
been in earnest.
Standing at the window about nine
o'clock, Harry saw Georgy opening the
warehouse door, and some Indians bring-
ing out the old man's body. Mamma got
ready at once, and they started for the
spot where they had seen the fire the day
before. There were three graves here al-
ready, and near them a fresh one, hardly
two feet deep, in which they placed the
body, with some rolls of birch-bark, a
piece of calico, and some parched corn.
Then the earth was thrown in, and stamped
down hard, and over the grave was set at
once one of the wooden covers, not a cof-
fin, but a sort of box. Je bah e mocock is
the Indian name, which means " spirit box."
(Here is a picture which will show you
how they look better than I can tell you.)
There are openings in the end, where they
put in food and birch-bark, for seven days
after the body is buried. Now that the
Indians have boards, they prefer burying
WHITE AND RED. . 253
in this way to any other, but long ago, be-
fore there were mills among them, the dead
were put on scaffolds made of poles, as I
have told you, or in great mounds, some
of which have been opened and found to
contain not only their skeletons, but those
of horses and dogs, which even now are
sometimes killed, that their owners may
find them in waiting when they reach the
spirit-land. At Leech Lake, a few years
ago, a small mound was opened, and in it
was found, besides these various skeletons,
some beautiful wampum made of small
delicate shells, and some clay dishes and
cups, with strange figures wrought in them.
The Indians, for more than a hundred
years, have had no pottery or crockery of
any sort among them, and they say the
art of making it, though known to their
fathers, has been forgotten. Aiken had
half a bowl, which had been found near
the creek after the great freshet of the
spring before went down, and which was
a brownish red clay, with a bird moulded
on it, looking much like the curious speci-
mens in the museum at St. Paul. Harry
begged it of him, and saved it carefully to
take home to Boston. Perhaps you will
see it there some day.
Passing the grave a day or two later,
254 WHITE AND RED.
on his way to the trading-post, Harry
saw that a scalp hung from a pole over
the old man's grave. Round it too were
sitting several Indians, smoking, and with
blackened faces, who had come here to do
honor to his memory. The scalp was an
old one, for only one long lock of hair
hung from it, but it was decked with rib-
bons, and a fox's tail. Papa joined him as
he stood looking, and they walked on,
passing soon the grave of a great chief,
who had died years before, and over which
waved the last of many scalps once put
there. Close by was a smaller grave, that
of his daughter, papa said, and through the
white snow covering it, rose the gray cross
which marks all those who died in the
Christian faith. Harry could hardly have
told you what thought went through his
mind as he said,
" It's better to lie under the cross than
under the scalp, isn't it, papa ? "
" Better than you can begin to know,
almost," papa said, slowly. "I wish it
were possible for these poor people to see
how much better."
" We can't teach them, because we can't
talk well enough," said Harry. " but why
don't they stop sending so many mission-
aries to China and way off there, and let
WHITE AND RED. 255
some come up here. The old chief says
he wants his people to learn how to read
and write, so't the bad white people needn't
cheat them so. He thinks most all the
white people are bad."
" He's about right," said Aiken's voice
from behind, " whoever it is you're talkin'
about. The whites that come round here
an' live, ought to be burned alive every
one on 'em. Serve 'em right. There ain't
an Injin alive wouldn't be ashamed ter
do some o' their tricks. I tell yer, I
don't blame 'em so much for risin' most
any time. Them Sioux now are a set o'
devils, I know that very well, but don't
you suppose, if they'd ever been treated
decent, they'd a had some decency them-
selves? I tell yer, white men'll have to
stand round some when that day o' settlin'
accounts comes, an' I bet that old feller
under the scalp thar'll have an easier time
footin' up his bill, than nine tenths o' the
white folks, that maybe he'd a good will
to scalp. Now I remember once to La
Pointe a new preacher had just come. He
knew Ojibway first-rate, an' he was blazin'
away, sendin' 'em all to fire'n brimstone,
an' saying 'twas good enough for 'em if
they didn't repent. What'd they know
about repentin ' ? He just come an' they
256 WHITE AND RED.
never heard o' the Lord or any other part
o' the Bible afore. They listened to him,
easy like, their way you know, an' I larfed
to think how he'd gone to work. Pretty
soon I takes up his Testament an' reads
this ; it was in Ojibway, but I got it in
English after that. Couldn't tell ye where
'tis, but't shows how the Lord looks at the
matter.
" ' For when the Gentiles which have not
the law, do by nature the things contained
in the law, they having not the law, are a
law unto themselves.' Now I says to him,
' These Injins is a good set ; don't lie nor
steal much, .an' mean to do right They
follow out that verse, an' I don't see why
they won't get to heaven in their way.'
' They might,' he says, ' if they had never
heard the gospel, but I've preached that
to 'em, an' now they have not the excuse of
ignorance.' ' You haven't preached gospel,'
says I ; ' you've preached brimstone.' You
see I knew what gospel was, for the Yan-
kee that brought me up was a good Chris-
tian man, ef he was an Indian trader. Well,
that missionary was mad ; said I was
wus'n any of 'em. He couldn't do much
though ; but I tell ye, there was some there
knew what to say an' what to live too. an'
the Indians just believed every word they
said."
WHITE AND RED. 257
As Aiken talked they were walking on,
and had reached the trading post, a low,
wide log building. Three stood near each
other, each owned by different men, but
Aiken's was both the largest and the neat-
est. At one end was the clay chimney,
and a pile of wood, arid about it were sitting
and lying some twenty Indians. At the
upper end was a rude counter, and behind
this were shelves, with an array of goods
such as Indians like ; gay calicoes and de-
laines ; scarlet and blue cloth for leggins ;
shawls and blankets ; plenty of beads ; and
pewter ear-rings and bracelets, and close
by, all sizes of tin pans and pails.
" Kind of mean to give 'em that pewter
stuff," said Aiken, seeing Dr. Prescott look-
ing at the pile of ornaments, " but ef I
don't, somebody else will, yer see, an'
maybe, not so many for a dollar as me, fur
I do calculate to be average honest with
'em. I was goin' to tell yer though, what
the reason is the missionaries can't seem to
hold on, when they git one o' the Indians
converted. He'll be a good enough Chris-
tian so long's he's well, but let him get
sick, an' he'll have the medicine-dance ef
he was forty Christians in one. You know
Little Thunder's son, that died last sum-
mer ; Mis ko ke nay she (Red Bird) was
17
258 WHITE AND RED.
his name. He could read English an'
Ojibway too ; Mr. Wright taught him, an'
he was a firskrate Christian, honester'n
the common run, but he had the grand
pow-wow when he was dying, and there's
not one but what would. It's a revelation,
you see, and I don't know but what there's
reason in it too. I wouldn't 'a thought so,
only old Nah gon a ga nabe lived five or
six year after he had it. Sit down any-
where, an' I'll tell you the whole story.
" You see the old man that was this Nah
gon a ga nabe's father, got to be a pretty
good Christian when he lived to Lake Su-
perior. He come to Red Lake somewhere
about 1848, when this chief was a little
fellow, an' hadn't been here two year afore
he was taken sick. The medicine-men
came an' wanted to perform, but he
wouldn't have ? em. Said he was a Chris-
tian, and meant to die like one. They let
him alone, an' he did die after awhile, so
they thought ; but the wife he'd kept, for
he wouldn't have but one after he was
converted, she said he wasn't dead, and
shouldn't be buried. They kept him then,
four or five days, and though there warn't
sense nor motion to him, he didn't seem
like a dead man. Well, Nah gon a ga
nabe says he staid so twenty days, but
WHITE AND RED. 259
I don't know about that. Anyway, he
opened his eyes one day, an' saw 'em sit-
ting round with their faces blacked, an'
first he called for something to eat, an'
then tells 'em to wash off that black an'
call the medicine-men, for he wanted a
grand dance. He was weak as a cat, an'
couldn't do nothin' that day after all, but
next day they had one. You've seen 'em,
and you know how the medicine-men hold
up the bag, an' all bows at it. Well, old
Nah gon a ga nabe bows, though he'd been
set agin doing it, afore he died, or what-
ever it was, an' then he stands up with his
blanket around him, an' tells 'em he was
a Christian still, but he was Indian too,
though he wasn't going to scalp. That
the Great Spirit had given them a good
faith, an' he should stick to it the rest o'
his life, an' this was why :
u When he died, or went into that kind
o' sleep, he said he knew he was dead, and
started on to the spirit-land. He went
over the pole all right, though he thought
that was queer too, for he didn't know
Christians got into their heaven that way,
an' when he was over, he looked up and
see a big gate. So he went there and
knocked, an' pretty soon down comes a
white man an' says '0, you're an In-
260 WHITE AND RED.
dian ! this isn't your gate : your gate's over
there.' So old Nah gon a ga nabe goes
across a big open space, and sees another
gate, and an Indian at it. He walks up,
sure he's all right, and goes to open it, but
the Indian inside says, ' This ain't your
place. You're a praying Indian. You go
over to the white man's gate.' 'But I've
been once,' says Nah gon a ga nabe, * an'
they won't let me in.' ' Well, you go
again,' says the Indian, ( for you can't come
in here.' l But I'm one o' you,' says Nah
gon a ga nabe ; ' don't you see my blanket ? '
' Yes, I see that,' says the Indian, ' but
you're not a good Indian. You've come
here without having the medicine-dance
over you, an' that's the only thing that'll
open this gate. You might be a Christian
all you like, but you've got to have the
medicine-dance, to show you haven't turned
white man.' So Nah gon a ga nabe walks
back and knocks at the other gate, an'
when the white man comes down, says he,
1 What you here for ? why didn't you stay
where you was sent ? ' 'I couldn't,' says
old Nah gon a ga nabe ; i they don't have
prayin' Indians there ; ' an' he began to feel
pretty miserable. The white man thought
a minute, an' then he says, ' Well, if you'd
been a bad Indian, that pretended to be
WHITE AND RED. 261
converted, so's to get presents out o' the
missionaries, you'd had to keep walkin'
back an' forth here forever, but you're a
good man, so we'll let you go back to earth
again. Live like a Christian, but go to
the medicine-dance, an' follow the ways o'
your people, an' when you die again, you'll
go into the happy hunting grounds with
the others, an' from there you can git into
our heaven by another road.' Well, now,
you may laugh, but there ain't an Ojibway
here don't believe that I'll ask these men
here what they think."
Turning to the Indians before the fire,
Aiken spoke rapidly to them. " How !
how ! how i " several said, half rising, and
one tall man looking up, said, " Tabway ; ah
pitchee tab way." (Truth ; the very truth.)
" Kaget, tabway " (Truly the truth), an-
swered the others seriously, and went on
smoking.
" 0, I could tell you a heap o' stories,"
said Aiken, " an' every one queerer'n the
last. I've been hearin' 'em off and on forty
year an' more, an' then I'm eighth Indian
myself, and sort of believes some of 'em."
" You've told a lot of queer ones already,"
said Harry ; " I wrote some of them home
to Aunt Fannie, an' she said she'd make a
book out of 'em if she could be here."
262 WHITE AND RED.
" Did you now ? " said Aiken, quite
pleased. "You're a small chap to be
writin', but then it comes nat'ral, I sup-
pose. When I was in the war that
year 1863 I guess 'twas ; any way 'twas
down on the Peninsula, along with a Gen-
eral that knew how not to go forward,
better'n most any man you ever hearn
on, an' one o' the men had some poe-
try sent him by his sweetheart. So I
takes it up one day, an' I'm level beat if
I didn't open right on all the Indians in
creation. I read it then. Pretty good,
some of it, but I'd like to say a word to
Mr. Longfellow, about the way he's mixed
up Sioux and Ojibways. I tell you, I
should a thought them types would a fell
foul o' each other, an' jest knocked 'ein-
selves all ways. Do for a story you see,
but I could a told him 'twasn't the thing,
when he was writin' about the ' Land o'
the Dacotahs,' to make 'em talk Sioux one
day and Ojibway the next. He's nothin'
but a writer, though."
"He knows more'n any man that ever
was up here," said Harry, indignant. " He's
a great poet. I saw Minnehaha, just ex-
actly the way he wrote about it."
Ho ! ho ! ho ! " laughed Aiken. You
know more this minute about Indians 'n
he does."
WHITE AND RED. 263
"I don't," said Harry, offended. I
wouldn't," and he walked toward the door.
The tall Indian said, " Wagonind ? " and
Harry, still more disturbed, as they all
laughed a little, went home fast as he could,
where his mother was surprised to hear
that the trouble had arisen because Mr.
Aiken did not appreciate Longfellow.
Harry found plenty to do for a week or
two, watching the packing up and moving
away of all who had been living near
them. Their next door neighbor went
last ; a very nice squaw with several chil-
dren, whose husband had gone to Pembina.
A day or two after, Harry ran in, in
great excitement.
" Nah gon a ga nabe's going to sugar-
camp to-morrow, mamma, and they want
me to go. Can I ? "
" How long do you want to stay ? "
mamma asked, doubtfully.
" 0, only two or three days, so's to eat
a heap o' new sugar. The sap's begun to
run. Just see here ! " and Harry drew out
perhaps a teaspoonful of new sugar.
" It sounds absurd to let him go twelve
miles away with Indians," said mamma.
" What do you think, Henry ? "
" Only one objection," said papa, laugh-
ing. " You know you said, Harry, after
264 WHITE AND RED.
that night at Little Kock's, that you never
meant to sleep with Indians again, because
of the dreadful little crawlers. You may
go, if you can make up your mind to
them."
" Pennyroyal ! " shouted Harry. " That
keeps off skeeters. Give me some penny-
royal, papa, and I'll rub it all over me."
So when Harry got up next morning, he
rubbed on pennyroyal, till he was brown as
any Indian. Indeed, he looked like one,
in many ways. He had worn moccasins all
winter, and around his waist was a belt
from which hung a little bowie-knife, used
in his case to scrape the snow from his
moccasins; a thing which all who wear
them do, so soon as they come near a fire,
else the melting snow would soak the soft
skin in a few moments. He wore, too, a
coon-skin cap, with the tail hanging be-
hind, and rabbit-skin mittens, and having
grown very fat, and a good deal taller than
when we first saw him, looked very much
like Besh quay, who was going with him,
and whose picture you shall see.
Papa and mamma went over to Nah
gon a ga nabe's to see them off, and said he
should come down with mamma in a day
or two. Mrs. Nah gon a ga nabe carried
the house and baby on her back. Nah gon
WHITE AND RED. 265
a sake had a muskemote of potatoes ; the
two little ones some corn, and on the very
smallest of small dog-trains, were the two
great sheet-iron pails, of which twenty, just
like them, had been brought up by the
traders for sugarihg time. There were two
little ones for boiling the fish and corn,
and Harry laughed to himself, thinking
how pleased they would be, when he took
out of his satchel the package of nice tea
mamma had given him, and which cost so
much at Red Lake, that they seldom get it.
The two foxy looking dogs snarled and
snapped, but Besh quay kept them in the
track, and the long file wound on through
the woods till they were out of sight, fol-
lowed shortly by Georgy Campbell, who
at the last minute had been allowed to
go.
"I can't believe it is Harry," mamma
said as they turned towards home. " Here
not quite four months, and yet he is start-
ing off to-day on a twelve mile walk, and
we let him. What would his grandmother
say?"
Papa laughed. " When we go down to
camp," he said ; " I'll make a sketch of the
lodge and the people in it, and ask her to
pick out Harry. She'll never dream that
the fat little savage in a skin cap is the
266 WHITE AND RED.
one to decide upon. Minnesota is a won-
derful State."
I know you are all anxious to find out
just how much sugar Harry ate, and you
would be still more anxious if I should
give you even a hint of something he saw
on the way down. But this chapter is too
long already, and so for that, and a good
many other things, you must wait. It
may be a long time, it may be a very short
time before I shall tell you more, but more
there surely is, and there are long chapters
still to be written before you hear the very
last of
WHITE AND RED.
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