. But he declined the present, saying:

"I did not come among you to collect beaver skins, but to teach you to
love and obey the Great Spirit. I wish to live as you do, sharing your
hard fare."

Very wisely he assumed that he came voluntarily among them, and that
when the time came for his departure, no one would think of throwing
any obstacle in his way. It was a time almost of famine with the
Indians. The summer birds had not returned. Game was very scarce. There
was great suffering for want of food. And these strangely inconsistent
creatures, while affecting the greatest kindness, would conceal the
little food they had, get up in the night and eat it secretly, leaving
Pere Hennepin to the gnawings of hunger.

"Although women," he writes, "are for the most part more kind and
compassionate than men, they gave what little fish they had to their
children, regarding me as a slave made by their warriors in their
enemy's country, and they reasonably preferred their children's lives
to mine."

One day a deliberative council of Issati chiefs was held, to consult
respecting various matters. Pere Louis, having been adopted into the
tribe as the son of the head chief, attended. He could understand
nearly all that was said. There was a very able chief, by the name of
Ou-si-cou-de, who had manifested great esteem for the father. He rose
and said:

"We all ought to feel indignant in view of the insulting manner in
which our young men treated Pere Louis on the way. They were young
warriors without sense, and perhaps knew no better. They robbed him and
wanted to kill him. They acted like hungry dogs, who snatch a bit of
meat from the bark dish, and run. They abused men who brought us iron
and merchandise, which we never had before."

Pere Louis had considerable medical skill, and had brought with him
several simple remedies. He was ever ready to attend the sick, and his
success in medical practice gave him great renown. A little child was
dying. According to the belief of Father Hennepin, if it should die
unbaptized, it was lost. But how could he baptize the heathen child of
heathen parents. Great was his anxiety, and fervent were his prayers
for enlightenment. At length his kind heart obtained the victory over
his theological creed. The solemn rite was performed with deepest
emotion. Giving the child, a little girl, the Christian name of
Antoinette, in honor of St. Anthony, he said:

"Creature of God, I baptize thee in the