cross was made, and
planted firmly in the ground, in a position which would attract the
attention of all passing along the shore of the lake. The two faithful
boatmen, Jacques and Pierre, then, after kneeling upon the grave in
fervent prayer, returned to their canoe and continued the long journey
to Green Bay. They reached the mission in safety, with their sad
tidings.

Father Marquette died at the early age of thirty-eight.

He had spent twenty-one years an earnest, self-denying minister of
Jesus Christ. Twelve of these were in France. Nine were devoted to the
savages of the New World. At the early age of nine years, he became an
earnest Christian. Every Saturday was, with this wonderful child, a day
of fasting and prayer.

There were quite a number of Christian Indians at the Mackinaw mission.
They had long known Father Marquette, and revered and loved him. A band
of these Indians were, some months after this, on the shores of Lake
Michigan, upon a hunting excursion. They sought out the grave of Father
Marquette. They took up the remains, carefully enclosed them in a box
of birch bark, placed them in one of their canoes, and paddled them,
three hundred miles, to the mission of St. Ignatius.

A convoy of canoes, thirty in number, in single file, formed this
wonderful funeral procession. It is doubtful whether such a scene was
ever before witnessed on this globe. For more than ten days this band
of Indian hunters, in their picturesque costume, silently and solemnly
paddled along the shores of the lonely lake, that the remains of their
beloved pastor might repose where they could visit the spot, and honor
them with their testimonials of gratitude.

As they approached the shore, where the mission was established, with
its cross-surmounted chapel, surrounded with Indian wigwams, a courier
was sent forward rapidly, in a canoe, to announce the arrival of the
cortege. The whole community promptly gathered upon the beach. A
funeral procession was formed, led by Fathers Nouvel and Pierson, who
were Superiors of the two missions, one to the Ottawas, and one to the
Hurons, which were located side by side. Interrogations were first made
to verify the fact, that the body they bore was really that of Father
Marquette.

The two ecclesiastics then chanted the sublime anthem,

"Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice; let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of
my supplications."