; let them keep quiet, and when the
chief would arrive, he would give them store of presents and supplies; he
would reward them for their good behaviour. Bad men had set themselves
against the Great Mother; but the Great Mother would feel angry if any of
her red children moved against these men. The big chief would soon be
with them, and all would be made right. As for myself, I was now on my
way to meet the big chief and his warriors, and I would say to him how
true had been the red children, and he would be made glad thereat.
Meantime, they should have a present of tea, tobacco, flour, and
pemmican; and with full stomachs their harts would feel fuller still."

A universal "Ho!" testified that the speech was good; and then the
ceremony of hand-shaking began. I intimated, however, that time would
only permit of my having that honour with a few of the large assembly--in
fact, with the leaders and old men of the tribe.

Thus, in turns, I grasped the bony hands of the "Red Deer'" and the "Big
Apron," of the "Old Englishman" and the "Long Claws," and the "Big Bird;"
and, with the same "Ho, ho!" and shot-firing, they filed away as they had
come, carrying with them my order upon the Lower Fort for one big feed
and one long pipe, and, I dare say, many blissful visions of that life
the red man ever loves to live-the life that never does come to him the
future of plenty and of ease.

Meantime, my preparations for departure, aided by my friends at the
mission, had gone on apace. I had got a canoe and five stout English
half-breeds, blankets, pemmican, tea, flour, and biscuit. All were being
made ready, and the Indian Settlement was alive with excitement on the
subject of the coming man--now no longer a myth--in relation to a general
millennium of unlimited pemmican and tobacco.

But just when all preparations had been made complete an unexpected event
occurred which postponed for a time the date of my departure; this was
the arrival of a very urgent message from the Upper Fort, with an
invitation to visit that place before quitting the settlement. There had
been an error in the proceedings on the night of my arrival, I was told,
and, acting under a mistake, pursuit had been organized. Great excitement
existed amongst the French half breeds, who were in reality most loyally
disposed; it was quite a mistake to imagine that there was any thing
approaching to treason in the designs of the Provisional Government and
much more to th