her mother; "a
noble specimen of the red man."

"Did you see that Indian?" inquired the landlady, a calm, dignified
woman, as she stepped into the room. "One of the boarders says there
is quite a company of them encamped on your husbands land. The have a
large wigwam, and seem to be making themselves as much at home as if
they owned the place."

The missionary's wife shuddered, and remarked,--

"It is just as I foreboded."

"But these are _friendly_," returned the landlady. "The chief has a
letter from the government agent, recommending him to the confidence
and charity of the settlers. It has been a long and hard winter, and
the agent says there has been much suffering among the Indians."

"Is that young Indian the chief?" asked Mrs. Payson.

"No; I wish he were. He is the finest-looking savage I ever saw. I
don't think I should be afraid to trust him. But the chief looks
frightfully; he is as cruel and treacherous as a snake, or I do not
read his face aright."

"Then you have seen him?" said the other, in surprise.

"Yes; I was riding through the woods with husband, and we met him. The
young Indian seems to belong to the company, and yet holds himself
somewhat aloof from the others, as if he feels conscious of being
superior to them, and finds it difficult to fellowship their low ways.
To-morrow a party of us are going to call on the Indians at their
wigwam, and I stepped in to invite you to go. There will be a good
many of us; so you needn't fear being tomahawked!" she added,
laughing.

The visit to the Indians the next day was full of interest to the
missionary's family, for, although they had seen numbers of the
half-civilized Indians of the Eastern States, they had never before
seen the red man in his native wilds, with habits and customs
unchanged from their primitive character. The wigwam was large and
well constructed, erected in a sheltered and romantic spot, convenient
at once to the village, the woods, and the river. Within were
squatted four or five of the company on the ground, playing a game of
chance, in which employment the Indian men spend most of their time,
when not hunting, fishing, or at war. There were no women with them,
and therefore the men had, besides the cooking, to do the drudgery
usually assigned to the squaws, such as gathering and bringing in the
wood, and dressing the skins of the wild animals.

The Indians did not lift their eyes as the whites entered through the
narrow