the Injun came on like a champion, swingin' his tommyhawk and liftin'
his heels high. The only weapon that the good woman had was a bottle of
whisky.

"Well, whisky is a good weapon sometimes--there's many a man that has
found it a slow gunpowder. Well, this woman, as I was sayin', had her
wits about her. What do you think that she did?

"Well, she just brought out the whisky-bottle, and held it up before
him--_so_. It made his eyes sparkle, you may be sure of that!

"'Fire-water,' said she, 'mighty temptin'.

"'Ugh!' said the Indian, all humps and antics and eyes.

"Ugh! Did you ever hear an Injun say that--'Ugh?'

"'Have some?' said she.

"Have some? Of course he did.

"She got a glass and put it on the table, and then she uncorked the
bottle and _handed_ it to him to pour out the whisky. He lost his wits
at once.

"He set down his gun to pour out a dram, all giddy, when Mrs. Daviess
seized the shooter and lifted it up quick as a flash and pointed to his
head.

"'Set that down, or I'll fire! Set that bottle down!'

"The poor Injun's jaw dropped. He set down the bottle, looked wild, and
begged for his life.

"'Set still,' said she; and he looked at the whisky-bottle and then
slunk all up in a heap and remained silent as a dead man until Mr.
Daviess came home, when he was allowed to crawl away into the forest. He
gave one parting look at the bottle, but he never wanted to see a white
woman again, I'll be bound."

"You ridicule the Indian for his love of whisky," said the Tunker, "but
who taught him to love it? Woe unto the world because of offenses."

"Hello!" said John Hanks, starting up. "Here comes Johnnie Kongapod
again, from the Illinois. I like to see any one from Illinois, even if
he is an Indian. I'm goin' there myself some day. I've a great opinion
of that there prairie country--hain't you, elder?"

"Yes, it is a garden of wild flowers that seems as wide as the sky. It
can all be turned into green, and it will be some day."

Aunt Indiana greeted the Indian civilly, and the Tunker held out his
hand to him.

"Elder," said Aunt Indiana, "I must tell you one of my own experiences,
now that Johnnie Kongapod has come--the one that they bantered me about
over to the smithy. Johnnie and I are old friends. I used to be a kind
of travelin' preacher myself; I am now--I go to camp-meetin's, and I
always do my duty.

"Well, a few years ago, durin' the Injun troubles, there was goin' to be
a camp-meet