t once belonged to the cruel
people for whom the little orphan boy had worked so long."

"Well, sakehou," said Sagastao, "I have been watching the man in the moon
while you have been telling the story about his queer way of helping the
boy to help himself, and he was looking pleased all the time. So I am sure
he is well satisfied with the way you have told the story."

Old Mary was delighted with these words from the lips of the lad she loved
with such a passionate devotion.

"But what do you think about it, little sister?" said the lad, calling to
Minnehaha, who was cuddled down on the other side of Mary.

But the darling gave no answer, for she had long ago slipped off into
Dreamland, and there she remained until the strong arms of Kennedy lifted
her up from the canoe and carried her home.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Souwanas's Love for Souwanaquenapeke--How Nanahboozhoo
Cured a Little Girl Bitten by a Snake--How the
Rattlesnake got Its Rattle--The Origin of Tobacco--Nanahboozhoo
in Trouble.

Wahkiegun, as Souwanas named the home of his white friends, always had a
warm welcome for Souwanas. Little Souwanaquenapeke had learned to love him
and nothing gave the grave old man greater pleasure than to have charge of
her for hours at a time. He often carried her away to his wigwam and with
great delight explained to visiting Indians how his name was woven into
that of the first little paleface born among his people.

Sagastao and Minnehaha, while of course pleased to see the love of the old
chief for their sweet little sister, were sometimes a little impatient when
they found that he would have his hour with her before they could draw a
Nanahboozhoo story out of him.

"You are all right," he would say in his dry, humorous way, "as far as you
go; you are only Crees," he would add with a smile, referring to the fact
that they had been born among the Cree Indians farther north; "but
Souwanaquenapeke is better, as she is a pure Saulteaux."

This of course would put Sagastao and Minnehaha on the defensive, for in
those days their own pride of birth was that they were Cree Indians.
Faithful old Mary, herself a Cree, would of course take their part, and it
was very amusing--laughable at times--to listen to the wordy strife. In
these discussions Mary was always the one to first lose her temper. When
this happened the penalty was to have the children throw a shawl over her
head and thus silence her. From their loving hands sh