ughts tell you?"

"They told me that men are very weak, and very foolish, and wicked; and
that Manito is very good and patient to let them live."

"That is to say," cried Harry, who was surprised and a little nettled to
hear what he called the heads of a sermon from a redskin, "that _you_,
being a man, are very weak, and very foolish, and wicked; and that
Manito is very good and patient to let _you_ live?"

"Good," said the Indian calmly; "that is what I mean."

"Come, Redfeather," said Charley, laying his hand on the Indian's arm,
"sit down beside us, and tell us some of your adventures. I know that
you must have had plenty, and it's quite clear that we're not to get
away from this place all day, so you've nothing better to do."

The Indian readily assented, and began his story in English.

Redfeather was one of the very few Indians who had acquired the power of
speaking the English language. Having been, while a youth, brought much
into contact with the fur-traders, and having been induced by them to
enter their service for a time, he had picked up enough of English to
make himself easily understood. Being engaged at a later period of life
as guide to one of the exploring parties sent out by the British
Government to discover the famous North-west Passage, he had learned to
read and write, and had become so much accustomed to the habits and
occupations of the "palefaces," that he spent more of his time, in one
way or another, with them than in the society of his tribe, which dwelt
in the thick woods bordering on one of the great prairies of the
interior. He was about thirty years of age; had a tall, thin, but wiry
and powerful frame; and was of a mild, retiring disposition. His face
wore a habitually grave expression, verging towards melancholy; induced,
probably, by the vicissitudes of a wild life (in which he had seen much
of the rugged side of nature in men and things) acting upon a sensitive
heart and a naturally warm temperament. Redfeather, however, was by no
means morose; and when seated along with his Canadian comrades round the
camp fire, he listened with evidently genuine interest to their stories,
and entered into the spirit of their jests. But he was always an
auditor, and rarely took part in their conversations. He was frequently
consulted by the guide in matters of difficulty, and it was observed
that the "redskin's" opinion always carried much weight with it,
although it was seldom given un