ssful examination of the school, up to
that time, was over. The prizes were distributed, and while all the
white people, as was customary, accepted the missionary's invitation and
dined at the parsonage, the Indians sped away home for a brief dinner,
and were then soon all back again, to compete in or to witness the
sports.

The first races were run by some little girls. The distance was only a
few hundred yards and back. These races caused a lot of fun and
enjoyment. The prizes were little handkerchiefs, strings of beads, and
other trifling things in which little Indian girls rejoice, and of
course every little competitor must have a prize. Then there were races
for little boys. It was great fun to see the sturdy little fellows so
gallantly strive for victory. Meanwhile arrangements were being made
for the more important races of the day. The courses had been marked
out previously with flags, and so every class knew its course and ran
accordingly. The fleetness and endurance of some of even the small boys
were wonderful, and great was the interest, and even intense at times
the excitement, when several well-matched competitors gamely struggled
on for victory. In the races open to all comers the larger Indian boys
were disappointed that none of the whites had entered, as they were
anxious to test their own speed against them. There were races worth
going across a continent to witness, and genuine and hearty was the
applause that greeted the winners, who came in at such a rate that the
white boys, while cheering as heartily as the others, saw how wise they
had been in declining to put themselves against such runners as White
Antelope or Spotted Deer, the winners.

When the skating matches were called, Frank promptly entered the lists.
His appearance was received with applause. Even the quiet Indian lads
tried to make a noise to show their pleasure in greeting the handsome,
manly fellow whose splendid gift had gone to Kepastick, the one-armed
lad. Two or three young clerks or fur traders also entered for the
race, one of them being the young man who had so abruptly left Alec the
night of his fearful race with the wolves. The route marked out for the
skaters covered in all about ten or twelve miles. It, however, so
twisted in and out among the islands on the frozen lake, that many of
the competitors would be in sight nearly all of the time. That the
intending skaters might thoroughly understand the route,