many a noble, gallant soul
Has found them a passport to heaven."

* * * * *

LESSON LVII.

declin'ing, _failing_.

expe'rience, _that which happens to any one_.

regard', _look at; consider_.

robust', _sound in health_.

ben'efit ed, _made better; helped_.

intense', _extreme_.

moc'ca sin, _a kind of shoe made of deer-skin_.

tem'po ra ry, _for a time_.

pe cul'iar, _strange; unusual_.

in tel'li gent, _showing good sense_.

* * * * *

A STORY OF THE SIOUX WAR.

PART I.

In the summer of 1862, while we were living in the State of Minnesota, I
had an experience which I regard as one of the most remarkable that I
ever met with.

We lived at Lac Qui Parle, or rather quite close to it, for we were
about a mile from the place.

There were only three of us--father, mother, and myself. We had moved to
Minnesota three years before, the main object of my parents being to
restore their health; for they were feeble and needed a change of
climate.

The first year, both father and mother were much benefited; but not long
after, father began to fail.

I remember that he used to take his chair out in front of the house in
pleasant weather and sit there, with his eyes turned toward the blue
horizon, or into the depths of the vast wilderness which was not more
than a stone's throw from our door.

Mother would sometimes go out and sit beside father, and they would talk
long and earnestly in low tones. I was too young to understand all this
at the time, but it was not long afterward that I learned the truth.

Father was steadily and surely declining in health; but mother had
become strong and robust, and her disease seemed to have left her
altogether. She tried to encourage father, and really believed his
weakness was only temporary.

Scarcely a day passed that I did not see some of the Sioux Indians who
were scattered through that portion of the State. In going to, and
coming from the agency, they would sometimes stop at our house.

Father was very quick in picking up languages, and he was able to
converse quite easily with the red men.

How I used to laugh to hear them talk in their odd language, which
sounded to me just as if they were grunting at each other.

But the visits used to please father and mother, and I was always glad
to see some of the rather ragged and not over-clean warriors stop at the
house.

I