e talked the
matter over, and then took off our coats and went to work, and made her
a wigwam for the present, as it was in the pleasant summer-time. A
canoe was obtained for her, and her nets were set where white fish could
be caught readily. She was an industrious woman, willing to do
everything she could; and so, with the help we gave her and the tangible
sympathy manifested by the Christian Indians, she took heart and got
along very well, and became a good Christian woman.

As the result of the looseness of the marriage tie in their old sinful
lives, we found many strange complicated tangles, some of which it was
impossible to straighten. To deal with some of them would have caused
endless difficulty, without any possibility of improving matters. To
refuse to interfere gave offence to some, who, I am afraid, were more
pharisaical than wise. Here, for example, was one case. A couple had
been married years ago. After living together for several years and
having three children, the man went off to Red River as a boatman for
the Hudson's Bay Company. Delayed there for a time, he married a wife
in the Indian settlement, and made that place his home, only returning
with his second family about the time I went there. His first wife, a
year or two after he left, not hearing from him, married another man,
who supposed she was a widow, and they had several bright, interesting
children. As the result of the faithful preaching of the Word, these
families were converted, and became good Christians. They felt keenly
their position, but, after pondering it over and listening to many
solutions, I gave it up; and as the two families were living happily, I
left them as I had found them. Paganism, not Christianity, was
responsible for the difficulty.

At Nelson River I was accosted one day by an old man, who said he had
listened carefully to what I had said, and wanted to become a Christian
and be baptised. I was very much pleased with his talk, but, suspecting
him to be a polygamist, I asked him as to the number of his wives. His
answer was that he had four. I had a long conversation with him as to
our views, and explained to him the teachings of God's Word, and
candidly told him that I could not baptize him until he put three of
them away.

He seemed grieved at my decision, and said that he did want to be a
Christian, but he and his wives were getting old, and they had got along
fairly well; and now if he went and