hould thus act, and it seemed to
be a little thing to do, but it was a sermon that led those five men to
become Christians. As soon as they had finished their portions they lit
their pipes, and as they smoked they talked; and as near as I and my men
could make out, here is what they said:

"We must listen with both ears to that Missionary. He is here without
food, suffering from hunger, because he stopped to share with us his
last meal. We caught a fish, and when we offered him a large piece he
refused it, and divided equally with us all. He has been anxious to do
us good and to have us to listen to his words. He has not once scolded
us for asking him to stop, although he could have got across the lake
before the storm arose, and, as the rest of the way is in the river, he
could have gone on home. He has shown himself to be our friend, and we
must listen to what he has to say." Thus they went on, and I must
confess I paid but little attention to what they were saying. After a
few hours more the storm went down, and we gladly embarked that evening
in our canoe and pushed on.

The next day we reached the Mission village of Rossville, making our
last portage at Sea River Falls, near Norway House; and as we saw the
fish and venison hanging on the stagings around the houses of the
people, my patient fellows cried out, "We should like to laugh at the
sight of food, but we are too empty altogether."

We paddled the last mile as quickly as we had any other, and kept up our
courage until we were home. As I entered the house, a strange faintness
came over me, and all the welcome words I could give to my loved ones
were, "My dear, we are starving; please get us some food." Then I sank
down exhausted. Loving care from one of the best and bravest of wives
quickly brought me round again, and I was soon ready to be off on
another trip.

The long winter passed away, and the welcome summer came at last. We
have really very little of spring in that northern land. The transition
from winter to summer is very rapid. With the disappearance of the ice
from the lakes and rivers came the Indians in their birch canoes, from
various quarters where they had spent the winter in trapping the fur-
bearing animals. As usual they came to see the Missionary in goodly
numbers. Among those who thus honoured us were five big men, who, after
a few words of greeting, said, "We hope you have not forgotten the fish;
we have not, and we wan