itish Columbia. They was pretty nigh wiped
out when that happened, so they did away wi' havin' a 'brave' fer a
chief, an' took on a 'Med'cine Man.'

"Wal, it ain't quite clear how it come about, but the story, which is
most gener'ly believed, says that the first Med'cine Man was pertic'ler
cunnin', an' took real thick with the white folks' way o' doin' things.
Say, he learned his folk a deal o' farmin' an' sech, an' they took to
trappin' same as you understand it. There wa'n't no scrappin', nor
war-path yowlin'; they jest come an' settled right down an' took on to
the land. Wal, this feller, 'fore he died, got the Mission'ry on his
trail, an' got religion; but he couldn't git dead clear o' his med'cine,
an' he got to prophesyin'. He called all his folk together an' took out
his youngest squaw. She was a pretty crittur, sleek as an antelope fawn;
I 'lows her pelt was nigh as smooth an' soft. Her eyes were as black an'
big as a moose calf's, an' her hair was as fine as black fox fur. Wal,
he up an' spoke to them folk, an' said as ther' was a White Squaw comin'
amongst 'em who was goin' to make 'em a great people; who was goin' to
lead 'em to victory agin their old enemies in British Columbia, where
they'd go back to an' live in peace. An' he told 'em as this squaw was
goin' to be the instrument by which the comin' of the White Squaw was to
happen. Then they danced a Med'cine Dance about her, an' he made
med'cine for three days wi'out stoppin'. Then they built her a lodge o'
teepees in the heart o' the forest, where she was to live by herself.

"Wal, time went on an' the squaw give birth to a daughter, but she
wa'n't jest white, so the men took and killed her, I guess. Then came
another; she was whiter than the first, but she didn't jest please the
folk, an' they killed her too. Then came another, an' another, each
child whiter than the last, an' they were all killed, 'cause I guess
they wa'n't jest white. Till the seventh come along. The seventh was the
White Squaw. Say, fair as a pictur, wi' black hair that shone in the
sun, an' wi' eyes that blue as 'ud shame the summer sky."

The half-breed paused, and sat staring with introspective gaze at the
iron side of the stove. Nick was gazing at him all eyes and ears for the
story. Ralph, too, was sitting up now.

"Wal, she was taken care of an' treated like the queen she was. On'y the
headman was allowed to look at her. She grew an' grew, an' all the tribe
was thinkin' of w