l school--"present company excepted."

"Do you believe in the allotment?" asked Miss Colson, one of the
missionaries for kindergarten work, an eager little woman, aflame with
religious zeal.

"Not in its present form," replied Lawson, shortly. "Any attempt to make
the Tetong conform to the isolated, dreary, lonesome life of the Western
farmer will fail. The redman is a social being--he is pathetically
dependent on his tribe. He has always lived a communal life, with the
voices of his fellows always in his ears. He loves to sit at evening and
hear the chatter of his neighbors. His games, his hunting, his toil, all
went on with what our early settlers called a 'bee.' He seldom worked or
played alone. His worst punishment was to be banished from the camping
circle. Now the Dawes theorists think they can take this man, who has no
newspaper, no books, no letters, and set him apart from his fellows in a
wretched hovel on the bare plain, miles from a neighbor, there to
improve his farm and become a citizen. This mechanical theory has failed
in every case; nominally, the Sioux, the Piegans, are living this
abhorrent life; actually, they are always visiting. The loneliness is
unendurable, and so they will not cultivate gardens or keep live-stock,
which would force them to keep at home. If they were allowed to settle
in groups of four or five they would do better."

Miss Colson's deep seriousness of purpose was evident in the tremulous
intensity of her voice. "If they had the transforming love of Christ in
their hearts they would feel no loneliness."

A silence followed this speech; both men mentally shrugged their
shoulders, but Jennie came to the rescue.

"Miss Colson, did you ever live on a ranch, miles from any other
stove-pipe?"

"No, but I am sure that with God as my helper I could live in a
dungeon."

"You should have been a nun," said Lawson. "I don't mind your living
alone with Christ, but I think it cruel and unchristian to force your
solitary way of life on a sociable redman. Would Christ do that? Would
He insist on shutting the door on their mythology, their nature lore,
their dances and ceremonies? Would He not go freely among them, glad of
their joy, and condemning only what was hurtful? Is there any record
that He ever condemned an innocent pleasure? How do you know but they
are as near the Creator's design as the people of Ohio?"

The teacher's pretty face was strained and white, and her wide-set eyes
we