ppropriate prayer.

Very sweetly sounded the voices of these Christian Indians as here amid
nature's solitudes arose from their lips and hearts the voice of prayer
and praise. The effect on the boys was not only startling but helpful.
In their minds there had been associated very little of genuine
Christianity with the Indians, but just the reverse. They expected to
meet them with tomahawks and scalping knives, but not with Bibles and
hymn books; they expected to hear war-whoops, but not the voice of
Christian song and earnest prayer.

As the boys lay that night in their blanket beds on the rocks they could
not but talk of the evening prayers, and perhaps that simple but
impressive service did more to bring vividly and helpfully before them
the memories of their happy Christian homes far away than anything else
that had occurred since they left them.

Three Boys in the Wild North Land--by Egerton Ryerson Young

CHAPTER FOUR.

THE EARLY CALL--THE PICTURESQUE ROUTE--THE TOILSOME PORTAGES--RIVAL
BRIGADES--FIRST BEAR--ALEC'S SUCCESSFUL SHOT.

So excited were the boys with their strange romantic surroundings that
the first night they lay down in their beds, thus prepared not far from
the camp fire on the rocks, they could hardly sleep. It was indeed a
new experience to be able to look up and see the stars shining in the
heavens above them. Then, when they looked around, on one side they saw
the Indians reclining there in picturesque attitudes, smoking their
pipes and engaged in quiet talk. When they turned and looked on the
other side there was the dense dark forest peopled in their young
imaginations with all sorts of creatures, from the fierce wolf and
savage bear to the noisy "whisky jack," a pert, saucy bird, about the
size and colour of a turtle dove, that haunts the camp fires and with
any amount of assurance helps himself to pemmican and other articles of
food, if a bag is left open or the provisions exposed to his keen eye.
Still sounding in their ears were his strange, querulous notes, forming
not half so sweet a lullaby as the music of the waves that beat and
broke a few yards from where they lay.

But "tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep," came after a time, and
in dreamless slumber soon were they wrapped, nor did they stir until
early next morning. They were aroused by the musical voice of Big Tom,
from which rang out the boatman's well-known call:

"Leve, Leve, Leve!"

This is not Ind