o one--
not even to his wife.

Mozwa, who was very fond of his friend, and pitied him sincerely, made
no attempt to comfort him, for he knew the nature of the man too well to
think that by any words he could assuage his sorrow.

All the fine things that Nazinred had brought home, and with which he
had hoped to rejoice the hearts of his wife and child, were utterly
neglected. He let Isquay do what she pleased with them. The only thing
that seemed to comfort him was the tobacco, for that, he found, when
smoked to excess, blunted the edge of his feelings.

He therefore gave himself up to the unlimited use of this sedative, and
would no doubt have become, like many others, a willing slave to the
pipe, but for the fortunate circumstance that the supply of tobacco was
limited. As the autumn advanced, the diminishing quantity warned him to
restrain himself. He eked it out by mixing with it a kind of leaf much
used by Indians for this purpose, but which, by itself, was not
considered worth smoking. Even with this aid, however, he was compelled
to curtail the indulgence; then the weed failed altogether, and he was
finally induced to engage in philosophical meditations as to the folly
of creating a needless desire which could not be gratified. The
unsatisfied craving, coupled with the injury to his health, added
considerably to the grief with which he was already oppressed. He had a
powerful constitution, however. The enforced abstinence soon began to
tell in his favour, and he actually had the courage, not to say wisdom,
to refuse occasional pipes offered him by Mozwa when he chanced to visit
his friend.

As that friend had not the loss of an only child to mourn, but, on the
contrary, was called upon to rejoice in the addition of a new baby, the
fine things that he had brought home were the cause of great
satisfaction to his family. But alas! Mozwa, although almost perfect,
for a savage, had one fault--one besetting sin and moral disease--he
gambled!

We almost hear the exclamation of surprise, if not doubt, with which our
reader receives this information. Yes; North American Indians are
gamblers; many of them are confirmed gamblers. They do not indeed
affect anything so intellectual as chess or so skilful as billiards, but
they have a game to the full as intellectual and scientific as that
_rouge et noir_ of Monaco with which highly cultivated people contrive
to rob each other by mutual consent, and without be