requesting his wife to show them
through the village, he took Jacques by the arm and sauntered out.

"Come with me, Jacques," he began; "I have somewhat to say to you. I
had not time to broach the subject when I met you at the Company's fort,
and have been anxious to see you ever since. You tell me that you have
met with my friend Redfeather?"

"Yes, sir; I spent a week or two with him last fall. I found him
stayin' with his tribe, and we started to come down here together."

"Ah, that is the very point," exclaimed the pastor, "that I wished to
inquire about. I firmly believe that God has opened that Indian's eyes
to see the truth; and I fully expected, from what he said when we last
met, that he would have made up his mind to come and stay here."

"As to what the Almighty has done to him," said Jacques, in a
reverential tone of voice, "I don't pretend to know; he did for sartin
speak, and act too, in a way that I never see'd an Injin do before. But
about his comin' here, sir, you were quite right: he did mean to come,
and I've no doubt will come yet."

"What prevented him coming with you, as you tell me he intended?"
inquired the pastor.

"Well, you see, sir, he and I and his squaw, as I said, set off to come
here together; but when we got the length o' Edmonton House, we heerd
that you were comin' up to pay a visit to the tribe to which Redfeather
belongs; and so seein' that it was o' no use to come down hereaway just
to turn about an' go up agin, he stopped there to wait for you, for he
knew you would want him to interpret--"

"Ay," interrupted the pastor, "that's true. I have two reasons for
wishing to have him here. The primary one is, that he may get good to
his immortal soul. And then he understands English so well that I want
him to become my interpreter; for although I _understand_ the Cree
language pretty well now, I find it exceedingly difficult to explain the
doctrines of the Bible to my people in it. But pardon me, I interrupted
you."

"I was only going to say," resumed Jacques, "that I made up my mind to
stay with him; but they wanted a man to bring the winter packet here,
so, as they pressed me very hard, an' I had nothin' particular to do, I
'greed and came, though I would rather ha' stopped; for Redfeather an' I
ha' struck up a friendship togither--a thing that I would niver ha'
thought it poss'ble for me to do with a red Injin."

"And why not with a red Indian, friend?" inquired the