and
Deerfoot in the wood, when the chief sought his life, but was overcome
and then spared by the Shawanoe. Deerfoot never spoke of it, and I was
almost grown when my father told my mother and me of the strange
incident, which was the means of the chief's accepting the religion
that the youth taught by word and example.

"When Deerfoot left our village, Taggarak begged him to visit him
again. He urged so hard that the youth said he would do so if he could,
but he saw little hope and thought their next meeting would have to
wait till both passed into the hunting grounds above.

"Taggarak meditated much over the coming of Deerfoot. As he grew older
he often went to the elevation, a little way from our village, and near
where he had been overcome by the Shawanoe, and passed hours gazing
toward the East, looking and hoping for sight of the youth who did not
come. He always went alone to the spot and did not suspect his action
was noticed by anyone. But at the request of my mother, I stealthily
followed the chief. He seated himself on a broad, flat rock, which gave
him a view of many miles of mountain, wood and stream, and it seemed
that for the hour I watched him he never took his gaze from the point
in the sky where the sun first showed itself. I have sometimes wondered
whether my father mistook any approaching warrior for the Shawanoe. I
never learned, for not once did he ever refer to those lonely visits to
the elevation.

"One day my father said, with his old sternness of manner, that since
Deerfoot was not coming to see him, I must take a message to the
Shawanoe in his distant home. It was a startling command, but was not
unwelcome to me. I had heard much of the white man's country, and knew
the palefaces were fast pushing into our own. I had listened to
Mul-tal-la's wonderful stories times without number, and often resolved
that when an opportunity came I should visit the white towns and
settlements.

"I was glad, therefore, when my father spoke as he did, and still more
glad when Mul-tal-la, although he had a wife and two children, offered
to go with me. He was anxious to see Deerfoot and the acquaintances he
had made many years before, whose memory was always a pleasure to him.

"My father's message to the Shawanoe amounted to little. I was to tell
him the chief was still true to his faith, and to ask him whether he
could come to the chief, and, if he could not, whether he still
remembered Taggarak. That was a