possession of the paddle.

"I'm highly oblaiged to ye," grinned Teddy, "for me arms have been
waxin' tired ever sin' I l'arned the Injin way of driving a canoe
through the water. When ye gets out o' breath jist ax another
red-skin to try his hand, while I boss the job."

The canoes were pulled rapidly up-stream. This settled that the whites
were being carried to the village which was their original
destination. Both Harvey and his wife were rather pleased than
otherwise with this, although the missionary would have preferred an
interview or conversation in order to make himself and intentions
known. He was surprised at the knowledge they displayed of the English
language. He overheard words exchanged between them which were as easy
to understand as much of Teddy's talk. They must be, therefore, in
frequent communication with white men. Their location was so far north
that, as Richter plausibly inferred, they were extensive dealers in
furs and peltries, which must be disposed of to traders and the agents
of the American Fur and Hudson Bay Companies. The Selkirk or Red river
settlement also, must be at an easily accessible distance.

It may seem strange that it never occurred to the captives that the
savages might do them harm. In fact, nothing but violence itself would
have convinced the missionary that such was contemplated. He had
yielded himself, heart and soul, to his work; he felt an inward
conviction that he was to accomplish great good. Trials and sufferings
of all imaginable kinds he expected to undergo, but his life was to be
spared until the work was accomplished. Of that he never experienced a
moment's doubt.

Our readers will bear in mind that the period of which we write,
although but a little more than forty years since, was when the
territory west of the Mississippi was almost entirely unknown.
Trappers, hunters and fur-traders in occasional instances, penetrated
into the heart of the mighty solitude. Lewis and Clarke had made their
expedition to the head-waters of the Columbia, but the result of all
these visits, to the civilized world, was much the same as that of the
adventurers who have penetrated into the interior of Africa.

It was known that on the northwest dwelt the warlike Blackfeet, the
implacable foes of every white man. There, also, dwelt other tribes,
who seemed resolved that none but their own race should dwell upon
that soil. Again, there were others with whom little difficulty was
ex