riests. The pilgrimage had taught him what the
Jesuits have always held--the way to power with a people is through the
education of the children. "Give me a child for the first seven years
of its life," said a famous educator, "and I care not what you do with
him the rest of his years." Missions and schools must be established
among the tribes of Hurons and Iroquois.

Consequently, when Champlain sent his soldiers in 1634 to build a fort
at Three Rivers, they were accompanied by three Jesuits, chief of whom
was Jean de Brebeuf, lion-hearted, bound for the land of the Hurons.
The chapel bells of Quebec rang and rang again in honor of the new
Jesuit mission--morning, noon, and night they chimed in airy music,
calling men's thoughts to God, just as you may hear the chimes to-day;
and the ramparts below Quebec thundered and reechoed with salvos of
cannon when the missionaries set out for Three Rivers.

{83} At Three Rivers waited the Indians of the Up-Country. The Jesuits
embarked with them for the land of the Hurons. The priests traveled
barefoot to avoid injuring the frail bark of the canoes. Barely had
farewell cheers faded on the river, when the canoes spread apart. With
pieces of buckskin hoisted on fishing rods for sail, and a flipping of
paddles as naked, bronzed arms set the pace, the voyage had begun.
Heroism is easy with chapel bells ringing; it is another matter,
barefoot and with sleeves rolled up.

It was the same trail that Champlain had followed up the Ottawa. Only
Champlain was assured of good treatment, for he had promised to fight
in the Indian wars; but the Jesuits were dependent on the caprice of
their conductors. Any one, who, from experience in the wilds, has
learned how the term "tenderfoot" came to be applied, will realize the
hardships endured--and endured without self-pity--by these scholarly
men of immured life. The rocks of the portage cut their naked feet.
The Indians refused to carry their packs overland and flung bundles of
clothing and food into the water. In fair weather the voyageurs slept
on the sand under the overturned canoes; in rain a wigwam was raised,
and into the close confines of this tent crowded men, women, and
children, for the most part naked, and with less idea of decency than a
domestic dog. Each night, as the boats were beached, the priests
wandered off into the woods to hold their prayers in privacy. Soon the
canoes were so far apart the different boats did