d--"Last night I arose in the dance and told them that I
had given the old customs and the old Indians a fair trial, and that
they did not satisfy, now I should leave them forever and give myself to
God, and if any others were ready to follow to arise and so make it
known. The other two leaders arose, stood silently a moment, and walked
out." From that time they have given themselves up to singing, praying
and studying the Bible. They had, for two years, been halting between
two opinions, attending the school, church, etc., and the Indian feasts
and dances, too. These three having come out so boldly on God's side,
has made a great change in our work here.

Poor old Running-Antelope feels very sad. It is his desire to keep the
young men from learning Christianity and civilization as long as he can.
He wants them to have everything in common, and to feel that for an
individual to accumulate anything is a disgrace. As long as they feel
so, of course squalor and suffering will be the natural consequences.

The young men are working hard to build up homes and to accumulate
something for their families during the winter. One young man has cut
logs and is building a house. I try to teach them that long prayers and
loud singing is not all of Christianity--that however regularly a man
attends to his church duties, if he fails to provide for his family, his
religion is vain; and if he gives all his goods to his friends and lets
his wife and children cry for bread, that their cries will reach the
ears of God, and his prayers and hymns will be lost in this round of
wailing of the hungry. All this is very different from their old Indian
doctrine and hard to understand.

Elias, our native teacher, has formed a class of young men who meet
every Tuesday night and talk and pray and sing together, and he directs
their thought. I think it will prove very helpful. Then on Thursday
night I have my Bible class, which now numbers about twenty. It is
formed of the young men and women who wish to follow Christ's example,
and band themselves together to learn of him. It has been the _training
school_ of the young Christians.

* * * * *

What could be more encouraging than such facts as these? An Indian
unattended by any white person, dissatisfied with the religion of his
fathers, walks out of heathenism; out of sympathy and connection with
his tribe; out of the religion and customs of his fathers and into the