mbering the ignorance of her poor blinded pupil, she proceeded.

"Oh! Mamalis, do not talk thus. He of whom I speak is not as we are, and
cannot commit a sin. But while He cannot commit sin Himself, He can die
for the sins of others."

"Well," said the poor girl, seeing that she had unwittingly hurt the
feelings of her friend, "I don't understand all that. Your God is so
high, mine I can see and understand. But you love your God, I only fear
mine."

"And do you not believe that God is good, my poor friend?" said
Virginia, with a sigh.

"From Manitou all good proceeds," replied Mamalis, as with beautiful
simplicity she thus detailed her simple creed, which she had been taught
by her fathers. "From him is life, and joy, and love. The blue sky is
his home, and the green earth he has made for his pleasure. The fresh
smelling flowers and the pure air are his breath, and the sweet music of
the wind through the woods is his voice. The stars that he has sown
through heaven, are the pure shells which he has picked up by the rivers
which flow through the spirit land; and the sun is his chariot, with
which he drives through heaven, while he smiles upon the world. Such is
Manitou, whose very life is the good giving; the bliss-bestowing."

"My sweet Mamalis," said Virginia, "you have, indeed, in your ignorance,
painted a beautiful picture of the beneficence of God. And can you
not--do you not thank this Giver of every good and perfect gift for all
his mercies?"

"I cannot thank him for that which he must bestow," said the girl. "We
do not thank the flower because its scent is sweet; nor the birds that
fill the woods with their songs, because their music is grateful to the
ear. Manitou is made to be adored, not to be thanked, for his very
essence is good, and his very breath is love."

"But remember, my friend, that the voice of this Great Spirit is heard
in the thunder, as well as in the breeze, and his face is revealed in
the lightning as well as in the flower. He is the author of evil as well
as of good, and should we not pray that He would avert the first, even
if He heed not our prayer to bestow the last."

If Virginia was shocked by the sentiments of her pupil before, Mamalis
was now as much so. Such an idea as ascribing evil to the great Spirit
of the Universe, never entered the mind of the young savage, and now
that she first heard it, she looked upon it as little less than open
profanity.

"Manitou is not heard in