traordinary statement:

"Missionary, there are a lot of pagan Indians at the Fort. They are the
ones you were talking to about becoming Christians. I have just come
from visiting them, and have been urging them to give up their old way;
they said to me, `Tell your missionary, if he will give us one good
square meal of potatoes, we will come and hear him preach three times!'"

Doubtless many will smile at this quaint offer--this queer exchange of
commodities; yet we who were on the ground, and remembered the haughty
stubborness of those same Indians only a short time before, were glad to
hear thus from them. We promptly accepted the challenge and furnished
the potatoes. What appetites they had! But they carried out their
share of the contract, and listened attentively--and smoked--during the
three services. They were always friendly afterward; and, in subsequent
years, a number of them became sincere Christians. It pays to get the
truth into the heart, even if we have to begin by filling the stomach
with potatoes!

So anxious had Sandy become to win our approval, that we knew he was
willing and courageous enough to take any stand we suggested. But we
were so very anxious that his decision for Christ should be built on a
deeper, firmer foundation than a mere desire to please us, that, in
talking with him, we used no special personal persuasion to bring him to
a decision for the Lord Jesus. It was evident to us by his life that
the Good Spirit was graciously working upon his heart, and that he was
under deep religious conviction.

And soon the blessed hour came. One afternoon, while I was urging upon
the large audience who had assembled in the church the privilege and
necessity of immediate decision for Christ, Sandy, with others, sprang
up from his seat near the door and came forward for prayer. His first
audible petition still rings in my ear as though uttered but yesterday:

"O Tapa-yechekayan Kiss-awa-totawenan!" (Oh Lord, have mercy upon me!)

I knelt beside him and pointed him to the dear Saviour--the sinners
Friend. I quoted the sweet promises of the blessed Book, and assured
him they were for him. He wept, and was deeply anxious for the
assurance that even, he had a personal interest in the crucified One.
Earnest prayers were offered for him and others, who, like him, were
seeking the Pearl of great price. We talked to him of the love of God
as revealed in Jesus. We tried to explain to him the