know how it was that a Sauk had come to be the
ally of a Shawanoe, and why, when Hay-uta was any thing but a friend of
Otto, he should travel so far and run into so much danger for the sake
of rescuing him.

You and I know the explanation, and so it is not required that I should
repeat the story of Hay-uta's encounter with Deerfoot in the depths of
the wilderness, when the Shawanoe vanquished the warrior, overcoming not
only his physical prowess but his hatred, and how the words fitly spoken
at that time had proven to be seed sowed on good ground which was
already springing up and bearing fruit.

The boys became so interested in the subject that they involuntarily
slackened their gait, while they discussed the incident and recalled the
gentle reproofs which Deerfoot had given them more than once. It is at
such times that we feel the prickings of conscience, and both Otto and
Jack asked themselves the question: If this American Indian, born and
nursed as a heathen, was so quick to grasp the Word, what excuse shall
we offer in the last day when God shall demand of us why, with a hundred
fold more light, we persisted in rejecting him?

CHAPTER XXX.

A SURPRISING DISCOVERY.

"What do you suppose Deerfoot once asked me?" said Jack Carleton,
stopping short and staring in the face of his friend, who answered with
native innocence,

"If you vasn't ashamed mit yourself, 'cause you didn't know more apout
de woods?"

"He handed me some cold water in a cup which he made of oak leaves, and
when I thanked him he smiled in that way of his which shows his
beautiful teeth, and asked me whether I always thanked _every body_ who
handed me any thing like that, or who did me a favor; I told him that I
would consider myself rude if I failed to do so. Then smiling a little
more, he came for me! 'Who gives you the sunlight?' he asked; 'who makes
the moon and stars to light your feet at night? who gave you your good
mother, your health, your food and drink, your clothes, your life? Do
you thank Him when you lie down at night, and when you rise in the
morning, and through the day?'

"I tell you, Otto," continued Jack, "I stood dumb; he has reproved us
both and made us feel thoughtful, but I never had any thing that went
home like _that_. I have thought of it a hundred times since then, and
that night when I lay down I prayed harder than ever before, and
something told me that my prayers went higher, and that He who never
turns