The Minneapolis journal., 1902-09-30
ARRIVING.
Chapter I.-Continued.


''Well," said the pastor, lone of the
ruling elders may come to my house be-
fore meeting, saddle my horse, and hold
the stirrup while I get on. The other
may wait at the church door and hold him
while I get off, and after meeting bring
him to the steps. This is all Of my work
that I can consent to let ruling elders do
for me-"
The Longmeadow love Of disputation
was fostered by bouts which ruling elders
might have made it their business to pre-
serve, if any ruling elders were willing
to accept their appointment. The pastor
once went to the next town to enjoy argu-
ment with a scientific doctor. When he
mounted his horse to ride home before
nightfall, the two friends kept up their
debate. The doctor stood by the horse
or walked few steps as the horse moved.
Presently both men noticed fire In the
east; and it was sunrise. They had
argued all night.
In Longmeadow a man could not help
practicipg argument. 1 also practiced
oratory. And all the time practiced the
Iroquois tongue as well as English and
French, and began the translation of
books into the language Of the nation
hoped to build. That Indians made un-
stable material for the white man to
handle 1 would not believe. Skenedonk
was not unstable. His faithfulness was
o rock.
For some reason, and think it was the
reach of Pastor Storrs, mon in other
places began to seek me. The vital cur
rents of life indeed sped through us on the
Hartford and Springfield stage road. 1t
happened that Skenedonk and I were
making my annual journey to st. Regis
when the first steamboat accomplished the
trip on the Hudson river. About the time
that the Wisconsin country was IN
cluded in Illinois territory, l decided to
write letter to Madame Tank at Green
Bay, and insist on knowing my story as
she believed she knew it. Yet hesitated;
and finally did do it. I found after
wards that there was no pOStOffice at
Green Bay. A carrier, sent by the Off
GERS Of the fort and Villagers brought
mail from Chicago. He had two hundred
miles of wilderness to traverse, and his
blankets and provisions as well as the
mail to carry; and he did this at the risk
of his life among wild men and beasts
The form of religion was always a triv-
ial matter to me. 1 never ceased to love
the sacrifice Of the mass, which was an
abomination and an idolatrous practice
to Pastor Storrs. The pageantry Of the
Roman church that first mothered and
nurtured touches to this day. 1
love the stern and knotty argument, the
sermon with heads and sequences, Of the
New England Congregationalist. For this
catholicity Catholics have upbraided me,
churchmen rebuked me, and dissenters de-
MED that I had any religion at all.
When the Episcopal bishop Of New York
showed me kindness, and Pastor Storrs
warned me against being proselyted. 1
could not tell them the charm in the form
of worship practiced by the woman I
loved. There was not a conscious min
ute when I forgot her. Yet nobody in
LOngmeadoW kneWNrof her existence. In
my most rernorseful- days, comparing my
self with Pastor Storrs, I was never sorry
I had chung to her and begged her not to
let me go alone. For some of our sins are
SO honestly the expression of nature
that justification breaks through them.
On the western border there was trouble
with the Indians and on the sea there was
trouble with the British, so that people
began to talk Of war long before it was
declared, and to blame President Madison
for his over caution in affairs. A battle
was fought at Tippecanoe in the Indiana
territory, which silenced the Indians for
while. But every one knew that the
English stood behind them. Militia was
mustered, the army recruited, and embar-
go laid upon shipping in the ports, and all
things were put forward In April Of that
year. before war was declared in June
had influence with tribes. The
government offered me a well paid COM
mission to act as it's secret agent Pastor
Storrs and the Williamses, who had been
nurturing missionary, were smitten with
grief to see him rise and leap into camps
ana nelds, eager for the open world, the
wilderness smell; the council, where the
red mans mind, a trembling balance,
could be turned by vivid language: ca ger
in fact, to live where history was being
made
The pastor had clothed me In his mind
with ministerial gown and band, and the
martial blood that quickened he counted
In Vnt
Is human nature. so given to forms which
1t calls creeds, that when afterwards put
on the surplice and read PRAYERS to NV
adopted people, he counted 1t as great a
detection as taking to saddle and spur
we cannot leave the expression of our
lives to those better qualified than we are
however dear they may be. l had to pack
my ,saddlebags and be gone, loving Long
meadow none the less because I erieved
IT., knowing that it would not approve OF
me more if I stayed and failed to do nv
natural part. -.
The snuffbox and the missal which had
belonged to my family in France I always
carried with me. And very little could be
transported on the road we took.
John Williams, who came to Long.
meadow in deerskins, and paraded his
FURNISHED red poll among the hated viii.
liamses. abetted me in, turning from the
missionary field to the arena of war; anc
never left me. It was Skenedonk who
served the United States with Drawn anc
endurance, while I put such policy anc
color into my .harangues as I could com.
mand. We shared our meals, our camps
our beds Of leaves together. The life a,
Longmeadow had knit me to good use
could fast or feast. ride or march, take
the buckskins. or the soldiers uniform
OF this service I shall write down only
what goes to the making of the story
The government was pleased to commend
It,, and 1t may be found written in Other
annals than mine.
Great latitude was permitted us in ou1
orders. We spent year in the north
My skin darkened and toughened under
exposure until I said to Skenedonl IT an
turning an Indian" and he, jealous Of my
French blood, denied it. .-.
In July had to thread trails he knew