Page:The trail of the golden horn.djvu/65

Rh “Yes, he is there, but he has no school now. Nearly all of the Indians have deserted him. Bad white men did it. They took in rum, made fun of the missionary and his school, and got the Indians to leave the place. They are all scattered now, some here, and some in other camps, always hanging around for rum. They will do anything for hootch, and the women are just as bad as the men.”

“Why does the missionary stay at The Gap when the Indians have gone?” Marion enquired.

“He is waiting for them to come back, so I have been told. He prays and prays for them. He has service in the church every night, and most of the time he is the only one there. But he rings the little bell just as he used to do, and then goes on with the service.”

“He must be a good man,” Marion remarked.

“Oh, he is very good. But he is getting old and feeble now, so maybe he won’t be there much longer. But if he were only here I am sure he would help Tim. His prayers, I guess, would do more for him than anything else.”

“You haven’t forgotten what you learned at the school, I see. You still believe in prayers, even though you have gone astray.”

“I haven’t gone astray in the way you mean,” the girl declared as she gave her head a slight toss. “I was sent from the school, I know, but I have done nothing really wrong. I always remember what I was taught, and say my prayers night and morning. Tim is a good man and he always told me to do what was right.”

“But he was willing for you to disobey orders, and get dismissed from the school,” Marion reminded.

“Oh, that was different, Miss. You see, we loved