“Their religion is as good as many another, and quite as poetical.”
“Then go into the forest and pray to your Great Spirit,” I said. “Only don’t discredit him by being inconsiderate of others who would be kind to you.”
“Do I not do my work?” he asked, with rising anger.
“You are expected to do your work, but I am not speaking to you on that subject. I want to know what you are thinking about while you are at work.”
“If you please, that is my own affair.”
“If you please, it is my affair also. You came out here to have me help you. I want to help you.”
“You have helped me; you took me into this Colony when my father had closed the door on me; you have given me food—such as it is—and out of the clothes sent in you have given me this second-hand suit.”
“And you have worked like the other men and paid by your labor for what you received?”
“Yes.”