“Yes, Dr. Greydon, if the Great Spirit had given this land to all men alike and all men are to be equal in His sight no King can prosper on the soil where Indian corn is grown; for when the King’s soldiers eat the corn of the Great Spirit, they shall turn upon their King and fight for liberty like the Indian and the Indian’s white brother.”
“O Segwuna, will you tell the gentlemen what the Great Spirit says shall come to the land of the Indians when the King shall cease to hold sway over it?” was the question of Mollie, who had heard Segwuna talk about these things before.
“Yes, my sweetheart, I love to look upon my native land, the land of my forefathers, as the most powerful of the nations. But the Great Spirit must be obeyed, or the white brother of the Indian shall lose all like the Indian.
“The Indians have lost their beautiful land because they did not make good use of the Great Spirit’s gift,—the Indian corn. They left the planting of it to the women, while they followed the chase. But the Indian’s white brother must make good use of this gift and become very powerful as the Great Spirit promised. Yet when the white man shall get too proud to eat the Indian’s corn for food, he then also shall lose this beautiful land.
“The King laughs at the Indian’s corn and at the Indian’s skins for raiment and at the Indian’s love for equality; but the King must learn to give freely to his unfortunate brother. All of this the King and his white brother must learn from the Indian. When any one starves in the tribe, the chief must starve also.
“If the King takes all of the corn away from his hunters and gives it to the chiefs, the Great Chief will become angry and take his corn away from his land so that the King and his chiefs shall have to become hunters too.”
At the conclusion of this last answer, Mr. Jefferson stepped up to Segwuna and thanked her for her kindness, and handed her a silver coin.
But at this last act Segwuna smiled and with polite dignity returned the coin and said:
“The Great Spirit hath no token of worth except His bounteous love and kindness.”
In return Mr. Jefferson seemed greatly pleased as he politely shook the hand of Segwuna and replied: