“In the afternoon, Seaborn and Papoose, all the name the chief’s little boy owned as yet, were taken from their cradles and put upon the ground to roll and tumble to their hearts’ content. Gwen and Winonah were near by watching them. Suddenly little Papoose began to choke and cough. His eyes grew big and round and he gasped for breath. Winonah ran for her mother and left Gwen alone. And then in a flash, Gwen knew what she must do. Once Seaborn had swallowed a button and it had lodged in his throat. Little Papoose must have put something in his mouth that was choking him now. So Gwen did as she had seen her mother do for Seaborn. She bravely put her fingers down poor little Papoose’s throat, grasped something, and drew it out. It was a smooth white pebble big enough to choke a dozen little Papooses!”
“She was as good as a Red Cross nurse,” said Mary Ellen excitedly, her eyes shining. “Didn’t Big Bear and little Papoose’s mother praise her for saving his life?”
“Yes, indeed, Mary Ellen,” answered Friend Morris. “They praised her, and they gave her presents when she went home the next day, and all her life they were her good friends. And that was really best of all.”
“What were the presents?” asked the children in chorus.
“An Indian dress for herself, a cradle for Seaborn, a doll in its little cradle, and beautiful skins as a present for her mother. And that is all my story,” ended Friend Morris, smiling down into the flushed faces gathered about her knee.
“Thank you, Friend Morris,” said Lydia, giving her apple a last twirl. “Gwen was a nice girl.”
“It was a good story,” said Sammy, with a nod of his feathered head, “even if there wasn’t any fighting in it.”
“Now, eat your apples, children,” said Miss Martin. “Here’s Alexander come to take us home, and somehow you must be turned back into boys and girls again before you can go out into the street.”
It was hard to go back to checked aprons and blouses after ribbons and feathers and war paint, but at last it was done. And Mary Ellen said “Thank you” for all of them when she put her arms round Mrs. Blake’s neck.
“Good-night,” said Mary Ellen. “And please do ask us soon again.”