"They?" said Jasper. "I never knew that there were white Indians, Waubeno. Where do they live? Where do they come from?"
"From the Great River. They come and go, and come and go, and they are unlike other Indians. They know things that other Indians do not know. They have a book that talks to them. It came from heaven."
Jasper stepped out on to the clearing, and Waubeno followed him. The white Indian awaited their approach.
"Welcome, stranger," said Jasper. "Where are you journeying from?"
"From the Great River (Mississippi) to the land of the lakes. They are coming, coming, my brothers from over the sea, as the prophet said. I have not seen you here before. I am glad that you have come."
"Where do you live?" asked Jasper.
"My tribe is few, and they wander. They wander till the brothers come. We are not like other people here, though all the tribes treat us well and give us food and shelter. We are wanderers. We have lived in the country many years, and we have often visited Kaskaskia. You will hear of us there. When the French came, we thought they were brothers. Then the English came, and we felt that they were brothers. The white people are our brothers."
"Come in," said Jasper, "and breakfast with us. You are strange to me. I never heard of you. You seem like a visitant from another world. Tell me, my brother, how came you to be white?"
"I beg your pardon, stranger, but I ask you the same question, How came you to be white? The same Power that made your face like the cloud and the snow, made mine the same. There is kindred blood in our veins, but I know not how it is—we do not know. Our ancestors had a book that told us of God, but it was lost when the French raised the cross at Kaskaskia. We had a legend of the cross, and of armies marching under the cross, and when the bell began to ring over the praise house there, we found that we, too, had ancient tales of the bell. More I can not tell. All the tribes welcome us, and we belong to all the tribes, and we have wandered for years and years. Our fathers wandered."
"This is all very strange," said Jasper. "Tell us more."