Gretchen obeyed. When the strain died, the two sat and listened to the murmuring of the waters, as the river glided down the shelves, and both of them felt that the Spirit of Eternal Goodness with a Father's love watched over everything.
The old chief rose, and said again:
"When I am gone to my fathers, teach my poor people." He added: "The voice of the good spirits ask it—the All-Good asks it—I shall go away—to the land whence the light comes. You stay—teach. You will?"
"Yes," said Gretchen—a consciousness of her true calling in life coming upon her, as in an open vision—"I will be their teacher."
The old chief seemed satisfied, and said: "It is well; I am going away."
Much of the chief's talk was acted. If he wished to speak of a star, he would point to it; and he would imitate a bird's call to designate a bird, and the gurgle of water when speaking of a running stream. He spoke Chinook freely, and to see him when he was speaking was to learn from his motions his meaning.