"Nay," said the Knight. "There was a time when the white race was like thine own, without that knowledge which makes them so powerful."
"And can the chief say why the Great Spirit gave Owanux the wisdom which he denied to us?"
"That is a question I cannot answer, any more than why thy skin is red and mine white; but the Christian religion was the means whereby the change was effected."
"There is but one Great Spirit, who made all things," said Sassacus, solemnly, "and we worship him as well as the white men. Lightnings are the glances of his eyes; thunder is his voice; the sun is the fire before his lodge, which he extinguishes when he sleeps, and the moon and stars are the sparks which fly up into the air when it goes out."
"Thou hast indeed, in some sort, a religion, for He hath not left even the most barbarous nations without some knowledge of himself, howbeit it is not unto wisdom. But it is only with his true religion that he has connected that acquaintance with himself, which makes men to advance in all that is worthy to be known here, and happy hereafter."
"Our wise men say," replied Sassacus, "that for the spirits of brave and just warriors there are happy hunting grounds, far away towards the setting sun, which the Indian travels to, over the white path in the middle of the sky, where deer, and elk, and bears never fail, and where the hunter is never tired, nor very hungry."
"Alas!" said the Knight; "these are but figments of the imagination—fond dreams as unsubstantial as morning mist, and deceitful as the wandering fire, which lures the ignorant traveller into the morass."
"O, wise chief," said Sassacus, "our tribes have also their traditions, and I know not why they may not be as true as thine. We do not think, as your powahs teach, that our traditions come from Hobbamocki, while yours all proceed from the Master of life."
"Hobbamocki is thy name for the Evil Spirit?"
"My brother has said it. Would he like to know how he was created?"