A gleam of satisfaction lightened the hunter’s face for a moment as he exclaimed, with unwonted energy, “You do her no more than justice, my friend. I have lived to learn that love, truth, and every virtue are to be found in every station—alike with the high-born and the lowly; also that the lack of these qualities is common to both, and, to say truth, I had rather mate with a gentle savage than with a civilised female tiger!”
“But Trueheart is not a gentle savage,” returned Paul, scarcely able to repress a smile at the tone in which his friend uttered his sentiments; “she is a gentle woman.”
“Of course, I know that” rejoined Hendrick; “moreover she is a half-caste! I only used the word to designate the class of humanity to which she belongs, and to contrast her with that other class which deems itself at the top of the civilised tree.”
“But it seems to me, Master Hendrick, that you are inclined to be too severe on the high-born. There are those among them whose lives conform to the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus.”
“Do I not know it?” replied the hunter abruptly. “Have I not told you that my murdered wife was high-born and endowed with every grace?”
“True, but what of this civilised female tiger whom you would scorn to wed. Did not Christ die for her? May she not be saved by the same Power that drags the tiger of the lower ranks—both male and female—from the pit?”
“I doubt it not,” answered Hendrick thoughtfully, as he relapsed into his usual quiet manner, “and I am glad you appreciate Trueheart, for she is worthy of your regard. Her name was bestowed on her by her Indian relations. My children I have named after some of my kindred in the old country. The tribe to which my wife belongs are called Bethucks. They are well-disposed and kindly in disposition, and do not quarrel among themselves more than other human beings—indeed not so much as men in our own land; probably because they have not so much to quarrel about and have more elbow-room. They are good kinsmen, as I know; good hunters also, and inclined for peace, but the natives of Labrador render peace impossible, for they make frequent raids on our island, and of course we have to drive them away. If white men now come to Newfoundland, I fear that the poor Bethucks will be exterminated.” (The Bethucks are now extinct.)
“I trust not,” said Paul.
“So do I,” returned Hendrick, “and if the Gospel you have brought here only takes good root in our own land all will be well, for if men acted on the command ‘let us love one another,’ war and robbery, murder and strife, would be at an end.”
“Can we expect all men to act upon that precept?” asked Paul.