On reaching home, the first thing, of course, was to clip off his dangling locks, give him a thorough scrubbing with soap and brush, and cover his black nakedness with decent clothing.
That afternoon, when the pigs were fed, he was found with his nose in the trough eating sour milk with the animals as if he had been one of them. At night nothing could persuade him to sleep in a room or on a bed; and after dark, when the family had retired to rest, he stole out of the house as slyly as a cat, and hid himself away in the tall weeds beside the fence. Every night for many weeks he did the same, and was so fearful of being murdered in his sleep that he changed his nest every night, never daring to sleep twice in the same spot.
His tongue was constantly telling lies, and he would steal everything he fancied that came in his way. He seemed to have no idea of right and wrong. He could not comprehend what such words as love and duty and kindness meant. Fear was the only motive which had the least influence in controlling him. Even the difference between cleanliness and dirt was a thought too sublime and profound for his understanding.
But he could believe in ghosts and haunting spirits of dead men, like most other ignorant and barbarous people; and he thought they lingered around every stump and tree, and followed him wherever he went. He could hear them fluttering in the leaves, or rapping on the limbs and trunks of the trees, or whispering in the wind. He supposed they took possession of the bodies of men and animals, and caused them to sing and dance, and do all sorts of silly tricks, by a kind of inspiration. He had some notions of the Great Spirit, it is true, but they were confused and indistinct, and had little power over him, while a slavish fear of the inferior spirits and other such ghostly nonsense tormented him night and day, and made him a timid, miserable, degraded, creature.
Had you seen him in that condition you would have thought it impossible to make anything good out of such a stupid little animal. You would have said it was of no use to try to teach a creature so brutal and superstitious anything about God and heaven, and a higher life, or even about the decencies of civilized society.
But a kind lady took him under her care. She taught him to read and write. She showed him the folly of believing in ghosts, and talking with the spirits. She told him the story of Jesus, and made him learn the ten commandments, and the precious words of the Saviour, and explained to him how God made him, and fed, and clothed, and kept him, day by day, and that he ought to love Him, and do right in return for His kindness. She impressed him with the thought that God is angry with wicked boys and girls every day, and that only the pure in heart, whose lives are good, can be happy on earth, or go to heaven when they die.
At first he was stupid and stubborn, and unwilling to learn; but after a little while his stolid face began to brighten, his dull eyes sparkled with unusual interest, and he was more and more attentive, till his coarse, animal features wore an entirely new expression. One day he came in with a very serious look, and said in an earnest tone:
“Mistress, oh me got bad heart! Ask Great Spirit to give me better heart.”
He was told to ask for himself; and then the poor little child of the Great Father went into his own room alone and shut the door, and kneeled down beside the bed and prayed, oh! so earnestly, that God would forgive his sins for Jesus’ sake, and take away his wicked feelings, and show him how to be good. From that moment he was a changed boy. His bad habits were all laid aside. He ceased to be stupid and stubborn and inattentive. He told no more lies, and pilfered no more. His face glowed with kindly feeling, as if a ray from heaven were sleeping on it. His coarse features lost their repulsive expression and became rather pleasant to see. I am sure there was rejoicing in heaven that day over this little stray lamb from the wilderness; and I do not doubt that when God gathers up his jewels from the earth the poor Indian boy will be a precious gem in the Saviour’s crown of glory.