founded. Near and far the news was circulated. Redmen from all tribes came

flocking to the new colony. Chiefs and warriors, squaws and maidens, were
attracted by the new doctrine of the converted Indians. They were astonished

at the missionaries' teachings. Many doubted, some were converted, all
listened. Great excitement prevailed when old Glickhican, one of the wisest

chiefs of the Turtle tribe of the Delawares, became a convert to the
palefaces' religion.

The interest widened, and in a few years a beautiful, prosperous town arose,
which was called Village of Peace. The Indians of the warlike tribes bestowed

the appropriate name. The vast forests were rich in every variety of game; the
deep, swift streams were teeming with fish. Meat and grain in abundance,

buckskin for clothing, and soft furs for winter garments were to be had for
little labor. At first only a few wigwams were erected. Soon a large log

structure was thrown up and used as a church. Then followed a school, a mill,
and a workshop. The verdant fields were cultivated and surrounded by rail

fences. Horses and cattle grazed with the timid deer on the grassy plains.
The Village of Peace blossomed as a rose. The reports of the love and

happiness existing in this converted community spread from mouth to mouth,
from town to town, with the result that inquisitivesavages journeyed from all

points to see this haven. Peaceful and hostile Indians were alike amazed at
the change in their brethren. The good-fellowship and industry of the converts

had a widespread and wonderful influence. More, perhaps, than any other thing,
the great fields of waving corn, the hills covered with horses and cattle,

those evidences of abundance, impressed the visitors with the well-being of
the Christians. Bands of traveling Indians, whether friendly or otherwise,

were treated with hospitality, and never sent away empty-handed. They were
asked to partake of the abundance and solicited to come again.

A feature by no means insignificant in the popularity of the village was the
church bell. The Indians loved music, and this bell charmed them. On still

nights the savages in distant towns could hear at dusk the deep-toned, mellow
notes of the bell summoning the worshipers to the evening service. Its ringing

clang, so strange, so sweet, so solemn, breaking the vast dead wilderness
quiet, haunted the savage ear as though it were a call from a woodland god.

"You have arrived most opportunely," continued Mr. Zeisberger. "Mr. Edwards
and Mr. Young are working to establish other missionary posts. Heckewelder is

here now in the interest of this branching out."
"How long will it take me to learn the Delaware language?" inquired Jim.

"Not long. You do not, however, need to speak the Indian tongue, for we have
excellent interpreters."

"We heard much at Fort Pitt and Fort Henry about the danger, as well as
uselessness, of our venture," Jim continued. "The frontiersmen declared that

every rod of the way was beset with savage foes, and that, even in the
unlikely event of our arriving safely at the Village of Peace, we would then

be hemmed in by fierce, vengeful tribes."
"Hostile savages abound here, of course; but we do not fear them. We invite

them. Our work is to convert the wicked, to teach them to lead good, useful
lives. We will succeed."

Jim could not help warming to the minister for his unswervable faith, his
earnestbelief that the work of God could not fail; nevertheless, while he

felt no fear and intended to put all his heart in the work, he remembered with
disquietude Colonel Zane's warnings. He thought of the wonderful precaution

and eternalvigilance of Jonathan and Wetzel--men of all men who most
understood Indian craft and cunning. It might well be possible that these good

missionaries, wrapped up in saving the souls of these children of the forest
so full of God's teachings as to have little mind for aught else, had no

knowledge of the Indian nature beyond what the narrow scope of their work
invited. If what these frontiersmen asserted was true, then the ministers'

zeal had struck them blind.
Jim had a growing idea of the way in which the savages could be best taught.

He resolved to go slowly; to study the redmen's natures; not to preach one
word of the gospel to them until he had mastered their language and could

convey to their simple minds the real truth. He would make Christianity as
clear to them as were the deer-trails on the moss and leaves of the forest.

"Ah, here you are. I hope you have rested well," said Mr. Zeisberger, when at
the conclusion of this long recital Nell and Kate came into the room.

"Thank you, we feel much better," answered Kate. The girls certainly looked
refreshed. The substitution of clean gowns for their former travel-stained

garments made a change that called forth the minister's surprise and
admiration.

"My! My! Won't Edwards and Young beg me to keep them here now!" he exclaimed,
his pleased eyes resting on Nell's piquant beauty and Kate's noble proportions

and rich coloring. "Come; I will show you over the Village of Peace."
"Are all these Indians Christians?" asked Jim.

"No, indeed. These Indians you see here, and out yonder under the shade,
though they are friendly, are not Christians. Our converts employ themselves

in the fields or shops. Come; take a peep in here. This is where we preach in
the evenings and during inclement weather. On pleasant days we use the maple

grove yonder."
Jim and the others looked in at the door of the large log structure. They saw

an immense room, the floor covered with benches, and a raised platform at one
end. A few windows let in the light. Spacious and barn-like was this

apartment; but undoubtedly, seen through the beaming eyes of the missionary,
it was a grand amphitheater for worship. The hard-packed clay floor was velvet

carpet; the rude seats soft as eiderdown; the platform with its white-oak
cross, an altar of marble and gold.

"This is one of our shops," said Mr. Zeisberger, leading them to a cabin.
"Here we make brooms, harness for the horses, farming implements--everything

useful that we can. We have a forge here. Behold an Indian blacksmith!"
The interior of the large cabin presented a scene of bustling activity.

Twenty or more Indians bent their backs in earnestemployment. In one corner a
savage stood holding a piece of red-hot iron on an anvil, while a brawny brave

wielded a sledge-hammer. The sparks flew; the anvil rang. In another corner a
circle of braves sat around a pile of dried grass and flags. They were

twisting and fashioning these materials into baskets. At a bench three Indian
carpenters were pounding and sawing. Young braves ran back and forth, carrying

pails, rough-hewn boards and blocks of wood.
Instantly struck by two things, Jim voiced his curiosity:

"Why do these Indians all wear long hair, smooth and shiny, without
adornment?"

"They are Christians. They wear neither headdress, war-bonnet, nor
scalp-lock," replied Mr. Zeisberger, with unconscious pride.

"I did not expect to see a blacksmith's anvil out here in the wilderness.
Where did you procure these tools?"

"We have been years getting them here. Some came by way of the Ohio River;
others overland from Detroit. That anvil has a history. It was lost once, and

lay for years in the woods, until some Indians found it again. It is called
the Ringing Stone, and Indians come from miles around to see and hear it."

The missionarypointed out wide fields of corn, now growing yellow, and
hillsides doted with browsing cattle, droves of sturdy-limbed horses, and pens

of fat, grunting pigs--all of which attested to the growing prosperity of the
Village of Peace.

On the way back to the cabin, while the others listened to and questioned Mr.
Zeisberger, Jim was silent and thoughtful, for his thoughts reverted to his

brother.
Later, as he walked with Nell by the golden-fringed stream, he spoke of Joe.

"Joe wanted so much to hunt with Wetzel. He will come back; surely he will
return to us when he has satisfied his wild craving for adventure. Do you not

think so?"
There was an eagerness that was almost pleading in Jim's voice. What he so

much hoped for--that no harm had befallen Joe, and that he would return--he
doubted. he needed the encouragement of his hope.

"Never," answered Nell, solemnly.
"Oh, why--why do you say that?"

"I saw him look at you--a strange, intent glance. He gazed long at me as we
separated. Oh! I can feel his eyes. No; he will never come back."

"Nell, Nell, you don not mean he went away deliberately--because, oh! I cannot
say it."

"For no reason, except that the wilderness called him more than love for you
or--me."

"No, no," returned Jim, his face white. "You do not understand. He really
loved you--I know it. He loved me, too. Ah, how well! He has gone because--I

can't tell you."
"Oh, Jim, I hope--he loved--me," sobbed Nell, bursting into tears. "His

coldness--his neglect those--last few days--hurt me--so. If he cared--as you
say--I won't be--so--miserable."

"We are both right--you when you say he will never return, and I when I say he
loved us both," said Jim sadly, as the bitter certainty forced itself into his

mind.
As she sobbed softly, and he gazed with set, stern face into the darkening

forest, the deep, mellow notes of the church bell pealed out. So thrilled, so
startled were they by this melody wondrously breaking the twilight stillness,

that they gazed mutely at each other. Then they remembered. It was the
missionary's bell summoning the Christian Indians to the evening service.