A ROMANCE OF "OUR LAKE" 149 



among its members the best guides to be found in the 

 province of New Brunswick ; Sebattis and his two sons 

 were by general consent acknowledged to be the most 

 skilful of all the braves. The head of this wigwam 

 had learned to read and write, just a little, through the 

 kindly aid of Pere Lamorieux, the priest, who ministered 

 to the spiritual wants of the few white settlers and the 

 Indians as well. Sebattis was, in consequence, respected 

 by the rest of the natives, and he felt his importance in- 

 crease with the birth of each new moon. 



Particularly in the treatment of his daughter, the idol 

 of his heart, and in the dreams in which he indulged 

 concerning her future married state, did this feeling of 

 bigness assert itself. Anita was just sixteen years and 

 three months old when he announced to her that she 

 must refrain from receiving advances from any Maliset 

 brave, as he was determined that she should marry some 

 well-to-do pale-face who could keep her in luxurious 

 comfort, give her a white man's education and so enable 

 her to mingle with people of intelligence far above that 

 of any of the members of his tribe. Anita's brothers 

 shared this feeling with their father. They doted upon 

 her, not alone for her beauty, but for her native good- 

 ness of character, her nimble wit and the noble manner 

 in which she carried herself, for she acted almost like a 

 princess among the other girls of the tribe, showing at 

 once a ready leadership in all of their youthful amuse- 

 ments. During the winter, Sebattis had noted with 



