154 An Indian Trail 



ways and by-ways became common, like the 

 roads that now reach out in every direction. 



A " trail," then, has a wealth of meaning, 

 and those who made it were no " mere sav- 

 ages," as we so glibly speak of the Indians, 

 thanks to the average school-books. 



The haughty Delawares had fields and or- 

 chards; they had permanent towns; they 

 mined such minerals as were valuable to 

 them ; they had weapons of many patterns ; 

 they were jewellers in a crude way, and fin- 

 ished many a stone ornament in a manner that 

 still excites admiration. They were travellers 

 and tradesmen as well as hunters and warriors. 



Although my day's search for relics of these 

 people had yielded but a few arrow-points, 

 potsherds, and a stone axe, when I saw the 

 Indian on his way from school, walking in the 

 very path his people had made long centuries 

 ago, the story of their ancient sojourn here 

 came vividly to mind in the dim light of an au- 

 tumn afternoon, when a golden mist wrapped 

 the hills and veiled the valleys beyond, and I 

 had a glimpse of pre-Columbian America. 



