THE CHILDREN OF THE FOREST. 183 



convey; and the low monotonous sounds, Ha-ha-ho-ho- 

 hi-lii, varied only by the transposing of the syllables, 

 and accompanied by a slow movement of the body, a 

 sort of rocking to and fro, is a soothing, sleep-inducing 

 cradle-song, which grows as one listens into a semblance 

 of the sighing sound of the summer wind among the 

 pine tops. 



There is a dry humor, too, shown in some of their 

 names. " The-Man-with-Two-Tongues " is, I think, an 

 excellent sobriquet for a liar or deceiver, a character 

 greatly despised by the Indian. " The-Man-who-Walks- 

 Under-the-Dirt " may be taken to mean a miner, but it 

 has possibly an allegorical and deeper significance to 

 their ears. 



Their code of morality is quite as well defined as in 

 our own decalogue, but is, of course, not more strictly 

 kept by the bad Indian than our own by the bad white 

 man who disgraces the name of Christian. 



Their laws are few and simple, suited to the savage 

 for the protection of life and property between man and 

 man. Theft, lying, murder — that is, taking life without 

 justifiable cause — comprise the criminal code. 



Their religion was pantheistic before evangelization, 

 and the older people in the Rice Lake district held a 

 vague belief in a great and good Spirit, an overruling 

 Deity; but even this knowledge was dim and was 

 limited to such as were under the influence of their 

 wise or " medicine " men. They had a general belief in 



