This was terrible news for Mary, and placed her in an awkward position.  To tell the parents of the children’s resolve was something she would never do, as it might bring down upon them some of the punishment which was quite contrary to her principles.  Yet, on the other hand, to let them go and to give no information might cause more trouble than she liked to think of.

Neither could she bear the thought of the two children returning from another day’s outing with their neat clothing and pretty faces soiled and dirty.  Do as they might, she had never once informed on them, and she had no mind to begin now.  She earnestly pleaded with them not to carry out their resolve.  The little ones were shrewd enough to see that they had thoroughly alarmed her, and they were in no hurry to surrender the power which they saw they had over her.

Mary never said a word in English.  She understood a good deal that others said, but she never expressed herself in other than the Indian language.  Hence both little Sagastao and Minnehaha always talked with her in her own tongue.

Minnehaha, seeing Mary’s anxiety at their determination to run away to the Indians, thought of compromising the matter by insisting that Mary should tell them more tales.  If she would do this they “would not run away very soon;” especially did she emphasize the “very soon.”  This was hardly satisfactory to Mary, but as it was the best promise she could get she was obliged to consent.

Little Sagastao, who was Mary’s favorite, once more unsettled her when he said, “Now, Mary, remember, we have only promised not to run away very soon.  That means that we intend to do it some time.”

It seems that the little conspirators had talked it all over in the morning in their beds, and had decided how they would get stories out of Mary without really promising not to run away to the wigwam of Souwanas.

The children, being dressed, were taken down by Mary to prayers and breakfast, after which an hour was allowed in summer-time for outdoor amusement before the lessons began.  Little Sagastao generally spent his hour, either with his father or some trusty Indian, playing with and watching the gambols of the great dogs, of which not a few were kept at that mission home.  Minnehaha was with her mother, and was interested in the bestowal of gifts to the poor widows and children who generally came at that hour.

Owing to the isolated situation of the mission, and the fact that there were no organized schools within hundreds of miles, some hours of the forenoon were devoted to the education of the children in the home.  The afternoons, according to the season, were devoted to reading and amusement.

Mary, the nurse, while able to read fluently in the Cree syllabics, had no knowledge of English.  As the children’s education progressed they wanted to teach Mary.  She stubbornly resisted, however, declaring that if they taught her to read English they would want to make her talk it.