“Here!” exclaimed the missionary, the instant Crowsfeather ceased speaking, and even before he was seated.  “Here—­in this council—­on these prairies—­in these openings—­here, on the shores of the great lakes of sweet water, and throughout the land of America, are these tribes to be found.  The red man is a Jew; a Jew is a red man.  The Manitou has brought the scattered people of Israel to this part of the world, and I see his power in the wonderful fact.  Nothing but a miracle could have done this!”

Great was the admiration of the Indians at this announcement!  None of their own traditions gave this account of their origin; but there is reason to believe, on the other hand, that none of them contradict it.  Nevertheless, here was a medicine-priest of the pale-faces boldly proclaiming the fact, and great was the wonder of all who heard, thereat!  Having spoken, the missionary again paused, that his words might produce their effect.  Bear’s Meat now became his interrogator, rising respectfully, and standing during the colloquy that succeeded.

“My brother has spoken a great tradition,” said the Menominee.  “Did he first hear it from his fathers?”

“In part, only.  The history of the lost tribes has come down to us from our fathers; it is written in the good book of the pale-faces; the book that contains the word of the Great Spirit.”

“Does the good book of the pale-faces say that the red men are the children of the people he has mentioned?”

“I cannot say that it does.  While the good book tells us so much, it also leaves very much untold.  It is best that we should look for ourselves, that we may find out some of its meanings.  It is in thus looking, that many Christians see the great truth which makes the Indians of America and the Jews beyond the great salt lake, one and the same people.”

“If this be so, let my brother tell us how far it is from our hunting-grounds to that distant land across the great salt lake.”

“I cannot give you this distance in miles exactly; but I suppose it may be eleven or twelve times the length of Michigan.”

“Will my brother tell us how much of this long path is water, and how much of it is dry land?”

“Perhaps one-fourth is land, as the traveller may choose; the rest must be water, if the journey be made from the rising toward the setting sun, which is the shortest path; but, let the journey be made from the setting toward the rising sun, and there is little water to cross; rivers and lakes of no great width, as is seen here, but only a small breadth of salt lake.”

“Are there, then, two roads to that far-off land, where the red men are thought to have once lived?

“Even so.  The traveller may come to this spot from that land by way of the rising sun, or by way of the setting sun.”

The general movement among the members of the council denoted the surprise with which this account was received.  As the Indians, until they have had much intercourse with the whites, very generally believe the earth to be flat, it was not easy for them to comprehend how a given point could be reached by directly opposite routes.  Such an apparent contradiction would be very likely to extort further questions.