I concluded by speaking to him of the mercy of God, who always hears the voice of the afflicted when they love and serve him. I also promised him the assistance of my prayers, and he on his part agreed to follow my counsels.
Red Fish returned soon after to his nation and collected all the principal chiefs, in order to communicate to them what had passed at the fort, and in particular his conversation with me, the Black-robe, concerning his daughter. At that very moment a cry of joy was heard in the extremity of the camp. They ran up from all sides to ask the cause; at length the good tidings are announced, that the captive daughter has escaped safe and sound from her enemies. The old chieftain scarcely dares to believe what he hears. He rises, and on leaving his cabin he has the unspeakable consolation of beholding once more his beloved child, whom Providence had restored. Imagine, if possible, his astonishment and delight. shared with him by his tribe. Every hand was lifted to heaven to thank the Great Spirit for the deliverance of the prisoner. The report flew quickly from village to village, and this coincidence, that divine Providence permitted for the good of the Ogallalas, was to them a certain proof of the great power of Christian prayer, and will, I hope, contribute to confirm these poor Indians in their good dispositions.'
5 The adventures of the daughter of Red Fish are thus related in a later letter, found in the third Belgian edition of Father De Smet's writings.-" From the time of her capture by the Crows, the girl had passed her nights with her hands and feet tied by leather straps to pegs, strongly driven in the ground. On the night following the mass offered at Fort Pierre, a woman untied her bonds, gave her a little bundle containing food and several pairs of moccasins, and told her in a low voice 'to get up and start out for her camp, where her father was waiting for her.' She traveled all that night. At daybreak, she hid in a hollow tree on the bank of a river. A few hours later a band of young warriors, following her trail, breathing vengence and uttering frightful yells, crossed the river precisely at the hollow tree. They looked in vain for the tracks of their destined victim on the farther bank, and finally returned to camp, much puzzled by the mysterious escape of the young enemy. When night