The sewing
teacher drove the horses, giving them free rein. The school-teacher sat
beside her on the seat, and Cordelia and the girls were snuggled down in
hay upon the bottom of the sled, with comforters for lap-robes.
The little log store was but two miles distant, and the party were not
long in reaching it. It stood upon a steep bluff on the opposite shore.
The white man who kept it dealt to some extent in Indian curiosities, of
which the two teachers were in quest to send as Christmas gifts to
Eastern friends.
"We wish to look especially at moccasins and Indian dolls," said the
school-teacher to the trader when they had made known their errand.
[Illustration: "We wish to look especially at moccasins and Indian
dolls," said the teacher.]
"I've got some first-class moccasins, both porcupined and beaded, but no
Indian dolls," replied the trader. "Indian dolls are growing mighty
scarce, now the young squaws get so much put into their minds to do.
Only the old-timers understand the trick of making dolls."
"I am disappointed that you have none, for I wished to send one to my
little niece. But I must wait and try to get one elsewhere."
While the two teachers were examining the moccasins, Cordelia Running
Bird and the children were absorbed in looking at the china dolls and
other articles displayed upon the shelves and hanging from a wire
stretched above the counter.
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