Dr. Greydon was surprised at this information and he replied with lively interest:
“You certainly may see our forest child, Mr. Jefferson, and in fact, this very evening; for Segwuna has grown up on our estate, and if any honor attaches to the meeting, Dorminghurst shall claim it,” concluded the host as he turned to Dr. Franklin with a merry twinkle in his eye.
“May I take you to the lodge of Segwuna, Mr. Jefferson?” enthusiastically questioned Miss Mollie, as her eyes danced with joy at the mention of her favorite companion by these distinguished gentlemen. “Segwuna,” she added, “has told me that great events were going to happen within the present moon and that great leaders of men were to come forth and proclaim the sweetest message from the Great Spirit that human kind had ever heard.
“She has been to the meetings of Congress,” innocently burst out Segwuna’s companion, “to watch for what the Manitou has told her would come to pass, because she has told me all about it.”
“How do you suppose the Indian maiden can foretell such great matters, Miss Mollie?” asked the venerable Dr. Franklin, who was really affected by the enthusiasm of his young friend.
“Why, Mr. Franklin, there is much that is good and wise in Segwuna. She seeks out the poor and sick in the city and carries them medicine and game. She says that the rich are too proud and grasping to remember the poor.
“She says such wise things and tells me that her Manitou has sent her as a guiding star to me, and that she will protect me from much danger,” continued Miss Mollie, with a tinge of real sentiment in her voice.
As the question had been answered most interestingly by Miss Mollie, Mr. Jefferson seemed to be seriously taken up with the philosophy of Segwuna, and turned to Dr. Greydon suggesting that they might go to the lodge of Segwuna and interview her upon the glowing topics of the day as the sage of Monticello remarked:
“For we know not from what source we may gather wisdom that shall illumine our path.”
When the meal had been finished, and the gentlemen had relished their pipes under the hemlocks, the whole party strolled on their way with Mollie as leader. They took the path past the mill on the Wingohocking and through the wild-wood trail in the soft light of the early evening to the lodge of Segwuna.