Sez Krit, "If I called the Injuns wards, adopted children of the
Goverment, I would try not to use them in a way that would disgrace any
drunken old stepmother.

"I would have dignity enough, if I did not stand for decency, to not
half starve and freeze them, and lie to them, and cheat them till the
very word 'Goverment' means to them all they can picture of meanness and
brutality. I would either grant them independence, or a few of the
comforts I had stolen from them.

"If I drove them out of their rich lands and well-stocked
hunting-grounds they had so long considered their own--if I drove them
out in my cupidity and love of conquest, I would in return grant them
enough of the fruits of their old homes to keep up life in their unhappy
bodies.

"If I made them suffer the pains of exile, I would not let them endure
also the gnawings of starvation.

"And I would not send out to 'em the Bible and whiskey packed in one
wagon, appeals to Christian living and the sure means to overthrow it.

[Illustration: "I would not send 'em Bibles and whiskey packed in
one wagon."]

"I would not send 'em religious tracts, implorin' 'em to come to
Christ's kingdom, packed in the same hamper with kegs of brandy, which
the Bible and the tracts teach that those that use it are cursed, and
that no drunkard can inherit the kingdom."