church; so now that the Mission was fairly established and was
beginning to show good signs of prospering, it seemed to be only right
that a more substantial building should be erected for the purpose of
Divine worship, and that the little frame building should be kept
simply for a school. The first thing was to trundle the old building
out of the way; so a "bee" was called, and a number of the Indians
assembled, and with levers and rollers, and after working hard for a
couple of days, the school was twisted round and removed to the far
corner of the lot. Then the foundations were dug for the new church. It
was decided that it should be a brick building, with a spire, to cost
about 1500 dollars. Mr. Jacobs, my assistant, busied himself in the
matter, and together we managed to raise the requisite funds; and early
in the spring building operations were commenced.

However, it was not my destiny to be the pastor of this little brick
church among the Sarnia Indians. God was calling me to other work. It
so happened that, in the providence of God, the Garden River Mission
just at this time fell vacant. The Rev. Mr. Chance, who had laboured
there so faithfully for the past 18 years, was called away to another
sphere in a more southerly district. Great were the lamentations of the
poor Garden River Indians when he left. Both he and his wife had become
much endeared to the people. Mrs. Chance was the schoolmistress and
doctor, and what would the poor children and the poor sick people do
without her? and what would they do without their Missionary who had
laboured so long and so faithfully among them: who had baptized their
children, and united their young people in marriage, and buried their
dead, and preached to them the glad tidings of the Gospel, and visited
them, and sympathized with them, and helped them in their homes? Mr.
Chance's children had all been born and brought up at Garden River;
Indian nurses had attended them and cared for them during their infant