On arriving at the agency, the missionary first made himself known to the officials and clerks and spoke to a group of them. They received him cordially and from the beginning of his stay he was given fresh confidence for his new work by the good will that they showed him. In his first meetings with the Indians the Blackfeet tribesmen listened to him stolidly and were apparently unmoved; but they caught the spirit of brotherhood in this paleface preacher, and they soon began to show signs of their approval of him. Brother Van was happy indeed in the new opportunities opening before him, and in the increasing evidence that the Indians gave of their affection for him. He was fascinated by the strange life and mysterious customs which he found all about him. During his stay with the Blackfeet, and through later years, the missionary loved to study their ceremonies and legends. One of the oldest institutions of the tribe was the building of the medicine lodge, a celebration which Brother Van followed with the keenest interest. It took place at the time of the ripening of berries in the summer, and lasted through four days and nights. The lodge was always erected in fulfilment of a vow made by some woman of the tribe who was in trouble and who wished the help of the gods, perhaps to bring back in safety a husband or son away at war, or to restore a sick child to health. Her pledge was made publicly, so that all the tribe would know that she would build the lodge in case her prayer was granted. At the proper time the whole tribe would assemble and set up their lodges in a circle in the middle of which the medicine lodge was erected. The woman who had made the vow neither ate nor drank throughout the four days, except once only, and that in sacrifice. The other members of the tribe gave themselves over to visiting and feasting with their friends, and, also, to a strange kind of worship in which they tried to prove the sincerity of their prayers by torturing themselves in various painful ways. The lodge was built in accordance with a plan which the Sun himself was supposed to have given to one of the young men of the tribe in ancient times. It represented the world, and was made by placing small trees of uniform size in a circle, and bending the branches toward the center to form the roof. One half of it was painted red for the Sun, and the other half black to represent night. In recent years the medicine lodge is seldom used owing to the effect of modern education in destroying the superstitious beliefs of the Indians, and within another generation the ceremony will probably be extinct. Illustration: Board of Home Missions and Church Extension Methodist Episcopal Church. BROTHER VAN VISITING A MEDICINE LODGE ERECTED AS A TRIBAL CEREMONY BY THE BLACKFEET INDIANS