Sit by my side he said, and tell me if your hand and heart are free. Tell me whether holding that boy’s hand was actuated by pure sympathy, or whether a higher and nobler attribute springing from your heart prompted it? Cora, true to the instincts of her nature, concealed nothing. Throwing her arms around the old man’s neck, and kissing him, said; Father, you read my heart. How could you tell what occupied my soul? Before she could finish the sentence, the door opened, and in walked Drake and the rest of the friends. Amy threw herself on the couch and wept as if her heart would break. Cahoonshee roused. I have sent for you, friends, to make my last request. Before the setting of many suns, this mortal will put on immortality. This spirit will go to the Happy Hunting Grounds. My request is that my body be buried on the Pine Knoll west of my cabin on the Steneykill. It shall be done, said Drake and Walter at the same time. Cahoonshee continued: My books and writings I give to Charles Drake. My gun and other property I give to Tom and his father, and to Amy my furs. Here his voice faltered. His eyes closed and for several minutes he seemed to be communing with the Spirits in the Spirit World. His countenance showed that it was a struggle of mental duty that he wished to perform before he shut his eyes for the last time. Raise me up a little higher. Come here, boy. Something tells me that I have another request to make. I may be wrong. You can’t be wrong. You never did wrong. Make your request, and it shall be obeyed. I have followed your advice through life. At death, and in the presence of these friends, I promise to revere it. I have something to give away. It consists of mind and matter. Have I a right to give it? Heaven direct me. Heaven will direct you, and what heaven directs must be right, replied Drake. What is it, father, that you wish to give away? It is you, my boy, it is you. Here, Cora, taking her by the hand and extending it to Drake. Take this girl, and may heaven smile on your union. She loves you, boy, ardently, sincerely, devotedly. She is like Amy, not only in form and figure, but in mind and soul. My work is done. Lay me down. CHAPTER XX. Farewell to Earth—Indian’s Idea of the Hereafter—Death of Cahoonshee—Married on Her Mother’s Grave. Wallace and Drake returned to the deck to consult as to the future. Have you any plan arranged to carry out Cahoonshee’s request? I have, replied Drake. That was agreed upon in the private conversation I had with him when I first came on board of the ship. It is to build a litter on which to carry him, and start immediately for the Delaware Valley. What—before he is dead? Yes, immediately. He is impressed with the idea that he will live until his arrival at home. At any rate, that is his request, and it shall be complied with if possible. You seem to have perfect confidence in the wisdom of the old man. Do you intend to perform his last request and marry Cora?