Mary's first letter after the 15th of July, 1843:--"_Traverse des Sioux_, Friday noon: What shall I add, my dear parents, to the sad tidings my husband has written? Will it console you in any measure to know that one of our first and most frequent petitions at the throne of grace has been that God would prepare your hearts for the news, which, we feared, would be heart-breaking, unless 'the Comforter' comforted you and the Almighty strengthened you? We hope--indeed, some small measure of faith is given us to believe--that you will be comforted and sustained, under this chastening from the Lord. And oh, like subdued, humbled, and penitent children, may we all kiss the rod, and earnestly pray that this sore chastisement may be for our spiritual good! "I feel that this affliction, such as I have never before known, is intended to prepare us who are left for _life and death_. Perhaps some of us may soon follow him whom we all loved. When I stand by his grave, overshadowed by three small oaks, with room for another person by his side, I think that place may be for me. "The last Sabbath he was with us was just after my return from Lac-qui-parle. I reached here on Saturday, and having passed through distressing scenes on our way to Lac-qui-parle, occasioned by an attack of the Chippewas on some Sioux who were coming to meet us, I felt uncommon forebodings lest something had befallen the dear ones I had left here. But I endeavored to cast my care upon the Lord, remembering that while we were homeless and houseless we were more like our Saviour. And that if _he_ was despised and rejected of men, _we_ surely ought not to repine if we were treated as our Master. With such feelings as these, as we came in sight of husband's tent, I pointed it out to Isabella, when she asked, 'Where's papa's house?' and soon I saw Mr. Riggs and brother Thomas and little Alfred coming to meet us. "Not quite one week after that joyful hour, Mr. Riggs came home from the St. Peter's, groaning, 'Oh, Mary, Thomas is drowned--Thomas is drowned!' I did not, I could not receive the full import. I still thought his body would be recovered and life restored; for your sakes, I cried for mercy, but it came not in the way I then desired. Still, I tried to flatter myself, even after search for the body had been given up for the day, that it had floated down upon a sand-bar, and he would yet live and return in the dusk of the evening. But when I lay down for the night, and the impossibility of my illusive hopes being realized burst upon me, oh--