She's never seen the times,
as I have, where it's kill or be killed. Be patient with her,
Grant--and don't feel hard. She'll get over it. I want," she
stopped because her voice was beginning to shake "--I want my
biggest boy to be happy." Her hand slipped around his neck and
pressed his head against her knee.
Good Indian got up and put his arms around her and held her
close. He did not say anything at all for a minute, but when he
did he spoke very quietly, stroking her hair the while.
"Mother Hart, I stood on the porch and heard what she said in the
kitchen. She accused me of killing Saunders. She said I liked
to kill people; that I shot at her and laughed at the mark I made
on her arm. She called me a savage--an Indian. My mother's
mother was the daughter of a chief. She was a good woman; my
mother was a good woman; just as good as if she had been white.
"Mother Hart, I'm a white man in everything but half my mother's
blood. I don't remember her--but I respect her memory, and I am
not ashamed because she was my mother.
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