And after they had helped to cook the
supper they would wait with great curiosity to see Him eat. Truly he
gave proof that he was a real person, for as he took off his moccasins
they became visible, and his sister hung them up; but beyond this they
beheld nothing not even when they remained all night, as many did.
There dwelt in the village an old man, a widower, with three daughters.
The youngest of these was very small, weak, and often ill, which did
not prevent her sisters, especially the eldest, treating her with great
cruelty. The second daughter was kinder, and sometimes took the part of
the poor abused little girl, but the other would burn her lands and
face with hot coals; yes, her whole body was scarred with the marks
made by torture, so that people called her _Oochigeaskw_ (the
rough-faced girl). And when her father, coming home, asked what it
meant that the child was so disfigured, her sister would promptly say
that it was the fault of the girl, herself, for that, having been
forbidden to go near the fire, she had disobeyed and fallen in.
Now it came to pass that it entered the heads of the two elder sisters
of this poor girl that they would go and try their fortune at seeing
the Invisible One. So they clad themselves in their finest and strove
to look their fairest; and finding his sister at home went with her to
take the wonted walk down to the water.
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