In the early days of our country when the Indians lived in the forest and the buffalos roamed the prairies, there lived a brave Indian chief named Eagle Eye. He was a great warrior, and he had a little son named Little Eagle Eye. He taught his little son how to use his bow and arrow, and to hunt. Little Eagle Eye became a fine hunter, and he often brought home deer and rabbit for the family to eat.
One day chief Eagle Eye was wounded with an arrow, and a few days later he died. Little Eagle Eye now had to provide meat for the family, and every day he went to the forest and brought home deer and rabbits and birds.
Then there came a very cold winter, and the forest was covered with deep snow. Many animals and birds died, unable to find food. Little Eagle Eye found it hard to bring home food with his bow and arrow.
However, one cold morning he said to his mother, “I am going out into the forest. I’ll be back by and by. I hope to bring some meat home with me.”
All day he walked in the forest, but no deer did he see. Then the sun went down and it began to snow. The snow covered his tracks and he couldn’t tell which way to go. He was lost.
Suddenly he saw a man coming on a horse. He ran towards him, and then he realized that he was a white man. He had been taught to hate the “pale faces” because they had cut down many of their trees and taken much of their land. Drawing his bow he would have shot the “pale face,” but the man called out, “Don’t shoot. I am your friend!”
That man was John Eliot, a missionary to the Indians in those early days. He loved the Lord and he loved the Indians, and he had gone to live with them in the forest and to tell them about the Lord Jesus, the Saviour who loved them too.
John Eliot took little Eagle Eye home with him that night. Then early the next morning he put the boy behind him on his horse and together they rode to little Eagle Eye’s home. The mother was overjoyed to see her boy again. She learned that John Eliot was a real friend of the Indians. He brought corn and food to the family. Then he told them about Jesus, the Creator, the God who loved them and gave His Son to die for their sins. Many of the Indians learned to love the name of Jesus, to pray to Him, and to sing His praise as they sat around their campfires.
ML-03/12/1978