He made a wry face.

“At least, Mother, I have no Indian child.”

“Not so far as we know, thank Providence,” she said.

“And no daughter with a primitive mind, Mother. Now this Indian girl sneaks off from her work to go and sit like a statue by Harriet’s grave. At the same time she’s completely mystified by Harriet’s painting. She probably thinks it’s alive. She’s been caught several times staring at it in the parlor, where she has no occasion to be. We haven’t found anything missing as yet but Mrs. Karricher questioned her as to what she was doing in there. What do you suppose she said? She said she came in to be with what she calls the Tschipey, or ghost. She thinks the painting of Harriet is a ghost.”

“Perhaps, although not of necessity,” his mother said thoughtfully. “But go on. What else makes thee so certain she’s a savage?”

“All her notions are so typically Indian. She told Nan she heard that long ago the white people painted their servants black so they could tell them from their white masters and this went on so long that now slaves are born black. I think she said her Indian grandfather had told her.”

“Thou canst not think she believes it literally?” his mother said. “It’s only an Indian allegory with elements of truth.”

“Of course she believes it. Not only her thinking but her reactions are Indian. Look, Mother. When we first came here there were still two Indians left on the island. We couldn’t pronounce their names so we called one Big Fool and the other Little Fool. You’d think they’d resent it. But, no. If you asked them their names, that’s what they told you, Big Fool and Little Fool. They didn’t seem to mind. Now this girl takes insults the same way. For some reason Nan took a violent dislike to her from the beginning. Mary ignores her, goes her own way as if Claire wasn’t there. But Nan goes out of her way to be unpleasant and say sarcastic things especially when I’m not around. You know how difficult Nan can be. Claire takes it all, doesn’t seem to mind.”

“Dost mean tolerance isn’t a virtue?”

“Not when it’s shown by Indians. Beware of it then. Indians are trained from childhood to conceal their true feelings till the chance comes to strike. Then they take their revenge.”

“Exactly what did Nan say to her, Son?”

“Well, Mrs. Karricher, who knows Indians, told Nan that Indians never married, that they just lived together. Naturally with Mary’s wedding coming on, Nan was shocked. She demanded of Claire if she was married. Claire said yes. Who came to your marriage? Nan asked. Nobody comes when an Indian is married, Claire said. Then how were you married? Didn’t you have a wedding? Nan asked. That’s where Claire’s mentality came out. She told Nan that Indians didn’t need a wedding like white people. She said a white wife knows her husband is bound to her by law. She can be lazy or mean or fight with him as much as she likes, and he can’t do anything about it. And her husband, the same. That’s why, Claire said, the white people have a wedding with gifts to bribe the bride and rum to make everybody forget the troubles the couple is going to have. Now the Indian doesn’t have to deceive himself, Claire said. His wife isn’t bound to him by law. He knows he must be good to her or she will leave him and take his children along. And the Indian wife knows the same about him. So they don’t need wedding presents and rum to forget what’s going to happen. And they don’t need a preacher, Claire said, with a black book to read the lie that now they will always live happy together. No, Claire said, the Indian husband and squaw just stay good to each other and live happy together. Did you ever hear such nonsense?”