of the second year of life, which was the ordinary duration of
lactation, it was supposed by us that the mother's spiritual
influence counted for most. Her attitude and secret meditations
must be such as to instill into the receptive soul of the unborn
child the love of the "Great Mystery" and a sense of brotherhood
with all creation. Silence and isolation are the rule of life for
the expectant mother. She wanders prayerful in the stillness
of great woods, or on the bosom of the untrodden prairie, and
to her poetic mind the immanent birth of her child prefigures the
advent of a master-man--a hero, or the mother of heroes--a thought
conceived in the virgin breast of primeval nature, and dreamed out
in a hush that is only broken by the sighing of the pine tree or
the thrilling orchestra of a distant waterfall.

And when the day of days in her life dawns--the day in which
there is to be a new life, the miracle of whose making has been
intrusted to her, she seeks no human aid. She has been trained and
prepared in body and mind for this her holiest duty, ever
since she can remember. The ordeal is best met alone, where no
curious or pitying eyes embarrass her; where all nature says to her
spirit: "'Tis love! 'tis love! the fulfilling of life!" When a
sacred voice comes to her out of the silence, and a pair of eyes
open upon her in the wilderness, she knows with joy that she has
borne well her part in the great song of creation!

Presently she returns to the camp, carrying the mysterious,
the holy, the dearest bundle! She feels the endearing warmth of it
and hears its soft breathing. It is still a part of herself, since
both are nourished by the same mouthful, and no look of a
lover could be sweeter than its deep, trusting gaze.