OCR Text |
Show 122 THE TRYING ORDEAL. were extremely anxious to see him, and urging him to go back with him to the camp of the nearest JSTavajoe chief, which he said was not more than fifteen miles distant, and talk the matter over there. " After consultation, being anxious to lose no time, we con-sented, and after riding some twenty- five miles, instead of fifteen, we reached the Navajoe camp, which consisted of only two lodges. A tall, powerful Indian, on whose head the snows of many winters had rested, welcomed us with impressiveness and an embrace like the hug of a grizzly bear, and invited us to enter. The lodge ( wick- e- up), which was substantially built of heavy cedar logs about fifteen feet long, was circular in form, like the skin lodges of the Indians of the plains, with an opening near the top to give vent to the smoke, and, being covered with bark and dirt, was very warm and comfortable, which was none the less agreeable to our party, as it had been snowing hard all the afternoon. There were three Navajoes and three squaws, one of the latter a very pretty girl, and two Piutes. " After a friendly smoke, they furnished us a good and sub-stantial supper of broiled and boiled goat's flesh and corn meal mush, the squaws grinding the meal in the old- fashioned way, between two stones. " Then the talk commenced. Hamblin, be it remembered, though perfectly familiar with the Piute tongue, knows nothing or very little of the Navajoe language, so the services of our Huck- a- bur were called into requisition. The chief we came to see, I forgot to mention, was not there, but was only, so they said, distant a few miles. As we were anxious to get back, we got the Navajoe to despatch the Piute to him that night, so that he might be there early in the morning, and the business be closed that day. " After his departure the talk went on. The Navajoes present expressed themselves anxious that the affair should be settled without further bloodshed, and said that was the wish of the principal men of the tribe. They said the Navajoes had long known Hamblin, and they believed he would do what was right. " Everything looked promising, and after smoking innumer-able cigarettes with our savage friends, we retired to rest on a pile of buffalo skins and Navajoe blankets worth a horse apiece, and slept soundly and well. " The next morning the Indians gave us an excellent breakfast, and we passed the morning sauntering about, examining such |