The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1917-10-18
n Reservation

tinted skin turned a sallow gray.
"He--he says he will fight II you dc
not promise to go away !" she gasped
Hardy smiled. "Have no fear, DIN
ma. He Is too great II chief to kill d
guest In his camp. Tell him I came
to the reservation to be a friend to the
tribe. Though I am n chief Of the
Longknives, my heart Is good toward
his people. IL would be foolish Of
him to kill or drive away the friend
OF his people"
This time Ti-owa-konza gave the In.
truder IN open stare OF %contevnpt. The
surrounding bucks glarcd more Zero.
ciously than ever.
He says you are fo~rk.tongued,'
Oinna translated the reply. 'He says,
IL you are u friend, why did you say
ut the council that you would punish
all the tribe for the killing of Nogen?'
That Is Il mistake. | did not say
would punish the tribe"
Oinna interpreted the answer and
the grim old chiefs r~ejoinder: 1.-THE
L~ongknife's mouth was big ut the
agency. Here he Is alone In my camp
and his mouth Is small"
II talk as l talked at the agency.
What Tl-owa-konza claims l said about
furnishing the tribe is not the truth.
There must have been II mistake In
the Interpretation, or the chiefs did
not hear Alright. l had only pence and
friendship in my heart. / said that
did not blame the killing of Mr.. Nogen
on the tribe"
This statement failed to break
Thunderbolt's mask Of stolidity,
though some OF the other Indians
slightly relaxed their menacing atti-
tude. Hardy took OF his hat To show
the red scar above his temple, and
spoke again:
II do not blame the killing of Mr..
Nogen on the tribe; nor do I blame
the tribe for the wrongdoing of the
b~ad-hearted Indian who shot me In
the head five days ngo. The same
man. or another man with n bad heart.
tried to shoot me. after shutdown to.
day, us I came up the trail over on the
other side of the broken.topped noun
tain"
Oinna's Interpretation was met by a
cultural ugh !" Of surprise even from
the chief. He asked shrewdly "If the
Longknife does not lie. Is he not afraid
to be 10 my camp? 1t Is the nearest
to the trail"
Hardy smiled and held out his open
palm to the chief. II trust Ti-owa-
konza and his people. There is only
one bad Indian, and even he nay come
TO feel good In his heart toward me
when he learns that l am the friend Of
the tribe"
Still the old chiefs face remained
inscrutably immob.le. He pondercd,
and at last made another sharp query {:
THE Longknife claims that he Is n
friend. Why, then. did he say at the
council that he will do the way Nogen
did and make my people dig stones
and dirt from the big holes, without
giving them any trade goods for their
workl'
Hardy's clear yes dimmed for n
moment, and then sparkled with COM
prchenslon. He answered with an
earnest sincerity Of tone that COM
PEELED belief:
81 now see that at the council Red
bear nistook much of what ! told him
10 say, or else, in their anger, Ti-owa-
konZa and his subchiefs failed To UNI
dcrstand Alright the Interpretation. The
place where stones are Gug Is on In
dim ground. 1t belongs to the tribe.
No white man has any right to make
your people dig stones. IL they are
willing In dig, they must be given
trade goods for their work."
The response to this statement was
unmistakable. The ONE that Oinnu
had interpreted II the last trace Of
menace disappeared from the hearing
Of the Indians, and even the chief
began to relax. Yet he had still an
other query:
did the Longknife say he would
stop the issue to the tribe of all gov
erEmcnt goods aid that he would take
away from the tribe all their lands
and give them to the white menT"
At last the real cause of tie failure
OF the council was disclosed. Either
Intentionally or through stupid blum
dcring, Redbcar had made the chiefs
furious by II twisted intcrpretatior
that had given the exact reverse Of
what had been Intended. With tn,
key to the situation in his hands
Hardy at once began to make cleal
what he had tried to tell at the c0un
Gil. lie explained why the issues OF
FOODS would cease the following
spring, and what was meant by M nj
lottiLg Of tribal land In severalty. HI
added that II there was gold On an,
Of the reservation land 1t would b.
well for the tribe to sell that part o
what they owned: otherwise hat
white men would, sooner or later
come In nnisstenl II.
More than half convinced Of lar
dy's sincerity. tl,Osgh with still IA lin
gering suspicion, T~l-owa-konza ex
plnlned In turn that the tribe was no
only willing TO allot the farming Liant