AMPHARITA: 
 
 COUNT6SS D1BRAZZA
 
 /
 
 Ampharita 
 
 AN AMERICAN IDYLL 
 
 Illustrated by the Author 
 Second Edition
 
 THEY RESTED BENEATH A BEETLING CRAG.
 
 Ampharita 
 
 AN AMERICAN IDTLL 
 
 By 
 
 The Countess di Brazza 
 ( Cora Slocomb ) 
 
 'I go in state to court, . . . 
 There surely I shall speak for mine own self, 
 And none of you can speak for me so well." 
 
 Peace Bureau 
 
 37-45 West 22d Street 
 
 New York City 
 1897
 
 Copyright, 1896, 
 BY COUNTESS CORA SLOCOMB DI BRAZZA-SAVORGNAN. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 Snibrrsttg Press: 
 JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S. A
 
 The author desires to thank Dr. J. H. McCormick, Secre- 
 tary of the National Folk Lore Society, Professor Mason, Mr. 
 Thomas Wilson, Mr. William Dinwiddie, and other gentlemen 
 of the National Museum and of the Bureau of Ethnology at 
 Washington, whose kindness enabled her to make detailed studies 
 for the illustrations of this book, and furnished her with much 
 of the scientific information contained in the explanatory notes 
 and the glossary. 
 
 2209405
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 To the casual reader the illustrations which the author 
 has made to accompany this book will be of interest 
 principally on account of their quaintness, but for the 
 archaeologist and anthropologist those of the American 
 Idyll will, we hope, have far more than a transitory 
 charm. They are the fruit of a careful research, and 
 consist of studies in pen and ink made from original 
 specimens and photographs recently collected in Mexico 
 on an expedition inspired by the United States Bureau 
 of Ethnology. The hero of the story had, of course, 
 made a valuable collection of just such objects ; but his 
 captors had subsequently destroyed the fruits of his re- 
 searches. A few rude sketches on the fly-leaf of one 
 little note-book were all that he could show the author 
 when she met him in Mexico. The collection in the 
 Smithsonian Museum proved, therefore, an invaluable 
 resource. 
 
 The design of the Indian shield on the cover of 
 the American Idyll is copied from a Pima war-shield 
 forming part of a private collection. The fac-simile was 
 obtained through the kindness of Mr. Thomas Wilson, 
 the able curator of the Department of Ethnology of the 
 National Museum at Washington, who has exhaustively 
 
 v
 
 studied the wonderful Swastika or Zodiacal cross which 
 adorns it. The descriptive text with regard to it is 
 from his pen. 
 
 Dr. J. H. McCormick, the Secretary of the United 
 States National Folk Lore Society, with the assistance 
 of the experts at Washington, selected the specimens 
 which have served as models for the illustrations of the 
 Fauna and Flora of the Sierra Madre, and with these 
 gentlemen he prepared the explanatory notes thereon. 
 
 Professor Nason, the curator of the Anthropological 
 section of the Smithsonian Museum, placed the treas- 
 ures of his department at the disposal of the author, 
 and delegated to Mr. William Dinwiddie, one of the ex- 
 plorers lately returned from visiting the kindred tribes 
 to the Pimas, the care of selecting and grouping the 
 various utensils, relics, and photographs most charac- 
 teristic of the daily life of the people. Mr. Dinwiddie 
 volunteered to explain the usages and customs of these 
 interesting aborigines, and to him is therefore due the 
 greater part of the appendix. 
 
 Illumined by such a galaxy of scientific stars, what 
 might have been an arduous task became a pleasant 
 pastime for the author, who has requested us to unite 
 her hearty thanks to the above gentlemen with those 
 of the firm, and to express to the public her regret 
 that her untutored pen could not do fuller justice to 
 the subject. 
 
 On publishing the "Two Types of To-Day" it has 
 been considered advisable for the author to explain her 
 object in placing side by side such widely different 
 phases of human life as the ultra fashionable society 
 depicted in " A Literary Farce " and the aborigines who 
 figure in " An American Idyll," the more so, as liter- 
 
 vi
 
 ary continuity has of late become the totum of a certain 
 class of critics, and the juxtaposition of these contrasting 
 stories might be considered heresy. 
 
 Literary continuity is a most excellent quality in an 
 author, and in moderation forms an essential factor of 
 success ; but if too much venerated it is apt to usurp 
 the place of creative originality, and lead its votary 
 along the smooth slopes of mechanical proficiency into 
 the slough of perfunctory work. The undue exaltation 
 of continuity is a consequence of the contempt for most 
 of the traditional laws of criticism evinced by the super- 
 educated masses who hunger for cheap and spicy daily 
 reading, as well as cheap and spicy daily food, and 
 purchase w r hat they find for sale without realizing its 
 noxious possibilities. 
 
 Through the development of labor-saving machinery, 
 run by steam and electricity, printing has become very 
 easy, inducing an enormous output of books and peri- 
 odicals ; hence writing for the public has become re- 
 munerative and widespread. A spurious, effervescent 
 notoriety can be so quickly gained by those who pro- 
 duce what is startling and uncommon, no matter how 
 much it may sin against the laws of rhetoric and good 
 taste, that erudite criticism has lost its prestige, while 
 the salableness instead of the readableness of a book is 
 considered the first condition of success. Then, too, 
 the reign of machinery had developed among the civi- 
 lized a mania for the economy of time and labor. Men 
 strive passionately to increase the luxury of their lives. 
 They yield exaggerated admiration to exactness, gen- 
 eral smoothness, and glossy finish, which seek to sup- 
 plant the pure, classic love of the beautiful, and cause 
 many readers to overlook the subject and artistic quality 
 
 vii
 
 of the design while admiring the technical perfection ot 
 the workmanship. 
 
 Money has been the most powerful factor in the nine- 
 teenth century, and as it has paid well to write, the 
 wielders of the pen have become a legion. It pays still 
 better, however, to invent or improve labor and time- 
 saving machinery, and so the brightest minds have been 
 turned from book-making to practical mechanics. The 
 most material part of mathematics has enthroned itself 
 in the highest place. The Rule of One, a gilded One, 
 instead even of the old Rule of Three, has usurped the 
 position of algebra and geometry. Unknown quantities 
 are at a discount. The man of the period knows just 
 what he and everybody else wants, and he will go ahead 
 of the others somehow. " For money," he says, " makes 
 the world go 'round," and he cannot rest until he " owns 
 a mint." 
 
 " What pays well is alone worth while " may be ac- 
 cepted as the axiom of yesterday and of to-day, and 
 book-makers as well as the inventors of machinery have 
 been influenced by its sophistry. Book-making has 
 consequently become mechanical ; it has been brought 
 down to rule and measure, so that words are bought 
 and sold everywhere by the yard like cloth, and the 
 literati sedately discuss in the first periodicals whether 
 a story of forty-five thousand words or one of a hundred 
 thousand words pays best without taking into account 
 the exigencies of the subject. 
 
 Everything about a book save the design or plot is 
 produced mechanically. Many editors and publishers 
 will not consider any but typewritten manuscripts unless 
 it be signed by a celebrated author. The type is set, 
 the plates are molded and printed, the book is folded, 
 
 viii
 
 cut, and bound by very accurate machinery. Its evolu- 
 tion is practically the same as that of wall paper. The 
 producers of both seek to meet the increasing demand 
 for variety and novelty by paying especial attention to 
 the quality of the paper and the general " get up " of 
 the goods. Everything is done to make a wall paper 
 or book as novel and attractive as possible. Provided 
 the illustrations prove pleasing, the printing be exact, 
 the mode of presentation be well planned, and the man- 
 ufacturers advertise unsparingly, success is assured. 
 
 The average customer of hangings, the average pur- 
 chaser of books, accepts from a well-known manufactory 
 without much examination. He adorns the bare plaster 
 walls of his house or brain with what the salesman tells 
 him is the fashion, serenely oblivious of the soiled rags, 
 diseased and threadbare garments, arsenic, and delete- 
 rious poisons which may have entered into the compo- 
 sition of the showy article. The showiest and cheapest 
 is, of course, the most pernicious. Some time ago phy- 
 sicians attracted attention to the poisonous effects of 
 certain qualities of wall paper, and the public, in fear 
 of physical destruction, compelled the manufacturers to 
 use innocuous materials ; but how to incite the public 
 to exact a more wholesome quality of mental hangings 
 is left for the present to the humanitarian. 
 
 The depraved influence of impure suggestiveness in 
 printed words is just as strong as in printed pictures. 
 This, has not yet been sufficiently realized by publishers. 
 Should the ignominy visited upon obscene picture ped- 
 dlers and traffickers in human bodies for unwholesome 
 or degrading uses be applied to the collectors and emit- 
 ters of impure suggestions in books and papers which 
 reach hundreds of thousands of human minds, the whole 
 
 ix
 
 tone of literature would be metamorphosed, and the 
 coming generation would be relieved of the incubus of 
 morbid suggestiveness which has ground down the pres- 
 ent decade, driving many promising youths and maidens 
 towards the house of correction or the lunatic asylum. 
 
 The general public, if the opportunity be afforded it, 
 likes to read about intellectual and psychological prob- 
 lems when they are treated with natural simplicity. This 
 is proved by the success of many well-written books 
 which have interested us of late. A dozen names of 
 novels are at the point of my pen, and will also occur 
 to the reader. The enormous sale of these books shows 
 that descriptions of psychic and intellectual struggles 
 are always of interest, and that a tone of sordid realism 
 is not necessary to insure financial success. Why, then, 
 is it so often assumed by young authors? 
 
 I think the reason may be found in a general differ- 
 ence about handling the complex realism of every day 
 life. The reading public is better acquainted with virtue, 
 self-sacrifice, patience, intellectual and psychic questions 
 than it is with crime, and so the author who treats of 
 these phases of life exposes himself to a more enlight- 
 ened consideration of his efforts. When an average 
 man sees his personal experiences and observations in 
 print he pauses to criticise any inconsistency or discre- 
 pancy ; he discusses the situation with his friends, and 
 they all express an opinion upon the subject; while 
 when he reads of heinous crimes, pampered vices, or 
 hideous squalor he is filled with a complex emotion 
 which he does not know how to analyze, nor dare to 
 qualify as disgust, and so for lack of experience he pro- 
 nounces the book a wonderful instead of a horrible 
 work. 
 
 x
 
 To analyze my own simple creations in " The Two 
 Types of To-Day. " 
 
 The reason why I chose two pure women as modern 
 types is because I think that purity is more typical of 
 the human race than impurity. If I have taken them 
 from the most opposite classes and environments it is 
 to show that the same spirit is latent in every right- 
 minded person, and the same motives inspire the true- 
 hearted, whether educated or in the state of nature. 
 The difference lies in the strength of intellect and char- 
 acter developed by sensible cultivation. Beings who 
 reside continually in the dark lose the use of their eyes, 
 and, inversely, any one can judiciously increase the force 
 and beauty of his \vhole frame or abnormally develop 
 a single member. 
 
 Civilization as we actually know it is inclined to 
 develop humanity abnormally. One part is over-cul- 
 tivated at the expense of the remainder. Unhealthy 
 customs have been exalted into laws, and healthy laws 
 have been allowed to die of inertia. Whether a being 
 can resist the atrophizing despotism of modern civili- 
 zation while assimilating the culture and developing 
 his talents depends upon his intellectual and psychic 
 training. 
 
 "The Two Types," like two seedlings of the same 
 plant, are organically the same ; the whole contrast be- 
 tween the two women lies in their development. Their 
 nationality, dress, habits, complexions, etc., are but acci- 
 dents of location. Ampharita might have been born 
 in Mulberry Street or on Fifth Avenue; the Baroness 
 might have seen the light as a pickaninny or a papoose. 
 I have placed the Baroness first as a representative of 
 the type of modern woman, developed by means of 
 
 xi
 
 enlightened culture, which does not neglect to satisfy 
 the soul appetite while fostering the mind and body. 
 Wise instructors have sought to equip her for the battle 
 with the problems of modern life, but at the beginning 
 of the " Literary Farce " she is as yet untried. She 
 aspires to assist humanity by means of her pen, and 
 she applies for advice to an expert materialist, repre- 
 sented by the Literary Adviser. She has picked up 
 many of the current ideas about literature, but they 
 appear romanesque when compared with what the Ad- 
 viser divulges. In searching for the expression of her 
 convictions her dormant forces are aroused. With a 
 sudden outburst of soul-full eloquence she expresses 
 herself in a manner superior even to her preconceived 
 ideal. The ardent metal has been tempered by the cold 
 wave of disillusion, a little polish and the sun-god's 
 sword will be ready for his hand. 
 
 The Indian maiden feels many of the same yearn- 
 ings, and is exposed to as severe disillusions, but her 
 aspirations are but the tender outshoots of a rich 
 nature, and must wither when exposed to scorching 
 disappointment. 
 
 The Literary Farce is daily enacted in every civilized 
 centre where woman aspires to be a helpmate. The 
 American Idyll is but the old, old story of civilization 
 seeking to possess itself of all that it counts as valuable, 
 and wantonly discarding what it does not momentarily 
 need. Year by year the forests are cut down or burned 
 away, the aromatic herbs are plowed in, ditches are dug, 
 and the face of nature is as mercilessly buffeted and 
 scarred as might be that of an impotent slave. Decades 
 must 'elapse before the healing hand of art seeks to 
 rebeautify it; and why? 
 
 xii
 
 Because the lode-star of mankind has been personal 
 cupidity instead of the co-operative amelioration of the 
 human race. 
 
 A bard of the century has prophesied, and who can 
 disprove the hopeful strophe, 
 
 " The old order changeth, yielding place to new, 
 And God fulfils himself in many ways." 
 
 Tennyson, in " The Passing of Arthur." 
 
 C. A. DI BRAZZA-SAVORGNAN. 
 NEW YORK, 1896. 
 
 xm
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THEY RESTED BENEATH A BEETLING CRAG . . Frontispiece 
 
 PHILANPELUS TYPHON 20 
 
 AN OLLA 24 
 
 A WOMAN COOKING 28 
 
 SALVIA COLUMBARIA 31 
 
 TILIFOLIO, THAMNOSMA MONTANA ........ 32 
 
 A PAIR OF SANDALS 33 
 
 THE CEREUS GIGANTEA CACTUS 35 
 
 TESTIMONIALS OF THEIR UNTRAMMELLED ZEAL .... 38 
 
 BROWN COLUMBINES 39 
 
 MARTYNIA PODS FOR BASKET-MAKING 42 
 
 HE SAW HER COMING DOWN THE IRREGULAR STREET . 44 
 
 NATURE'S PINS 48 
 
 A FAMILY FETICH 54 
 
 A GORRITA WEAVER AND A KEE-HO CARRIER .... 57 
 
 STILL AMPHARITA DID NOT MOVE ........ 59 
 
 PERSONAL FETICH 60 
 
 THREE VARIETIES OF OLLA PADDLES 62 
 
 SUMMONDSIA CALIFORNICA THE QUININE PLANT. . . 65 
 
 A MESSENGER FROM THE PIMAS 69 
 
 " O MY MASTER, YOU FORGOT ME ! " 71 
 
 xv
 
 PAGE 
 
 POTTERY MAKERS 77 
 
 KITCHEN-RING ACCESSORIES 82 
 
 RATS AND MICE DIPODOMYS AGILIS, ETC 84 
 
 BATS VESPERTILIO EVOTIS 86 
 
 TAH-SUN-UP, CREOSOTE WOOD 87 
 
 A HAIR BRUSH 89 
 
 A KEE-HO OR CARRYING BASKET 92 
 
 PREPARING FOOD 95 
 
 ROCKING AND CARRYING CRADLES 97 
 
 AN INDIAN BABY 100 
 
 YUCCA BACCATA 103 
 
 BRIDLED TITMICE 105 
 
 HOFFMANSEGGIA STRICTA, INDIAN POTATO Io8 
 
 THE BISMOGA CACTUS. A HIKORI no 
 
 CUCUBITA PALM ATA, THE GOURD 113 
 
 CARPOCARPSA SALTITANS, JUMPING BEANS 116 
 
 THE PAISANO OR CHAPARRAL COCK 119 
 
 NATIVE SPURS 121 
 
 MESQUITE FOOTBALLS 124 
 
 MESQUITE BEANS AND BEETLES 126 
 
 AT THE STORE-HOUSE 129 
 
 GAME OF GHING-SKOOT 131 
 
 GAME OF WA-PE-TAIKH-GUT 132 
 
 DRUM AND MAGIC FLUTE 134 
 
 TAN-WA, GAMBLING BONE 135 
 
 THE HARVEST DANCE 137 
 
 A BIRD'S NEST 140 
 
 NATIVE BIRD-CAGE AND LYOENA SONORENSIS .... 145 
 " THE Two INDIANS WENDED THEIR WAY TOWARDS THE 
 
 PUEBLO" 153 
 
 OLLA RING, PADDLE, AND DANCE RATTLE 154 
 
 PITAIYA CACTUS 156 
 
 xvi
 
 PAGB 
 
 CENA CACTUS 158 
 
 LEPUS TEXIANUS EREMICUS, JACK RABBITS 160 
 
 HELODERMA HORRIDUM 162 
 
 A COYOTE, CANIS LATRANS 163 
 
 THE MESQUITE-TREE 165 
 
 WITH THE CHIHUAHUANS 167 
 
 THE VlNEGARONE OR THE LUPHONUS GlGANTEUS . . . 171 
 
 WATER CARRIERS 175 
 
 BARREL CACTUS 176 
 
 AMPHARITA BESIDE THE CLOSED DOOR OF THE CACTUS 
 
 HUT 178 
 
 HER MOTHER WATCHED HER FROM THE KITCHEN-RING . 184 
 
 AMPHARITA ALONE WITH THE HORSE 185 
 
 TARANTULE MYGALE AND THEIR VICTIM 188, 
 
 THE TROGON 191 
 
 A BURIAL HUT 196 
 
 THE BARRANCA 200 
 
 BUTTERFLIES 204 
 
 xvu
 
 An American Idyll. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 He left the barren-beaten thoroughfare, 
 
 Chose the green path that show'd the rarer foot, 
 
 And there among the solitary downs, 
 
 Full often lost in fancy, lost his way ; 
 
 Till as he traced a faintly shadow'd track, 
 
 That all in loops and links among the dales 
 
 Ran to the Castle of Astolat, he saw, 
 
 Fired from the west far on a hill, the towers. 
 
 Thither he made. 
 
 ELAIXE. 
 
 THE following is a true story : a plain unvarnished 
 tale, and the hero, well, he is no hero at all, but 
 simply a scientist. He is now travelling about the 
 Americas, adding glory to his already illustrious name, 
 and you may meet him any day. He gave me the 
 story as it stands ; but his name is his own, and I must 
 let him keep it. As to changing it, that would be a 
 deception, and would impair the sincerity of all that 
 follows. 
 
 The Indians of Arizona and northern Mexico knew 
 him as the great, white Shaman or Medicine-man. 
 
 19
 
 This was the most honorable title in their vocabulary ; 
 and to their ears no other name would have been noble 
 enough for the powerful, blue-eyed stranger who knew 
 so much, and wrought such marvels that to their un- 
 taught minds he seemed endowed with supernatural 
 powers. 
 
 To the author he was a thoughtful and genial friend, 
 an interesting and eloquent narrator, an original and 
 entertaining Scientist ; and such she trusts he will prove 
 himself to all throughout this record of an episode in 
 his eventful life. 
 
 This Scientist had long desired to undertake an ex- 
 ploring expedition into the southern portion of what is 
 known as the Great American Desert. His wish was 
 not only to study the topography of the country, the 
 language, customs, and physiognomy of its human in- 
 habitants, its meteorology and geo- 
 logy ; but also to collect and classify, 
 as far as possible, specimens of its 
 flora and of the animals, reptiles, 
 
 PHILAKPELUS TYPHON. ^ j^^ Q{ ^ highlands Q f the 
 
 Sierra Madre, which are even less known to science 
 than the scattered aborigines of the same desolate 
 region. 
 
 He was determined to travel alone, so that he might 
 feel at liberty to reside as long as he chose in the 
 Indian villages ; and he proposed to avoid all contact 
 with the white settlers, whose vicinity induces a mar- 
 vellously rapid deterioration and annihilation of native 
 traditions and morals. He carefully selected the scien- 
 tific paraphernalia he considered indispensable to the 
 success of his enterprise. These instruments were of 
 the kind reduced to the lightest and most compact 
 
 2O
 
 form, in accordance with the peculiar exigencies of 
 land exploration. He interviewed the curators of the 
 European museums, and the secretaries of the anthro- 
 pological societies. He sailed for the United States, and 
 at Washington examined the latest notes which had 
 been collected by the Ethnological Bureau bearing 
 upon the southwestern country. He found his suppo- 
 sitions corroborated : no reliable data existed regarding 
 the elevated northwestern portion of Mexico. He ac- 
 cordingly decided to go there as directly as possible, 
 beginning his explorations at a flag station on the 
 Southern Pacific Railway between Ackerman and Silver 
 City. 
 
 He devoted a few more days to procuring the proper 
 credentials, and in making a discriminating investment 
 in compactly preserved edibles, the cans of which were 
 to serve the double purpose of carrying his daily rations 
 into the desert, and of safely exporting his contemplated 
 collection. To this he added a store of bolts and rem- 
 nants of gaudy cotton-cloth, boxes of nails, pen-knives, 
 scissors, and beads, with which to purchase the friend- 
 ship of the natives. 
 
 He presented his respects to his ambassador, left at 
 the embassy his presumable address in Mexico for the 
 forwarding of his remittances and mail, and started out 
 for a year of travel, research, and adventure. 
 
 The so-called station, at which he left the express 
 train, consisted of a small warehouse built of pine boards, 
 in the form of an over-grown packing-case. Connected 
 with it by a tarred roof, forming a ramshackle shed, was 
 a coffin-like box labelled " telegraph office," which was 
 hermetically closed. On one side, several rusty cattle- 
 pens, full of sun-baked filthiness, flanked this structure; 
 
 21
 
 on the other, a low cave dug out of a convenient clay 
 bank and rudely boarded across the orifice, formed a 
 dwelling for the railroad employes. Before this " dug- 
 out" extended a deep porch, extemporized out of 
 charred railroad-sleepers spliced together and set on 
 end, roofed by earth and brush-covered planks. This 
 was furnished with two hammocks and several empty 
 barrels and petroleum cans, hacked or dented by long 
 service in lieu of tables and chairs. Near the track on 
 the opposite side stood an enormous wooden cistern 
 painted red, which had been provided by the company 
 to hold the alkali waters of an artesian well, that the 
 boiler of a leaky, or over-taxed locomotive might be re- 
 filled, if necessary, between the usual watering-stations. 
 
 Beyond this there was absolutely nothing but cream- 
 colored dust and sage-brush, diversified about the track 
 for a limited distance by an assortment of rags, rusty tin 
 cans, and broken car-wheels, worn or bent rails, bolts, 
 and nails, the meanest and most unpicturesque flotsam 
 and jetsam of nineteenth century progress. 
 
 The two unfortunate employes who had been stranded 
 by fate in this inhospitable region, received the unex- 
 pected visitor with suspicious surliness. They could 
 think of nothing which could possibly cause a sane man 
 to leave the train at their dreary station, save fear of 
 outraged justice or an order to examine their books and 
 warehouse ; the latter of which would have been dis- 
 tasteful to them. 
 
 A scrutiny of the Scientist's bright face so far reas- 
 sured them, however, that the elder of the two, after 
 expectorating an amber jet and safely stowing away the 
 quid of tobacco by a dexterous twirl of his practiced 
 tongue, vouchsafed a remark. 
 
 22
 
 " Howdy, stranger? " he said, jerking up his overalls. 
 
 His companion echoed, " Howdy? " 
 
 " Howdy?" answered the Scientist, determined to fol- 
 low the customs of the country while letting the men 
 begin the conversation, and giving himself a chance to 
 study their characteristics. 
 
 " Du tell, whatever brings you and them queer traps 
 of yourn to this Gaud-forsaken country? You'd better 
 look sharp, stranger ; this ain't no starmpin' groun' for 
 boomers; eh, Jim? " 
 
 " Haw, haw ! you bet it ain't," laughed his companion. 
 
 The Scientist took this overture more good-naturedly 
 than it was meant, and explained to them that he was a 
 man of leisure travelling for his own pleasure. 
 
 At this they winked, nudged each other, and laughed 
 so uproariously that Jim, completely overcome at the 
 thought of any possible pleasure being connected with 
 travelling in Arizona, took refuge in one of the ham- 
 mocks, where he rolled and flopped about in a most 
 alarming manner, he-haw-hawing and pish-shishing by 
 turns. 
 
 The Scientist had brought with him from El Paso a 
 large basket of fresh eatables intended as a remedy for 
 such an attack as he was now witnessing; so calling the 
 elder aside, he untied the wrapping-paper and slid off 
 the cover so as to exhibit the contents. 
 
 At the sight of the fresh fruits and vegetables which 
 were on top, the man whistled and remarked : " Oh, 
 golly, yum-yum, you bet." At which the younger, in 
 the hammock, stopped his gyrations and, dropping out, 
 loped over to the basket to watch with greedy eyes the 
 unpacking of the delicacies. 
 
 When the Scientist lifted out several loaves of fresh, 
 
 23
 
 golden-crusted baker's bread, a brace of broiled chickens, 
 and a roast shoulder of mutton, the men grew immensely 
 respectful ; and they offered, as their contribution to the 
 feast, some good Mexican coffee and a can of condensed 
 milk. 
 
 While eating, the Scientist inquired about the nature 
 of the country southward, and as to whether they knew 
 where he could obtain a pair of sure-footed ponies, ac- 
 customed to privations, so that they could 
 be relied upon to carry him and his be- 
 longings across the desert. 
 
 Between gulps the elder answered orac- 
 ularly : " 'Bout on twenty mile' along that 
 'ere trail south'ard, mabby you 'd fin' some 
 greasers as 'ud 'av' a mustang or two for 
 sale ; providin', of course, as how they 
 ain't moved off af'er fresh grass." 
 
 "Thank you, that would be better luck 
 
 AN OLLA. 11-1 
 
 than I expected on looking about alter 
 the departure of the train. May I swing my hammock 
 with yours and stay here to-night? I will start out to 
 find them at sunrise, if you will take care of my 
 baggage." 
 
 " Yaas, never you min' 'bout your truck, we uns can 
 take care on it right enough, and the sooner it 's undy 
 kiverthe better, for what with the bloomed heavy djews and 
 them 'ere tramps aas comes along the ro'd on free tickets, 
 hangin' on undy the cars without a ' by-yer-leave,' on 
 the way from down East to Californy for fruit pick- 
 ing and any free taking they can fin' 'roun', I say 
 it's no joke ! " and, sighing, he took a fresh helping of 
 chicken. 
 
 " They 's cummin' along purty lively juss now," he 
 
 24
 
 continued, storing the half-masticated food in his cheek, 
 " an' if they once sees them things, they '11 pick your 
 boxes as clean as the tater-bugs eat off a crap. 'T ain't 
 for nothin' they says, their ' on'y business 's a pickin',' - 
 addin' on ' an' stealin' ! ' under their breaf ! Just to quote 
 Scriptur for luck ! " 
 
 All three men laughed ; and the Scientist expressed 
 his thanks for the information, and offered to put away 
 the things at once if one of them would unlock the door 
 of the shed. 
 
 " Look a here," said the younger man, " I like your 
 looks, stranger ! I say with my pard, it 's all right if we 
 lock up this 'ere bloomin' truck o' yourn ; but if you wait 
 to start to walk twenty mile under to-morry's scorchin' 
 sun, your 'sperience won't help you no-how. Why, 
 you '11 lie down gaping and wriggling for a little brush 
 shadow, worse 'an a fish out o' water. You 's tender yet 
 from the States ; an' it would take more hardening an' 
 you 's had in your hull life to keep your brain from siz- 
 zling right up under this 'ere sun." 
 
 " But remember it would be impossible for me to find 
 my way over these wastes at night. You know the 
 country ; but I Ve lived here just two hours." 
 
 " 'Ump, that's true ! Stranger, you never said a truer 
 word. Where there 's only two, we two 's the oldest. He's 
 one; but I 's the oldest, stepped off the train firs'," 
 laughed the other man, as he spat on his hands, and rub- 
 bed them together before setting to work to store away 
 the Scientist's stuff. " But, as you says as how you be 
 a 'splorer, and I he'an tell, when a kid, as how the 
 odds atwixt a 'splorer and a reggallar man was, 'caus' a 
 'splorer was sure to fin' his way 'thout knowin' nuthin' 
 'bout the country. Ef that ain't so, where 's the differ-
 
 ence twixt you an' we uns ? Why, stranger, then we 's 
 got the majority of the very firstest class 'splorer, here 
 leastwise." 
 
 The Scientist laughed again as he said : " Well, you 
 see an explorer's business is to find his way where no 
 one has ever been before ; but as you have been to this 
 Indian camp ' 
 
 " Greaser," corrected the man. 
 
 " To this Greaser camp," continued the Scientist, " it 
 would not be exploring at all for me to find my way there, 
 as all the inhabitants of this place know where it is. 
 Could n't one of the inhabitants manage to show me 
 the way then ? I could travel to-night." 
 
 The elder of the men stroked his unkempt beard, while 
 the eyes of the younger flashed with anticipation. 
 
 " Lemme go," he exclaimed. 
 
 " It 's agin the rules," said the other. 
 
 " T ain't," asseverated his aid. " If one of us be sick- 
 abed, or have business for the Comp'ny, tuther keeps 
 guard, an' it 's O. K. The Comp'ny 's the sarvent of civ- 
 ilization, an' this 'ere gent has been sent out 'splorin' in 
 the sarvice of civilization. That 's clear as the nose on 
 your ugly mug. I '11 show him the trail to the Greasers 
 in the sarvice of civilization ; therefore the Comp'ny and 
 he and we 's all one and solid," he added didactically. 
 " An' ' the leas' said soones' mended,' as my old ma 'u'd 
 have said." 
 
 " Hump ! " growled the older man, " you allus had a 
 way of argying as fitted your likes, Jim. You see, stran- 
 ger, Jim was the oratur of his debatin' club down East 
 afur he cut and run because he took to " 
 
 A loud fit of coughing, which convulsed the younger 
 man, drowned the end of the explanation. 
 
 26
 
 "Afore I took to rollin', sir, and got stranded 'ere 
 with this bloomin' ijjut," Jim asserted on recovering 
 himself. " ' A rollin' stone gathurs no moss,' said ma, too. 
 But my Lord, nuther does a sittin' one 'ere in Arizony." 
 
 " The Lord forgot Arizony when He dictated them 
 proverbs, you bet ! " added the elder man, as a general 
 explanation and compromise. 
 
 "It's too dry," suggested the other, deprecatingly. 
 At which both swore and roared with laughter, and thus 
 harmony was restored. 
 
 " We '11 start affer clearin' up an' a smoke ; an' we '11 
 take with us what's leff' of the vittles," said Jim, authori- 
 tatively. " The sun don' set nohow these blamed hort 
 D'june days till all hours, an' by the time the daylight's 
 all gone the moon will be startin' up. 
 
 " See a here," he added, leading the Scientist aside 
 and whispering hoarsely that his partner, who was 
 scratching about in a fit of tidyness, might not hear, " if 
 you had sutthin' stronger 'an milk an' coffee we could 
 make a fine bargain ; but don't yer let my pard know 
 wot can you takes it from, or the loss 'ill be all in quality, 
 an' gain in alkali at this end of the line. Thar won't be 
 no man to work the signals neethur when the next train 
 comes throu', an' you '11 fin' a mighty weak alkali toddy 
 in your can next time you wants sutthin' straight pretty 
 bad." 
 
 The Scientist thanked Jim for the suggestion ; and 
 they managed to remove a large can of whiskey from the 
 stores without the elder man suspecting the presence of 
 its mates among the saddle-bags and boxes which he 
 stored away in the warehouse ; for the Scientist was a 
 wily young man, and had ordered the whiskey cans 
 marked with flaring tomato-catsup labels. 
 
 27
 
 The tramp across the desert in the bracing night-air 
 was not unpleasant ; but when the Scientist and his guide 
 reached the spot where the Greasers had been encamped, 
 they found that they had already sought fresh grazing 
 lands. The hour was still early, but there was light 
 
 A WOMAN COOKING. 
 
 enough to see the unmistakable signs of a recent exodus ; 
 and when the sky brightened, and the dawn lit up the 
 face of Nature, they were able to discover by what trail 
 the caravan had moved away. Following this, the white 
 men presently came upon the herdsmen encamped a few 
 miles to the eastward, at the bottom of a sparsely-wooded 
 gully. 
 
 Jim had warned the Scientist not to announce the 
 object of their visit, but to allow him to be both spokes- 
 man and manager of the transaction, to which the for- 
 
 28
 
 eigner gladly assented. Jim led the way, and saluted 
 the men near the fire in mongrel Spanish, asking them 
 if they had seen a stranger dressed something like his 
 companion who should have passed that way. 
 
 The Mexican who was standing over the camp-fire, 
 where some jerked beef was cooking, easily fell into the 
 trap, and gave a minute description of all the men they 
 had seen during the past winter. He asked the stran- 
 gers if they had breakfasted, and, receiving a negative 
 answer, invited them to share the meal which was now 
 ready. 
 
 Jim in return opened the whiskey can, and pres- 
 ently the combined effect of the hot sun and the fire- 
 water served to elate the hospitable half-breeds, and they 
 descanted upon the merits and demerits of their various 
 ponies, and put them through their paces and tricks for 
 the amusement of their guests. This was just what Jim 
 wanted, and by means of compliments, questions, and 
 "fire-water" he drew them on until they shoTved him 
 two fine creatures, which they declared were knowing 
 and fleet as deer, but as tame as pet dogs. 
 
 A few judicious observations and a little more flattery 
 settled the business, and the ponies changed hands for a 
 very small sum, of which the larger portion remained as 
 an usurious percentage in the possession of Jim. A 
 Mexican saddle was added as a return for the almost 
 empty whiskey can, which Jim had offered to them as a 
 token of good-will. 
 
 The Scientist placed the saddle upon the larger of his 
 purchases, while Jim mounted the other and rode bare- 
 back to the station. 
 
 Here the Scientist wisely ignored the money which 
 he had seen cleaving to the palm of his guide during 
 
 29
 
 the transfer at the Greaser camp, and paid him in full 
 for his services. On getting his traps from the store- 
 house to form the pack, the Scientist was alarmed by 
 observing unmistakable signs of the pard's inquisitive- 
 ness ; but a hasty examination proved to him that, owing 
 to the labels, the cans containing the whiskey had not been 
 molested, and he decided to condone all other delin- 
 quencies in consideration of the valuable assistance he 
 had received. 
 
 While Jim had been engaged in the purchase of the 
 ponies, the Scientist had interviewed an Indian from the 
 southwest who was in their employ, and had gained 
 from him a good deal of information about the country he 
 intended to traverse. So he was in haste to be off before 
 the two men ate up any more of his provisions. 
 
 When he left the station, he turned southward, leading 
 the heavily-laden pack-horse by means of a lariat tied 
 to his saddle-bow ; for he feared that it would not follow 
 after him until accustomed to his voice, and to have it 
 return to its former owners, laden with his instruments 
 and supplies, would be fatal to his purpose, and would 
 endanger life itself. 
 
 After less than an hour of steady travel the railroad, 
 which cut across the desolate region, its path marked 
 by a livid scar of shadow, had been hidden from view 
 by the rolling sand-hills, and with it he lost sight of the 
 last trace of modern civilization he was destined to 
 encounter for months. 
 
 The trail he followed turned southward, and, after 
 crossing an arroyo, was ' soon lost amid a network of 
 hoof tracings, which were mostly the tracks left by ani- 
 mals seeking food and water. 
 
 As the afternoon wore on, the sun's fury diminished,. 
 
 30
 
 and the alkali dust lost its blinding whiteness. The 
 light changed to golden, and the dry soil about the 
 Scientist grew pinky, while the sparse clumps of saccaton 
 grass and brush became iridescent with the play of 
 color found upon green mother-of- 
 pearl. From the roots of the grass 
 and shrubs long purple shad- 
 ows extended like ribbon 
 streamers far, far to 
 the eastward ; 
 the bright 
 blue 
 
 SALVIA COLUMBARIA. 
 
 flowers of the 
 desert salvia 
 stood out in sharp out- 
 line upon the velvety 
 smoothness of the wind- 
 blown sand, and here and there a scrubby clump of 
 Thamnosma Montanum stretched out its leafless yellow 
 twigs, starred with purple blossoms, as though to attract 
 the passer's attention to the aromatic and curative quali- 
 ties which it possesses. 
 
 Like a lagging lover aroused to the lateness of the 
 hour, the sun took leave of the earth and dropped be- 
 low the horizon. The sky grew gray, a cool, yellow 
 light lay upon the face of Nature. Then, as if with 
 jealous blush at memory of the ardent kisses it had wit- 
 nessed, the sky became suffused with rosy red, which, 
 spreading from the zenith, descended on all sides, until 
 
 31
 
 the chaste canopy of heaven was transformed into a 
 copper dome, beneath which the meza clothed itself in 
 the gorgeous coloring of the nasturtium, until, when the 
 dewy freshness of evening began to fall, all faded, and 
 the earth donned a blanket of indigo and russet before 
 falling asleep beneath the stars. 
 
 The Scientist had not expected to reach water that 
 night, and had provided accordingly. Arousing himself 
 from the revery into which he had fallen while contem- 
 plating the phenomena of Nature, he noticed the lag- 
 ging steps of his ponies, and 
 stopped them upon the first 
 patch of grass they reached. 
 
 That night he tethered them 
 securely ; for he knew that they 
 were still too near their former 
 companions to be allowed to 
 roam at will upon the prairie. 
 Personally, he felt more tired 
 than hungry, so he was content 
 at the thought that the remains 
 of his dinner would serve as 
 supper, and, rolling himself 
 in his blanket, fell asleep on the hot sand, while the 
 cold touch of the desert night chilled his exposed 
 face. 
 
 The next day the wanderer rested at noon and trav- 
 elled late, so that the night was well advanced when he 
 reached a spring which had been indicated to him by a 
 party of Indians he had met in the morning. Here he 
 rested for a day, examining the flora and insects, and 
 the next dawn saw him again pushing southward. Thus 
 he advanced for many weeks, sometimes straight for- 
 
 32 
 
 TILIFOL10, TEMNOSMA. 
 MONTANA.
 
 ward, and at others, deviating to the east or west in 
 pursuit of knowledge. 
 
 He kept as much as possible to well-worn trails, 
 and frequently encamped with the Indians. He was 
 sometimes received coldly; but as a rule the people 
 were hospitably inclined, and glad to welcome him. 
 
 Though young, he possessed a store of valuable ex- 
 periences which he had acquired on previous expedi- 
 tions. He had begun travelling in uncivilized regions 
 almost as a child ; and, grown familiar with a score of 
 languages and their derivatives, he could dextrously 
 evolve simple phrases quite comprehensible to the 
 natives. He was especially well versed in Spanish, and 
 found all its modifications easy. Besides this, being a 
 fluent, magnetic, and very graceful speaker, when words 
 failed, gesticulation and glances became his interpreters, 
 and through their assistance he could carry on sufficient 
 conversation. 
 
 He was growing tired of constant change when at 
 sunset, one evening, he perceived in the distance before 
 him many faint wreaths of smoke as- 
 cending from a high plateau. They 
 stood out white against the blue 
 background of the Sierra Madre, and 
 streaked with violet the glowing west- 
 ern sky. His ear caught the faint 
 but welcome sound of lowing cattle. 
 A dark belt of rustling cornfields A PAIR O F SANDALS. 
 swept upward from the plain on which 
 he stood, and he realized with a thrill that beyond it 
 might lie the chief settlement of the Pima Bajas, about 
 whom he had read and heard so much that was interest- 
 ing, yet illusive. 
 
 3 33
 
 Curiosity urged him to proceed, but prudence per- 
 suaded him to await the dawn ; and he encamped for 
 the night, full of exhilaration at the thought that he 
 might have reached at last the proposed centre of his 
 explorations. 
 
 As he lay stretched beneath the stars, with the sound 
 of the crickets and the rustle of the corn filling his 
 ears, he reviewed what he knew about this isolated 
 people. 
 
 The best of all the Piman tribes which inhabit Arizona 
 and New Mexico, the Pima Bajas, have lived for genera- 
 tions upon the elevated tablelands which slope gradually 
 from the Sierra Mad re to the arid regions between El 
 Paso and the more fertile neighborhood of the capital 
 of Chihuahua. 
 
 The Spanish explorers of the sixteenth century dis- 
 covered these Indians, and passed on to California. The 
 missionary friars paused on their way thither to instruct 
 them in the rudiments of the Christian religion, and 
 their pueblos still contain places of worship, much the 
 worse for wear, while a native priest travels about among 
 them, baptizing, confirming, and marrying the living, or 
 consecrating the graves in which lie the bodies of those 
 who have departed during his absence. 
 
 Southward extends the land of the Tarahumari, 
 heathen and Christian. Far to the westward, in the hot 
 and sandy regions, many miles beyond and below the 
 mountain defiles, roam the Papajos, a tribe which long 
 ago detached itself from the Mexican Pimas, and has 
 been decimated by many diseases which the Indians of 
 the elevated regions escape. 
 
 All these tribes were said to be inferior to the Pima 
 Bajas, who live upon the central tableland, and belong 
 
 34
 
 among the most interesting of the races indigenous to 
 Mexico. Some go so far as to claim that proofs exist 
 philologically, as well as physiologically, that they are a 
 branch of the original Aztec stock, left by the way on 
 its early emigration southward, or else thrown off at a 
 later period as a hardy colony. 
 
 The Pima Bajas are everywhere described as hospit- 
 able, peace-loving, and genial. They are, as a rule, 
 
 THE CEREUS GIGANTEA CACTUS. 
 
 prosperous, and live in large villages, or pueblos, com- 
 posed of houses built of adobe, mesquite, and cactus 
 wood. The early authors of the Spanish conquest 
 have much to say with regard to them, and chronicle at 
 length what the friars reported of their ancestors, whom 
 they extolled for their culture, virtue, civility, and facile 
 convertibility to Christianity. 
 
 Such were the last thoughts with which the Scientist 
 closed his eyes for the night, and when on awaken- 
 
 35
 
 ing at dawn he looked again towards the plateau, his 
 practiced eye confirmed the surmise of the evening 
 before. 
 
 A wide well-beaten trail stretched before him zigzag- 
 ing between the waving cornstalks; and as he ascended 
 it on horseback, he could see above the floating green 
 ribbons to where hazy lines of purple shadow, on the 
 other side of the meza, indicated well-watered barran- 
 cas, or gulches, full of the promise of that luxuriant life 
 he was so anxious to study. 
 
 A bit of waste land came in sight, and beyond it lay 
 the village, its grass houses and heaped-up roofs spark- 
 ling in the morning sun. 
 
 The Scientist assumed his most engaging manner, and 
 approached the pueblo. Dismounting beneath a tree 
 half way across the strip of land, he seated himself be- 
 side the road in full view of the village, and waited for 
 some one to come out and invite him to approach. In 
 due course this occurred ; and he thanked the native with 
 great attention to Indian ceremonial and a determination 
 to ingratiate himself so as to secure a welcome. His 
 interlocutor asked him in return how he could serve 
 him, and he requested an interview with the Chief. This 
 was obtained ; and he was soon led into the august pres- 
 ence. The grave and stately individual also welcomed 
 the stranger. The hour was opportune, the presents 
 well chosen ; and the Chief gladdened the stranger's 
 heart by suggesting that he should occupy as his domi- 
 cil, a comparatively spacious cactus-hut which had been 
 built for the use of the Christian priest on his rare 
 visits. 
 
 A day or two devoted to visiting the sick, a solemn 
 pow-wow with the notables and old men who assembled 
 
 36
 
 after sundown, and smoked with him in a circle before 
 the Chief's house, the exhibition of a few juggling tricks, 
 and his first success was confirmed. Evidently he was 
 a very great shaman, and the blessing of his presence 
 among them should be insured for as long as possible. 
 A feast was therefore ordered ; sheep were slaughtered 
 and immediately cooked ; and, according to the usages of 
 the tribe, he was formally invested with what, in some 
 European cities would be called " the freedom of the 
 city," for as long as he would condescend to prosper 
 them by his desired presence. 
 
 Opportunities to give proof of his appreciation of the 
 confidence of the Pimas were numerous, and he never 
 shirked them. He bestowed his medicines and atten- 
 tions upon any sick Indian for whom his services were 
 requested ; and as he possessed a good general knowl- 
 edge of therapeutics, it proved of the greatest service in 
 winning the personal friendship of his older neighbors, 
 while little presents, such as a bead, a brilliant ribbon 
 or button, or the exhibition of a simple juggling trick 
 assured to him the unswerving devotion of the eager 
 swarm of half-grown lads and lasses who foraged about 
 the outskirts of the settlement in pursuit of amusement, 
 and became an easy prey to the demons of mischief if 
 not properly occupied. 
 
 They seemed to divine just what he wanted, and to 
 revel in the companionship of one who had time and 
 sense enough to appreciate the ineffable joys of a beetle 
 chase or reptile hunt. Woe to the insect that crossed 
 their path, or the plant that sprouted in sight of their 
 keen young eyes. They uprooted or pinioned every- 
 thing they encountered, and transported all with whoops 
 of joy to the astonished Scientist, who expected to be 
 
 37
 
 TESTIMONIALS OF THEIR UNTRAMMELLED ZEAL.
 
 buried beneath the testimonials of their untrammelled 
 zeal. 
 
 Seeking to direct their exuberant forces, he showed 
 them how to handle and transfix a butterfly read}" for 
 study. What was his surprise the next afternoon to see 
 a score of boys arriving with moths and beetles impaled 
 upon cactus-needles and agave-spikes, which their tor- 
 mentors flourished aloft as though they had been the 
 dripping scalps of so many vanquished foes. 
 
 A minute explanation, most carefully illustrated, fol- 
 lowed, and after this second lesson the Scientist could 
 
 BROWN COLUMBINES. 
 
 rely upon the intelligence and good-will of his youthful 
 volunteers. They brought him the plants and insects 
 carefully gathered and delicately handled. The}- at- 
 tracted his attention to the queer habits of their prey. 
 Ever ready to answer his whistle, they formed in line, or 
 scattered over the country like a battalion of diminutive 
 Cossacks raiding the homes of the leafy, furry, feathered, 
 
 39
 
 and scaly inhabitants of the mezas and barrancas. But 
 this regiment of youngsters at his beck and call often 
 proved a nuisance ; for the girls and boys came and 
 went by turns, relieving each other from the interesting 
 task as inspired by their pleasure or the simple needs of 
 the household they belonged to, and just at the moment 
 when he most needed an assistant with a little dexterity 
 and experience, only a raw recruit would be on hand. 
 
 40
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 There to his proud horse Lancelot turned and smoothed 
 The glossy shoulder, humming to himself. 
 Half-envious of the flattering hand, she drew 
 Nearer and stood. He looked, and more amazed 
 Than if seven men had set upon him, saw 
 The maiden standing in the dewy light. 
 
 For silent, tho' he greeted her, she stood, 
 Rapt on his face, as if it were a God's. 
 
 Her face was near, and as we kiss the child 
 That does the task assign'd, he kiss'd her face. 
 
 ELAINE. 
 
 THERE was one child however whose curiosity was 
 less demonstrative than that of the others, and who, the 
 Scientist thought, avoided him ; for she had not offered 
 him her services, and was not among those who impaled 
 the insects in misapplied zeal. Busying herself in the 
 care of her young brothers, tending the cattle, or pass- 
 ing him swiftly and silently on her errands about the 
 village, the Scientist would have ignored her existence 
 had not her graceful carriage attracted him, and the 
 sweetness of her expression aroused his interest. 
 
 On the day when the children returned with the 
 tortured trophies of their first beetle-hunt, she was 
 standing near the cactus hut leaning against the mes- 
 quite pole which supported the rude porch. She was 
 
 41
 
 occupied stripping ee-hooks and rolling the shreds into 
 well-secured rings from which they could be easily drawn 
 for basket-weaving. From beneath her long lashes she 
 cast a glance from time to time upon the stranger, as 
 he carefully demonstrated to the excited volunteers 
 the proper way to handle an insect. Her apparent 
 indifference piqued him ; and he asked one of the boys 
 who lingered longest, who she was, and thus learned 
 that her name was Ampharita, to which her people had 
 added the cognomen of " The Silent-one; " for though 
 
 MARTYNIA, PODS FOR HASKET MAKING. 
 
 fleet and diligent, she was never noisy, and hardly ever 
 spoke. 
 
 The Scientist further observed that she belonged to 
 a large family which inhabited a very tidy group of huts 
 near his own, and after he had watched the preparations 
 of food that went on in the divers kitchen-rings of the 
 neighborhood he decided that the one where her 
 mother and grandmother presided was by far the 
 most appetizing, and so made arrangements with the 
 women to tend his domicil and supply all his meals 
 for a small remuneration in cloth. 
 
 Ampharita was often sent by her relatives to replace 
 
 42
 
 them in waiting upon the stranger. Dextrous and 
 observant, she quickly learned to wait upon him better 
 than her elders. She kept the hut floor swept, and, 
 learning of his fondness for water, she saw that the 
 porous olla of drinking water was always full, and that 
 the big jars which stood about the hut to hold the 
 flower specimens and serve his ablutions were regularly 
 replenished. 
 
 One morning the Scientist decided to remain at home 
 to assort and classify his rapidly increasing collection. 
 After Ampharita had brought him his breakfast and 
 cleared up the hut, she disappeared, and as he sat 
 at work in the porch all day long he heard her people 
 calling for her in vain. His curiosity had become 
 aroused, when at mid-day the grandmother brought his 
 food. The ollas stood empty, and no one fetched him 
 more water, the sun was setting, and still the child was 
 absent. The hut was littered with scientific parapher- 
 nalia, and bits of dried plants floated about everywhere ; 
 his throat was parched, and he began to realize that this 
 Silent-one had become an element in his well-being. 
 
 o 
 
 Then he heard her name repeated in various keys and 
 with an unmistakable accent of surprise. 
 
 Looking up, he saw her coming down the irregular 
 street between the huts, her smiling face shaded by the 
 fresh grasses which covered the kee-ho. The women 
 seated at work before their huts called to her, and 
 sought to detain her ; but she advanced steadily to 
 where the Scientist stood. 
 
 Slipping the straw band from her forehead, she slid 
 the heavy basket from her back and leaned it against 
 the cactus wattles, and, lifting off the leafy covering, she 
 raised a few calla leaves and exposed to view a collec- 
 
 43
 
 HE SAW HER COMING DOWN THE IRREGULAR STREET. 
 
 44
 
 tion of flowering mountain plants, fresh as when she 
 had culled them hours before in their native barranca. 
 One by one, the Scientist lifted out the flowering speci- 
 mens, not a blossom had been crushed or mutilated, 
 and before he had emptied the hod he realized that the 
 intelligent assistance of the silent girl would be worth 
 more to him in collecting than that of any of tlu other 
 children. 
 
 Her mother called, and she sped away before he had 
 a chance to thank her ; but on entering the hut he 
 noticed that she had paused long enough to pick up 
 an olla. She returned presently with it freshly filled, 
 brushed up the refuse, set aside the instruments, and 
 fetched his supper. When she had placed this before 
 him, she was about to depart, but he caught hold of a 
 fold of her drapery. 
 
 " Ampharita, wild shy bird that you are, will you not 
 give me a chance to thank you, and tell you how 
 pleased I am? You have worked for me to-day, not 
 only with will, but with intelligence. You are a brave 
 girl, and I shall tell your mother how clever and helpful 
 you are." 
 
 The girl said nothing, and gently detached his fingers 
 from her drapery ; but in the gloaming an exquisite smile 
 lit up her dusky countenance. 
 
 Its charm lingered while she finished her work ; and 
 as he watched her closely it dawned upon him that 
 hers was the sweetest face he had seen since leaving 
 El Paso. 
 
 She was not robust enough to carry off the palm 
 in the opinion of her dusky countrymen, but her every 
 movement was replete with archaic grace. Her thick 
 hair, though coarse, was long and glossy as a gypsy's ; 
 
 45
 
 and as he had spoken to her and looked into her eyes, 
 they had pleaded eloquently for confidence and kind 
 treatment. Her limbs were slight as those of the other 
 children of her race, but smoother and more shapely. 
 The indigo-colored blanket which formed her sole 
 garment was edged with a brilliant stripe, and caught 
 together over one shoulder by a rude ornament. A 
 parti-colored girdle elaborated with fantastic designs 
 was wound about her waist, confining the blanket so 
 that it fell in heavy symmetrical folds to the knee, 
 modestly draping her lower limbs, while her neck and 
 arms and budding bosom rose out of the dark woollen 
 stuff, as naturally as does the calyx above the unfolded 
 petals of a flower. 
 
 Indeed, as the Scientist came to be more with her, he 
 observed that Ampharita had something of the native 
 flora about her whole person, and resembled an embodi- 
 ment of all the graces of plant-life. Her dusky skin had 
 borrowed its color from the rich and fertile earth and 
 was as satiny as the bark of the famed mulato-tree. 
 In walking she swayed as do its branches in the breeze,, 
 or danced along as gracefully as do the brown colum- 
 bines upon their slender stalks, or the big golden 
 blossoms of the bottle yuccas, sending out waves of 
 perfume in answer to the touch of the current of air that 
 draws through the barrancas, seeking to carry them with 
 it as an offering to the naiads of the stream. 
 
 When Ampharita ran, her movements were those of 
 a tempest-racked field of maize, or a grassy meza after 
 the rainy season, gracefully undulating, even in their 
 wildest tossings. Nor did she prove, on closer acquain- 
 tance, much more talkative than a plant. She was obe- 
 dient, sympathetic, tireless ; but she would not talk,. 
 
 46
 
 although, when necessary, she delivered a message with 
 great exactness, the few words, well-chosen, well-pro- 
 nounced, being uttered in a voice so soft and modu- 
 lated that it resembled the rustle of the mesquite leaves, 
 when a flight of vagrant titmice alight upon a bough 
 that sways back and forth, and murmurs a protestation 
 against the inquisitive visitants. Ampharita's tacitur- 
 nity, however, bore no trace of moroseness. Her smile 
 was luminous, her expression always cheerful. 
 
 Egotism had no part in her composition. She was 
 keenly sensitive to the moods of others, and her emo- 
 tions responded to her sympathies as naturally as the 
 notes of an yEolian harp answer Nature's breath ; if her 
 tears were as ready as her smiles, they were without bitter- 
 ness, and hung upon her long lashes, or glistened upon 
 her dark cheek, with the enchanting grace of the dew- 
 drops which the Scientist surprised upon the lustrous 
 blossoms of the deep barrancas. 
 
 He admired these luxurious growths in her company, 
 for Ampharita soon became his invaluable assistant, and 
 he made arrangements with her parents to have her at 
 his disposal, not only as care-taker, but as guide, hav- 
 ing found that she knew more of the topography of the 
 neighborhood, its flowers, fauna, and insect life, than 
 any one else in the settlement. 
 
 Of course, her knowledge was only that of a keen 
 observer and lover of Nature, but it was none the less 
 accurate ; for her fondness for solitude had led her away 
 from her rough companions to seek playmates among 
 Nature's gentler creatures. Whether as guide, leading 
 him on arduous expeditions up the mountain sides, or 
 when seeking for unknown growths on the mezas, or in 
 the barrancas, he found her never at fault. On the days 
 
 47
 
 of analytical study, when he remained within the hut to 
 classify the unknown plants and insects which they had 
 brought back to the pueblo, her deft fingers rendered 
 him a thousand services. Their touch was as that of a 
 fairy. They left the pollen intact upon the stamen, the 
 velvet on the most delicate butterfly's wing. 
 Nature herself seemed to have taught Am- 
 pharita the quality of her creations. She 
 quickly learned to recognize the differ- 
 ences and families of plants and insects, 
 and assort them with ease, materially ex- 
 pediting the work of classification. It 
 required but a sign for her to grasp his 
 thoughts and fetch what he wanted ; a 
 hint, and she unmounted and stowed away 
 the instruments, and led him to the home 
 of a rare flower, the favorite haunt 
 of a bird or insect, the lair of shy 
 beasts and stranger reptiles. 
 
 By means of a trick of her own, 
 she allured the silly moths and 
 lumbering beetles which fluttered about her, or settled 
 upon her outstretched palm as fearlessly as if the girl 
 had been a stalk of honeyed cactus blossoms. Am- 
 pharita fondled them, and let them go again, save 
 when the Scientist claimed them as specimens ; and 
 then she turned away, distressed, and hid her face as 
 he dropped them into the poisoned, wide-mouthed jar, 
 and they struggled helplessly for pure air. 
 
 When Ampharita noticed that it pleased the Scientist, 
 she decorated his hut with fresh and varied flowers. 
 When he told her about a new way of preparing some 
 edible plant, she cooked it again and again, until he 
 
 48 ' 
 
 NATURE'S FINS.
 
 pronounced its preparation a success. Mindful of his 
 every wish, she washed his linen, provided him with 
 soap-root, and moved the olla of drinking water until 
 she found the place where the draught would keep it 
 coolest. She brushed away the flies, and hung up mats 
 and aromatic boughs in his porch, that he might study 
 and rest undisturbed by the sun or insects. 
 
 " Is she a culprit fay, or a peri banished to expiate in 
 these squalid surroundings a neglected duty? " he mused 
 one evening, as he smoked in the moonlight. " She is 
 cleaner, tidier, more intelligent than any one I thought 
 it possible to meet with in these wilds. A little instruc- 
 tion and a few more clothes would make her an excel- 
 lent servant. If taught to read and properly trained, 
 she would be of immense use in a laboratory of our 
 museum. What luck to have found so useful a creature 
 ready to serve me," he thought, and decided to give the 
 boys each a little present, and get rid of their officious 
 services. He knew they would still bring him what 
 they found, in the hope of gain, but he had made up 
 his mind that the only way to work systematically was 
 to make use of but one and ever the same assistant, and 
 Ampharita seemed created to serve his purpose. 
 
 As time went on he grew fond of his silent compan- 
 ion. He looked upon her as an ingenious toy, a win- 
 some child, full of exquisite possibilities and delicious 
 surprises. By nature he was gregarious, a born leader 
 and expounder. He required some one to talk to, and 
 found her an appreciative and sympathetic pupil, with a 
 phenomenal memory which often put him to the blush. 
 
 When there was nothing to teach, he beguiled many 
 a homesick hour while resting from his arduous studies, 
 or on a long and tedious walk, by describing to her 
 4 49
 
 his birthplace across the bitter blue water beyond the 
 warm yellow waters, as the Pimas called the Gulf of 
 Mexico, which was familiar to them through the tales 
 of the medicine men and hikori hunters. He discoursed 
 tor hours about the teeming life in the cities of the civil- 
 ized world which lay far beyond the mezas and the 
 forests to the north and south, and of the Old World 
 where the sun rose at midnight, and aroused the rich 
 and poor to work or pleasure or pain in the great father- 
 land of the white man. He told her about the schooling 
 of the European children, and the amusements that at- 
 tract educated men and women. He sometimes took as 
 his theme music as it is known to the cultured, and 
 Ampharita, enthralled hearkened to his strong tenor 
 voice as he sang for her a stirring patriotic air, or re- 
 peated the catches of some popular opera. 
 
 He described to her the museums, with their great 
 crystal walls, behind which are stored strange stones, 
 and thousands upon thousands of dried birds, beasts, and 
 insects, from every region under the sun. But Ampha- 
 rita found far more wonderful the accounts he gave of 
 the customs and numberless accessories of every day 
 civilized life, the furniture, cooking utensils, toilet 
 articles, and varied wardrobes, hats, parasols, and or- 
 naments of the white women, the artificial food for 
 babies, the wonderful image toys and picture-books of 
 the children. 
 
 She would ask him over and over again about the 
 hospitals. The idea of the darkness, the whiteness, the 
 order, the obliteration of impurity, the painless healing 
 of wounds, awed and fascinated her. The description of 
 the churches was very grand, but left her somewhat cold, 
 for she did not like the idea of the roof, the emblazoned 
 
 50
 
 walls and stained glass windows, which she said must 
 shut out the breath of God. 
 
 A remark, a few idle words of his, would give her in- 
 exhaustible food for meditation, and she would dream 
 all day, trying to grasp the stupendous suggestion con- 
 tained in such an assertion as : " We have especial 
 homes for poor children who have lost their parents. 
 Many of them, wider and higher than this barranca, and 
 filled with more babies than there are men, women, and 
 children in your whole tribe." 
 
 Fond as he was of talking, the Scientist would often 
 grow tired long before Ampharita was satisfied. From 
 time to time she uttered an ejaculation to encourage 
 him if she found his tongue lagged. If he paused for 
 breath, she pleaded with sweet insistence to hear more, 
 and pressed him for fresh descriptions of home life ; 
 for to her all the commonplace things were as the 
 tales of adventures among fairies, hobgoblins, talking- 
 birds, enchanted beasts, and aborigines are to white 
 children. 
 
 The more Ampharita heard about the world as white 
 women know it, the more her wonder grew, and at last 
 it gave birth to an intense yearning actually to behold 
 some of the marvels with which she had become familiar 
 by hearsay. 
 
 She seized the opportunity to mention her desire one 
 day, as they rested beneath a beetling sandstone crag at 
 the entrance to an especially fertile barranca. The 
 Scientist sat opposite toying with a flower, and the calm 
 beauty of the secluded dell gave the girl strength and 
 courage to express her thoughts. 
 
 " My master," she said, but the water rushed singing 
 and laughing so noisily down the defile below them that 
 
 51
 
 the man did not hear her soft voice. She looked about 
 her as though for counsel from dumb Nature. 
 
 The walls that rose on every side were hung with 
 rank, spray-spangled verdure ; for, as the descent was 
 complicated and perilous, the larger animals shunned it, 
 and the Indian hunters but seldom entered it, so that it 
 was unmarred by the hand of man. For a scientist and 
 nature lover, it was, therefore, a paradise, with virgin 
 growth untorn and untrampled, its fair beauty veiled by 
 soft mists which caused the vegetable and insect life to 
 expand in wild luxuriance, while the intoxicating wealth 
 of perfume and color attracted every variety of epi- 
 curean trogon and dainty bird which made their home 
 beneath its sun-powdered foliage. 
 
 The Scientist had fallen into a meditative mood, and 
 was sitting oblivious of his surroundings, as he pictured 
 to himself his white-haired mother and dignified sisters 
 beneath the spreading lime-trees on the terrace of the 
 ancestral home. 
 
 "My master," said Ampharita again, a little louder; 
 but she received no answer. 
 
 She touched him with a soft caressing movement, 
 full of shy confidence, the better to attract his attention. 
 
 " My master," she repeated, as he looked up sur- 
 prised, " does the water sing so loud to-day that you 
 cannot hear my voice? I spoke twice ! Will you prom- 
 ise me something, dear master," she pleaded, as he 
 looked at her more kindly ; " won't you please take me 
 across the warm, yellow waters, and the big blue ones, 
 to the other end of the world, where the sun shines while 
 we sleep, and show me the wonders of the white man's 
 birthplace? " 
 
 "Why not?" said the young man, smiling. at her 
 
 52
 
 quaint choice of words. " But do you really want to go 
 so far from the pueblo, little one? Are you not afraid 
 of the unknown?" 
 
 " You were unknown a few moons ago," she answered. 
 
 He smiled and said nothing to this. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I do so want to go," she continued, folding 
 her hands prayerfully. " Take me, oh, take me with you, 
 my master ! I must see it all myself; when I have 
 understood it, I will come back to teach my people the 
 uses of the treasures God has placed within their reach, 
 and the working of the wonders you seem to think so 
 natural, even as you have shown them some things." 
 
 " You would be a little Moses to the Pimas," laughed 
 the man, as he noticed the dreamy light in her eyes. 
 " You would lead your people out of the Egyptian 
 darkness, eh?" 
 
 Ampharita looked puzzled, and, seeing his smile had 
 taken on a certain roguishness, she blushed with the first 
 consciousness that her ignorance might make her appear 
 ridiculous, and two tears gathered upon her long lashes. 
 
 " You have misunderstood me. Never mind, little 
 wild one," said the young man, seeking to reassure her, 
 " when you have been six months in the white man's 
 land all will be clear to you." 
 
 " Then you promise ! " she exclaimed, her momentary 
 embarrassment forgotten in joyful anticipation of seeing 
 her most cherished dream realized. 
 
 " Yes, I promise," he repeated, soothingly, as he arose, 
 and, pointing to the kce-ho, continued on his way, while 
 Ampharita, kneeling, slipped the strap about her head, 
 and followed him down to the water's edge. 
 
 In half an hour a new variety of beetle had caused 
 the Scientist to forget his promise. Not so the Indian 
 
 53
 
 girl. To her his words had opened the gates of a para- 
 dise of speculation where she roamed at will. She 
 dreamed the nights away amid the entrancing scenes he 
 described in answer to her questions. 
 
 She had evolved a system of her own in dealing with 
 her master, and by pertinent, well-ordered questions 
 learned much of the land of promise. Her imagination 
 clothed what she had heard in trappings of her own 
 devising, and her heart lived in the fantastically gor- 
 geous future she had evolved. 
 
 A FAMILY FETICH. 
 
 For hours she sat motionless in the shadow of the 
 kitchen-ring or the white man's porch awaiting his 
 orders ; but the patience which he extolled was no 
 patience, for the time flew by in the sweetest dream-life. 
 Entranced by the prospect of her future, her ears some- 
 times remained closed even to his voice, and, thinking 
 that she had succumbed to the heat or fatigue, he smil- 
 ingly performed the errand himself. 
 
 Meanwhile the seasons did not lag, and at last a day 
 
 54
 
 came on which the Scientist decided that he had studied 
 all the specialties of the neighborhood, and it was 
 time to move forward in pursuit of a fresh field for 
 exploration. 
 
 He had developed a certain amount of kindly affec- 
 tion for the whole hospitable tribe, whose members had 
 vied with each other in seeking to make his stay among 
 them pleasant, and he felt regret that the time was ap- 
 proaching when he should bid them good-by. At the 
 thought of Ampharita he grew very grave, and for the 
 first time felt that he should not have shown so marked 
 a partiality for her society, nor so accustomed himself to 
 her unobtrusive presence and delicate attentions. 
 
 It would take some time to pack his belongings and 
 prepare for his departure, and, as he was averse to sad 
 faces, he decided not to announce his decision until 
 everything was ready for the start. 
 
 His ponies, thanks to the care of Ampharita, were in 
 excellent condition, so there was no excuse for delay, 
 and he began to unmount and clean his instruments. 
 Ampharita had often helped him do this as well as to as- 
 sort his notes and pack away his specimens, so she found 
 nothing unusual in his conduct. During one of her 
 spells of dreaminess he corded up the boxes and dis- 
 posed everything in readiness for his departure, and 
 managed matters in such a way that she did not again 
 enter the cactus hut. 
 
 At dawn the following morning, while the maiden was 
 busy with her mother at the cooking-ring, he sallied 
 forth to visit the Chief, and express to him his thanks 
 for the unvarying kindness he had met with during his 
 sojourn in the midst of the tribe. He made a present of 
 a pistol to him in token of gratitude, and received in re- 
 
 55
 
 turn a valuable personal charm consisting of a basket 
 containing rags and feathers of great antiquity, which 
 the Chief was persuaded would protect him against every 
 danger. 
 
 He was going to take his departure, but to have said 
 so would have been a mortal offence. The Scientist 
 therefore explained to his host, with the ceremoniousness 
 customary among the Indians, that he felt that it was 
 time for him to " continue his walk." 
 
 Kis host bowed gravely, and said, " Continue your 
 walk," which among the Pimas takes the place of the 
 old scriptural phrase, " Go in peace." Then the Chief 
 arose, and re-entering his adobe house, shut the door 
 of saccaton grass, and the Scientist realized that the 
 audience was over. 
 
 Later, as he walked about the village, with a parting 
 word and gift for all who had assisted him, he observed that 
 the Chief came out beneath the front shed, constructed 
 out of mesquite poles, cactus beams, and heaped-up 
 grass, which formed his porch, and seated himself there 
 to watch the proceedings, at which the other members of 
 the tribe followed his example, while the small boys ran 
 about after stray animals, and whooped and hallooed as 
 white boys are wont to do when excited. He ap- 
 proached the cooking-ring, and ate a hasty meal. Then, 
 sending off Ampharita and her father to fetch the ponies, 
 he paid her mother, and bade the rest of the family good- 
 by. Even the small boys smiled upon and thanked 
 him for the pretty gew-gaws that he gave them to re- 
 member him by, and he had a kind word of leave-taking 
 for each, which filled up the time until Ampharita and 
 her father led the saddled ponies into the open space 
 in the centre of the pueblo. 
 
 56
 
 The sun had risen high above the horizon. He vis- 
 ited the cactus hut for the last time to see that nothing 
 had been forgotten. Ampharita held the bridle of his 
 riding pony, while her father tightened the cords that 
 bound the sack and load upon the pack-horse. The 
 Scientist took the reins out of the girl's passive hand, 
 and looked once more upon the band of gaping urchins 
 and the wide, ceremonious circle of the great men and 
 
 A GORRITA WEAVER AND A KEE-HO CARRIER. 
 
 their families seated before their thresholds. He vaulted 
 into the saddle ; the pony started, eager to be off, but 
 the white man quieted him. 
 
 " Ampharita," said the; Scientist, in a low, tender voice, 
 " it is time to leave, the sun is very high." 
 
 The girl approached quite near to him, and placed 
 her right hand upon the high back of the Mexican sad- 
 dle. With one bound she could mount the horse behind 
 him ; but she awaited his invitation. 
 
 57
 
 Dropping the reins upon the animal's neck, the Sci- 
 entist fumbled at his shirt front. The pony turned its 
 head and looked at the young girl inquiringly, and 
 rubbed its nose in the palm of her hand. 
 
 She did not notice the animal ; she had eyes for the 
 white man alone. At last the Scientist found what he 
 wanted, and drew forth a golden chain to which hung a 
 cross of the same metal. He gazed at it a minute, and 
 performed the sign of the cross ere he kissed it rever- 
 ently, took it from about his neck, and gathered it into 
 his hand, where he held it while he spoke slowly to the 
 girl. 
 
 " Ampharita," he said, " all the others have had pres- 
 ents ; but you, my brave, clever assistant, deserve a 
 token more lovely than anything I had in my boxes. 
 I thought and thought, until the memory of how my 
 mother gave me this little cross when I was an inno- 
 cent child, to guard me from all ill, came to me, and I 
 said to myself I would not part from it for any one but 
 Ampharita ; but she must be protected, for she is young 
 and tender, while I am strong and can care for myself. 
 Here it is, child, hold it dearer than life for my sake. I 
 may come to ask about it some day, and you must then 
 show it to me ; meanwhile I shall think of you often, and 
 my heart will long for you, the sweetest blossom of the 
 Pimas." 
 
 He leaned forward and clasped the chain about the 
 girl's neck, while she stood like a statue, her whole soul 
 in her eyes. 
 
 With the last tender words, which he had meant as 
 those of parting, he had uttered the sentence used by the 
 Pimas as a declaration of love and offer of marriage. 
 He had spoken low, and none but the girl and her father 
 
 58
 
 had heard what he said ; but the Indian watched curi- 
 ously to see what would follow. Surely Ampharita 
 would not accept the stranger ; but before her lips parted 
 the Scientist did a very natural thing. He stooped and 
 kissed the girl on either dusky cheek, and in the eyes of 
 the Indian father and those of the whole onlooking vil- 
 lage this was a sign of appropriation, for kisses are 
 reserved for their offspring and their wives by the men 
 of the Sierra Madre. 
 
 The boys nudged each other. There was a percepti- 
 ble rustle in the shade of the porches, audible from end 
 to end of the pueblo. 
 
 STILL AMPHARITA DID NOT MOVE. 
 
 Still Ampharita did not move. The Scientist placed 
 his hand beneath her chin, and looked once again into 
 the deep, luminous eyes ; then, with a push, which was 
 rendered brusque by the sudden upflaring of an emotion 
 he desired to hide, he pulled his hat down over his eyes, 
 
 59
 
 and, giving spur to his pony, galloped rapidly out of the 
 village with the pack-horse following after. 
 
 From beneath the hurrying hoofs of the fresh steeds a 
 cloud of rosy dust was thrown high into the air, veiling 
 the departing traveller, so that when he turned in his 
 saddle he could see nothing of the pueblo. 
 
 Long after his powerful form had disappeared from 
 her mortal eyes, however, Ampharita stood immovable, 
 following him in spirit ; while the Indians beneath their 
 porches watched the eddies of dust which, blown up- 
 wards by the current of air, twirled high against the sky, 
 and indicated his position, as did the cloud which fol- 
 lowed the Israelites across the desert. 
 
 PERSONAL FETICH. 
 
 60
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " So ye will grace me," answered Lancelot, 
 Smiling a moment, " with your fellowship 
 O'er these waste downs whereon I lost myself, 
 Then were I glad of you as guide and friend." 
 
 ELAINE. 
 
 THE projected journey of the Scientist was to be a 
 long one, and as he wished to keep up his ponies' 
 strength, he decided to pass the first night at a solitary 
 Mexican ranch a good distance to the east of the Pima 
 pueblo, where he learned that excellent accommodation 
 could be procured for man and beast. 
 
 The ponies jogged along lazily enough after the sun 
 had somewhat wilted their ardor ; and he had nothing to 
 do but keep to the beaten track and let the animals suit 
 themselves with regard to gait.. He feft unpleasantly 
 sensitive to the discomforts of the tropical heat. The 
 blazing sun, the burning sands, the insects, and the 
 choking dust irritated him intensely. His tongue was 
 parched, and his eyes smarted. He found that his 
 pony's gait had roughened since his last ride. Little 
 things he did not usually notice teased him beyond en- 
 durance, and he slapped and swore himself into a fever 
 over the horse-flies which settled upon his neck and 
 hands. 
 
 61
 
 What really irritated him was the tearless silence of 
 Ampharita. 
 
 " How stolid are the best of these Indians," he mused. 
 " They appear gentle, hospitable, intelligent, friendly, 
 aye, devoted. Here I have been worrying for days in 
 advance about the effect of my departure upon the In- 
 dian girl. Why, I actually lost my self-control at the 
 critical moment, while she, who had seemed to live and 
 breathe in subservience to my every whim, and who 
 shed tears over the immolation of a roach or scorpion, 
 looked on dry-eyed, and her emotionless 
 features remained impassive while I 
 poured all those tender parting words 
 into her ears, and presented to her that 
 THREE VARIE- cross which had been my dearest treas- 
 TIES OF OLLA ure s j nce childhood. I would have picked 
 Ampharita out of a thousand as an ex- 
 ample of a girl with too much sensibility ; but to-day 
 she gave ocular demonstration to the contrary. No 
 wonder she said there was no word for what we call 
 ' love ' among the Indians ; they do not know the emo- 
 tion. Bah ! It is better so, and what a fool I have been 
 to think twice of this parting. Women are even worse 
 than men : playthings or blue-stockings, they are at 
 best passionless prolific organisms, with fine clothes and 
 more or less soft voices and alluring manners. Science 
 has profited by Ampharita's services, and she made me 
 as comfortable as she knew how while I lived among 
 her people. I should give her due credit for that ; and 
 it was only proper that I should pay her well for it. But 
 I wish I had thought of something else; she is unworthy 
 of my mother's cross. I wonder what the dear old mother 
 will say when I return home and cannot show her the 
 
 62
 
 trinket. I should never have given it away. Ah, well, 
 I cannot get it back now; but I feel we are more than 
 quits, and I will think no more of the soft-voiced Indian 
 girl." 
 
 Still over and over like the sharp clatter of an inter- 
 fering horse-hoof, or the persistent attention of the 
 gad-flies, memories of Ampharita intruded themselves 
 instead of the subjects he had planned to think out, and 
 compelled him to argue, over and over, against his disap- 
 pointment, and invent strange and improbable solutions 
 which he no sooner discovered than rejected, until, chafed 
 and fretted in body and spirit, he found the long, hot 
 ride longer and hotter than any he had ever undertaken. 
 
 At sunset, weary and demoralized, he arrived in sight 
 of his temporary destination; and he hailed its shabby 
 adobe walls as an agreeable termination to his exhaust- 
 ing speculations and unpleasant ride. 
 
 The gates of the patio seemed stretched wide on pur- 
 pose to welcome him ; but yet he entered and dismounted 
 without any alacrity, and he bespoke a night's lodging 
 in almost surly accents. He did not know the people, 
 nor care what they thought of him. It was no use 
 taking trouble to be pleasant with Indians or Mexi- 
 cans ; they were all alike treacherous and heartless. He 
 was short and sharp to the paeons in giving the neces- 
 sary directions about the disposal of his ponies and 
 impediments. 
 
 When the Ranchero's wife asked what he would have 
 for supper, he growled, " Whatever there is ; " and when, 
 with many compliments, she served up the elaborate 
 meal she had prepared for him with great pains, he did 
 not even thank her, but began to eat in stolid silence. 
 
 " Faugh ! " he thought, with a grimace, " how bad 
 
 63
 
 this food is, soaked in rancid grease and stiffened into 
 a paste with red pepper. The Pimas prepared their 
 dishes of maize and game with epicurean discrimination 
 as compared with these messings of this half-bred crea- 
 ture. The touch of civilization spoils the savage ; and 
 this woman is not worthy to hold the basket for an In- 
 dian to roll her dough in. How hot and close these 
 mud walls make the place ! They exclude the evening 
 breezes while encasing every unimaginable scent In 
 this God-forsaken land, so far from the mountains, I 
 suppose it never rains, and there is no hope of a shower 
 to cool and purify the air. I am burning up, I have 
 not been so hot in months, I must have fever ! 
 Surely with my experience I should be hardened to 
 every discomfort, and yet to-night my head feels as 
 though the sun had fried my brain, as that ill-omened 
 jail-bird Jim prophesied at the start. Good God ! I am 
 going to have an illness ! Why did n't it come on while 
 I was in the salubrious air of the Sierra Madre, with the 
 whole tribe of those good-natured Pimas to run errands 
 for me. To lie down in one of these gloomy dungeon- 
 like rooms for a week would drive me mad, and to have 
 that noisy, slatternly woman buzzing around as sick 
 nurse would kill me outright before I got a chance to 
 summon one of the Pimas. All my medicines are 
 packed at the bottom of my specimen cases ; I tossed 
 everything in so hurriedly at the last I don't even know 
 where I put the quinine. Who would have thought that 
 after six months without a finger ache, the very first 
 night I start off again I should feel like this? The 
 woman assures me the canvas cot in the guest room is 
 new ; that will be clean in any case, so the best I can 
 do is to turn in. A civilized bed, even if it is without 
 
 64
 
 springs, will be quite a luxury after all the nights 1 
 have spent on a sand bank or a mat-covered heap of 
 saccaton." 
 
 The Scientist forthwith retired to the bare, windowless 
 guest-chamber, and, undressing, rolled his coat into a 
 pillow and threw 
 himself on the 
 stretched canvas. 
 He fell asleep with- 
 out looking at his 
 watch ; the sun had 
 not set over an hour, but dark- 
 ness fell early within the ranch, 
 and it seemed to him already 
 late. 
 
 As he slept, he dreamed of 
 Ampharita for the first time SUMMONDSIA CALIFORNIA - 
 in his life. He saw her stand- THE QUININE PLANT. 
 ing beside his horse as at the 
 
 moment of parting. Again he hung the golden chain 
 about her throat, but the dream cross was jewelled, 
 and gleamed with the violet glow of the amethyst. He 
 kissed her velvety cheek, and the salute was greeted 
 by a tattoo upon a score of dance-drums. The girl 
 flung her arms around his neck, and swung herself upon 
 the horse behind him. The noise continued and grew 
 in magnitude. The Indian girl seemed to fly higher up, 
 up far over his head, borne aloft on a ray of light until 
 she disappeared entirely, and the ray descended to earth 
 again and glowed in the darkness. 
 
 Then he distinctly heard a man's voice calling him, 
 41 Caballero, Caballero, I say, wake up ! there is some one 
 out here who wants to speak to you." 
 5 6 5
 
 " What has happened ? who 's there ? what do 
 you want? " - called out the Scientist, opening his eyes 
 and observing that the ray of brilliant light with which 
 his dream had closed still played upon the floor of 
 his room, which it penetrated through a chink in the 
 door-way. 
 
 " There is a messenger out here from the Pimas who 
 will not rest without speaking to you. The matter 
 seems to be very pressing." 
 
 " Not at this time of night," called out the Scientist. 
 
 " The messenger arrived only half an hour after you 
 had retired, she was covered with dust and sweat. My 
 wife looked after her, and begged her to rest until 
 to-morrow ; but she wept so piteously when she learned 
 that the Caballero had barred himself in his room, and 
 left orders that he should not be awakened until he 
 chose to arouse himself, that I consented to disturb you, 
 or I think the women-folk would have done it instead." 
 
 " Let her wait till morning," growled the Scientist. 
 " I feel ill ; say I have fever. I will not get up in 
 answer to such childishness." And he tried again to 
 go to sleep. But he could hear a whispered altercation 
 going on without the door, and again and again the ray 
 of light was cut off or glowed as though figures were 
 passing to and fro between its source and the entrance 
 to his room. 
 
 Presently the Ranchero knocked again. This time 
 more gently. " Caballero," he said, " are you awake? " 
 
 " Naturally I am, since you awakened me," called out 
 the Scientist. 
 
 "Then listen; the messenger must see you. She 
 begs to be allowed to slip in at the door and watch over 
 you, Caballero. She will nurse you and take away the 
 
 66
 
 fever. She seems half distraught to reach you. I tried 
 to open the door from the outside ; but you have barred 
 it from within too securely. I dare not retire to sleep 
 and leave her by herself for fear some harm may befall 
 her. Indeed her message must be urgent, or she would 
 not insist so, for she seemed the most timid and gentle 
 of creatures when she arrived, though she grows 
 strangely excited when I seek to pacify her and take 
 her away. Oh, Caballero, please let her see you for one 
 moment." 
 
 The Scientist growled, " For Dios, are you all mad? 
 Be off to sleep. You have had too much teswin." 
 
 The noise without his door ceased, and the light 
 streamed steadily through the crack. It made the 
 objects in his room half visible, and his eyes refused to 
 close. He hated any light in his room at night, and 
 the irritation he felt at being aroused from his first 
 sleep caused his skin to prickle. He would have liked to 
 have pommelled the Ranchero and the messenger, had 
 they been within his grasp. No matter how good were 
 their intentions, they had behaved unkindly in arousing 
 him, more unkindly than they could devise ; for, in arous- 
 ing him, the Ranchero had awakened the demon of 
 curiosity. It seemed to gnaw his nerves and hammer 
 at his brain, suggesting reason after reason for the un- 
 timely visit and persistence of the messenger. Presently 
 he thought he heard some one sobbing without his door. 
 
 Could a serious accident have happened after he left 
 the pueblo which had led the Chief to send an Indian 
 after him? Why should the messenger be in such haste 
 to see him? Perhaps the illness of some prominent 
 man, or, what was more probable, he had perchance for- 
 gotten a bit of cotton or a knife by which they thought 
 
 67
 
 he set great store. Some one might have been wounded ; 
 for he remembered a fishing expedition had started into 
 the Sierra, which the Chief had been too aged to accom- 
 pany, and ordered to be undertaken under the leader- 
 ship of his son, who was young and had but little 
 experience in dealing with the treacherous pala de 
 flecha. What a fool the Ranchero was, not to have 
 found out the cause of the messenger's persistence and 
 called it through the door. He could then have decided 
 easily enough whether he should rise to see the mes- 
 senger, or the errand could wait till morning. 
 
 Meanwhile the sobs continued, and, curiosity overcom- 
 ing laziness, the Scientist arose and wrapped his blanket 
 around him. The ray of golden light showed him the 
 way to the door. As he approached it, the sound of 
 sobbing became more distinct, although when he lifted 
 the heavy bar out of its socket and pulled back the 
 rough board panel, which creaked discordantly upon its 
 ungainly hinges, the court-yard became still. He peered 
 out into the patio, determined to rate the delinquent 
 who had not only refused to go to bed, but robbed him 
 of his own rest. 
 
 The lantern common to every Mexican cloister swung 
 like a pendulum upon its chain, so that the shadows 
 beneath the arches crept about like living things. The 
 warm glow illumined a slight figure muffled in a rebozo, 
 which had started forward at the sound of the opening 
 door. 
 
 " Who are you who dare to disturb me? " 
 
 Casting off her scarf, a girl dropped upon one knee, 
 and raising her hand held up a tiny object that sparkled 
 in the lamplight which fell full upon her weary, tearful 
 face. 
 
 68
 
 A MESSENGER FROM THE PJMAS.
 
 The Scientist recognized Ampharita, the slight Indian 
 girl he had left behind, not the bright, idealized 
 Ampharita of his dream. She held out the cross as 
 though to secure indulgence thereby in a way that 
 touched him, but he would not show it, and sought 
 to harden his heart. 
 
 " My master," Ampharita murmured, timidly, " you 
 look so very angry. O pray forgive me, or I cannot 
 find any more words to explain." 
 
 " What, Ampharita ! " he exclaimed petulantly ; but 
 he came forth from his room. " What brought you 
 here at this hour? What will your parents say? Could 
 not one of the runners have come? Who was cruel 
 enough to send you so far? Why did you hasten so? 
 This morning you seemed loath to move a finger for my 
 sake; what aroused you afterwards?" 
 
 The girl did not answer. " Speak, I say," the white 
 man commanded. 
 
 " Forgive me, my master," she again pleaded, with 
 upraised hands. "The Ranchero said you had the 
 fever." 
 
 The Scientist saw that the rough tone which he had 
 never before used toward the child confused her, and 
 that if he would elicit a satisfactory answer, he must 
 assume his usual manner in addressing her. So, with an 
 effort, he controlled his irritation, and asked her gently : 
 "Ampharita, tell me, child, what ails you? Has some 
 one at the pueblo fallen ill?" 
 
 He could think of nothing but his reputation as a 
 leech that could have caused the girl to run so great 
 a distance to catch up with him, and to be in the sad 
 plight in which she knelt before him. If in truth she 
 had followed him, and insisted upon seeing him at that 
 
 70
 
 unreasonable hour, to call him back to save the life of 
 a human being he would forgive both her and the 
 Ranchero for their insistence. 
 
 Ampharita meanwhile somewhat regained her self- 
 control : 
 
 " Thank God, all are well at home," she said, timidly. 
 Then, as he began to frown again, she added hurriedly, 
 " But, O dear master, you forgot something when you 
 left us this morning." 
 
 " The child has always been 
 careful of my interest," he 
 thought, and all his rancor 
 vanished. " Poor little maid, 
 she has run thus far of her 
 own free-will to return to me 
 some paltry knife or screw, for 
 all the instruments were safely 
 stowed away. I saw to that. 
 Still, I may have overlooked, 
 possibly, a useful bit of an in- 
 strument, in my hurry to get 
 away, and whether what she brings is useful or worth- 
 less, she meant well just the same." So he added 
 aloud : 
 
 "What was it, Ampharita, that I forgot? show it to 
 me." 
 
 "Can you not see?" she exclaimed, clinging to the 
 little cross for inspiration. " Do you not remember? 
 O my master, you forgot me ! " 
 
 "You!" 
 
 " Yes, do you not remember how you promised that 
 day in the deep barrancas, that I should go with you 
 across the warm yellow waters and the big blue waters, 
 
 71 
 
 1 O MY MASTER, YOU 
 FORGOT ME ! "
 
 to learn to read and write and understand many mys- 
 teries? You said that, like the pale-faced maidens, I 
 should learn to make lines with a broom full of color, 
 that no one without a sense of smell would be able to 
 tell from flowers that come out of the ground and blos- 
 som on the growing things. If one tried, thereafter, to 
 take them off the white paper, one would find that they 
 were not really there, but only looked to be there, like 
 the water one sees but never reaches in travelling across 
 the desert. Oh, don't you remember?" she pleaded. 
 " You said that I was to learn to make them in cloth, 
 too. You said that though there is no smell in that 
 kind of flower, it is more real than the one marked upon 
 the paper, and one can wear it like a living flower ; but 
 it is stronger, and lasts a long, long time, for man has 
 fashioned it, so it is long-lived like the spirit of man, 
 and one can keep it always by one without its beauty 
 fading, and its petals shrivelling up into ugly, little dried 
 bundles as do the flowers of the barranca. When a 
 pale-faced girl wants to keep one of her wonder-flowers, 
 she can look at it whenever she will, and can touch and 
 fondle it, without seeing the dead petals dry up and 
 then crumble to dust upon her loving breast." 
 
 Ampharita paused and laid her folded hands upon 
 the blanket-covered side of her bosom, while even in 
 the lamplight the Scientist observed the color deepen 
 upon her dark cheek, and a wave of emotion cast its 
 spray into her eyes. 
 
 " Why did you not tell me all this before? " he queried. 
 
 " You never told me that you were planning to leave 
 the pueblo altogether," she answered, " I thought you 
 would let me know in time to make a bundle and take 
 leave of my parents. I have nothing much besides these 
 
 72
 
 clothes, and I could have fetched all I own in the space 
 of a long breath. This morning you surprised me as I 
 awaited your commands, by suddenly pushing me away, 
 and my heart sank so fast that I had no strength to run 
 or even call after you. See, at the thought of it the 
 breath leaves me again now," and she leaned back 
 against the column, struggling to regain her composure. 
 
 " Poor child," the Scientist exclaimed, " shall I get 
 you some water?" 
 
 " No, no, I am well again, am I not with you ? When 
 I could, I got up," she presently proceeded, " and fol- 
 lowed you, my master; and I came along as fast as I 
 knew how to, but you were already asleep when I 
 reached here. The ponies' legs are long and strong; 
 but my master did not retire so early when he slept 
 among the Pimas ! " 
 
 The Scientist understood the meaning in the girl's 
 quaint sentences. He had lived long enough among 
 the Indians to know that they consider the breath as 
 the true spirit of life. Had they not observed it on 
 frosty mornings issuing in a thick white cloud from the 
 mouths of both men and animals, and had it ever been 
 seen to veil the lips of the dead? Poor little Ampharita 
 had evidently fainted, and on coming to herself had 
 started up and run all the weary, dusty miles that 
 stretched between the pueblo and the ranch, in a brave 
 attempt to catch up with the ponies. The Scientist 
 understood just as clearly what the Indian girl expected 
 of him, and the effort he made to find an answer was as 
 severe as that made by the Indian maiden to construct 
 the long explanatory sentences. She had been forced 
 to stop frequently to search for the uncommon terms 
 expressive of the unusual ideas that she had imbibed, 
 
 73
 
 and, between physical exhaustion and nervous excite- 
 ment, she had indeed but little breath left at the close of 
 her story. 
 
 The Scientist had observed, too, that despite her 
 timidity, she was strong in her faith in him, and be- 
 lieved so entirely in his given word, that the thought of 
 his having intentionally repulsed and abandoned her 
 had never entered her mind. He had not a doubt as 
 to her capacity for profiting by instruction. Had she 
 not learned to assist him with ease and dexterity? Had 
 she not gleaned much more than he thought possible 
 from his idle descriptions of European life? He began 
 to realize that there is an unwritten code of moral obli- 
 gation toward the untutored as well as the powerful. A 
 forgotten law, yet every infringement of which has been 
 jealously avenged by fate in an upheaval of the ignorant 
 aimed against their indifferent but more prosperous 
 brothers. He felt that he, who believed in physical 
 equality, and the obligations entailed by culture, had 
 behaved like an unreasoning brute. Had he given a 
 promise to lead a hungry white man to an oasis, he 
 would have considered it binding. Was there any 
 greater justification for the breaking of a promise to an 
 Indian girl? He blushed furiously in answer to the 
 questionings of his own spirit, although none could hear 
 its irrefutable logic, none could divine his hidden prin- 
 ciples, and no one save Ampharita had heard his idle 
 promise in the barranca. Ah, that was lucky ! pleaded 
 his perspicacity. That would enable him to close his 
 heart against her pleading, and by some subterfuge 
 find a solution to the dilemma she had forced upon 
 him. 
 
 But just here, unfortunately, he looked up into the 
 
 74
 
 child's honest eyes, his perspicacity was routed, and he 
 could think of no vague and comforting answer. 
 
 Ampharita was weeping bitterly. A word from him 
 would console her ; yet he would not formulate that 
 word. To concede that he had promised would be to 
 yield. To deny it would be to lie. He could arrive at 
 no decision. The tables were turned ; it was the teacher 
 now who had no voice, no words, with which to answer 
 the pupil. He opened his mouth, intending to say 
 something like Poor little one, do not cry, everything 
 will come right; but he said, instead, "Yes, I remember 
 I promised, Ampharita." The words escaped him au- 
 tomatically ; he knew not how, and he would have given 
 much to recall them. 
 
 " Then it is settled ! " the girl exclaimed, joyfully, in 
 a burst of tears which fell like the sunlit shower that 
 refreshes all Nature after a parched and torrid day. 
 Then, drying her eyes and rising to her feet, she ap- 
 proached with extended hand, " Forgive my anxiety, 
 which made me childish. See, I am a woman now, and 
 will weep no more. How fortunate that I followed you ! 
 I am indeed glad God gave me strength to catch up 
 with you. I felt all the time that all that was needed 
 was for me to find the right words to remind you, and 
 I prayed so hard ! " 
 
 " No, we cannot settle so grave a question all in a 
 flash ! " the man protested, his perspicacity striving to 
 recover the ground that it had lost. " I am not going 
 across the big warm waters at present. I am going to 
 travel about a great deal amid the mountains and des- 
 erts of Mexico. I am going to visit that country of 
 which you have heard, where the awful mountains 
 smoke continually, and sometimes vomit fire, to the 
 
 75
 
 destruction of all that is within reach. Do you not 
 remember hearing about them? Think if you were 
 forced to approach so close to them as to feel the 
 ground tremble and heave beneath your feet? Yet I 
 am going even closer than that, to where the thickest 
 sandals will be scorched to dust, and the noise is often 
 so great that one can no longer hear the human voice. 
 But even that is not the worst of all. I am going, first, 
 right into the country of the children of the White Chief 
 of Chiefs, who are at war among themselves. The Chi- 
 huahuans are killing their brethren. Any moment I 
 may be taken prisoner ; and they would treat you rudely 
 despite all that I should say. Fancy, you might be 
 shot dead, or killed by a fearful accident, or carried 
 away, far away, from me a captive, alone at the mercy 
 of cruel men, when you had not been a week away from 
 the pueblo ! You had better let me go alone. Sup- 
 pose a snake should bite me as I press through the 
 brush, and I die of its poison, there would be no one to 
 look after you, and lead you to a place of safety. You 
 would die of hunger, or be devoured alive by the 
 coyotes ! Does none of this frighten you ? " he added, 
 in desperation, for she listened with an expression of 
 indifference. 
 
 " Where it is safe for you to go, it is safe for me to 
 follow," she answered. " Have you not said that I am 
 brave and strong beyond my years ? Have we not often 
 been together to places shunned by the young braves ; 
 and did I ever tremble or draw back? Where it is not 
 safe for most men to go, or suffering and danger awaits 
 you, I will be of help to you, and will use cunning tricks 
 to protect you if needs be. Ah, do not smile ! Even 
 an Indian girl can place herself between a man and 
 
 76
 
 POTTERY MAKERS. 
 
 77
 
 death, or if her body screen him not enough, she can 
 use the secrets of the Pimas to lure him back to health 
 and strength. 
 
 " And if death indeed strikes me beside you, or alone," 
 she continued, " what difference is there in the horror of 
 dying now, or after a few more rainy seasons, provided 
 one die doing rightly? We Indian girls see death's blight- 
 ing touch so often, we know all about it, even when we 
 are very little. Don't you know, if one is not afraid, 
 and does not struggle, the breath-spirit slips out quickly, 
 easily, as it does with babies and birds and beasts and the 
 very old that die naturally. Then the sun-spirit draws 
 them up towards heaven, just as it does the mist and the 
 frost, and while they sleep soundly the breath is gone. 
 Oh, yes, the messengers of death prowl about every- 
 where, just like the hungry coyote ; but, unless one 
 fights them, they need not be feared. They stop one 
 in the dance, or another while fetching water, digging 
 for roots, or potter's clay, hoeing the corn, or gathering 
 berries in the barrancas. They strike the ball-player as 
 he runs swiftly along the course, and he falls without 
 strength. They sometimes turn the arrows of the cruel 
 hunter against his dearest friend. Any moment I may 
 tread upon a scorpion or a snake, and it may spit death 
 into my blood, or a poisonous spirit of a wicked plant 
 may enter my flesh, and turn it into food for worms. 
 The messengers sit on the arrow and whisper to the 
 spirit in its head. A leaden ball can hurt no worse than 
 a pointed stone or a snake's tooth. The end will come 
 when my work is done. Remember, you promised I 
 could remain with you, O my master, even until the 
 end." 
 
 The Scientist had listened entranced by the low 
 
 78
 
 melody of the voice, the rhythmic cadence of the Indian 
 syllables as she slowly uttered for him her nature lore. 
 When she paused, he started. In his aesthetic delight 
 in the words, he had forgotten the theme of her argu- 
 ment ; and he felt his heart-strings tighten, and a lump 
 rise in his throat, making it impossible for him to 
 utter a sound. The girl had spoken like one who re- 
 peats a well-learned lesson, not with the accents of one 
 arguing from self-interest. As she waited, looking out 
 at the stars oblivious of his presence, a feeling of chilli- 
 ness overcame him and seemed to numb his vitality. 
 He drew his blanket closer about him, and, seating him- 
 self upon a bench, clasped his brow between his hands 
 and forced himself to think dispassionately upon the 
 situation. 
 
 Despite the generosity and impulsiveness of his nature 
 he felt it would be folly to take Ampharita to Europe. 
 It was natural that an aborigine could see no difficulty 
 in the way of his carrying an Indian girl with him 
 throughout the world. It was all very well for philoso- 
 phers to compare the devotion of these same aborigines 
 to white men with the faithfulness of a dog to its master, 
 or to extol the adoption or transplantation of natives as 
 the work of high-minded philanthropy. No one with 
 a grain of common-sense would accept such subter- 
 fuges ; his kindest friends would smile behind their 
 moustaches or fans according to their sex, and the pro- 
 fessors and their wives would wag their heads, even if 
 they did not actually say unkind things about Ampha- 
 rita. Only the most ignorant savage could for an instant 
 expect him to fulfil such an idiotic promise as that 
 extorted by her in the barranca ; yet how rationally had 
 the girl argued the case from her point of view ! Could 
 
 79
 
 he answer her half as logically? What a wonderful 
 command of language she had suddenly developed ! 
 Of course it was natural that she should strain her 
 powers to the uttermost to argue her point, when the 
 gaining of it meant undreamed-of opportunities. But 
 who would have ever for one instant imagined the 
 shy quiet maiden possessed of such conversational 
 powers, such richness of fancy? And if she was indeed 
 a ram avis, was he not bound to develop her faculties? 
 Would it not be possible to compromise matters, and 
 fulfil his troublesome promise, by shipping her to Europe, 
 and thus keep his word and satisfy the girl without 
 sacrificing his scientific work? If only a seaport were 
 near, how simple it would be ; but, alas ! even should 
 he defer his cherished plans, it would require weeks of 
 arduous travel to reach a point whence he could con- 
 fidently start her on a solitary voyage across the ocean 
 to his fatherland. Granted that he should carry her 
 away with him, and arrange for her education abroad, 
 how could she be happy amid the thousand conven- 
 tional restraints of civilized life without a single tried 
 friend to explain their uses, and patiently train her in 
 the observance of them ? He could not stay to watch 
 over her. His people would be forced to put the young 
 barbarian in a convent. Her directness and simplicity 
 would scandalize the nuns, and her heart would be 
 broken in trying to learn the meaning of what she saw 
 about her. Her independent spirit and wild nature 
 would never brook the physical restraint within the 
 gloomy convent chambers, even should the deep ten- 
 derness of her nature create a bond of sympathy be- 
 tween her pure spirit and that of her teachers. Would 
 her tropical constitution resist the damp, cold climate 
 
 80
 
 and the exigencies of convent life, even if all else suc- 
 ceeded? as soon transplant a cactus to the chill con- 
 vent court-yard. 
 
 How would she feel in the conventional uniform which 
 would compress her well-developed muscles and fetter 
 her agile limbs? How would the nuns punish her pan- 
 theistic devotion to all God's creation? She would be 
 crushed beneath the load of dogma with which they 
 would seek to extirpate it. No, no, to carry her with 
 him to certain death would be far better than that ! but 
 there must be some way out of this terrible dilemma. 
 He thought: "It is all so puzzling because I am too 
 tired and confused to make it out just now, and the 
 child's presence seems to hypnotize me. While she 
 sleeps, I can think it over unrestrainedly. She is satis- 
 fied now, so I will send her to bed ; and when day comes, 
 after a good, refreshing night's rest, I will surely find a 
 logical solution which will be so simple that I will laugh 
 at my present anxiety." 
 
 He looked at Ampharita, who had seated herself 
 Indian fashion beside the pillar of the patio. The white- 
 washed adobe formed a background against which her 
 graceful silhouette cast its delicate shadow. The yel- 
 low light from the lantern played caressingly over her 
 crossed arms and regular features. Now that she had 
 explained everything to her master, her belief in his 
 truthfulness had obliterated all trace of fatigue from 
 her mobile countenance, and as she turned her eyes 
 and gazed upwards into the purple star-spangled vault 
 of the tropical night, her face became suffused with a 
 wonderful expression of absolute trust, which caused 
 her in her perfect stillness to resemble an antique statue 
 of an inspired young Egyptian anchorite, clothed by the 
 6 81
 
 tender fancy of a Byzantine artist in stiff draperies of 
 rich-colored enamel. 
 
 The Scientist spoke : " Ampharita ! " 
 
 At the sound of his voice she turned her eyes to his. 
 Their lambent beauty and sincere expression fairly hurt 
 him. 
 
 " Up, little wanderer," he said, " and away to rest." 
 
 She arose and approached him, but she did not pre- 
 pare to move away. 
 
 " It is much too late for those big eyes to be wide 
 open. They seemed to have caught two stars while 
 gazing into the night sky. Your people have been 
 sleeping for hours. Go to rest now ; in the morning I 
 promise I will take you whither I go. More you have 
 said you do not desire. The journey is a long one, and 
 the wings of birds of travel must be strengthened by 
 rest." 
 
 " Oh, thank you, my master," the girl exclaimed, " I 
 knew that you were true ! " And casting one more 
 glance of beatific trust upon his now smiling face, she 
 sped away into the darkness, and sought the women's 
 quarters. 
 
 KITCHEN-RING ACCESSORIES. 
 
 82
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 His honor rooted in dishonor stood, 
 
 And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true. 
 
 ELAINE. 
 
 THE Scientist waited until the sound of Ampharita's 
 light footfalls had died into silence, then he slowly arose 
 from the bench, and, gathering his blanket about him, 
 strode into his sleeping-room and pushed to the door. 
 He left it unbarred, however ; now that Ampharita was 
 at the ranch, he felt less suspicious of his surroundings. 
 
 Casting himself again upon the cot, he disposed himself 
 to rest ; but he found the canvas surprisingly hard, and he 
 thought, with poignant regret, of the fragrant heap of 
 well-cured saccaton in the corner of the cactus hut at the 
 Pima pueblo. In vain he strove to go to sleep ; the 
 more he determined not to think of the immediate fu- 
 ture, the more persistently did the unbidden thoughts 
 career through his brain. His ear ached from contact 
 with his corduroy coat ; his shoulders were sore from 
 the ride ; his face was blistered ; and he tossed about 
 uneasily. 
 
 " A coat makes an abominable pillow," he growled ; 
 " no wonder I am uncomfortable ; every rib and button 
 bores into my flesh, and the seams feel as if made of 
 whalebone. I ought to travel with a pillow. Fie, I am 
 becoming an old woman. Whoever was it invented the 
 
 83
 
 abomination of canvas cots, any way? They are rough, 
 hot, unsavory, and absolutely unelastic. Oh, for the 
 cool wattle walls of my cactus hut among the Pimas, 
 the luxury of my mat upon the heap of dry grass, and 
 the familiar sharp bark of the scavenging coyotes roam- 
 ing around the village, and answered by the deep growls 
 and angry snarl of the faithful watch-dogs. If I am to 
 ride my pony from here to Chihuahua, I shall have to 
 do something to limber him up. His hand trot is 
 harder than a flail ! 
 
 " What is that rustling, pattering, squeaking, and swish- 
 ing? Oh, the pestiferous vermin! What a pity these 
 Mexicans do not relish mice and bats' meat, or trap and 
 exterminate the horrid things. I hear a squealing, 
 scampering legion beneath my feet, and the bats scud 
 past my ears in flying battalions. There, I saw their 
 mocking eyes gleam in the light that falls through the 
 crack in the door ! They seem to crunch their sharp 
 teeth with a sound like, ' Stay awake, stay awake ! ' I 
 
 ti^S - **-ff ? -^ ftft- 
 RATS AND MICE DIPODOMYS AGILIS, ETC. 
 
 am sure the devil is in them, and amusing himself at 
 my expense. If only the Indian boys were here, they 
 would give them each a short shrift and an arrow-point. 
 I wonder why Ampharita will never kill a creature if she 
 can help it." 
 
 84
 
 He had tried to keep his mind on general topics, and 
 the philosophical problems which generally induce sleep, 
 but he could not control it. Just as he grew drowsy, 
 and his will disarmed on the frontier of dreamland, the 
 unpleasant thoughts he sought to vanquish returned 
 with redoubled ardor, fresh armed for the attack. His 
 promise to Ampharita seemed to excite and urge them 
 forward with tiresome persistence ; and seek to avoid them 
 as he might, they doubled upon him, routing him by 
 means of new and painful insinuations and logical up- 
 braidings, which it took some time to argue away. 
 His brain was in a mist; unimportant considerations 
 assumed giant proportions, insignificant noises were 
 magnified, while vital questions eluded him, despite his 
 determination to grasp them. He could decide on noth- 
 ing, though his mind had been made up from the start, 
 and he knew himself just weak enough to feel compelled 
 to hold on to his first idea at any cost. The more painful 
 he found it, the more bound he was to maintain it; and 
 remembering the specious adage, " Drastic measures are 
 curative," he resolutely turned his face to the wall and 
 cajoled himself into a troubled sleep. Horrible visions 
 possessed him ; and, like a helpless spectator, he watched 
 the skirmish between the impersonations of his mind 
 and heart, while his professional ambition, humanitarian 
 principles, wayward passions, and innate purity alter- 
 nately cheered or hissed the contestants. At last, 
 conscience, which seemed a kind of umpire, arose, 
 and, uniting forces with his heart, subdued his mind 
 and drove the spectators from the field. Then he 
 slept peacefully, the still, dreamless sleep of ex- 
 hausted nature. 
 
 The mice continued to squeal, but their voices were
 
 as a pleasant 1'ullaby. The kangaroo-like rats continued 
 to hop about and sniff and snort without disturbing him. 
 The white bats scudded close to his brow, but he no 
 longer realized their presence. The daylight softly stole 
 through the chinks of the eaves, and, touching the 
 hatchet-hewed beams, painted them a deep brown, and 
 then a tawny buff, in the slow progress of advancing day. 
 The mice, rats, and bats disappeared. Each article in 
 the room materialized, and still the Scientist slept, ob- 
 livious of the changes going on about him. 
 
 The door opened, and a flood of pink light poured 
 through it, in which floated rather than walked the 
 
 BATS VESPERTILIO EVOTIS. 
 
 advancing figure of the Indian girl. She stopped, and 
 gracefully balancing a large earthen olla on her shapely 
 head, listened for the morning greeting of her master; 
 but all that she heard was the regular breathing of the 
 sleeper. Noiselessly she approached the rude table, 
 and, raising her arms, she swept the heavy water jar 
 from her head, and, stooping, placed it upon the floor ; 
 next, taking a bunch of soap-root and a clean piece of 
 cotton-cloth from the fold of her blanket, she laid them 
 beside it, and contemplated her work, well satisfied. 
 Stepping to the cot, she placed her hand softly upon the 
 
 86
 
 TAH-SUN-UP, CREOSOTE WOOD. 
 87
 
 pale brow of the weary sleeper, and murmured, " My 
 master ! " 
 
 The Scientist threw one arm up restlessly over his 
 head, forcing her hand away. He tossed from side to 
 side, frowning darkly and muttering something in an 
 unknown tongue ; but he did not answer her. 
 
 Ampharita again touched his brow with her cool, 
 shapely fingers, and finding it hot, fetched the piece of 
 cloth, and, wetting a corner of it in the cold water, began 
 to bathe his face, gently whispering tender little Indian 
 words such as she would have used to arouse one of her 
 little brothers. 
 
 The Scientist groaned, sighed, and opened his eyes 
 with a nervous start. 
 
 " You are feverish, my master," the girl whispered. 
 " Shall I make you a soothing infusion of quinine 
 plant? " 
 
 " No, no," he said ; " why did you not let me sleep 
 longer? All I need is rest," he added impatiently, and 
 turned again towards the wall. 
 
 " Forgive me," she said, smiling brightly at his troub- 
 led expression and heavy eyes, " my master is very lazy 
 this morning. The Ranchero's wife has nearly finished 
 preparing his breakfast, and I have brought him a big 
 olla full of fresh, cool water, which I drew on purpose 
 from the outside well. I felt that it was a pity to disturb 
 my master's dream ; but the sun will not await our pleas- 
 ure, and my master said last night that to-day's journey 
 would be long." 
 
 The Scientist turned and stretched out his hand, beck- 
 oning for a drink ; and the maiden, smiling again, lifted 
 the olla and held it to his lips. Then when he had 
 had sufficient she set it down in the same place, and, 
 
 88
 
 gliding out, closed the door, while to the man who found 
 himself alone again in the buff twilight it seemed as if 
 she had carried all the life and brightness of the world 
 with her, abandoning him to the sorry companionship of 
 darkness and discontent. 
 
 Stray sunbeams penetrated here and there through a 
 crack in the wood-work, but the Scientist felt that the 
 stuffiness of the windowless room was 
 unbearable, and that the freshness and 
 life of the morning had come and gone as 
 attributes of the Indian girl. He rubbed 
 his eyes, and looked at his watch. 
 
 " The child told the truth as usual," 
 he exclaimed ; " the sun has been up half 
 an hour ! " 
 
 Jumping to his feet he caught up the A HAIR BRUSH. 
 water jar and cast part of its refreshing 
 contents over his throbbing head and sore shoulders. 
 He rubbed his wet skin with the little bundle of yucca 
 root which lay beside the impromptu towel. The aro- 
 matic lather refreshed him, and the horrors of the night 
 began to fade from his memory. 
 
 " What a treasure she is," he thought, as he threw 
 more water over his hair and beard, " and w r hat a con- 
 stitution ! She looks as fresh and bright this morning 
 as though she had spent yesterday dawdling about the 
 village, stripping willows, instead of running nearly forty 
 miles across those hot wastes which taxed my endurance 
 on horseback. I wonder how I would have found water 
 for my ablutions this morning if she had not followed 
 me. Indeed, I shall miss her attentions terribly. Bah ! 
 if I am to be weakly dependent upon the attentions of 
 womankind, I had better go back at once to civilization 
 
 89
 
 and my mother's and sisters' apron-strings. What is the 
 use of sentimentalizing? Ampharita has served me 
 faithfully ; but the period when her good offices were of 
 value is past. After to-morrow my only roof will be 
 the firmament, and what should I do with a girl under 
 those circumstances?" 
 
 The struggle between what he felt to be his duty and 
 his honor recommenced, and he finished dressing auto- 
 matically. His face grew grave and hardened gradually. 
 As he tugged viciously at his belt strap and donned his 
 coat, a plan materialized in every detail ; and, throwing 
 open the door, he called loudly for the Ranchero. 
 
 " Good-morning, Senor," said the man as he entered. 
 ' I hope you slept well." 
 
 "Good-morning. Where is Ampharita?" 
 
 " The Indian maiden who came after the Caballero 
 late last night ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " She is with my wife on the other side of the patio, 
 preparing the morning meal and the food you are to 
 carry with you. Shall I call her? " 
 
 " No, no : it is well as it is. I want to speak with 
 you alone." 
 
 The Scientist closed the door, and in the semi-dark- 
 ness drew the man into the farthest corner of the room. 
 Laying an arm across his shoulder with a confidential 
 gesture, he spoke close to his ear in suppressed tones, 
 for he knew the keen sense of hearing of Ampharita, 
 and feared some hint of his plan might reach her. 
 
 " I propose to ride back at once with the girl to the 
 Pimas, where I neglected to wind up a certain transac- 
 tion. I shall leave the pack-horse and its load here with 
 you. You will guard them well, for the reward will be 
 
 90
 
 according to the care they receive. An hour before 
 dawn to-morrow, while your household is still asleep, 
 take the beast and all my belongings, mind that you 
 forget not a single bit of rope, steal away with them to 
 the high land near the canon that runs from the other 
 side of the Eternal Stream towards the sunset. Turn 
 twice eastward, yet move southward, travelling for an 
 hour's quick march further." 
 
 " Yes, yes," the Mexican interrupted,"! know per- 
 fectly where you mean, Caballero. You wish me to take 
 the way by the three jagged rocks which stand out 
 above the arroyo so near together that no one can see a 
 man or beast that rests beneath them, though the rocks 
 themselves are visible for miles around." 
 
 " Exactly. I see you know the place. Be there an 
 hour before noon. Hide my horse and your own in 
 the shade, and rest secure of my coming; but take food 
 enough with you for two days. I will strive to meet 
 you there to-morrow at noon. Should I not arrive 
 within twenty-four hours thereafter the business will 
 have miscarried, and you can come back to the ranch. 
 If I do not arrive here cither before sunset of the follow- 
 ing day, send to the Pima village for news of me. Be 
 not anxious about the time you will lose in serving me. 
 I shall give you a silver piece for each half day, and 
 one extra if the horse is in good condition and his load 
 untouched. You know it consists only of dried plants 
 and insects, which are of use to none but me." The 
 Scientist added this impressively, and showed the man a 
 handful of Mexican dollars. " In any case you hold 
 the pack-horse meanwhile as security," he added more 
 carelessly. " Is it a bargain? " 
 
 The man bowed his head and trembled slightly. The 
 
 91
 
 allusion to dried plants and insects was well timed. The 
 summoning of the white man to the Indian village, and 
 his copious ablutions, had led the Mexican to conclude 
 him to be a shaman. Then the appointment at the 
 Three Rocks had shaken his faith ; but the load of dried 
 grasses and beetles confirmed his 
 first impression, for who but a con- 
 jurer would pay silver dollars for the 
 care of such a load, and the Scientist, 
 had he divined it, might have rested 
 secure that not a thread would be 
 touched for fear of arousing his 
 supernatural powers. 
 
 " It is well ; may you be success- 
 
 A KEE-HO OR CARRY- 
 ING BASKET. " sa id tne man. ' My oath on it, 
 I shall forget nothing, Caballero." 
 
 " Mind, not a word to any one, and no information about 
 the journey, even should the girl or another Indian come 
 here to seek for news of me many days afterwards." 
 
 " Your orders shall be faithfully obeyed in every de- 
 tail, Caballero. Do not doubt my word. I am plain- 
 spoken, but an honest man," asseverated the Ranchero, 
 anxiously. " Is there anything more I can do for the 
 Caballero?" 
 
 " No, nothing, save to see that my riding pony is 
 saddled without delay ! Sh ! Not another word about 
 this. I think I hear steps. Be off! " 
 
 The Mexican, sombrero in hand, with repeated pro- 
 testations of devotion, bowed himself towards the door. 
 His keen eyes still twinkled with the mingled light of 
 the promised silver and his discovery of a great white 
 shaman, but he determined to mention his suspicions to 
 none save his wife. 
 
 92
 
 Just as the man reached the door, it was pushed open 
 by Ampharita. 
 
 " My master," she warned, " the sun grows hot, and 
 will make the journey doubly hard. We have cooked 
 you a good meal of tomales and tortillas, which is grow- 
 ing cold, and the coffee you relish will not be fit to 
 drink. Make haste ; see, in this bag about my neck I 
 have enough pinole and attole to maintain us for many 
 days ; but my master must start out well-nourished." 
 
 " What a wise child ! " the Scientist answered. " Come, 
 I am ready ; you took away so much of my sleep last 
 night that you cannot expect me to be very bright this 
 morning. While I am eating, you can see that the 
 Ranchero saddles my riding pony properly. The other 
 is to be left here tethered. To-day we go home to your 
 people to learn your parents' wishes. I am sure you 
 did not tell them you were coming after me." 
 
 The girl looked up at him confidingly; she believed 
 in his rectitude, and not a gleam of suspicion came into 
 her trustful eyes. 
 
 " I will leave the bag I had brought tied to the pack 
 of instruments and specimens ; the flour of the yucca is 
 life-giving, and is of good service on a long journey," 
 she said. " But why need we go back to my people ; 
 they know where I am." 
 
 " Did you bid your parents ' good-bye,' and ask the 
 Chief's permission to follow me?" 
 
 "I had no time for that; but I met the Chief's son 
 and the fishermen returning to our pueblo, and I sent 
 back a message by them. I would not have my master 
 journey needlessly on my account; it is not really worth 
 while. My people will not expect a great white shaman 
 to waste so much time on account of speaking with the 
 
 93
 
 parents of a maiden whom he had promised to carry 
 away with him, and then forgotten in the confusion of 
 his leave-taking." 
 
 " Never mind. We are taught to think differently of 
 maidens in my country; and I cannot carry a little girl 
 away from her people without being sure that her 
 parents and Chief approve. Run now and help the 
 Ranchero while I eat." 
 
 Walking across the patio the Scientist seated himself 
 on a low wooden stool, which had been placed on the 
 cleanly swept ground, between the tortilla stone and a 
 small glowing fire of mesquite wood. He was dazed by 
 the spirited way in which Ampharita had answered 
 him. 
 
 " Truly, the child found her tongue last night with a 
 vengeance," he thought; "and an uncommonly glib 
 tongue it is, too. I trust she will not give me trouble, 
 I must be as wary as a real shaman. The time has 
 come for me to show that I am no weakling to be 
 governed by the fancy of a brown maiden, but a wise 
 white medicine-man who decrees what is best for his 
 patients." 
 
 An array of earthen-ware bowls, ollas, and cajitas stood 
 on the ground before him. A decidedly savory odor 
 came from them, whetting his appetite. He expe- 
 rienced a certain surprise at this, when he bethought 
 himself of the miserable food prepared for him the night 
 before, and the disgust which had prevented his swal- 
 lowing more than a few of the least greasy titbits. 
 
 The Ranchero's wife squatted near him full of tremu- 
 lous omciousness. A slatternly creature, she appeared 
 even more jaded than the night before ; wrinkled beyond 
 her age, the load of ignorance and dejection under 
 
 94
 
 PREPARING FOOD. 
 
 95
 
 which she labored, caused her to stoop and appear 
 almost deformed. For in that region, where everything 
 heavy is either balanced upon the head, or supported 
 upon the back by means of straps that pass around the 
 forehead, even the aged are erect and flat-shouldered. 
 This half-breed woman, who had been exalted to the 
 position of helpmeet to the Ranchero, because of her 
 whilom beauty, was envied by her humbler sisters, who 
 saw her relieved from all the arduous labors which de- 
 volve upon Indian wives ; but she had never enjoyed her 
 position, being debarred from hard work and ignorant 
 of all else, while in her turn she envied the poorest 
 mother the blessing of her healthy offspring; for she 
 had watched her own weakly little ones slowly waste 
 away before her eyes, until a row of little heaps of 
 sand and brush surmounted by rude black wooden 
 crosses, marked the burial-place of all her hopes and 
 ambitions. 
 
 " What a good breakfast you have prepared for me 
 this morning," said the Scientist, as he devoured a 
 second tomale. " This maize is of a superior quality. 
 How sweet the water is that comes from your well ! " 
 
 " It is not the virtue of the maize, nor the quality of 
 the water, which none before you has called sweet ; it is 
 the blessed touch of the ray of sunshine from the Pima 
 which followed you hither," said the woman, with a 
 long, weary sigh. " I had never thought to learn from 
 the Indians, whom our Mexican father told us were to be 
 despised ; but that child has taught me many things about 
 cooking. Little things which seem nothing, and make 
 all the difference ! Then the reasons she gives me for 
 other things, a word here and another there, they make 
 everything in life worth while. How pretty she looked 
 
 96
 
 this morning as she moved about in the dawn, kindling 
 the fire and fetching the water ! So light a step has 
 never caressed the patio in our day. She is playful as 
 a tame fawn, graceful, gentle, and usefully active withal. 
 Watch how she fondles the horse, and how he seems to 
 like her caresses ! She seems born to play, and she 
 does the work of a servant, but as though it were a 
 privilege to help others. What she touches she makes 
 beautiful. Oh, why can I not keep her here by me ! 
 Leave her with me, kind sir, if only for a few days ; you 
 have so much in your life, and I have nothing in mine, 
 but she would make it different forever after. My hand- 
 maids are surly; the paeons are rough; the Ranchero is 
 away for days and days, and he looks at the teswin 
 oftener than at me when he returns to the ranch. I am 
 
 ROCKING AND CARRYING CRADLES. 
 
 as dry leaves beneath his feet, only fit for burning, since 
 I cannot rear him a son. Six times God sent me a baby 
 to clasp in my arms and call my very own, and then He 
 took it away again, shrivelled and blighted by the very 
 air on which the Indian children thrive. The coyotes 
 howl about the place where their bones lie side by side, 
 7 97
 
 covered deep, very deep, with brush and sand, that they 
 may not be found by the wild beasts. I go there and 
 sit when I dare take my eyes from the handmaids, or I 
 weep here in a corner when none is looking, for nothing 
 bright has come to me in years, save this child who 
 travelled so fearlessly alone through the night ; and now 
 you are going to take her straight away again. Guard 
 her as a very great treasure, O wise white shaman, 
 even a half-breed woman, if her eyes have been washed 
 clear by much weeping, can see the brand of God upon 
 one of His creatures ; and the maiden is one of those in 
 whom He takes delight. 
 
 " Poor woman," said the Scientist, shaking his head 
 sympathetically. " The life here must be a hard and 
 lonely one for you. If you had a church to pray in, 
 perhaps you would be less unhappy." 
 
 " Yes ; when the priest comes this way, it is a bright 
 day. He talks of my innocent babies as little white angels 
 fluttering about in Paradise like the blue butterflies that 
 dance through the air above the flowering mezas. He 
 says they went straight up to God, because they had 
 not lived long enough to be weighed down by a single 
 sin ; and he says they pray for me to be called quickly, 
 and that the purging for my sins in the eternal fires be 
 not long. Then I feel content, and would help myself 
 to die at once, did 1 not know that that would destroy 
 my power of ever reaching them. But he goes away 
 soon ; no one lingers at our ranch, and the time between 
 his visits is very long." 
 
 The Scientist answered nothing, for his intellect was 
 busying itself with what he would have called, " the 
 injustice of the Fates." " The pagans alone understood 
 the poetry of existence," he thought, " when they repre- 
 
 98
 
 sented one of the Fates as blind and armed with a 
 shears to cut off all access to joy, the second as an 
 undeveloped child, the third as a senile hag." Evi- 
 dently there was no just dispensation of providential 
 favors. Here had occurred the sweeping away of much 
 desired infants, leaving a kindly mother's heart torn and 
 bleeding for something to love ; while on him was forced a 
 young person who, no matter how charming, was likely 
 to prove very much in the way. " Still," he mused, 
 " if the Fates are purblind, they can be all the more 
 easily controlled ; that is the brighter lesson hidden in 
 the allegory of the ancients. They realized that intel- 
 lect can control all things, provided a man trains it 
 to obey his bidding. The more perfect the training, 
 the more absolute the control. Therefore, it depends 
 upon my intellect to arrange things to suit me in deal- 
 ing with these ignorant people who live and act by 
 instinct alone. The Catholic Church has grasped this 
 really great truth, hence its power, which has been 
 demonstrated even in the case of this poor creature." 
 
 The Scientist had finished eating while he thought, 
 and drank deeply from the jar of coffee which Ampha- 
 rita had brewed for him. 
 
 The woman crouching beside him seemed to have 
 forgotten his presence, while gazing at the Indian girl 
 as though in her she saw a heavenly apparition soon 
 to be caught away from human eyes. Looking in the 
 same direction, the Scientist acknowledged to himself 
 that, in spite of her dusky skin, the girl was decidedly 
 attractive. 
 
 Unconscious of the attention she was receiving, 
 Arnpharita whiled away the time in stroking the pony, 
 pulling his ears and rubbing them softly between her 
 
 99
 
 taper fingers. She leaned her head against his shaggy 
 cheek, and murmured something which the animal 
 seemed to understand and enjoy; for he rubbed his 
 soft nose backwards and forwards against her shoulder, 
 blinked knowingly, and whinnied from satisfaction. 
 
 AN INDIAN liABY. 
 
 TOO
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 She still took note that when the living smile 
 Died from his lips, across him came a cloud 
 Of melancholy severe, from which again, 
 Whenever in her hovering to and fro 
 The lily maid had striven to make him cheer, 
 There brake a sudden-beaming tenderness 
 Of manners and of nature : and she thought 
 That all was nature, all, perchance, for her. 
 And all night long his face before her lived, 
 As when a painter, poring on a face, 
 Divinely through all hindrance finds the man 
 Behind it, and so paints him that his face, 
 The shape and color of a mind and life, 
 Lives for his children, ever at its best 
 And fullest; so the face before her lived. 
 
 ELAINE. 
 
 THE Scientist drank the rest of the coffee, set down 
 the empty crock with a sigh, and, rising, paused to ex- 
 change a few parting compliments with his host and 
 hostess. Then he turned away and poured a little clean 
 water over his hands, shook them thrice, and dried off 
 the moisture with his handkerchief. The Mexicans 
 watched him nervously, for they imagined that this sim- 
 ple act of cleanliness was a religious rite of shamanistic 
 virtue ; they trusted that the shower of drops only con- 
 tained a blessing, but one could never be too sure, the 
 
 101
 
 stranger had been very angry the night before, and the 
 number three possessed a wonderful power. The Scien- 
 tist walked away ; and they followed him respectfully 
 across the patio to where Ampharita and the pony stood 
 in the arched gateway. They waited while he mounted 
 and waved his hat to the Ranchero, pointing eastward, 
 and calling out, " Remember my pcny," ere he started 
 out into the dusty sunshine. 
 
 Ampharita stepped back to wish a cheerful " Good- 
 bye " to the Rancheros; then she swiftly rejoined the 
 white man, and, suiting her gait to the horse's, kept 
 close beside the stirrup, gliding over the ground with a 
 free step and fresh alertness. 
 
 The Scientist, on the contrary, despite his rationalistic 
 inductions, grew more and more listless as the day ad- 
 vanced. Once the stimulating effects of the coffee had 
 worn off, he felt absolutely depressed, and it required 
 all the words and nature lore at Ampharita's command 
 to draw him out of his gloomy mood. 
 
 Her unselfish efforts were really more successful than 
 she suspected ; for, as the hours passed, and she an- 
 swered the many questions about the customs of the 
 Indians that he put with grave listlessness, he was really 
 charmed by her descriptions, and the road, which had 
 seemed so long and tiresome in coming, grew short and 
 pleasant. He regretted the appearance of each land- 
 mark that measured off the distance between the ranch 
 and the pueblo, while his prearranged plan grew more 
 and more distasteful. 
 
 When the trail lay near an umbrageous mesquite- 
 tree, or an unusually large yucca, he drew rein and dis- 
 mounted, saying that he did not want the girl to arrive 
 among her people looking fagged ; and, as they sat to- 
 
 102
 
 gether in the shade, a feeling of contentment stole over 
 him, sweet and deceptive as the languor of the poppy. 
 
 Ampharita laughed at his anxiety about her looks. 
 She would have preferred to hasten along, and get 
 
 YUCCA BACCATA. 
 
 through with what she knew the Chief and her parents 
 would consider a superfluous ceremony. Had not her 
 father heard the white man's tender words at parting, 
 and seen him kiss her on both cheeks? What more was 
 needed? The Indians of the Sierra Madre leave the 
 
 103
 
 choice of a husband to the marriageable girls ; and she 
 felt that her parents could but be proud of her decision 
 to follow the white man, and drink at the source whence 
 he drew his wisdom. What if she went in the capacity 
 of a servant; that lay between herself and her con- 
 science. Her life was her own to give freely as she 
 saw fit ; but these thoughts she kept to herself, and they 
 filled her graceful little head. It seemed as though the 
 decision she had taken had matured Ampharita's intel- 
 ligence, and in the sunlight of her master's kindliness 
 her mind began to unfold its rare blossoms. Her 
 tongue, which had grown eloquent during the midnight 
 interview, when beneath the scourge of anxiety she felt 
 her whole future depended on persuading the white 
 man to give her the education and enlightenment he 
 had promised, remained supple despite the return of 
 the sunlight and confidence. The spell of silence had 
 been effectually broken, and her simple directness lent 
 a fascinating quaintness to all she described. 
 
 " Ampharita," said the Scientist, " tell me, do you 
 know what the people who are not taught by the priests 
 believe about the beginning of the world? " 
 
 "Oh, yes. Why, we all know that, for the great talkers 
 love to tell about it; but we Christian Indians believe 
 that our faith is better. I wonder what the birds and 
 beasts believe. I know some of our old men (and some 
 of the likely young bucks, too, for that matter) believe 
 as do the heathen Tarahumari and the other heathens 
 west of the mountains. I listen when the limber-tongued 
 talk ; and then I go out into the barranca, where the trees 
 and flowers, the winds and the waters, and the birds seem 
 to tell a different story, especially the titmice, with 
 their everlasting chatter. The medicine-men say that 
 
 104
 
 BRIDLED TITMICE. 
 
 105
 
 far to the north of where the sun rises, in the land 
 where the white men arc now, long, long before the 
 memory of those whose bones are sometimes found in 
 caves, green and hard like stone from age, the fathers 
 of the Apaches and the Pimas dropped from the clouds 
 with corn and potatoes in their ears. Their God was 
 with them ; and he gave them wives and children in 
 plenty. He was big, very big; and when he showed 
 them how to dig, he turned up a field at every digging. 
 But when he had brought our people safely to where 
 we live now, leaving a family here and another there on 
 the way, as he saw fit, he grew very, very fond of the 
 Tequino (or teswin, as we call it) ; and one day, when 
 he was resting while the workings of the drink went on 
 in his brain, a great bearded devil came and took away 
 his wife, whom he held close to his heart. Then the 
 God, the great Father of the Pimas, was sad, and he 
 mourned, and none could comfort him. He said to the 
 greatest medicine-man of those days, ' I cannot stay 
 with you longer, my faithful son ; the devil has taken 
 my wife, and I must go to find her. But I will leave 
 two crosses in the world, and some day I will come 
 again.' I wonder, my master, if you are he ! They say 
 that he was white ; and you are white, and so bright 
 and glorious. You have given me already one bright 
 cross ; perhaps, when I am wiser, you will give me the 
 other." 
 
 " What a strange child you are ! " said the Scientist, 
 flushing uncomfortably. " Do not talk so about me 
 and my poor little gift. I am only a plain man ; go 
 on about the great God who was about to leave your 
 people." 
 
 " The people wept sore ; and while they wept, the 
 
 106
 
 skies wept too ; and while the people sobbed and beat 
 the drums, and the wind and cloud spirits did the same, 
 the great God went away. The people saw the clouds 
 make a golden road for the God ; and he went to the 
 east; then the clouds closed up again, and it was very 
 dark. But when the sun rose the next day, all was 
 clear again, and a fiery cross stood high in the heavens. 
 Then they saw the great God of the Pimas just once 
 more, for he flew over their heads towards the west ; and 
 his flying form became, in the west, like a great dark 
 cross, and the shadow of the great dark cross remained 
 behind, and fell upon the whole land. The medicine-men 
 told the people that sorrowed that the God had left that 
 w r estern cross to show the people the shady paths to 
 where the sun rests, and beyond to his heavenly home, 
 where their spirits should rest forever. When the Pima 
 God comes down to help his people on earth, he comes 
 by the eastern cross, and thence he sends the new-made 
 spirits to the babies. That is why the heathens use 
 crosses, even more than the Christians, and will not live 
 without one set up near their house, where they worship 
 and dance around it on the prepared dance-ground. I 
 suppose you thought them Christians when you first 
 saw them?" 
 
 " Well, you Christians of the Sierra Madre have faith 
 in so many things that the Christians among us do not 
 know of, you should forgive a little mistake. Tell me 
 about some of the things which the Christians care for 
 most besides the cross? " 
 
 " Of course, we have holy water, and the Madonna, 
 and the masses, and the prayers, and the penance, and 
 the feasts, and the pictures in the churches. That is 
 well ; but we like what the heathen or Gentiles care for 
 
 107
 
 because there is only one priest for all our people, and 
 we have to make out the best way we can in his ab- 
 sence, and do what the shaman tells us is good for 
 the sick and unhappy, and pay him much, very 
 much for the charms." 
 
 "What charms does he help you 
 with ? " asked the Scientist. 
 
 " For one, there are the hikoris; the 
 medicine-men understand about them. 
 But you must know about them surely, 
 for everybody believes in them. You 
 sport at me when you look like that 
 and ask such simple questions." 
 
 " Hikori? Oh, yes, of course I know. 
 
 fc n~~- r~ * ' '" r 
 
 HOFFMANSEGGIA STRICTA, INDIAN POTATO. 
 
 It is a kind of tree ; but I thought it grew in a colder, 
 more northern climate. Its nuts are very good and 
 nourishing." 
 
 " No, the hikoris are not from a tree with nuts. The 
 hikoris are alive and wise and very small and round and 
 hairy." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 108
 
 "They look like a certain kind of cacti, the Bismoga, 
 and little chollas ; but that is only their magical hiding- 
 place. They are god-like spirits." 
 
 " Spirits in little round cacti, Ampharita? " 
 
 " Hush, you might offend them ! They look like that, 
 but they are sacred ; they have very big souls. Even- 
 plant has some kind of soul, just as the animals have. 
 But the souls in the animals, the medicine-men say, are 
 the souls of people sitting about and waiting until kind 
 friends dance and pray for their soul eyes to be opened, 
 so that they can see the way to where the western cross 
 points the road to heaven. They sit oftenest in the ani- 
 mals because flesh and blood seem natural to them, 
 and it is warmer. The animals are hospitable, and do 
 not mind much, poor things. But the souls of plants, 
 they are pure and have no stain upon them ; and those 
 of the hikoris are virginal like the Madonna and the 
 saintly women the priest teaches us about. The hikoris 
 are so very pure that they can bear no sin or wrong- 
 doing in their presence." 
 
 "What do the wonderful hikoris look like? Could 
 that be one growing over there? " 
 
 " Oh, no ; what a queer mistake ! That is only a baby 
 pitaya. The hikoris grow far to the east, to be closer to 
 the heavens of the pure unborn, and gaze on the morn- 
 ing cross. They sing quite loud to cheer the baby 
 spirits on their way to the waiting earth-mothers. There 
 are big and little hikoris. I wonder which the baby 
 spirits like best ; the little ones, like themselves, or the 
 great strong ones that are feared by men? The braves 
 travel days and days to fetch them. Those who go 
 must be purified first, and keep pure on the way. They 
 must travel fast, eating sparingly. It is often nearly a 
 
 109
 
 moon before they get to the place in the Sierra Margosa 
 where the best hikoris grow. When there, they eat 
 only pinole ; for are they not there to chew the sacred 
 hikori? They chew with great devotion, so that the 
 second day the spirit of the chewed hikori goes up into 
 the head and chases out all the bad thoughts which have 
 been there. It kills, too, the charms of the bad shamen 
 
 and robbers they may have 
 angered, and makes the 
 chewer strong against the 
 Apaches. Sometimes the 
 braves cut their hair so as 
 to let the old dead thoughts 
 out, and the faster to make 
 ready for the new ones. 
 But that does harm if one 
 THE BISMOGA CACTUS. A neglects to have a cloth pre- 
 
 HIKORI. J i. ,- ^ U^1 ^U 
 
 pared to tie tightly over the 
 
 head ; for the good thoughts might run out too, as fast 
 as the old ones, and in their place bad thoughts, which 
 have no home, come to nest like birds of ill omen in 
 the empty head. My master, tell me truly, when I 
 begin to learn all the many new things in the land of 
 the white men, do you think I shall have to cut off my 
 hair to let out the dusky useless thoughts of the Sierra 
 Madre, and wear a close cloth about my brow for fear 
 the beautiful new ones will run through my stupid head, 
 leaving no memory?" 
 
 The Scientist frowned and said, " Why talk about the 
 land of the white man? That is an old tale. Tell me 
 more about the Indians." 
 
 While listening to the child's stories illustrative of the 
 pantheism of her people, he had almost forgotten the 
 
 no
 
 object of their journey, and he resented the reference to 
 his promise. 
 
 "What more? " submissively questioned the girl. 
 
 " Tell me if the women go after the hikoris as well as 
 the men? " 
 
 "Of course not; the souls of many hikoris loathe 
 women ; and no woman is allowed to touch the very 
 best. Some she dares not even look at. But there 
 are the roakoros ; they can touch them if told to by the 
 shaman. You know the roakoros are the women who 
 live with the medicine-men and serve them in nursing 
 the sick and preparing for ceremonies. The medicine- 
 man tells his roakoros to pound the ceremonial hikori 
 in a sacred mortar, and then they mix it with water. It 
 is hard work ; they must not spill a drop, and the stone, 
 too, must be washed and the water saved ; for the medi- 
 cine-men say the water is as holy as that prepared by 
 our priest. Hikori wine is made in that way. He is 
 strong, oh, so strong. The medicine-men can drink of 
 him, and some of the braves can drink of him, and 
 sometimes they let the women take a little of him, too ; 
 but he who is profane, and forgets to sing and dance 
 after drinking of him, falls in a chill ; for the hikori loves 
 song ! He loves it so that when the washing and brew- 
 ing has begun none may pause or rest from singing, 
 unless another strikes two sticks together all the time ; 
 for the hikori glories in the sound of the pestle as it 
 thuds the mortar with- a will, and the hikori sings a song 
 of its own in answer while the juice flows. The hikori's 
 voice has the sound of a cock singing before the sunrise, 
 and the men try to make the same sound when they 
 dance before him ; but as the women cannot, the hikoris 
 care not for the song of women. The hikoris love the 
 
 in
 
 song of the dance-rattle made of the native gourds. 
 They say it is very beautiful to feel the hikori wine go 
 to the brain, and see the visions which are sent to the 
 drinker make them feel like a god. In the white man's 
 land is there a drink like that of which women can take 
 but a little, while the men drink oft and much, until they 
 feel its fire in their hearts and heads? " 
 
 " Never mind about the drink. Tell me more about 
 the virtue in the hikoris," insisted the Scientist. " Surely, 
 the Christians do not believe in the magic power of this 
 strange plant ! " 
 
 "Hush! have I not told you to speak prudently? 
 Why, one of the servants of the hikoris might hear you, 
 and report it to your ill, if he did you no immediate harm. 
 They are everywhere." The girl looked about her 
 anxiously, as though she expected to see an angry ap- 
 parition materialize before her. 
 
 " When a person is ill," she went on, " the medicine- 
 man calls upon Walula-seliami, who is the greatest of all 
 the hikoris. His throne is upon a great big sacred grass- 
 seed, as big as the biggest mountain. It is the kind of 
 seed of which we make necklaces for the girls and 
 babies. We put it, too, in strong drinks ; for it has the 
 spirit in it which gives the strength to the maize-water. 
 This wonderful throne of the greatest of all hikoris is set 
 just beside that of God himself. Walula-seliami looks 
 something like his lesser brother, the Wanami, and he 
 has many young ones about his feet; just as the priest 
 says, the faithful and pure will be gathered some day 
 beneath the mercy-seat of God. All the other hikoris 
 are Walula-seliami's servants ; and for food he must have 
 the best of meats and much thereof. When the medi- 
 cine-man kneels down and goes through the proper 
 
 I 12
 
 CUCUBITA PALMATA, THE GOURD. 
 
 8T
 
 ceremonial and sacrifices, and the smoke of the burning 
 copal incense goes up high, high in the heavens looking 
 like a blue ribbon let down to earth by the God, then 
 it is a sign ; and he sends his servants with relief to the 
 sick man, and many blessings to him and all his pious 
 relatives. They are richly dressed, these servants, and 
 very noble in appearance, like, like you. O my 
 master, are you not at least a servant of the Gods ? " 
 exclaimed the girl, looking at him with an expression 
 of intense earnestness. 
 
 But as the white man answered nothing, after a pause 
 she went on. " If his soul be really clean, then the man 
 is surely cured, and can remain alive for a season ; but 
 if the soul is impure, and he has not repented, but wants 
 to live for gain, then he must go out and roam about 
 with the coyotes, while his flesh withers away in his 
 death-hut, alone on the mountain side. Another hikori 
 helps the dead best ; and with that, and many prayers 
 and dances, the road to and beyond the western cross 
 becomes easy to the spirit of the dead." 
 
 " But all that is for the heathen; surely the Christians 
 do not believe in the power of hikoris?" 
 
 "Why not? Is not God everywhere? Of course the 
 Christians have their hikoris, too. We could not do 
 without it. It is white like the Christian's Saviour. It 
 is called Rosa-para, and it has been given them as a 
 charm against the Apaches. Only people with clean 
 hands and pure hearts, who have been well baptized by 
 the priest, can safely touch it ; and no robber can harm 
 the storehouse in which it rests, or the Christian who 
 carries it about him. 
 
 " Nulato is another very good hikori. To carry it is 
 even better than to wash the eyes with holy water to 
 
 114
 
 open them to perceive the sorcerer who has cunningly 
 hid himself, and lurks about with evil intent. It gives 
 speed to the runner, too ; and if a man be very careful 
 to guard it, he insures to himself thereby a long, long life. 
 Oh, look ! we can see our mountains already. How 
 long I must have talked ! My master will call me a 
 magpie ! " 
 
 " No, not a magpie ; but a very wise little Indian 
 maiden. But tell me if you know anything more about 
 these strange vegetable fetiches?" 
 
 Ampharita protested that she had told him all she 
 knew; but that her father and mother could tell him 
 much more, for what she could tell she had learned by 
 hearsay, picked up while listening to the talk of others ; 
 for her parents were very true Christians, and had faith 
 in the holy water, the prayers and pictures from the 
 priest, and brought their children up very strictly, al- 
 though they attended always when there were feasts 
 with story-telling. She said she could tell him many 
 wonderful things about the saints, if he wished to 
 know ; for with the priest as with the Scientist who had 
 succeeded him in the cactus hut, Ampharita had waited 
 upon the tribe's guest ; and the priest had been just as 
 much attracted by her intelligence and gentleness as the 
 younger man, and had taken great pains in instructing 
 her, so that she knew more about the Christian religion, 
 as taught by the native priests, than many of the older 
 Pimas. 
 
 " The good Father tells me it is very stupid to believe 
 that plants understand things, and talks so that he 
 makes me quite ashamed. Still, it is not long before I 
 am happy again ; for I like to think of them as having 
 souls," she said. " One day, when I asked him, he
 
 could not explain to me why the Holy-Cross-tree, the 
 wood of which served for the Saviour's cross, should 
 have its trunk covered with brown crosses, unless it 
 had known the wonderful purpose it had served. Oh, 
 the plants are very wise, and they are so pretty. They 
 do us and the animals so much good ; they must know 
 what a blessing they are, or they would not try to come 
 
 up in the water and in 
 every little handful of soil, 
 and even seek to live on 
 the desert sand. Should 
 we not all die if we were 
 
 CARPOCARPSA SALTITANS, JUMPING 
 
 BEANS deprived of the nopal and 
 
 the corn and mesquite 
 
 beans, the Chili coyote, and all the other delicious 
 things that the plants give us to make us strong and 
 happy? It is so sad that much that does good does 
 also harm. Look how the dear cows and patient oxen, 
 when enraged, gore or trample upon their masters ! 
 The dogs bite, and can even make one mad ; the 
 cocks fight, killing each other for wantonness ; and 
 some of the most beautiful plants have very evil 
 spirits, so that while they give life and strength with 
 their harmless berries, the wicked spirit in their sap 
 seeks to kill by getting into the blood. There is the 
 palo de flecha, for instance, that is a plant that seems 
 all evil. How it makes one suffer ! At the touch of its 
 sap sores smart, and the eyes weep and close. Its bark- 
 kills the beautiful darting fish ; yet the same stalk gives 
 life to certain lovely things. Its miraculous beans jump 
 about so merrily because they are the huts of baby but- 
 terflies, who are fed by them, and nurtured tenderly 
 until they are old enough to cast off their swaddling- 
 
 TT6
 
 clothes and spread their wings, when a little door 
 opens, and they wriggle forth as would a lively child, 
 glad to be free. It does not take them long to spread 
 their bright wings and fly about like golden blessings in 
 the sunshine." 
 
 The Scientist was amazed. During this last discourse 
 they had rested beneath a mesquite-tree near an old 
 well, which might have been dug by the early mission- 
 ary fathers. Ampharita sped back and forth, culling an 
 example here or there of Nature's products which she 
 thought would interest him, because of the virtue or 
 viciousness ascribed to it by the Indians. The Scientist 
 had lost all desire to continue the journey. What a 
 phenomenal power of observation the child had ; how 
 keen was her discernment ! Her comments in answer 
 to his questions about the customs of her people showed 
 her to be rarely observant and appreciative. She 
 seemed remarkably in tune with Nature, and as familiar 
 with its secrets as the gods and goddesses of ancient 
 Greece, a russet woodland nymph so slightly evolved 
 out of a hamadryad that her skin had not yet lost the 
 color of the bark. While thinking of her, he became 
 oblivious to her presence ; and as the hour was the hot- 
 test of the day, the girl drew drowzy, hearkening to the 
 buzz and hum of the myriad insects that swarmed about 
 the ripening beans. She fell asleep, her head resting 
 against the arm which she had passed between it and 
 the gnarled trunk of the tree. 
 
 A soft sigh escaped her, and he looked at her again. 
 She seemed an incorporation of virgin Nature in its most 
 graceful form. 
 
 He started to his feet, and approached her on the 
 point of arousing her to tell her he knew not what. 
 
 117
 
 Again she sighed and smiled. He stopped and fixed 
 his eyes upon her in wondering awe, for before him her 
 pure soul seemed unveiled. 
 
 She might be dreaming, for her sweet lips moved 
 softly, while over her delicate features crept a radiance 
 which transfigured her face. Before its brightness his 
 selfish thoughts melted away like shadows at midday. 
 Again he thought of the inspired Egyptian anchorites, 
 and he stood spellbound, watching her. Gradually the 
 radiance faded as fades the light of dawn before the 
 awaking day. She seemed to become subtly aware of 
 his gaze as the strange light was re-absorbed by her 
 features. When it was all gone, she opened her eyes 
 and looked into his. 
 
 " Oh, see ! " she exclaimed, starting up, " what a lazy 
 child I am ! The heat and chanting insects lulled me 
 to sleep. Hark! What is that? Do you not hear the 
 call of the paesano? Oh, there stands the pretty 
 creature near that hut of saccaton grass. His wife can- 
 not be far distant ; but she is too shy to show her 
 brightly painted eyes. Hey ! See, he is not afraid of 
 us, or perhaps there are young at home to be fed, and 
 there are fat beetles or scorpions here that attract him. 
 He can see them from ever so far. They hide beneath 
 dry wood and stones. Let us help him," and rising 
 with a quick movement, she pushed aside a stone, from 
 beneath which scampered away two frightened scor- 
 pions, while the bird ran fleetly after them and, nipping 
 off a leg, gazed about for his mate, with whom he ex- 
 pected to share the feast. 
 
 The charm was broken. Ampharita was again a 
 simple Indian girl. 
 
 The Scientist remounted his horse, and as the girl 
 
 118
 
 TI9
 
 moved along beside him, his critical glance roved over 
 her rich, dark skin, her bare arms, coarse black hair, 
 and lithe figure ; then he looked lower to where her 
 dust-stained feet sped along the trail. 
 
 His features grew composed. She was a child of 
 the desert. As easily cage with success the beautiful 
 chaparral cock, and expect him to thrive between gilded 
 wires and grow large and lustrous on rape and hemp 
 seed. 
 
 " The tame fawn is devoted to its master," he mused ; 
 " yet none would be so cruel as to enclose it within 
 doors where even in loving it w r ould pine away and die. 
 Ampharita must stay in the shadow of the Sierra 
 Madre, whether she will or no. The day advances, 
 Ampharita," he continued aloud. " We must hasten ; " 
 suiting the action to the word he gave spur to his horse, 
 and rode forward silently, pressing the animal's pace to 
 a lope. The girl began to run, her hair streaming out 
 behind her as she sped fleetly along. 
 
 From the waste land the urchins who were scudding 
 hither and thither in wild excitement, soon perceived 
 a man coming along on horseback with a girl running 
 to keep up with him. 
 
 Ampharita's brother recognized the party, and hur- 
 ried forward to greet them. 
 
 " Hey, hey, Ampharita, you did well to fetch your 
 master back," he hallooed from a distance. " There are 
 great doings in the village. The Chief has ordered 
 the feast of thanksgiving for the crops to take place this 
 very night. Another great chief has come up to see 
 him from the south, and has brought his fast runners 
 with him. You have gotten here just in time to see 
 the race. There will be a sacred dance afterwards. 
 
 1 20
 
 Hurry, hurry, master ! Whew ! our Chief will be glad 
 to show you to the other chief! However did you 
 guess, Ampharita, that they were coming? They did not 
 reach the pueblo until two hours after you had gone, and 
 though our Chief pretended that he had been expecting 
 them all along, father said to our neighbor that he 
 looked very much surprised when he heard they w r ere 
 coming along the trail. Even the shaman was sur- 
 prised ! I can't think how you found out about them." 
 
 The boy puffed in his endeavor to keep pace with 
 the pony while talking, and he panted so fiercely, and 
 looked so distressed, that the Scientist took pity upon 
 him, and bid him mount behind him. 
 
 " Whew ! this is better," exclaimed the voluble youth. 
 "I say, Ampharita, why did you slip off so quietly? 
 The mother and grandmother w 7 ere very cross when 
 they found you had gone off, 
 with all these strangers and 
 extra work coming up right 
 after, too ! There was a great 
 commotion. They had no 
 one to help them, and made 
 me ; I kicked and cuffed and NATIVE SPURS 
 
 said I would n't. Think of 
 
 the oldest boy of our family helping to grind and 
 boil the sprouted corn; while Ismo went for the 
 grass-seed for the ba-ta-like ! Ugh ! what a time we 
 had working ! I cried when none was looking, I was 
 so ashamed of doing girl's work when the stranger 
 braves might come by and see me any moment ; but none 
 came near our kitchen-ring that I could see, for I hid well 
 beneath the wind-blown saccaton, where I could not be 
 seen from the opening. We got it all finished before 
 
 121
 
 sundown, and the jars are quite full now waiting for the 
 feast. Hey, if the racers do not run soon, and it does 
 not get drunk up, the jars will begin to split. We 
 boys are watching mighty close so that much need 
 not be wasted. Think, hey ! before the men get at it. 
 How glorious to drink all the ba-ta-like ! " 
 
 There was a pause, the Scientist felt again the strange 
 oppression, and the presence of the garrulous boy, who 
 he strongly suspected had already tasted a large sample 
 of the wonderful ba-ta-like, did not entertain him as 
 much as he had hoped. 
 
 " The runners are fine," the boy continued, when he 
 perceived that no one answered him. " There is one 
 man among them who, they say, ran once from midday 
 to sunrise without stopping. I tell you what, those 
 Tarahumari are a swift-looking set ; they won't let any 
 one touch them ; but we boys measured their shadows, 
 and they are bigger every way than those of our own men. 
 Our medicine-man has been working all night with our 
 runners to get them fit, and see that the Tarahumari 
 Shaman does not conjure them." 
 
 " I wish the priest were near," observed Ampharita, 
 who had been listening attentively. " Then there would 
 be no fear of heathen conjuring." 
 
 " I expect our medicine-man knows his business, and 
 can do for them," exclaimed the boy, loftily; " the bets 
 are high ; I never saw so many things together. Can't 
 you hear the oxen and cows lowing? Father has bet 
 all the new blankets that granny and Ampharita wove 
 during the last rainy, season, and all of Ampharita's 
 things too. As she had gone away he thought them of 
 no use for us, and the easiest thing to bet. You 'd 
 better go and see about them, Ampharita." 
 
 122
 
 " Never mind my things," said the girl, indifferently. 
 
 " Mother cried when he said that as Ampharita had 
 gone, it was no use keeping her things, and only stopped 
 when he said they might win enough clothes for her and 
 the rest of the children to dress like the Chiefs squaws 
 and smart young sons. I think mother sets a heap of 
 store by you, Ampharita; when she sees you again 
 she will be so happy you can beg from her what you 
 will." 
 
 "You see, my master," whispered Ampharita, "I 
 told you they understood where I had gone to, and we 
 could journey away to the white man's land without 
 coming back first to ask permission." 
 
 " Ay, but you would have lost the feast ! " interposed 
 the brother. " However did you learn about that, Am- 
 pharita? You have not told me yet." 
 
 " Never mind," she said, " you always know much more 
 than others, and I wonder you do not know this also. 
 You pretend to know too much for a boy who has not 
 seen more rainy seasons." 
 
 " I am no boy, I am a lad. In three years I shall be 
 a runner myself. I can shoot farther than any of the 
 others who are not braves. Ay, look, look, they are 
 about to start ! Quick, master ! " and the boy kicked 
 the pony's haunches so vigorously that the animal broke 
 into a gallop, and disappeared with its double burden 
 in the direction of the race-ground, where the whole 
 tribe was assembled, while Ampharita hastened into 
 the village to assist her mother in preparing for the 
 feast. 
 
 When the pony reached the race-course the Scientist 
 felt himself carried away by the enthusiasm of the crowd. 
 A thousand dark eyes flashed, brown arms gesticulated 
 
 123
 
 with unwonted energy, brilliant-colored draperies flut- 
 tered in the sunlight ; all was spirited commotion. 
 
 The two head runners of the contending parties stood 
 ready, each with a wooden ball which was to be driven 
 before the competitors. One leader wore a white head- 
 band, while that of the other was red ; and the balls were 
 painted to match. Behind them their assistants stood 
 in line with dilated eyes fixed upon the ball, and every 
 muscle taut, ready for the start. The runners' legs were 
 painted with elaborate zig-zag lines, to make them run 
 
 MESQUITK FOOTBALLS. 
 
 the faster. The course had been marked out upon the 
 lower plateau, whence the crops had been gathered ; and 
 the women who could get away from their household 
 duties stood along the sides, as anxious and excited as 
 the meri and children. 
 
 Yet every one waited, and none dared move or talk, for 
 the medicine-men were still mumbling over their respec- 
 tive fires, burning copal incense in the direction of the 
 athletes, and chanting powerful incantations. The wives 
 and female relatives of the competitors were stationed 
 along the course, with refreshments for the men of their 
 side. The boys had clambered into the few sparse 
 mesquite-trees, so as to spy out the balls should they 
 fall amid the long, tangled grass. 
 
 124
 
 The Chief awaited the word from the medicine-men, 
 and when he received it, he gave the long-expected 
 signal, and, with a mighty shout from the assembled 
 people, off the men went, catching the wooden ball upon 
 their toes and casting it forward, with sure aim and 
 great dexterity. Twice, thrice around the course they 
 worked their way, while all the men hallooed themselves 
 hoarse, and the women flew after their heroes, throwing 
 warm water over their strained loins and heaving chests. 
 The boys screamed, the dogs barked, and pandemonium 
 seemed let loose upon the plateau. 
 
 The Pima chieftain called in vain for order and 
 silence. His people were too excited to listen. He 
 felt personally responsible for the maintenance of good 
 order throughout the affair, and made many excuses to 
 his chief guests, which were graciously accepted. The 
 Tarahumari felt that the honor of his tribe was also 
 involved ; and so many bets were up that he could not 
 allow the race to be called off, as sometimes occurred 
 when the hubbub engendered disputes, or one of the 
 balls was accidentally lost, or purposely hidden. 
 
 After about two hours and a half the ball of the vic- 
 torious runners shot past the starting point for the last 
 time. 
 
 The Pimas had won, and, strange to say, the Tarahu- 
 mari, despite the long consultation which ensued be- 
 tween their medicine-men and the chief, did not pick 
 a flaw in the proceeding. During the discussion they 
 looked frequently in the direction of the white man, who 
 was congratulating the Pima leader, and their ruffled 
 pride was evidently soothed by the thought that the 
 celebrated white medicine-man had lived long among 
 their adversaries, and so perforce had given them the 
 
 125
 
 secret of success. They graciously accepted the Pima 
 Chief's invitation to tarry over the feast and see some 
 of the " wonderful white man's miracles," as the Pimas 
 termed the Scientist's simple juggling tricks; and the 
 managers of the wagers proceeded to distribute them 
 to the individual backers of the successful side. 
 
 MESQUITE BEANS AND BEETLES. 
 
 126
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " And Lancelot answered, ' Nay, the world, the world 
 All ear and eye, with such a stupid heart 
 To interpret ear and eye, and such a tongue 
 To blare its own interpretation, nay, 
 Full ill then should I quit your brother's love.' 
 
 " ' This is not love, but love's first flash in youth, 
 Most common; yea I know it of mine own self : ' 
 
 "... her father ; ' Ay, a flash, 
 I fear me, that will strike my blossom dead.' " 
 
 THE Chief desired to impress upon his visitors the 
 wealth of his tribe, and had promised especial favors to 
 those who should excel in ostentation. Early on the 
 feast day, therefore, within the pueblo, sheep, oxen, and 
 goats had been slaughtered with great ceremony in the 
 presence of the guests ; and fresh meat was simmering in 
 enormous pots upon bright fires in every kitchen-ring. 
 
 A great beating and patting was going on upon the 
 grooved stones, where the tortillas and tomales were 
 rolled. The women repeated little couplets, which 
 were to act as charms and add to the success and flavor 
 of the cooking. None of the boys had been seen since 
 the race was announced, and the arrival of Ampharita 
 was a godsend to her overworked mother and 
 grandam. 
 
 127
 
 She told them, between errands to the storehouse and 
 water-course, what had occurred at the ranch; and they 
 rejoiced with her that her heart's desire would be ac- 
 complished. Thereafter, the two women busied them- 
 selves with renewed energy to make their contributions 
 to the feast especially rich. Had they not a double 
 reason for thanksgiving? The harvest had been plenti- 
 ful, and they were possessed of a secret store of goods 
 with which the stranger had paid for their services. 
 Besides, Ampharita had announced that he, this great- 
 est of all shamen, was about to take her with him to the 
 marvellous land beyond all the waters, the land of 
 the Eastern Cross, the land that was close to Heaven, if 
 not Heaven itself. There she would learn more than any 
 of the roakoros had ever dreamed of; oh, a hundred- 
 fold more than the wisest of the native medicine-men 
 could teach. And when she returned, the Chief and even 
 the priest, who had never been out of Mexico, would bow 
 down to her; and she would be a queen among them, 
 and with or without the white man, she would be more 
 mighty than the far away White Chief of all the land 
 between the two waters, of whom they had once or 
 twice heard tell by returned hikori hunters. Ampharita 
 would not have to work. For the travelled hikori 
 men when they returned never worked, but lived by 
 acting as interpreters, between races and tribes, as 
 managers of wagers, as go-betweens in large exchanges 
 of cattle and land, as story-tellers, and even as medicine- 
 men. 
 
 Thus the mother and grandam talked together in 
 low tones, while the pile of edibles grew in volume be- 
 neath their energetic hands. The sun was sinking, the 
 sound of the racers approaching the goal could be heard, 
 
 128
 
 AT THE STORE-HOUSE. 
 
 129
 
 when Ampharita, rising from the kneeling position which 
 she had kept for hours, behind the tortilla stone, 
 stretched her arms heavenward, with a little contented 
 sigh, and asked her mother how soon the ceremonial 
 dance was to begin. 
 
 " When the evening star touches the western mount," 
 the Indian woman answered. " Let us hasten. The 
 Chief has decreed that the feast be grand, but last not 
 long. It is to secure for us much respect and noise, but 
 be over quickly, like the shot from the white man's fire- 
 arm. The guests come from afar and their runners are 
 tired. They will rest, and go to-morrow northward." 
 
 Ismo here arrived to tell about the race, and was 
 pressed into the service of putting the three-years-old 
 child to sleep. He rebelled, but to no purpose, being 
 silenced with the conclusive argument no work, no 
 feast. 
 
 The oldest boy soon followed from the race-ground, 
 wild with joy over the result of the race, and accent- 
 uating it by tooting discordantly upon a wonderful 
 flageolet he had won from a friend on a private wager ; 
 for he was not old enough to be allowed to take public 
 part in the betting. 
 
 He described the race graphically; but Ampharita 
 could give him but half an ear; she was absorbed in 
 listening for the approach of the white man. It had 
 required great management to get away from the kitchen- 
 ring to prepare the cactus hut ; then the unusual mag- 
 nitude of the feast had brought into requisition all the 
 hoard of family earthen-ware, and she was forced to 
 make shift for water-jars as best she could, by transfer- 
 ring whatever she dared to baskets. 
 
 The people returned to the village by groups, and the 
 
 130
 
 confusion increased. Ampharita's father announced 
 that the two chieftains were playing together the great 
 gambling game of Ghing-skoot, as the head of the Pimas 
 wished to give his distinguished 
 guest a chance to win back some 
 of his lost treasures. 
 
 Ampharita watched eagerly every 
 group that passed, but the Scientist 
 did not appear. He had gone out 
 upon the meza to tether his pony, 
 and look after its food and water. 
 
 A m p h a r i t a's brother at last 
 deigned to explain this, in answer GAME OF GHING . SKOOT . 
 to her repeated questions, but with- 
 out removing his flute from his lower lip. His new 
 toy effectually stemmed his usual flow of chatter, for 
 the explanation was couched in four words, " horse 
 meza food drink," punctuated by toots. The boys 
 then ran off, as the first call to the dancers had given 
 the signal for a fresh stampede, for this announced that 
 the procession was about to form on the outskirts of 
 the pueblo. 
 
 The porch before the Chiefs house had been temporarily 
 enlarged, and a white cross erected beneath it. Around 
 this blankets were spread, ready to receive the oblations 
 of especially prepared food and drink, which were to 
 be served to spirits and great humans during the 
 ceremony. 
 
 The women began to arrive with small ollas of chawcc, 
 a kind of liquor made by baking the heart of an especial 
 variety of agave beneath the ashes for two or three days, 
 and then squeezing it through a piece of cloth. This is 
 a great luxury, and must be consumed sparingly, as it is
 
 extraordinarily intoxicating and very sweet. Others 
 brought enormous ollas of teswin, and ba-ta-like, while 
 others carried the boiled meats, baskets of tomales and 
 tortillas of divers colors made from the sacred or cere- 
 monial corn. 
 
 Two men of stately carriage approached and seated 
 themselves near the fire which had been kindled before 
 the cross with elaborate ceremony by the roakoros, who 
 
 GAME OF WA-PE-TAIKH-GUT. 
 
 from time to time threw fragrant boughs and copal 
 incense, animal fat, cream or liquor upon the flames, so 
 that they flared and sputtered. Each man was provided 
 with a flute, a drum, and a fanciful stick with which to 
 beat upon it. The women placed a little heap of glow- 
 ing coals within reach of the musicians, who warmed 
 their drums upon one side and then the other, and struck 
 them gently with their fingers to see whether they were 
 in tune. Each man planted his right foot firmly on the 
 ground, and resting the right elbow on his knee, raised 
 the flute to his lips, while against the joint of the knee 
 
 132
 
 he firmly wedged the drum. He then began to beat a 
 low monotonous cadence with the stick he held in his 
 left hand, the flute meanwhile ringing the changes of the 
 prelude to the ceremonial dance. The musicians were 
 destined to perform alternately throughout the evening, 
 one taking up the strain when the other appeared ex- 
 hausted, or his drum needed re-tuning. 
 
 A noise like the whir and hiss of a score of angry 
 rattlesnakes began at the end of the village, and Am- 
 pharita's mother ordered her to join the other maidens 
 who were to bring up the rear of the procession of 
 dancers, and wait upon the dancing women, relieving 
 them of their babies and superfluous garments. The 
 girl cast a despairing glance in the direction of the 
 cactus hut; her master had not yet returned, and she 
 knew that later at the feast he would sit with the Chief 
 and his distinguished guests, where she dared not ap- 
 proach him. 
 
 Her sight was piercing, and as she walked she looked 
 anxiously to right and left along the way; but the 
 Scientist could be nowhere descried, either among the 
 
 o 
 
 fire illumined faces near the kitchen-rings, or with 
 the moonlit figures that moved about beyond the 
 circle of glow. 
 
 The awesome medicine-men, followed by the young 
 bucks who were to dance, moved slowly down the 
 rough irregular space between the houses. It was the 
 shaking of the gourd rattles which made the hissing 
 noise. A little behind them came the troop of dancing 
 women, while the heads of families, the Tarahumari 
 and the chiefs approached from the opposite direction, 
 and seated themselves upon the ground beneath the 
 porch, leaving space for the dancers to pass between 
 
 133
 
 them and the oblations that surrounded the fire and 
 ceremonial cross. 
 
 When the chief men were seated, the women who 
 were not dancing, approached, carrying their youngest 
 children in their arms or on their backs. They 
 formed an outer ring, squatting upon their 
 feet. The Chief arose, and a hush ensued as he 
 
 solemnly filled a 
 gourd dipper with 
 native beer, and, 
 turning towards 
 ^_^^^ ^_ the cast, cast the 
 
 the 
 
 DRUM AND MAGIC FLUTE. 
 
 libation into 
 air. 
 
 A burst of noise 
 followed, a great drumming and wild rattling. 
 
 The Chief filled the gourd again, and poured out its 
 contents to the west of the cross, then to the north, and 
 lastly to the south. 
 
 As he resumed his place, the dancers shook their 
 rattles upward three times, and began to tramp around 
 the circle in time to the cadence of their rattles and 
 the beating of the drum. The clatter of the seeds 
 within the gourds was rhythmic and not unmusical ; and, 
 as they went, they sang a very ancient sacred song, 
 which seemed a medley of animal noises, with a chorus 
 of unmusical cock crows and hen cackles, which to the 
 performers and their audience were blood stirring and 
 awe-inspiring. 
 
 One by one, the older Pimas, after watching the 
 dancers for a few minutes, joined the circling rattlers. 
 Then came the turn of the married women, who, becom- 
 ing excited by the song, began to dance also, forming 
 
 134
 
 a large ring outside of the shed and swaying backward 
 and forward, retreating, breaking apart, and forming 
 the line in a not ungraceful measure. Some of them 
 carried their sleeping babes upon their backs, and the 
 little ones were aroused by the jolting and cried dis- 
 mally, after the manner of disturbed infants. 
 
 The children who were not old enough to wait upon 
 the guests and dancers were tolerated at the festival as 
 spectators. They huddled close to- 
 gether at one side of the shed, try- 
 ing to keep awake, but as the evening 
 advanced, the loudest calls ceased to 
 arouse them, and they fell forward TAN-WA, GAMBLING 
 upon the ground, where they ran the 
 risk of being trampled upon by the excited performers, 
 before their 'mothers noticed them, and, picking them 
 up, carried them off to the huts, where they tucked them 
 away securely beneath warm blankets. 
 
 The Scientist was much diverted by all he saw ; but 
 he felt constrained to look as earnest and devout as the 
 venerable medicine-men. This dance was the most 
 solemn function of the tribe, more grand and varied 
 than any of the feasts he had witnessed during his so- 
 journ on the plateau. It had been originally inspired 
 and instituted by the beautiful motive of pure grateful- 
 ness for a plentiful harvest, and had become a weird 
 ceremony, the slightest breach of which, would render 
 the whole displeasing to the bountiful and generous 
 God who had blessed the Indians' fields and cattle, and 
 cause Him to neglect them the next season. 
 
 No one spoke until the dance was over. Corn- 
 husk cigarettes were circulated throughout, and the 
 two chiefs, the old men, the runners, and the Scientist 
 
 135
 
 smoked continuously; this, too, was a part of the 
 ceremony. 
 
 The older men did not dance long, but encouraged 
 the younger ones to wilder leaps by compliments, and 
 strove to excite them to complicate their steps ; for cere- 
 monial dancing among the Indians may be done by 
 proxy. The work was hard, and the dancers grew tired 
 and breathless in imitating the movements and calls of 
 the wild animals. These calls serve as an invocation 
 against visits of beasts of prey ; for a yelp or a howl de- 
 voutly uttered in the dance is sufficient to conjure away 
 the animal whose voice it imitates, while the bird and 
 fowl notes invoke the return of seasonable blessings. 
 The soft calls of the nesting birds in the spring were 
 interspersed by the dancers with words intended to beg 
 for rain in due season. Next came those of the frogs, 
 with words assuring a copious, well-regulated down- 
 pour. There were the chirping of crickets and crowing 
 of the cocks for the period of sprouting and growing, 
 when the spirits water the earth as regularly as the 
 cricket chirps and the cock crows. And with the 
 thought of the harvest came the call of the wild turkey, 
 who is considered the greatest of birds ; for does he not 
 show his wisdom by coming to glean the ripe grain? and 
 since every part of him is useful, is he not devoted to 
 man's prosperity, and does he not shun the regions 
 where crops have been scant? At the thought of the 
 turkey the dancers strutted and preened themselves, 
 while uttering realistic gobbles in simulation of the 
 gorged and satisfied birds. 
 
 Thus the dance went on interminably. The monotony 
 of the entertainment began to bore the Scientist, for 
 after the first half hour nothing new was introduced; he 
 
 136
 
 THE HARVEST DANCE. 
 
 137
 
 was hungry and wanted to see the feasting underway, so 
 as to finish the work for which he had come back. He 
 had not eaten since dawn ; and this made him sensitive 
 to the smoke and stench beneath the shed. Despite the 
 breach of etiquette he would commit by retiring, he 
 was seeking for an excuse to do so, when a signal from 
 the Chief caused the musicians to stop playing. 
 
 The dancers at once lowered their rattles, and laid 
 them upon the blankets as they passed, and filed 
 down to the lower end of the porch, where they seated 
 themselves. 
 
 The Chief arose and presented some meat and corn- 
 cakes to the four points of the compass, as he had done 
 with the beer. Then he announced that the good God 
 wished the people to feast at the four sides of the cross, 
 at which the medicine-men assured them of the good 
 God's blessing. 
 
 Hereupon the Indians forming the outer ring of cele- 
 brants dispersed, and seated themselves in family groups 
 before the different kitchen-rings, while the Chief, the 
 old men, and their guests were waited upon by the 
 foremost women of the tribe. Teswaina, or teswin, and 
 ba-ta-like were again poured out toward the four points 
 of the compass. The platters and baskets of boiled 
 meats, tomales, and ceremonial tortillas were passed 
 around. The Chief and his guests were served first; 
 then the remainder of the assemblage, according to the 
 rank of their families. No one spoke, for all were intent 
 upon satisfying their hunger. The blessed inspiration 
 of the teswaina came as a good omen to the family and 
 the tribe, for the first words of intoxication would be 
 prophetic of the future harvest. 
 
 Young maidens had no part in the feast ; and Ampha- 
 
 138
 
 rita had early retired with her grandmother to their 
 distant kitchen-ring, and helped her give supper to 
 the boys. She ate but sparingly herself of the meat 
 and maize, and hardly touched the beer. She wanted 
 to keep awake and watch for the return of her master; 
 but the varying emotions of the last two days, the in- 
 tense excitement, and the unusual strain of talking for 
 hours had completely worn her out, and, overcome with 
 drowsiness, she retired to the hut, where, after tucking 
 up the younger children, she took her place on her own 
 mat. Hardly had she rolled herself in her blanket when 
 sleep claimed her, and deployed before her the most 
 beautiful visions of the white man's land. 
 
 First, she saw, from without, a house such as the Sci- 
 entist had often described to her. She stood beneath a 
 long row of regular trees, and looked up to where the 
 roof tilted forward, high as the top of the loftiest bar- 
 rancas. The sun touched the garlands of stone flowers 
 that wreathed about a shield and crown above the great 
 transparent plates of thin, hard stone, that seemed like 
 purest ice. She saw the white-haired matron and beau- 
 tiful pink-skinned maidens clothed in shimmering flower- 
 like blankets, wandering in and out between palms, 
 while clouds and angels floated above them, held im- 
 prisoned by the roof. The maidens seated themselves 
 on beds and stools covered with shining petals in fancy 
 designs. The matron went to a box of polished wood, 
 and, opening one end, showed rows of teeth laid flat. 
 She touched them, and music, wonderful, incomparable, 
 filled the hut. Ampharita listened entranced ; and when 
 it ceased, she thought she pressed a button, and noise- 
 lessly the plates swung apart in the middle at the touch 
 of a gorgeous white man covered all over with gold, and 
 
 139
 
 holding a long rod in his hand, with a great golden 
 globe on the top, and tassels richer than those of the 
 silk cotton-tree hanging about his white cloth-sheaved 
 fingers. 
 
 Another man was beside her with a sombrero shaped 
 like a jumping-bean, and heavily trimmed with gold ; he 
 laid it upon his heart, then motioned her to go on. 
 But the matron and maidens had disappeared, and she 
 felt as though he had told her 
 that her master was not in the 
 great house. So she turned aside, 
 and entered the garden and green- 
 houses, her fancy fluttering from 
 one well-remembered word-pic- 
 ture to another through ever 
 brighter and more beautiful reve- 
 lations. Still she was unhappy ; she could discover her 
 master nowhere, and often she tossed and moaned in 
 her anxiety to find him. 
 
 Meanwhile the night advanced without any abatement 
 of the feasting, until the men grew heavy with food and 
 beer, and fell asleep, lying like logs about the dying 
 fires. 
 
 The medicine-men did not yield to their appetites 
 like those of baser clay ; they told tales that were ex- 
 citing; but the Chiefs were tired, and did not listen 
 long. No sooner had all the food been consumed than 
 they arose, and, after a final oblation, moved away with 
 great dignity. The Pima Chief accompanied his chief 
 guest to a temporary saccaton-grass hut which had been 
 hastily constructed purposely for his use. 
 
 At this signal all who could sought their homes ; and 
 Ampharita's parents offered to accompany the white 
 
 140
 
 man, unless he preferred to go to the cactus hut 
 alone. 
 
 " No, let us go together. I want you both to come 
 to the prairie," the Scientist said, in a low tone. " I 
 have heard my horse neigh several times. The smell of 
 the sacrifice must have drawn the coyotes to the pueblo, 
 and I would see that he is untouched by strange man or 
 beast." 
 
 The Indians answered nothing, and walked along 
 beside him. 
 
 The fires were burning low in the pueblo. The moon 
 had passed the zenith, and, in crossing the waste land, 
 the pure air from the mountains refreshed the explorer 
 and his companions with its sweet cool breath. 
 
 Out on the rolling mezas, far removed from the 
 watchful eyes of the Chief and the crafty medicine-men, 
 the Scientist felt at ease. The decisive moment had 
 arrived ; but he had nerved himself for the occasion, 
 and his sensations were nothing compared with the 
 sickening indecision which had preyed upon him during 
 the long journey. Ampharita's parents were good, 
 humdrum, everyday aborigines, and he felt that he could 
 sway them easily ; for even if he did say something a 
 little offensive, they would not resent it, for the apathy 
 consequent on the long day of excitement and hard 
 work and the evening feast would have rendered them 
 unobservant. None but the horse and the stars would 
 assist at the interview; and if the two Indians tried to 
 excite the tribe against the white man, what they as- 
 serted would be accepted by their companions as the 
 unreliable inspiration of the teswaina working in their 
 heads after the feast. 
 
 The three reached the horse ; he was moving about 
 
 141
 
 slowly, sniffing and munching the freshest grass. The 
 breeze had veered to the southward so that its fleet 
 wings swept away the sound of their voices from the 
 pueblo. It was an ideal night of the Sierra, cool and 
 clear, the stars twinkling like a myriad of watchful eyes. 
 
 " I hear no coyote," said the Indian, " and the horse 
 has seen none ; he is as satisfied as a papoose at its 
 mother's breast." 
 
 The Scientist started at the sound of the man's 
 voice. The thought of the Nemesis of the Divine law 
 oppressed him; in another moment he would have 
 stifled it. The Indian should not have spoken and thus 
 compelled him to talk before he was quite ready. 
 
 " Never mind the coyotes," he said aloud, impatiently, 
 " now that we are here, I wish to speak to you of some- 
 thing much more important, something that regards 
 you most intimately. I brought you both out here 
 because every stick and stone in the pueblo has ears, 
 and you consult your babies about grave matters far 
 beyond their years and knowledge. Hearken well to 
 what I say ; it is urgent and the night advances. You 
 are aware that despite the deep color upon my skin, 
 which comes from the touch of the sun, it is different 
 from yours and that of your tribe. I do not even look 
 like the Mexicans whom you have seen. I belong to a 
 race of the far North. My eyes are blue where yours 
 are black, milk-colored where yours are creamy. My 
 nails are pink where yours are brown ; and beneath the 
 shadow of my garments my skin is fair and pink, like 
 that of our maidens. 
 
 " I came here to study the wonders of your country, 
 and carry back to my people news of this strange land. 
 For my people would know all things. To learn all 
 
 142
 
 about it was the object of my long sojourn among you. 
 I gathered all the things which load the pack-horse to 
 prove the truth of what I shall tell, for my nation is a 
 doubting one, and unless I take with me the insects 
 and the birds, the grasses and plants of which I shall 
 speak, and show them pictures of the houses and people 
 and animals, they will call me a liar, and laugh at me, 
 instead of thanking me for my months of work. To 
 gather all these ' specimens ' as we call them, I needed 
 assistance ; and the Chief said I might have the children 
 who were not engaged in helping his people about the 
 fields and flocks and houses. The Chief told me to use 
 them freely, and I did. They were all good and help- 
 ful and meant well, and I liked them all ; but as you 
 were willing to send Ampharita to tend my house and 
 horse, she learned my ways, and I soon saw she under- 
 stood so well that I kept her always by me. She has 
 the head of an old man ; she is different from the rest 
 of the children ; she is so submissive too, and careful, 
 and no burden is too cumbersome for her willingness." 
 
 It had been easy to get thus far ; but now, though the 
 Scientist cleared his throat, the words stuck fast and he 
 could not proceed. The long pause caused the Indian 
 father to feel that some confirmation was expected 
 from him ; and he was doubly proud of his daughter 
 as he said, " You are wise, O white shaman. You speak 
 even as it is." 
 
 The mother added, in a voice so low it sounded like 
 an intensification of the hum of the night insects, " Oh, 
 yes, like the white shaman, every one has always said 
 Ampharita was quite different from the other children 
 of our pueblo." 
 
 " You see, everybody has observed it too. What 
 143
 
 wonder that I used what you placed in my hand ! She 
 has not only the promise of rare beauty ; but she is so 
 much gentler, so much more refined than the others, as the 
 people of my land would call her. Her questions show 
 that her spirit works ceaselessly for good ; and I have 
 been pleased to help it grow, and have never wearied in 
 answering her multitude of questions. She always 
 asked this or that about the country where my parents 
 hold much land ; and so I told her about many things, 
 and the tales held her fancy, and she listened breath- 
 lessly, ever pleading for more. One unlucky day when 
 I had told her about something which pleased her more 
 greatly than anything she had ever seen or heard, she 
 asked me to let her go with me and see with her own 
 eyes what I had told her about so often ; and I think- 
 ing of no harm said, 'Yes.' You see she took that 
 as a promise, and brooded upon the hope until it grew 
 into a certainty that she should see and touch all that 
 she had heard about." 
 
 " Misericordia ! " the mother exclaimed, clasping her 
 hands above her head, " to think that this, my child, who 
 but yesterday was in the cradle, this, my gentle little 
 dove which has but lately slipped the egg, would leave 
 its nest already and fly over the seas with no parent's 
 wing near to rest upon." 
 
 She crossed herself; and the father followed suit, but 
 said nothing. It was beneath his dignity to express an 
 opinion until asked, so he waited patiently for the 
 Scientist to proceed. 
 
 " That my life is a wandering one is shown by my 
 coming here where no one who has not travelled far 
 has ever seen a white man. It may be years before I 
 can return to my fatherland which lies far beyond the 
 
 144
 
 warm yellow waters, and the furthermost bitter blue 
 ones ; and what would Ampharita do there alone mean- 
 while? She would be like the bird from the pine-lands 
 which Ismo hung in a cage beside the house-door, and 
 twitted and poked to make sing and eat until it moped 
 and died in Ampharita's hand, when she took it out to 
 soothe it. Ampharita would feel like one of the beauti- 
 ful blue butterflies of the meza caught in a snow-flurry 
 from the Sierra ; whereas here she flits about with the 
 
 NATIVE BIRD-CAGE AND LYC^ENA SONORENSIS. 
 
 other children, and will live out her life as God allotted 
 it. If He had not meant her to be a Pima maiden, He 
 would have caused her to be born elsewhere." 
 
 All was still ; the horse had moved somewhat away. 
 The stars seemed to wink and sparkle with intense 
 interest. The father, seeing some comment was ex- 
 pected, said, " It is God's will." 
 
 The mother repeated the words : " A snared bird 
 from the pine-lands, a blue butterfly of the mezas caught 
 in a snow-flurry." The voice sounded dulcet and caress- 
 10 I45
 
 ing as she repeated them ; but the young man's con- 
 science caused him to hear in it a ring of reproach. 
 
 " Well, woman ! " he exclaimed impatiently, " is it not 
 so ? She has a soul and a big heart ; but she told me 
 to-day she believes all things, even plants, have souls ; 
 while she is still so innocent she is indeed like one of 
 your native birds or insects, which falls to pieces if 
 roughly handled. Let us suppose that I grant her 
 prayer, then she must leave you all forever ; for if she 
 should try to return, as she says she will, she would be so 
 changed that she would find she could not care for you 
 as before. If I sacrifice my explorations for this, your 
 daughter's fancy, and give myself up for a season to the 
 care of her, what then ? After walking for weeks across the 
 desert, I must take her in a big noisy box, with hundreds 
 of other people, for many days behind an iron horse that 
 spits flame and boiling water. Then no sooner have we 
 left that horror, than we enter a moving house that rolls 
 and churns along across the great waters, crowded with 
 sick people, until, after many more days, in which her 
 heart has been faint with fear, we issue from it upon the 
 shore of my native land. 
 
 " The young girls and braves of my people will crowd 
 around us; they will be clothed in gorgeous complicated 
 draperies, and look as curiously at Ampharita as the in- 
 habitants of your pueblo looked upon me when I came 
 among you. She will be ashamed and know not where 
 to hide her dark face, and with what to cover her bare 
 neck and legs ; for with us the women wear their heads 
 and feet and bodies and even their hands covered when 
 they go abroad. If she tries to move away from the 
 crowd, which will laugh and point at her, big strong 
 white men will seize her and take her before a white 
 
 146
 
 Chief; and he will say to me, ' My son, whence the 
 maiden? She must be made at once like our maidens, 
 or I shall lock her up alone as one mad ! ' 
 
 " Besides not being allowed to dress as they will, 
 the good young girls among the white people are 
 not allowed to live alone with men who are not of their 
 near kin ; and I should have to put her with some 
 holy teaching-women who live shut up within high 
 walls, surrounded by white girls whom they instruct in 
 religion, submission, and what we call the arts of re- 
 fined life. Growing white girls are no better than grow- 
 ing white or brown boys ; they are always ready to tease 
 and torture what is weak and less clever than they think 
 themselves : so I fear me the white girls would despise 
 Ampharita because of her ignorance and lack of what 
 they consider the good manners of life, and they would 
 wound her heart with many scornful words, and crush 
 her spirit each day, making even the color of her skin a 
 source of agony to her. She would have to dress in 
 tight garments which hurt her body; and the wicked 
 words they would use to her would take away her 
 strength until she faded away. 
 
 " The white teaching-women do not wish for other men 
 than priests within their walls, and only let a girl's rela- 
 tives enter a place reserved for visitors during one watch 
 on two days out of seven. This place is built of stone 
 and enclosed by iron bars. Sometimes one can only see 
 . the girl and talk to her through the iron bars. You see 
 even though I never left the white man's pueblo, and 
 you know that would be impossible as my life is that of 
 the wild cattle, roving hither and thither in pursuit of 
 fresh food, Ampharita would be separated from me. 
 Gentle and submissive though we find her here, she 
 
 H7
 
 would break bounds there. Lithe as she is, her feet 
 would grow rebellious, until, climbing the walls, she ran 
 away. But whither would she fly? There is no place 
 in the thickly peopled white man's land where she could 
 hide away and live unmolested. She would be caught 
 and shut up again in a darker place than ever, or worse ; 
 for there are awful houses to which despairing maidens 
 are spirited away who have been found alone in the streets 
 of a white pueblo, and there they live or die in shame. 
 What could keep her among the white teaching-women? 
 Did she not leave her home and those she has loved since 
 babyhood to follow me, the first white man she saw?" 
 
 " Ugh ! " said the father ; and there was such an in- 
 tense ring of contempt in this monosyllable that the 
 Scientist winced and blushed crimson. He did not 
 think an Indian could have made him feel so mean. 
 He had talked too much ; he had said more than he 
 intended, carried along in a fever of self-justification, 
 and he was deeply ashamed of the last words, by which 
 he had only wished to indicate, without explaining, the 
 dangers that beset an unprotected young girl in a civil- 
 ized metropolis, and the whole-souled impulsiveness of 
 Ampharita's nature, which would make her an easy prey 
 to kind and sympathetic words. 
 
 " If the white man's country is such a dreadful place, 
 why did you tell my daughter about it? " continued the 
 father, doggedly. " Shame should have sealed your lips ; 
 for your conduct among us has been good instead of 
 bad, as you have described that of your people. Your 
 country is worse than the land of the Apaches. You 
 must have cast a powerful spell upon Ampharita, for our 
 pure, good maiden to have seen enough charm in such 
 a life to draw her away after you. A great white sha- 
 
 148
 
 man should not use his powers for evil upon maidens 
 and children." 
 
 " Alas, I did not. Ampharita is so innocent that, to 
 tell you the truth, I did not think she would care to hear 
 about the bad side of our life. Civilization is like a 
 man's heart, full of noble and bad passions, good and 
 evil actions. It offers much that is beautiful ; for the 
 life of the white nation is fuller than the existence you 
 lead here. Despite the turmoil and the offence, there 
 are many sides to our life which are glorious. Take the 
 music, for instance. Ah ! you who hearken to the 
 dance-rattle, the drums, and the flutes of your nation, 
 know not what music is. If you heard one of the 
 strains that is played in our music houses, if you 
 heard the church masses, with pealing organ, orchestra, 
 and heavenly voices, you would lie with your faces to the 
 ground and say, ' The Christ is come to earth again, with 
 all the saints singing His praises.' Then the paintings ! 
 If you entered one of our picture houses, you would say, 
 1 We stand in Paradise ! See all the pieces of different 
 lands hung about to give us joy ! ' And the knowledge ! 
 If you heard the words of one of our great medicine-men, 
 if you could see one chamber of our great storehouses of 
 knowledge, you would say, ' This is the storehouse of 
 God the Father, in which He keeps the gifts and tribute 
 from the angels and all His earthly children." 
 
 The Scientist had drawn himself erect and spread his 
 hands to the stars as he spoke. Carried away by the 
 subject, he burst into a glowing eulogy of his far-away 
 home, which enthralled his listeners ; for the Indian 
 loves eloquence even as he loves the fascinating sound 
 of the drums and rattles, and the noise of the dancing 
 and singing at a feast. 
 
 149
 
 When silence fell, the Indians had turned away their 
 heads, and moved somewhat away, so the European could 
 not see what impression he had made upon them. 
 
 " Humph ! " at last remarked the father, turning 
 abruptly to face the Scientist. " Poor little Ampharita ! 
 If you spoke like that to her, it is no wonder that you 
 bewitched her guileless heart." 
 
 These words recalled the white man to the question of 
 the hour. " Were you far away from your meza, could 
 you see the face of none you had ever known," he said, 
 " no matter how beautiful the strange land might be, 
 you would think always of the snow on the Sierra Madre, 
 and the shell-like tints of the saccaton grass, and this 
 bright starlight. You would talk of them incessantly to 
 your wondering hosts, and they would think your home 
 the loveliest on earth. Of course I talked much to 
 Ampharita when we walked and rested together; for 
 she questioned, and was never weary. She sucked up 
 the thoughts I poured out ; and the thirst for the white 
 man's land is the consequence. What child is without 
 curiosity? I was thinking of something else when I 
 made the promise ; and though I would do much for 
 Ampharita, I must confess it would be her ruin should I 
 consider myself held to fulfil it. A child's mind is as 
 unstable as water : to-day it caresses the reflection of a 
 man, to-morrow that of a dog or cat, a flower or simply 
 that of the reeds that rustle upon its bosom. The third 
 day it is all dried up, or has grown and spread, drowning 
 the flower the reflection of which it had caressed. When 
 I am gone, something else will fill the place I now occupy ; 
 then Ampharita will soon forget me, and only think of 
 my wonderful tales as you do of those told by your 
 medicine-men and hikori hunters." 
 
 150
 
 " You are mistaken," said the mother, " Ampharita is 
 no child." 
 
 "How can you go away from her without fear?" 
 queried the father. " You say you promised her that you 
 would take her; and did you not make it so by telling 
 her, in my presence, that your heart longed for her ; and 
 did you not kiss her yesterday? Can a white man so 
 easily break his thrice-given word." 
 
 The father paused, but the Scientist did not answer. 
 
 " You have filled the poor child's heart with images," 
 the man went on in a monotonous tone full of suppressed 
 feeling; "you have conjured up magic pictures of your 
 white man's land. If you will not take her with you, 
 you must release her from them, and give her back to us 
 as you found her. By disenchanting her, you may loose 
 yourself from your promise. You owe this not only to 
 her, but to our Chief, our whole people, and to us, your 
 friends, who welcomed you as a brother to our kitchen- 
 ring and daily fare. We gave you of all we had ; and 
 you not only took that, but you culled the sweetest 
 ear of maize in all our field, and would throw it aside to 
 be trampled and crushed in the dust, or pecked at by 
 the hens and crows. No one has ever used force with 
 Ampharita or spoken to her unkindly. No Christian 
 man of our tribe would willingly harm her any more 
 than he would defile the Sacred Image of the Virgin 
 that hangs in God's house. God would just as surely 
 curse him. She is too good and gentle to be made to 
 suffer pain. You are white ; you are a very great medi- 
 cine-man ; heal her before you go. Your book-learning 
 has taught you all things ; you must know how to do it, 
 and you cannot lack the will." 
 
 " I have pondered over the matter, and arranged things
 
 so that no possible harm can come to her. Far away 
 from here my pack-pony will await me to-morrow. My 
 riding-pony I will leave with you as a present, sure that 
 in you it will find a kind master. To-night I shall start 
 alone from the meza. When Ampharita awakes in the 
 morning, she will see the horse; and though she will 
 miss my presence from the hut, she will believe that I 
 have only gone into some neighboring barranca to seek 
 for plants. Let her continue with this thought as long 
 as it lives, so that she will become accustomed to my 
 absence. When she fears that I have departed without 
 her, and asks for news of me, you can turn your words 
 to make her think that though I was forced to go away 
 suddenly for a season, I left messages for her to care for 
 my horse, which stays with her as a pledge of my re- 
 turn. The love she has for me will gradually fade or 
 transfer itself to another ; for she is of the kind who must 
 have something to care for and tend. The moons will 
 grow and wane. Soon the Chief will tell her to choose 
 among the young braves, who already look upon her 
 with favor ; she will know which to cast the pebbles at, 
 and you will rejoice with her. The white man and his 
 promise will have become as the memory of a rainy 
 season long past. When the horse dies, she will have 
 the golden cross to show her children, as a proof of the 
 visit of the strange white man whom she served faith- 
 fully. The little ones about her knee will grow up to be 
 her pride and joy. Then she will laugh over her wild 
 wish to follow me to the white man's land. Why should 
 she mourn for me? I have appeared in her life like a 
 strange bird, ' a messenger from the sky,' she called 
 me that but to-day ; and after I am gone she will be no 
 worse off than before I came. I leave many rich gifts 
 
 152
 
 with her in the thoughts I have planted in her brain, the 
 arts I have already taught her. The east wind will ob- 
 literate my trail ; the rain will beat away the last foot- 
 print; and the new 
 grass will grow up in 
 what has been my 
 daily path. The 
 priest will occupy 
 the cactus hut as 
 before. I shall have 
 disappeared in an 
 instant, like the 
 smoke from the burn- 
 ing prairies, which 
 calls down the shower 
 that ends your dry 
 season. The thought 
 of me will die after a 
 few days, like the 
 strange butterflies " THE TW INDIANS WENDED THEIR WAY 
 
 ,1 , i .,1 TOWARDS THE PUEBLO." 
 
 that are borne hither 
 
 by the south wind, and hang blighted and quivering upon 
 the wet thatch of your houses. If in her future, joyous 
 life of wife and mother, she ever remembers the white 
 medicine-man with whom she searched the barrancas 
 and prairies, it will be with amusement at his queer 
 ways ; while I will be somewhere out in the world fight- 
 ing and suffering alone in the cause of knowledge." 
 
 The Scientist had again drowned his conscience be- 
 neath a flood of eloquent words. At the end, all the 
 sorrow he felt was for himself, and he had almost for- 
 gotten the Indian girl's devotion, in contemplating the 
 picture of her future which his fancy had created. 
 
 153
 
 Not so the mother. She shook her head and said : 
 " Poor Ampharita ! With all your learning you have 
 not been able to understand my simple child." 
 
 She added nothing that the white man could hear, but, 
 touching her husband, she pointed towards the Indian 
 pueblo, and said something in his ear. Indian women 
 are well-trained in keeping their own counsel, and bear 
 suffering without complaint. Whatever further thoughts 
 were in her mind, she kept them to herself, and the two 
 prepared to leave the prairie. 
 
 The father said, " Great Shaman, we will care for your 
 horse ; and the Chief may use him if he will, we have 
 no need for such. Go in peace ! The Madonna pro- 
 tect you, and enfold our child in her arms that the blow 
 be softened." 
 
 The two Indians turned and, with bowed heads, wended 
 their way towards the pueblo, while their whilom guest, 
 the white man, began to walk away rapidly in the oppo- 
 site direction. 
 
 As they neared the houses the Indian mother paused 
 and looked back. The white man was already lost in 
 the shadows of the night, and, covering her face with her 
 hand, she followed her husband to their hut. 
 
 OLLA RING, PADDLE, AND DANCE RATTLE. 
 
 154
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 " And Lancelot ansvver'd nothing, but he went, 
 And at the inrunning of a little brook 
 Sat by the river in a cove, and watch'd 
 The high reed wave, . . . 
 
 . . . and said 
 
 Low in himself : ' Ah, simple heart and sweet, 
 Ye loved me, damsel, surely with a love 
 Far tenderer than my queen's . . . 
 . . . Farewell . . . now at last . . . 
 Farewell "... 
 So groaned Sir Lancelot in remorseful pain." 
 
 THE moonlight was strong and clear with the golden 
 intensity common in that region. The Scientist easily 
 recognized the trail, and advanced rapidly in the direc- 
 tion of the canon. When the moon set, the stars grew 
 in brilliancy until they seemed an array of lanterns, large 
 and small, hung out at various altitudes to illumine the 
 dark vault of heaven, just as the circling lamps beautify 
 the domes of earthly temples, swinging in iridescent 
 beauty, flaring, flickering, and paling in the dusky in- 
 cense-laden atmosphere. 
 
 The Scientist knew the constellations well, and hailed 
 them as cheering guides. From time to time he paused 
 to rest ; and once he lay back upon the sands, pillow- 
 ing his head upon his clasped arms and gazing upwards, 
 lost for a while in admiration of their wondrous beauty. 
 
 155
 
 Across the zenith swept the Milky Way, like a silver- 
 gray ostrich plume spangled with living sparks ; and as 
 he sought to count the stars within the grasp of the 
 Lesser Bear, the little pain which lurked about his heart 
 and his wounded self-esteem were soothed. 
 
 At dawn the three great rocks were in sight. They 
 towered high, a noble landmark, visible from every 
 elevation in a circuit of many miles. He 
 breakfasted by eating a few tortillas which 
 he had brought with him from the feast; 
 and as he thought how graceful Ampharita 
 had been when pounding the meal, or knead- 
 ing and rolling it into cakes, the pain re- 
 turned, so that he cared not to finish the 
 frugal repast, but, rising hastily, pressed for- 
 ward towards the trysting-place. 
 
 His gait was rapid, though, from time to 
 time, he paused instinctively beside some 
 uncommon plant. Then the thought of 
 how the abandoned girl would have been 
 
 PITAIYA CACTUS. 
 
 ready to carry it along, and tend it till he 
 could classify it, would cause the pain to grow in force, 
 until the plant disappeared behind the mist of pity 
 which filled his eyes. 
 
 When he at last reached the three rocks, he was in no 
 kindly mood either towards himself or the rest of the 
 world. 
 
 He found there the Ranchero with the pack-horse, and 
 examined the animal's load, without answering the man's 
 greeting. Nothing was lacking ; not even Ampharita's 
 store of attole and pinoles. 
 
 At the sight of the bag, the picture of how she had 
 gathered the fresh fruit of the yucca, dried and sorted 
 
 156
 
 it, how she had fetched the seed from the store-house, 
 and prepared the paste, her slender arms struggling for 
 hours with the heavy stone pestle, raising it high above 
 her head, and dropping it again to crush the yucca-seed 
 in the mortar, rose before him, and he fell into a revery, 
 entirely forgetting the presence of the Mexican. 
 
 The Ranchero thought he had dropped asleep from 
 exhaustion, and allowed him to rest for a while ; but 
 when mid-day came, he spread the food he had brought 
 with him upon his blanket, and, touching the Scientist 
 upon the shoulder, said : " Senor, the sun is about to 
 move westward, and the distance is long to my ranch ; 
 will the Caballero eat? Then, if he show his satisfaction 
 by paying his servant and letting him go, it will be well ; 
 unless the Caballero commands that we camp here for the 
 night?" 
 
 " No, no, my man," answered the Scientist, arousing 
 himself. " Let us eat, then you can be off as soon as 
 you wish to. I promised you good pay ; and as I am 
 satisfied, I will fulfil my part of the contract, as you have 
 yours." 
 
 They ate in silence ; and, when the meal was over, the 
 white man counted out the silver pieces, adding one for 
 the Ranchera. 
 
 " Here is your money," he said. " Take it and away 
 with you ; you say that the journey before you is long ; 
 as to mine, it is longer, and I shall have to camp by the 
 way more than once, so I will rest still for a season. 
 The water is good, and perhaps I will not go beyond, but 
 camp here instead for to-night. In any case, I need you 
 no longer. Here is your money, and an extra pezo for 
 your wife ; be sure to reach home before nightfall. That 
 teswaino or robbers make not free with the silver, you 
 
 157
 
 had better give it all to your wife. She is a good woman, 
 though sad, and will care for it against a bad harvest." 
 
 " Ah, well, the wife is sad because she has had sor- 
 row ; and the Indian women are not easily consoled when 
 they lose that to which their heart clings. The worst 
 kind are those who do not say much ; 
 it just eats them up inside, and they 
 are lifeless husks, worm-eaten mes- 
 quite beans. A thousand thanks, 
 Senor ; may you be requited a hun- 
 dred-fold. Good-bye, Caballero. Call 
 on me at any time. I am your 
 obedient servant. The Madonna 
 protect you ! " 
 
 The man mounted his small pony 
 and trotted away rapidly towards 
 the north. From time to time he 
 turned and waved his hat, and once 
 the Scientist saw that he paused 
 and dismounted while he put the 
 silver pieces into the lining of his leathern breeches. 
 
 " The Madonna protect me," thought the Scientist. 
 " Her parents, too, said that last night. Everything 
 reminds me of her. Why did he describe to me how 
 sorrow works upon the silent ones? Bah, Ampharita 
 cannot have loved me as the mother loves her child ; she 
 is too young to feel deeply. She will get over it soon. 
 I must rid myself of this morbid feeling. I am making 
 a ghost out of a pumpkin moonshine. If I travel for- 
 ward I shall forget. As the Ranchero said, the sun is 
 moving towards the west, and the night must find me 
 many a mile away." 
 
 But the Scientist did not rise. He sat quite still in 
 
 158 
 
 CENA CACTUS.
 
 the narrow shadow of the rocks, with his elbow on his 
 knee and his head resting on his hand. He felt as 
 though he could not bear to move away from the tryst- 
 ing place, for then he would sever the last visible link 
 that bound him to the Indian settlement. Thus far he 
 had once come with Ampharita ; and, as she had said on 
 their pleasant journey the day before, it was good to see 
 the home mountains. Beyond him lay the unknown, 
 and he had no fixed plan, save to get away as fast as 
 possible from the Pima Bajas, and carry his precious 
 specimens to the city of Chihuahua, whence he could 
 ship them to the museum where his other collections 
 were on exhibition. 
 
 " Should anything happen to me after I have left 
 here," he thought, " no news of me could ever reach my 
 people, nor would the Pimas find my remains and tell 
 their priest, who might send word to a white settlement, 
 whence the message would be forwarded to the capital, 
 and telegraphed all over the world, and be printed in 
 the papers, under the heading of ' Another victim to 
 science ! ' I am condemned to work my way alone 
 through a country which, according to report, is infested 
 with all kinds of vermin, from scorpions to revolutionary 
 Chihuahuans. The sumpter-pony is already more heav- 
 ily laden than he should be ; and, since I sacrificed my 
 saddle-horse to sentiment, I must foot it, whether my 
 boots and provisions stand the strain or not." 
 
 Rising, he whistled to the animal, replaced its pack, 
 and led the way down the steep acclivity to where the 
 brook babbled musically. 
 
 Both man and beast were refreshed by a long drink 
 of the clear water. The canon ran somewhat east- 
 ward ; but its banks were high, and so the sun had no 
 
 159
 
 time to warm the brook that babbled in its depths. The 
 Scientist decided to follow a faint trail he found beside 
 it, and did not re-ascend to the plateau. 
 
 At sunset he reached an abandoned cave which had 
 been originally worn out of the stony side of the bar- 
 ranca by the arroyo, when swollen with the inrushing 
 waters consequent upon the rainy season, and which 
 had been adapted to a dwelling by the levelling of its 
 
 LEPUS TEXIANUS EREMICUS, JACK RABBITS. 
 
 floor, and the construction of an outward wall and rude 
 partition. 
 
 The horse would not wander from the lush grass and 
 plentiful water, while the man could rest secure in 
 the habitation ; so he left the animal to graze at will, 
 and, stowing away the pack in the back of the cave, he 
 lay down in the outer chamber, and, rolling himself in 
 his blanket, sought sleep. 
 
 He soon found the atmosphere close, and that the 
 bits of broken pottery which protruded through the 
 
 1 60
 
 beaten floor formed anything but an agreeable couch. 
 He missed the cool night-breeze of the meza, and the 
 almost imperceptible stir of pueblo life. When at last 
 he slept, it was not soundly, and he was easily aroused 
 by a rustling near him. 
 
 This continued, and he cautiously stretched out his 
 arm for his gun. The Ranchero, or a strange Indian, 
 might have followed him to steal the pack. He touched 
 something in the dark. It was cold as his rifle-bore, 
 but soft and scaly, while at the same instant an excited 
 whir caused his blood to freeze, as he recognized in 
 it the rasping ring of a disturbed rattlesnake. 
 
 Knowing the habits of these reptiles, he realized that 
 his safety lay in vacating the premises as quietly as 
 possible, and he prepared to wriggle in the opposite 
 direction, when, what was his horror to feel the same 
 kind of cold rough body on the other side. An instant 
 later, he felt something heavy drag itself across the 
 blanket where it enveloped his feet, and, without daring 
 to move a muscle, he lay bathed in cold perspiration 
 throughout what appeared interminable hours. 
 
 When the gray dawn stole in through the opening of 
 the cave, he saw his grim visitants. One lay snugly 
 curled in the folds of his blanket, the two others had 
 approached quite close to his head, while in his coat a 
 fourth lay hidden. All were sleeping. 
 
 He rose to a sitting posture, and, with the greatest 
 patience, slipped his feet from beneath the loathsome 
 burden, and, abandoning his blanket and coat for the 
 nonce, he picked up his gun and cartridge-belt, and 
 crept out of the cave, and down the side of the canon 
 to where the horse stood. 
 
 After the sun had risen awhile, and its warm rays had 
 161
 
 HELODERMA HORRIDUM. 
 
 penetrated the cave-dwelling, he saw seven of the loath- 
 some creatures come out of the cave and slowly work 
 their way along the ledge of rock to a warm crevice, 
 where they distended themselves side by side, forming 
 a hideous mottled ribbon of deadly portent. 
 
 The Scientist had mechanically raised his rifle to his 
 shoulder, but he lowered it again without taking aim. 
 
 " My bullets are more 
 valuable than their big 
 rattles," he thought. 
 " What end will I serve 
 by killing the monsters; 
 while, some days hence, 
 if I run short of food, 
 each cartridge will mean 
 one meal at least." 
 He waited a little longer; and, as no more snakes 
 appeared from the cave, he went to fetch the pack 
 from which to take the wherewithal to breakfast. 
 
 The cave was deep ; and now he noticed that the far- 
 ther end of the inner recess had been closed to form a 
 storehouse. The door-way was walled up, and it might 
 contain stores and utensils ; but in the outer chambers 
 he could find no signs of habitation save the bits of 
 broken pottery, which might have been left there a 
 century or a decade before. 
 
 "This place is cheerless at best; no one may again 
 seek a night's rest within its shelter. Some of those 
 monsters bear the record of a score of years in their 
 rattles ; they seem at home here and would suffice to 
 give the place a bad reputation, if these superstitious 
 Indians have not found a tale of witchcraft and magic 
 that hoo-doos it in their estimation." 
 
 162
 
 He took up his blanket and returned to the brook's 
 edge, where he prepared a little gruel, making it with 
 attole from Ampharita's bag. This drink seemed to 
 pour new life and confidence into his veins, and, placing 
 the pack on his refreshed pony, he looked at his com- 
 pass, and choosing the first trail up the side of the 
 canon proceeded in what he knew to be the general 
 direction of Chihuahua. 
 
 The Scientist travelled for several days without meet- 
 ing a single human being. Sometimes he followed the 
 edge of a barranca to insure a supply of water, some- 
 times he filled his flasks and journeyed across desert 
 
 land or waste places where it was very difficult for him 
 to make a way for himself and the pack-horse through 
 the cacti and other low prickly growths. 
 
 The solitude was oppressive ; his tongue seemed 
 heavy and swollen by the long silence and alkali-dust. 
 He was often too weary to prepare himself food ; and 
 then he inwardly blessed the Indian girl who had sup- 
 plied him with a goodly store of the refreshing and 
 nourishing yucca-seed. 
 
 At night the howl of the coyotes kept him awake, or 
 if he slept, he dreamed of his reptile companions of 
 the cave-dwelling, and in his dreams the anxieties he had 
 
 163
 
 endured were intensified by his imagination into blood- 
 curdling realities. 
 
 Manifold were the discomforts of these nights on the 
 open prairies. Rats and mice came out to gather their 
 store of flax-seed before the rainy season ; and the skunks, 
 who were in pursuit of them, approached so near that 
 he could feel their hot breath upon his cheek as they 
 sniffed at him, wondering what kind of a strange animal 
 he might be. 
 
 The further he journeyed away from the Pimas Bajas, 
 the longer the time and the greater the separation, the 
 more grew his shame and sorrow at having abandoned 
 Ampharita without first seeking to explain to her the 
 dire necessity which compelled this action, and trying to 
 persuade her that it was for her good to remain with 
 her people. 
 
 No matter how he reasoned with himself, arguing 
 against his conscience that his precipitate departure 
 had been the only course open to him, his sense of jus- 
 tice vociferated that he had done a needlessly cruel 
 thing, and that he should have shown more confidence 
 in the intelligence he had so much admired. 
 
 If it was true that it was impossible to take her with 
 him, he should have repeated to her all the reasons; 
 and their very truth would have convinced her to let 
 him depart alone. From cowardice, he had run away, 
 like a thief afraid of the sunlight and the people ; and 
 his action would change the respect of the Indian girl 
 and the entire village into animosity and contempt. 
 The Chief would hold him in derision before the braves ; 
 the Indians would laugh, and say he had fled from a 
 girl ; and he clinched his fists when he thought of how 
 his enemy, the medicine-man, would ridicule him, and 
 
 164
 
 illustrate his version of the story with the exquisite 
 mocking mimicry in which he \vas an adept. 
 
 Again he cursed his vivid fancy, which depicted how 
 Ampharita had taken the news of his flight, first this 
 way and then that. What had she thought when she 
 discovered his lack of 
 truthfulness, she who 
 kept to her lightest 
 word as few men do to 
 
 their sworn oaths. At 
 times he felt like a culprit 
 fleeing from justice, and 
 sped forward with re- 
 doubled energy lest she 
 overtake and upbraid him. 
 At others, he laughed bit- 
 terly at his own folly. Again, he almost prayed that 
 the child might have indeed followed him ; and when- 
 ever he came near to a mountain he climbed to the top, 
 
 165 
 
 THE MESQUITE-TREE.
 
 and looked northwestward towards the land of the Pima 
 Altas, hoping against reason that he might see some 
 sign of her or her people upon the earth or sky. 
 
 After a while, the country he traversed was somewhat 
 cultivated, and endless stone-walls divided it up into fields 
 and ranches. He no longer needed to sleep beneath the 
 trees or on the open prairie. 
 
 Suddenly one day when he felt his journey was prac- 
 tically over, as he had prophesied to Ampharita, a troop 
 of men started up from behind a stone-wall, and he 
 found himself a prisoner in the hands of a detachment of- 
 revolutionary Chihuahuans, who had fortified themselves 
 in a large old ranch house. 
 
 An Indian was caught soon by the same troop. On 
 examination the man proved to be a Tarahumari, and 
 therefore talked an Indian dialect somewhat resembling 
 the language which had become very familiar to the 
 Scientist. 
 
 The man said he was on his way eastward in pur- 
 suit of hikoris ; he had no money or merchandise, and 
 begged to be set free ; but the Mexicans kept him to 
 wait upon the white man. The two prisoners managed 
 to understand each other quite well ; and though they 
 pretended mutual aversion in the presence of their 
 captors, they became great friends when left alone, and 
 sought together for a means of escape. The Chihua- 
 huans had taken from the Scientist not only his arms, 
 pony, and money, but all his precious scientific instru- 
 ments and the note-books and boxes containing the fruit 
 of his long sojourn among the Pimas, and he desired to 
 devise some means of saving these. The rebels did not 
 maltreat him ; but they threatened to shoot him if the 
 food ran short, and the confinement was very irksome, 
 
 1 66
 
 WITH THE CHIHUAHUANS. 
 
 167
 
 for they would not allow him to exercise, lest his appe- 
 tite increase. 
 
 He whiled away the days playing Indian games with 
 the Tarahumari, or questioning him about the character- 
 istics of the aborigines who lived in his land and further 
 to the westward, for the man seemed to have travelled 
 much. 
 
 The Tarahumari's face was very intelligent ; and when 
 he told the Scientist stories about the devotion of the 
 women-folk to their children and to the infirm, the 
 white man thought the keen, black eyes twinkled mali- 
 ciously, and his uneasy conscience caused him to un- 
 justly suspect the stranger of being a spy, or one of the 
 runners whom he had met the day of the Piman har- 
 vest feast. But cross-question as he might, the man 
 remained firm in saying he had never seen any of the 
 pueblos of the Pima Bajas, although he had met some 
 of their hikori hunters. 
 
 One night he aroused the Scientist, and whispered 
 that he had heard from the old woman of the ranch 
 that not a cob of maize was left, and all the rebels 
 had left the camp in pursuit of food. Before going 
 they had held a council, and decided to kill the captives 
 on their return, if their expedition proved unsuccessful. 
 The woman said there was still time for them to escape ; 
 but they must be off instantly. 
 
 The Indian had once been to Chihuahua, and said he 
 knew a round-about way thither, and would show the 
 white man the road, provided he promised to pay him a 
 certain sum which would purchase a pony and outfit of 
 fire-arms. The Scientist knew that the Governor would 
 welcome him warmly, and felt safe in guaranteeing the 
 coveted reward, so they started and kept together. 
 
 1 68
 
 The country was overrun with rebels, and they were 
 forced to hide frequently ; but at last, after many delays, 
 the two men reached the city. 
 
 The official representative of the young man's govern- 
 ment had repeatedly written to Chihuahua asking for 
 news of him ; and the Governor was delighted to wel- 
 come him safe and sound, no matter how much money 
 the foreigner borrowed. 
 
 So the Tarahumari received much more than he had 
 bargained for, and departed delighted, oblivious of his 
 projected hikori hunt ; for a gun was to him the greatest 
 gift any hikori could assure, and he determined to guard 
 it with the devotion of a chief for his family fetich. 
 
 The Scientist was once more comfortably lodged, well 
 fed, and decently clothed. His physical anxieties were 
 ended ; and the Governor assured him that he would 
 receive a pecuniary indemnity for his instruments and 
 specimens, should they not be recovered by an expedi- 
 tion which had been sent against the rebels. 
 
 Meanwhile he awaited news of them in Chihuahua. 
 
 The enforced inaction and humdrum life in an anti- 
 quated provincial town were oppressive after the stirring 
 dangers of the wilderness. The idleness and security 
 gave him time for thought and renewed his mental 
 depression. 
 
 The sinister presentiment about Ampharita which had 
 pursued him as he sat an alien amid the insurgents, or 
 tramped along beside the Indian, now returned. Her 
 dusky face had appeared between him and his compan- 
 ion with a reassuring smile, and she had pointed forward 
 encouragingly when they were in pursuit of freedom. 
 
 But when in Chihuahua he thought he saw her, the 
 eyes had lost the confiding expression he had loved so 
 
 169
 
 well. In its place was a sad dreaminess ; her cheek 
 seemed to have lost its delicate childish roundness. At 
 times her brow appeared crowned with wonder-flowers, 
 more beautiful than any she had gathered for him ; at 
 others, her face lay before him with closed eyes, like 
 those of one that sleeps, but it was pale as the sunlit 
 stones about it. 
 
 When he walked abroad amid the labyrinthine streets 
 and squares of the old town, the melodious tones of a 
 native girl offering her wares would recall Ampharita's 
 voice. In the movement and bustle of the market-place 
 she appeared under a hundred forms ; for the arch of 
 an instep here, the turn of a wrist there, or the fleet 
 steps of a barefooted child pursuing an escaping pet, 
 sufficed to bring her before his eyes. 
 
 When a servant-girl moved along with swaying hips, 
 carrying her head erect beneath the weight of a full olla, 
 the ripple of her black hair, the curve of her dusky ear 
 in the warm-colored shadow of the vessel, would vividly 
 arouse thoughts of Ampharita. 
 
 In the dusk of evening Ampharita seemed to per- 
 meate the city. Her phantom awaited him at every 
 dark street-corner, and gazed at him tenderly from be- 
 hind the pillar of a moon-lit portico, or a deep, dark 
 doorway. 
 
 Where was she? What was she doing? What was 
 she thinking, that she could thus coerce his intellect, 
 and fill his fancy with her image as it had never been 
 filled before? Whence had she, the timid child of the 
 prairies, this strange power over him, that grew instead 
 of waning, despite the contact with people of his own 
 class ? 
 
 If he should write a letter to her priest, full of tender 
 
 170
 
 messages for her, the sting might perhaps be taken out 
 of his departure ; his conscience might cease to recall 
 her so frequently when he could feel that he had made 
 some reparation, and she had learned that he still 
 thought of her, and would go back to see her after the 
 rainy season. 
 
 The thought was father to the act, and that evening 
 he wrote a long letter to the priest of the Pima Bajas, 
 the only man among them who knew what a letter 
 meant, and, inclosing a stamped and addressed en- 
 velope, begged the good man to give a hundred tender 
 messages to Ampharita, and send him news of all that 
 had transpired at the pueblo since his departure. 
 
 THE VINEGARONE OR THE LUPHONUS GIGANTEUS. 
 
 171
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 " So in her tower alone the maiden sat ; 
 
 But still she heard him, still his picture form'd 
 And grew between her and the pictured wall. 
 Then came her father saying in low tones, 
 ' Have comfort,' whom she greeted quietly. 
 Then came her brethren saying, ' Peace to thee, 
 Sweet sister,' whom she answer'd with all calm. 
 But when they left her to herself again, 
 Death, like a friend's voice from a distant field 
 Approaching thro' the darkness, call'd ; the owl's 
 Wailing had power upon her, and she mixt 
 Her fancies with the sallow rifted glooms 
 Of evening, and the moanings of the wind. 
 
 " Thus he read ; . . . 
 And ever in the reading . . . 
 Wept." . . . 
 
 AMPHARITA awoke in the early dawn, and crept out 
 of the hut before the family began to stir. Fetching a 
 water-jar, she swung it on to her head, and sped along, 
 lithe and merry, for she revelled in the freshness of the 
 morning, and was joyous as the little birds which had 
 spent the night in the neighboring mesquite, and now 
 plumed and puffed and fluttered at their morning toilet, 
 preparatory to a long flight in the sunshine. 
 
 No one was at the brook ; and so she washed the jar 
 and bathed herself in the pool before she went higher 
 
 172
 
 up to fill the olla with fresh water. All Nature was 
 hung with strings of dewdrops; and she stepped care- 
 fully, so as not to strike the flashing jewels from the 
 long grasses and low brush. 
 
 The rising sun peeped above the hill, and starred her 
 long wet hair with sapphires, rubies, and diamonds, 
 while the birds sang their morning orisons. 
 
 Ampharita threw a kiss to the sun ; this was a trick 
 her master had taught her, and of which she was very 
 proud. Then getting into position, she stood with out- 
 stretched palms, and burst into a cadenced prayer of 
 her own composition, which had gradually grown into 
 existence by binding together bits of kindly feeling for 
 all of Nature's things. The birds, the beasts, and wild 
 flowers, the springs and streams, the crops, and the in- 
 habitants of the pueblo, as well as her family, the Sci- 
 entist's horse, and, last and greatest, her dear master 
 were recommended in turn to the Beneficent Father 
 who causes His sun to shine with life-giving power or 
 death-dealing fierceness on all the things of the desert 
 and the barrancas. 
 
 When she had finished with her own prayer, she knelt, 
 and, clasping her hands, repeated the Ave Maria which 
 the priest had taught her, finishing her devotions with 
 the sign of the cross. 
 
 On the homeward way she met a few women strag- 
 gling towards the stream with empty water-jars. The 
 village was late in awakening; and even the dogs 
 seemed too overcome with the fatigue consequent upon 
 the feast to bark and snarl, while the women stumbled 
 along as though half asleep, or under the influence of 
 teswain. 
 
 Ampharita felt sorry for them ; and thanked God that 
 
 173
 
 her lips had never touched the magic beverage which 
 stole away men's strength and thoughts, and mercilessly 
 toyed with the hearts of women. 
 
 Raising her hand, she patted the big jar upon her 
 head. " Dear pure water," she murmured, " you good 
 and gentle servant of God who scatters blessings every- 
 where. How much dearer are you than all other 
 food and drink ! Without you man and beast would 
 die, and the soft bosom of the world become harder 
 and more arid than her rock crown. You do not steal 
 one's thoughts and strength, but add to what one has. 
 To bathe in you is as when the rain descends upon the 
 earth; all the rags and accumulated trash are washed 
 away from her surface, and a grateful perfume goes up 
 from the clean, refreshed soil, while the tender, green 
 plants, like new-found thoughts, sprout everywhere. 
 Dear water, no wonder my master loves you ! Refresh 
 him, and give him new joy in life as you touch his beau- 
 tiful hair and noble brow." 
 
 Ampharita had by this time reached the pueblo, and, 
 advancing to the cactus hut, she hearkened at the door, 
 and, hearing nothing, placed the jar in the shadow 
 beside the house for fear the sun in the porch might 
 heat it. 
 
 " I can watch," she thought, " while helping the 
 mother at the kitchen-ring ; and if he awakens and looks 
 out for the water, I can run and fetch it for him from the 
 shade." 
 
 As the maiden went and came in the preparation of 
 the morning repast, the Indian mother could hardly 
 answer her bright questions for the knowledge of the 
 night before, which enveloped her as in a storm-cloud. 
 
 " My master sleeps long," the girl said. " I have 
 
 174
 
 WATER CARRIERS. 
 
 175
 
 been to the door of his hut, and he rests well, for I can 
 hear no sound, even of heavy breathing. Was the feast 
 late in breaking up, and did he too drink teswin? I 
 met the neighbor at the spring; her feet 
 seemed walking on mesquite gum, and she 
 said her husband still lay like a log near 
 the ashes of the feast fire. I know my 
 master is too brave and strong to let the 
 spirit of the drink get into his noble brain 
 and deaden it, even for a season." 
 
 The mother answered nothing, but went 
 on stirring the gruel for the children, who 
 were clamoring for their breakfast. When 
 it was ready, she placed the smoking 
 cajita upon the ground within the kitchen- 
 BARREL CACTUS, ring, and provided the children with 
 dipper-like gourds, which they used as 
 a combined spoon and cup to such good purpose that 
 the contents of the bowl had been nearly all consumed 
 when the father came out of the hut and greeted his 
 daughter with an unusual effusiveness, which she ascribed 
 to his joy at her splendid prospects. 
 
 " Bring me some gruel before the children eat it all," 
 he directed ; " and an^ r *^at and tortillas which may 
 have been left ov^r from the east. I have some trad- 
 ing of ny gains from the race which I would do at the 
 next p leblo before there are others about," he added, 
 in exp. anation. "It is we'' to fill the stomach when 
 many words and much rveath will be needed." 
 
 Yet, despite this assertion, the man ate what the girl 
 placed before him w'.n but little relish, and, rising, pre- 
 pared to leave tuc kitchen-ring with only a nod to his 
 wife. 
 
 176
 
 When he had fetched his load from the hut, he seemed 
 doubtful as to whether he would give it to Ampharita 
 or to one of the boys to carry; and the girl feared he 
 would make her accompany him. In fact, he called 
 her, and she trembled as she approached him ; but he 
 only seized her beneath the chin, and, looking into the 
 bright eyes, patted her cheek and smoothed her long 
 hair. 
 
 This renewed caress surprised the girl, who was un- 
 accustomed to any demonstration of tenderness on the 
 part of her father ; but she soon forgot about it in her 
 joy, when he pushed her away with a sigh, and called 
 to Ismo : 
 
 " Come along, you lazy dog ! You can run quick 
 enough to see a race, or a feast ! Take the load, and 
 let us be off. Your sister has done travelling enough 
 these last two days ; she shall remain at home now for 
 a season with the women-folk." 
 
 Ismo dared not demur, but went off all the angrier, 
 because he saw his elder brother seize a new bow and a 
 bundle of arrows they had prepared together for a bird 
 hunt which had been arranged for that day with some of 
 the other boys. 
 
 Ampharita hastened through all the tasks her mother 
 and grandmother suggested ; their wants seemed unusu- 
 ally numerous and complicated. At last, they could 
 think of no other work, and she fetched the large jar of 
 fresh cool water out of the shadow, and called softly 
 at the door of the cactus hut; but she received no 
 answer. 
 
 " How late he sleeps ! Perhaps he did drink some of 
 the teswin after all," she thought, and seated herself 
 beneath the porch to wait. Her master sometimes slept
 
 AMPHARITA BESIDE THE CLOSED DOOR OF THE CACTUS HUT. 
 
 1/8
 
 late, or was busy with calculations, and would not be 
 disturbed ; that would be nicer than a teswin sleep. 
 The sun rose higher, and its scorching rays fell where 
 she sat; but she did not feel them. She was reviewing 
 in fancy her dream-visit to the white man's land, and 
 the reanimated picture of the creations of her imagina- 
 tion entranced her as it had done the previous night. 
 
 The sun crept upwards, higher and higher. The mid- 
 day hour approached. She sat now in the still hot 
 shadow, oblivious of time, until a horse-fly stung her 
 hand, and aroused her to her environment. 
 
 Looking at the line of shadow, she started anxiously. 
 Could anything have happened to the Scientist? She 
 had never known him to keep his door closed so long. 
 This was not the effect of teswaino. He had complained 
 of fever at the ranch ; could he be ill ? 
 
 Rising, she approached the door, and, laying her 
 hand upon it, she allowed her fingers to close upon the 
 upright rod, and gave it a gentle pull. It obeyed her 
 touch. 
 
 How strange ! Her master had never slept with his 
 door untied ; but then he had always had his treasures 
 with him, and now, as they were at the ranch, he had 
 nothing to guard. Smiling at her stupidity, in not 
 having thought of this sooner, she entered on tiptoe, 
 pulling the door to behind her. 
 
 Although her actions had been swift and noiseless, 
 her mother had stealthily watched her from the kitchen- 
 ring, and felt her heart almost stop beating at the 
 thought of the desolation which would overcome her 
 gentle child on finding that she had been guarding an 
 empty nest. 
 
 All was still in the direction of the cactus hut and 
 
 179
 
 the moments seemed like hours. A scream, a cry, 
 would have been a mercy. The mother could not stand 
 the suspense. Looking toward the young child who 
 slept beside her, she gave the cradle a push to set it to 
 rocking, and, running across the intervening space, she 
 looked through one of the apertures in the cactus wat- 
 tling, on the shady side of the house, that her daughter 
 might not perceive her shadow. 
 
 As soon as her eye became accustomed to the dark- 
 ness, she saw Ampharita crouched beside the empty 
 saccaton couch. The heap of fresh grass lay there, with 
 the yucca mat spread upon it, just as it had been pre- 
 pared the night before, while the girl passed her hand 
 from time to time across her brow, as though seeking 
 to remember something. 
 
 Ampharita was collecting her thoughts ; then, rising, 
 she methodically examined every nook and cranny of 
 the hut to see if she could find a vestige of its occu- 
 pancy by the white man. 
 
 Nothing had been touched. The ollas stood just as 
 she had disposed them at dusk, full to overflowing with 
 water which had grown tepid from long standing. The 
 yucca-root and bit of cloth lay beside them. There was 
 not the sign of a boot-nail upon the well-swept earthen 
 floor. Everything indicated that no one had entered 
 the hut. With a sigh the girl turned to go out. 
 
 As she pushed open the door, her mother stood be- 
 neath the porch. 
 
 " My daughter," she said, raising a detaining hand, 
 "whither art thou going?" 
 
 1 " I will be back very soon, my mother, and do your 
 bidding. Only now, oh, let me go to the other huts ! 
 I will work doubly when I return. My master has not 
 
 1 80
 
 slept in his hut this night. Where, oh, where can 
 he be? " 
 
 Ampharita sped along the dusty path between the 
 huts to the Chief's dwelling; but the women there 
 knew nothing. The Chief and medicine-men were rest- 
 ing, and might not be disturbed ; the women would ask 
 them when they awoke, but they thought that they 
 could tell nothing new, for the Scientist had been seen 
 last with her parents. 
 
 Ampharita stopped at a kitchen-ring where several 
 women were seated, with their children playing about 
 them, and asked if any of them had seen the white 
 shaman, or knew where he had slept the night before ; 
 but they too shook their heads, and gave a negative 
 answer. 
 
 She proceeded thus from hut to cabin and cabin to 
 ring, until she had visited the whole settlement ; but no 
 one could help her in any way. With features drawn by 
 anxiety she approached her home, then stopped irreso- 
 lute, and her mother saw her turn and run with the 
 fleetness of a deer past the remaining houses, and out 
 across the waste land towards the meza. 
 
 The Indian woman divined what her daughter was 
 after ; and, wringing her hands, she called her own 
 mother into the hut, and, pulling the screen of grass 
 close across the opening, she told her what had passed 
 the night before ; and, laying her aching head upon the 
 old woman's bony shoulder, she wept silently. 
 
 Ampharita had meanwhile found the horse. He whin- 
 nied at her approach, and tugged to loosen the rope by 
 which he was tethered to a stone. 
 
 She knew that he must be thirsty ; and, pausing in 
 her anxious quest, she led him to the arroyo to drink. 
 
 181
 
 She caused him to enter the pool, and washed his 
 hoofs, and threw water over his head. She curried his 
 haunches with a bunch of dried roots which she fetched 
 from a hiding-place beneath a stone, and combed out 
 his long mane and tail with a pine-cone. 
 
 Gradually she persuaded herself that, since the horse 
 was there, she need have no fear about his master; and, 
 with a lighter heart, she hummed one of the simple airs 
 the white man had sung to her, and sought to lengthen 
 in every way the self-imposed task, that the hours of his 
 absence might be filled out with work for him. 
 
 For evidently the white man had felt excited by the 
 dance and feast, and had walked out beneath the moon- 
 light far away from the noisy village, where sleep had 
 overtaken him, and he had lain down to rest. He would 
 return soon for food ; but perhaps he had found berries, 
 or prickly pears, or had noticed some new growth and 
 was studying it, which would detain him out until very 
 late. The boys from the bird hunt came her way to 
 drink at the arroyo. They showed her the netful of 
 birds, and told her where they had been ; and she asked 
 them if they had met her master. 
 
 They all said, " No ; " and her eldest brother suggested 
 mischievously that the white man had slipped away in 
 the night to be rid of her. 
 
 She turned pale at the suggestion, and trembled like 
 an aspen ; at which the leader of the band, who was him- 
 self fourteen and almost a man, cuffed her brother 
 until he howled, and said it was a silly made-up story, 
 for of course no man would go away and leave such a 
 good horse behind. It took a stupid girl to believe any 
 bit of nonsense that passed through the brain of a malev- 
 olent stripling. 
 
 182
 
 When the boys had gone on, she led the animal back 
 to the meza; but her light-heartedness had vanished, 
 and she walked slowly as she went back into the village. 
 
 Her grandmother was mending a worn gorrita, and 
 begged her to come and sit with her while stripping 
 some ee-hooks ; but Ampharita excused herself from 
 staying near the hut, by saying that the odor of the 
 feast lurked about the village, and she would go out 
 and prepare them on the meza. Her grandmother told 
 her, with a sigh, to do as she wished ; and the girl dis- 
 appeared again, carrying with her a bundle of soaked 
 martynia pods. 
 
 Seating herself beside the horse, she shredded them, 
 speaking from time to time to the animal, as though she 
 thought he would sympathize with her and be interested 
 in the surmises about his master to which she gave 
 utterance. 
 
 The old woman sighed again and again, as she wove 
 industriously until it was too dark to see, even on the 
 meza ; and Ampharita returned with an armful of split 
 martynia made up into rings, ready for use in gorrita 
 weaving. 
 
 The girl supped in silence, and went to sleep in the 
 cactus hut. 
 
 The next day she hardly touched food. Her anxiety 
 had become fixed ; she spent the hours beside the 
 horse, pacing up and down listlessly, or repeating little 
 prayers and incantations. 
 
 At evening, when her father returned and sent Ismo to 
 call her, she would not come to the kitchen-ring for 
 supper. So the Indian himself carried her out a bowl 
 of mush, and as she ate it, he tried several times to tell 
 her about the departure of the Scientist. But it was 
 
 183
 
 useless, the right words would not come to him. So, 
 telling her that she had best come home and sleep in 
 their own hut, and that it was not seemly for a maiden 
 to be at large alone after dark, he arose and bade her 
 accompany him, but she cried and pleaded so patheti- 
 cally to be allowed to remain out in the pure air beside 
 the animal, that he could not insist ; and so the second 
 night after the feast was spent by the Indian girl on the 
 meza with the horse, wakeful and silent, a dusky senti- 
 nel alert in the darkness. 
 
 -* 
 
 HER MOTHER WATCHED HER FROM THE KITCHEN-RING. 
 
 Though the coyotes howled in the distance, no steps 
 approached, and she waited and watched in vain. 
 
 In the morning, she came to the kitchen-ring to per- 
 form her daily tasks ; but she led the pony by the halter, 
 and all day long he stayed with her in the village, for 
 she would not allow him out of her sight. 
 
 Her mother gave her much work ; and she did it un- 
 
 184
 
 complaining!}', until towards evening she took with her 
 the maguey fibre and carried it to the arroyo, where she 
 pounded and washed it, while the horse drank the water 
 and cropped the cool leaves greedily. 
 
 Another day, and she seemed the shadow of herself. 
 The boys ceased to tease ; and the neighbors whispered 
 together, as the gentle maiden, leading the horse, passed 
 in and out among them. 
 
 All night long her mother had lain sleepless, ponder- 
 ing upon her child's 
 condition. The 
 strain of continual 
 and dread anxiety 
 was almost as hard 
 as the dreary cer- 
 tainty. The girl, she 
 knew, feared that the 
 white man had been 
 killed by an acci- 
 dent; for Ampharita 
 had begged her to 
 ask the Chief to send 
 out an expedition in 
 search of him. An- 
 other day, and her 
 daughter must fall 
 ill or go mad. She 
 was already the butt 
 
 of the village wit ; for gossip is as rife and cruel among 
 the Pima Indian women as among their white and black 
 sisters. Her husband had told her he could not find 
 courage to hurt the girl by speaking; and so she de- 
 cided to break the news to the child the next morning. 
 
 o 
 
 i8s 
 
 AMPHARITA ALONE WITH THE HORSE.
 
 At dawn Ampharita's mother aroused the grandam, 
 and, taking the two youngest children, they went out 
 upon the meza in the early morning light. 
 
 With them they carried food ; and, seating themselves 
 near the girl, who leaned in a dejected attitude against 
 the horse's neck, they begged her to untie the rope with 
 which she had attached her wrist to his bridle, lest, while 
 she slept from exhaustion, the animal wander away from 
 her. 
 
 The grandmother finally persuaded her to eat some 
 of the gruel they had brought; and the little ones 
 caressed her, and sought in vain to make her play. 
 
 When the bowl was half empty, Ampharita turned away, 
 and would have risen to get nearer to the horse ; but the 
 grandmother stopped her, and, calling to the older child, 
 induced it to go with her in pursuit of salvia, while the 
 mother, holding the other little one in her arms, talked 
 to her daughter. 
 
 " Ampharita," she said, very gently, " you think ever 
 of the stranger." 
 
 " Ay, mother," answered the girl, as she hid her face 
 in the bend of her arm. " He is dead or suffering, and 
 you all care not. He cured the sick; but none thinks 
 of him now." 
 
 " Would that you were a babe again," said the poor 
 woman, as she stroked the free hand of her daughter, 
 " then I could take you in my arms and croon you to 
 sleep upon my breast, and you would not care for aught 
 else, nor would you have memory from one watch to 
 another. He is not worth your thought, my child. He 
 is not dead ; he is not even ill. The white shaman 
 loosed himself from his promise. He looks upon his 
 given word as water that can be poured out and dried 
 
 1 86
 
 up quickly, so that no trace remain. He has gone away 
 utterly and forever." 
 
 The woman could not lie to her own offspring, so she 
 told the truth as quickly and simply as possible. 
 
 The girl raised her head and shook it, while point- 
 ing to the horse to justify her denial of faith in her 
 mother's word ; yet she was deeply grieved at the lack 
 of trust shown in the stranger, and drew away her 
 hand. 
 
 " Ay, it seems so to you and me because we are 
 Indians. But what is a horse to a rich white man? 
 There are thousands where he comes from. He said, 
 too, they could carry hundreds of people at once, and spit 
 fire and smoke. He left the horse because he was afraid 
 that you would follow him again and catch up with him, 
 if there were not something of his to hold your heart 
 here and deceive you, as this poor dumb beast has done 
 for days. Could the horse have made you understand, 
 he would have told you. Your father had not the heart 
 to speak ; but I felt you should know, and seek to hide 
 your sorrow as beseems a w r ell-nurtured Indian maiden. 
 Your head is hot, my daughter, and your hands are 
 cold." 
 
 The girl shivered violently, as she pushed away her 
 mother's hand and hugged the sleeping child passion- 
 ately in her arms. Her mother arose, and continued 
 speaking slowly, with the tears running down her 
 cheeks. 
 
 " Come to the hut, my dear one, and I will make a 
 powerful decoction to soothe your heart. You look like 
 a bird which has been charmed by a serpent, or a doe 
 that is caught in a snare." 
 
 Ampharita staggered to her feet, and looked towards 
 
 187
 
 the distant mountains. She stood as one irresolute ; 
 but she neither wept nor spoke. 
 
 Her mother threw her arms around her and called to 
 the grandam ; but the girl gently disengaged herself, 
 placed the child in her mother's arms, and with the sob 
 of a wounded deer darted away in the direction of the 
 mountains. 
 
 The heavy-hearted Indian woman walked to the place 
 where the grandam was seated with the other boy ; but she 
 had no voice to explain to her what she had said to 
 
 her daughter. It seemed as 
 though a cord still bound her 
 heart to that of the child who 
 was speeding away to hide 
 her sorrow from the prying 
 eyes of her tribe. She pointed 
 to the mountains, and watched 
 the graceful figure as it grew 
 
 VICTIM. 
 
 smaller and smaller, until it 
 
 disappeared in a cleft between two cliffs. She had but 
 to raise her voice and call, for half-a-dozen urchins, who 
 had come out to gather herbs, to scamper after the girl 
 and fetch her back. But the woman thought how un- 
 bearable would be the fuss and chatter of the village to 
 the girl's wounded spirit, and so she let her go. The 
 song of the birds she loved might give her consolation ; 
 the perfume of the growing thyme descend like balm 
 upon her wounded spirit. 
 
 " Come, mother," said the woman, " the sun grows 
 hot; my man and the boys will clamor for food again 
 before we have prepared it. We must return to our 
 work. God will be with her and have pity on her.' 
 
 The old Indian woman arose, and they walked home- 
 
 188 
 
 TARANTULE MYGALE AND THEIR
 
 ward silently, save when the children attracted their at- 
 tention to some insect or flower which caught their 
 eyes. 
 
 The Scientist completed his business in Chihuahua, 
 and arranged for his mail to follow him. He journeyed 
 southward by easy stages, visiting all the points of in- 
 terest until he reached the City of Mexico, early in 
 January. 
 
 The President, on learning of his arrival, sent for him 
 at once, and, after apologizing for the unfortunate acci- 
 dent which had robbed the world of the material fruits 
 of his self-abnegation, praised him for his endurance 
 and courage. 
 
 The carnival was in full swing, and his young blood 
 glowed with the feasting and revelry. 
 
 The Minister of Foreign Affairs dined him, as did 
 also the Academy of Scientists. He was the lion of the 
 social functions. The senoras and senoritas sought to 
 ensnare him with admiring glances from their large 
 almond-shaped eyes. He was engaged in advance for 
 scores of dinners, breakfasts, and suppers ; and if at 
 liberty for half an hour, the time was filled with sight- 
 seeing, or projecting excursions to the fascinating his- 
 torical sites of the neighborhood. 
 
 The day on which we again take up the thread of the 
 story was warm for the season. Golden sunshine flooded 
 the streets of the City of Mexico. 
 
 No stray breath from icy Popocatapetl, or his en- 
 chanted wife, Iztaccihuatl, chilled the promenaders, and 
 the good and bad towns-folk were in consequence out 
 in force, as gay as on the occasion of a fiesta. 
 
 A deputy had told the Scientist to await him in front 
 
 189
 
 of the post-office. They would drive out to a little inn 
 at Santa Anita ; for the woman who kept the place was 
 particularly celebrated on account of the way she cooked 
 native dishes. Afterward they would visit the Chinan- 
 pas, and return upon the old Aztec waterway in a flower- 
 bedecked barge. 
 
 The Scientist arrived a little while before the hour 
 named, and looked about him, interested by the variety 
 of costumes and native types. 
 
 The shrill sound of street-cries rent the dust-laden air. 
 People hurried into the post-office, and came out again 
 absorbed in examining their letters. The large vaulted 
 hall looked dark and invitingly cool to the Scientist. 
 He stepped almost unconsciously beneath the archway, 
 and his eyes, after taking in the orderly interior, were 
 attracted to an alphabetical list of unclaimed letters 
 hanging in a frame which he almost touched with his 
 shoulder. He began to read, his eye gliding mechani- 
 cally down the closely-printed columns. Suddenly his 
 blood tingled. 
 
 How on earth could his name have come there ! Did 
 he really see straight? Yes, there was no mistaking the 
 unusual prefix and affix. Who could have written to 
 him without sending the letter to the care of his Lega- 
 tion? The Governor of Chihuahua, or one of the hotel- 
 keepers in whose house he had stopped ! but they did 
 not know of the proper affix, for he had never signed 
 his whole name. In perplexity he approached the win- 
 dow and showed the papers contained in his pocket- 
 book to establish his identity and receive the mysterious 
 communication. 
 
 An envelope addressed in his own handwriting was 
 handed to him. The script was blurred as by much 
 
 iqo
 
 THE TROGON. 
 
 191
 
 handling; the postmarks were numerous. But the in- 
 stant he touched it he knew whence it came. 
 
 His surroundings and engagements were forgotten, 
 and he was carried back to the far-away pueblo by the 
 sight of the much-handled envelope. 
 
 Hurrying along the street to the Cathedral Square, 
 he sought out the most retired corner of the Zocolo, 
 where he dropped upon the first vacant bench, intent 
 on reading his letter unobserved. 
 
 After a few introductory remarks and polite expres- 
 sions of thanks for the communication received from the 
 Scientist, the priest of the Pima Bajas wrote as follows : 
 
 " Ampharita left the pueblo on learning of your departure ; 
 that is to say, on the fourth day after the feast. She turned 
 her steps towards the mountains, where she had been accus- 
 tomed to accompany you on the hunt for strange flowers and 
 insects. At night she did not return ; and her mothei waited 
 hour by hour, in vain, for her coming. The day dawned ; her 
 father went to the Chief; and when he heard the story, the 
 head of the tribe ordered out scouts to aid him in searching for 
 the lost girl ; but these scouts and others returned unsuccessful. 
 After a few days the Chief went out himself; and they sent a 
 runner for me to hasten to the village and help pray for the 
 wanderer's return. But she was not found, neither did she 
 return alone. 
 
 " The whole tribe sought diligently. She had disappeared, 
 and left no trace. Some thought that the instinct of her de- 
 votion had been so strong that she had found and followed 
 your trail, despite your well-devised flight ; so, after a while, 
 the search was abandoned, and none but her mother grieved ; 
 for were she with you, all felt she must be content. 
 
 - Alas ! a fortnight after her departure some of the fleetest 
 young braves, while hunting, followed a wounded stag which 
 
 192
 
 led them into that far-away barranca where the ceaseless water 
 is so sweet and cold, and to which Ampharita had guided you 
 in pursuit of rare plants. There they found her. She lay half- 
 hidden in a recess of the cliff. Her limbs were composed as 
 those of a child who sleeps. One hand clasped the golden 
 cross upon her breast, while the other lay beside her, palm 
 upwards. Her face was peaceful ; her half-closed eyelashes 
 seemed to quiver in the sunlight. On her brow rested a 
 glorious butterfly, which fluttered upward and away as the 
 young men approached. They did not seek to move her ; but 
 two of them remained behind to guard her, while the others 
 fetched her parents and the tribe. How can I tell you, or do 
 you already understand that there was no life in her delicate 
 form ? I performed mass there in the barranca ; and they 
 buried her where they found her, with all the ceremony re- 
 quired by Holy Mother Church and the customs of her 
 people. 
 
 " The Chief says, ' A white snake she fondled stung her 
 heart.' 
 
 "The child's father and mother know that you asked about 
 her, and that I am writing to you. They say : ' Tell him our 
 child is forever at rest. The great white man need give no 
 thought to the heart that can no longer feel. He is rich ; may 
 he be happy, with no regret to disturb his peace or cloud his 
 wisdom and power in the strange land of the white man.' 
 
 " No wonder they grieve. I know not of another Ampharita. 
 
 " There is nothing left to tell, so I remain, sir, 
 
 "Your obedient servant in God, 
 
 Cl # * * " 
 
 The Scientist could not see the name at the bottom 
 of the writing through the tears which had welled into 
 his eyes. 
 
 " Ay, truly I know not of another Ampharita. Can 
 this be the end of all her serviceable sweetness ; have I 
 13 193
 
 whom she loved enjoyed the blessing of her unselfish 
 ministerings for the last time?" he exclaimed, crum- 
 pling the letter into a ball within his hand as he would 
 have sought to crush an insect which had stung him. 
 He clasped his hands and bowed his head upon them. 
 The self-questioning was so agonizing to his spirit that 
 he listened, hoping for, yet fearing, some interruption 
 he could cheat his fancy into believing a sign. 
 
 The air was full of sound. Voices called, sang, 
 whistled, laughed, scolded, or cursed in every key. 
 Whips cracked, hoofs clattered, carts and cabs rattled 
 upon the pavement that surrounded the Zocolo. The 
 Scientist sat beneath the shady verdure of the square, 
 and he felt more terribly alone than he had ever felt on 
 the darkest and loneliest night upon the prairies. He 
 looked about him. No one was in sight save a lemon- 
 ade-pedler at the end of the path absorbed in offering 
 refreshments to passers, the shuffling of whose feet an- 
 nounced their presence on the other side of a myrtle 
 hedge. Two beggars dozed upon a neighboring bench ; 
 they had not moved since the Scientist had passed them 
 before taking his seat. 
 
 Opposite, across the narrow gravel path, was a foun- 
 tain surrounded by a wealth of blooming plants, and the 
 musical gurgle of the rising and falling waters mingled 
 with the rumble of wheels as the carriages hurried across 
 the plaza, or the rhythmic sound was lost amid the harsh 
 quarrelling of shrill discordant voices. A thick screen 
 of dark foliage surrounded the fountain and the bench 
 on which he sat. He might have imagined himself 
 miles away from the city but for the lemonade-vendor, 
 the beggars, and the noise. 
 
 Two little sparrows stood upon the brink of the low 
 
 194
 
 basin, drinking from the troubled waters which dashed 
 quite over their heads as ring after ring broke against 
 the worn edge. Gold-fish darted in and out beneath 
 the silvery-crested wavelets. They snapped at bright 
 drowning insects, and with their tails threw high the 
 sparkling drops, which were shattered into spray be- 
 neath the torrent of waters, or mingled with the shower 
 that fell outside the margin of the fountain upon the 
 ever moist vegetation. 
 
 The Scientist pressed his hand against his brow. He 
 was bewildered, anxious, curious, and sought to drown 
 the deep pain in speculation. He had seen men die, 
 but he was experiencing his first bereavement. 
 
 " For what end are we born with intuition, mind, and 
 memory, as well as instinct and passions? If one of 
 these fishes were to die, the others would swim on mer- 
 rily beneath its lifeless body. If that sparrow disap- 
 peared, its mate would find a companion in the next 
 hedge. Why does man alone suffer intensely the pangs 
 of separation, and remain comfortless in the presence of 
 death?" 
 
 Again he looked about him, and again his eyes were 
 attracted to the fountain. 
 
 He observed over the watery surface a prismatic 
 band, which, starting under the spray, arched itself 
 downwards and towards the right, until the bit of 
 beautifully-tinted rainbow was lost amid the flaming 
 colors of the blossoms on the other side of the fountain. 
 His eyes followed it up and down, held by the outline 
 of the graceful aerial ribbon. It moved and quivered 
 while the violet and yellow glowed in lambent force, 
 and the red was almost lost sight of against the brown 
 waters of the basin. 
 
 195
 
 How strangely the rainbow swayed and trembled ! 
 
 " Life is just like that fountain," he thought. " We 
 are all pressed through a narrow tube. That is called 
 an education ! With delight we rush forth to liberty, 
 overjoyed at our freedom. We dash up into the sun- 
 
 A BURIAL HUT. 
 
 shine, and shimmer like jewels in the radiance of health, 
 priding ourselves on what we take to be our individual 
 desirableness; whereas it is only a reflected glamour, 
 which quickly disappears as the inexorableness of life 
 presses us down, and we are swamped in a mass of 
 
 196
 
 human dulness, and then we disappear, entirely reas- 
 similated by elemental nature." 
 
 The water jet rose and fell in soft modulations that 
 responded to the breathing of his own lungs. The out- 
 line of the fountain grew indistinct ; his eyes slowly 
 closed, and in its place he saw Ampharita standing be- 
 side a freshly made burial-hut, while behind her, instead 
 of the myrtle hedge, towered the luxuriant wall of the 
 barranca. Between him and the girl sped the well- 
 remembered arroyo, singing as it went; for the lullaby 
 of the fountain was in his ears, while the noise of the 
 city was lost in the hum of innumerable insects, the call 
 and carol of gorgeous birds. These flitted about Am- 
 pharita, or settled on her hand while she talked to them 
 soothingly or fed them with the grain and tortillas which 
 she took from the dishes of funeral meats strewn about 
 in front of the little hut. 
 
 Ampharita was not observing him. She repeated the 
 carol of the birds or broke into little snatches of song, 
 such as he had taught her, and others far sweeter. 
 
 Presently she looked up. The birds became agitated 
 and flew into the bushes, whence they called to each 
 other from time to time. Ampharita's singing ceased ; 
 the hum of the insects grew fainter, but over the rocks 
 plashed on the water of the arroyo. 
 
 Ampharita extended her arms to where a man's figure 
 had appeared amid the growth on the side of the bar- 
 ranca. He descended and advanced towards her, glid- 
 ing with rapidity, but without apparent effort. 
 
 " Hail ! Welcome, my master, I have waited for you 
 so long, oh, so wearily long, here alone in the bar- 
 ranca," said Ampharita, in a voice exquisitely tender 
 and musical. 
 
 197
 
 The Scientist stared ; Ampharita was not looking at 
 him. Neither she nor her companion took any more 
 notice of him than if he had been a stone in the depths 
 of the arroyo. 
 
 The new-comer's skin was white. He had golden 
 hair and a light beard ; there was a certain resemblance 
 to himself about the man, but he was far handsomer. 
 He was nobler, stronger looking in every way ; and the 
 Scientist felt a keen pang of jealousy at hearing the girl 
 call the stranger by the familiar epithet. 
 
 " You promised to teach me so many things, and I 
 have passed through so much here alone. Never mind, 
 now you have come to me, you will explain, although 
 you will wonder too," she said, with a pretty roguish 
 movement, " when I tell you how well I understand all 
 you have thought." 
 
 " How could I pretend to teach you, when I knew 
 nothing really about life," mournfully answered the 
 handsome youth. " It was the world and the things of 
 the world that I knew. I prized knowledge above in- 
 dividuality. I knew not even the meaning of the word 
 Wisdom. You, child, have been my teacher ! " And 
 taking her slender, brown hand he kissed it reverently 
 and pressed it to his brow as if seeking the blessing of 
 the maiden. 
 
 " How could the Indian maiden teach a White 
 Shaman?" queried the girl, wonder and joy diffusing 
 her idealized countenance. 
 
 " You were a silent, zealous, observant pupil. You 
 knew much that I did not, and you craved to learn all 
 that is good. You had the open eye to mark the cause. 
 The effect to which the worldling gives all the thought, 
 needs no subtlety : it is evident enough." 
 
 198
 
 " You mean that what we feel sure is true and right is 
 better than what the Shamen teach us to believe? Is 
 it not so, my master?" queried the maiden. 
 
 The Scientist felt a keener pang at hearing the old 
 term he had learned to cherish applied to one who 
 looked so much more worthy than he of the maiden's 
 reverent love. 
 
 The handsome youth, so strangely like, yet unlike 
 himself, sank upon a stone, where he remained seated in 
 a thoughtful attitude. Ampharita seated herself Pima 
 fashion, and began to wind a wreath, plucking the num- 
 berless star-like blossoms about their feet, which the 
 Scientist had not before observed. 
 
 The youth proceeded to speak in a low intense voice. 
 The syllables reached and thrilled his listener despite 
 the song of the brook. He seemed to address himself, 
 yet he looked ever and anon at Ampharita, and the 
 Indian maiden bent her head in apprehension. 
 
 "What is our civilized learning? What is our phil- 
 osophy? They are the servants of the love of the 
 world. Our existence is an unknown mystery, unsolv- 
 able by our science. ' Thou hast hidden these things 
 from the knowing and prudent, and hast revealed them 
 unto babes.' Our many books crush the spirit. Eyes 
 grow dull that see only printed words. Incessant analy- 
 sis of matter atrophies the soul. Death is the most 
 wonderful of all the changes in evolution. Science stops 
 at the grave as if the circle of life \vere completed, as 
 if the component parts were dispersed and reabsorbed, 
 as if a man's entity were gone ; but at that moment, the 
 being released feels the first throb of perfect life." 
 
 Ampharita's laugh interrupted the youth with a sweet 
 sound that was as the chiming of celestial bells. "You 
 
 199
 
 THE BARRANCA. 
 
 2OO
 
 use strange words, but I know the throb of perfect life," 
 she said, " no more misunderstandings, but a sense of 
 gladness, of truth, and of peace." 
 
 " Ah, if the human soul could always manifest itself! " 
 the youth continued. "None can be fully useful while 
 the spirit is struggling desperately to make itself felt ! 
 It seeks to reach out and touch other souls that together 
 they may work forcefully for good, but it is hemmed in, 
 pushed back, suffocated, crushed. At last it casts off 
 the flesh, and then it becomes a spring of human move- 
 ,ment, by the memory of its incarnate loveliness." 
 
 The youth paused and gazed at Ampharita ; she 
 looked back at him, puzzled. She answered by refer- 
 ring to what she might have understood. 
 
 " My soul recognized yours, and loved itfrom the first," 
 she said, " and wanted to be with you always. Yes, your 
 kindness taught me much much for which there are 
 not even words in the language of the Pimas. But I am 
 just learning the real meaning of life and death, and there 
 is much that is beautiful in it you never spoke of." 
 
 " I did not speak of it, for I did not know it. I knew 
 nothing but my poor science and the prejudices of my 
 world. The view I took of events and of human inter- 
 course was one-sided. What I called my self-develop- 
 ment was supreme selfishness. The things that are 
 eternal did not figure in my calculations. I was living 
 near one whose helpfulness was a marvel of divine mani- 
 festation, whereas I esteemed her presence merely be- 
 cause of the comfort it gave me in my labors. I never 
 understood that she was a messenger of the Most High 
 mutely showing me that my selfishness was a malignant 
 force in the Master's world, and that I was as clashing and 
 destructive in His eternal order as a vagrant meteor." 
 
 20 1
 
 The maiden had arisen, and at these last words she 
 made a gesture which betokened that while she com- 
 prehended, she had never given him accusation. The 
 youth also was now standing. To the Scientist, who 
 trembled before the splendor of his appearance, his eyes 
 glowed with light and his stature seemed to dominate 
 the whole valley. 
 
 " Nay, Ampharita," went on the strange voice, rich 
 and strong as the upper notes of an organ, " I forgave 
 not myself. Truth had walked with me, and I had 
 known her not, w r hen I consented to your torture. I 
 was taking counsel of meanness, and I was violating the 
 everlasting glory of life. My transgression consumed 
 all my confidence, and I was not able to look up. Then 
 my eyes saw what they before had not fathomed. My 
 ears caught the vibrations of my own soul. My intel- 
 lect came to itself. I found the truth in the simplicity 
 of love. Outside of the law of brotherhood I ceased to 
 have a wish to wonder. The hands and the feet, I 
 came exultingly to feel, are not the intellect's menials, 
 but children, whom it is happiness to exalt and to 
 cherish." 
 
 As the solemn meaning of this epiphany was borne 
 in upon him, the Scientist felt powerless to move or 
 speak. Invisible tendrils reached up from the rocky 
 soil about him and tied him to the earth. A chill crept 
 over him, causing him to tremble. Strange colors ap- 
 peared between him and the towering youth, like the 
 strands of a magic web. He heard the gurgle of the 
 water increase until it sounded like the rush of an en- 
 gulfing river. The youth and Ampharita seemed now 
 to be regarding him, and waiting for his expression, yet 
 utterance was impossible. 
 
 202
 
 Ampharita held up the wreath, which gleamed like a 
 crown of stars, and paused for his word. How very 
 real she seemed as she stood gazing at him with her 
 luminous tender eyes, but so beautiful, so ethereal, com- 
 pared with the docile child he had abandoned ! He 
 bowed before the divinized essence of a loving woman, 
 and yet he could not speak. 
 
 At last with a violent effort he broke the paralysis. 
 " My God, I promise ! What kind of a blind creature 
 have I been all these years? Was a human sacrifice 
 needful to bring me to myself? \Vas it needful that 
 the love of an Indian maiden should have " but the 
 thought remained uncompleted. Ampharita, with a 
 glad cry, crowned herself with the stars. Her beauty 
 grew to transcendent, indescribable loveliness, while her 
 vestures shone like jewels. The noble youth seemed to 
 move across the arroyo without its waters touching his 
 feet, and, laying his hands upon the Scientist's shoulder, 
 he pointed to Ampharita as she and the barranca dis- 
 appeared in a flash of light. 
 
 The chill passed from the Scientist's limbs, but not 
 the numbness. Hot tears flowed from his eyes, and 
 they seemed to him tears of great joy. He opened his 
 eyes and saw before him the fountain falling into its 
 rippling basin, while the noise of the city was every- 
 where in the air, commingling with the musical plash of 
 the waters. The beggars upon the neighboring bench 
 were awake, and chatting together as they ate coarse 
 bread and mangoes. The lemonade-pedler came down 
 the path and offered him a drink, which he accepted 
 eagerly ; nothing before had ever seemed to him as pure 
 and refreshing. The fish darted back and forth in the 
 fountain. He found a bit of biscuit in his pocket and 
 
 203
 
 crumbled it into the water, where they eagerly nipped 
 it up. The rainbow had faded from the spray ; the two 
 little birds had flown away. 
 
 The Scientist rose slowly, his head ached, and yet his 
 heart was lighter than it had been since he left the 
 Pimas. He thought of Ampharita's death, but the 
 poignant anguish had been replaced by the sense of 
 changed purpose. He dipped his hands into the foun- 
 tain and bathed his brow. As he looked up into the 
 blue vault, where the sun had long since passed the 
 zenith, he felt the exaltation of the new gravitation. 
 
 " Love is eternal. Such is the Divine Law. Self- 
 renunciation must be the bride of him who strives, and 
 his closest friend must be his conscience." 
 
 The Scientist stood for an instant longer. His eyes 
 fell upon the crushed letter, which he had dropped. 
 Picking it up again he carefully smoothed and folded it, 
 and, slipping it into the soiled envelope, he laid it away 
 in his pocket-book. Then he looked at his watch, and, 
 seeing that the hour of his appointment had long passed, 
 he walked thoughtfully across the public garden in the 
 direction of the Calle San Francisco. 
 
 BUTTERFLIES. 
 
 204
 
 EXPLANATORY NOTES. 
 
 THE Pima, or Piman, form one of the great linguistic stocks of 
 North American Indians which, in the course of centuries, has 
 been very much subdivided. The Pimas of the reservations in 
 the Salado and Gila valleys of Southern Arizona compose one of 
 the best agricultural tribes of North American Indians. They 
 are known as the Upper Pimas, or Pima Alta, while the Mexican 
 tribes known as the Nevome, or Pima Baja, of whom the story 
 treats, the Papago, the Sobaipuri, the Opata, the TarahumaYi 
 the Cahita, the Cota, and the Tepehuan, also belong to it. The 
 area they occupy extends from the Salado and Gila rivers in 
 Southern Arizona over a part of Arizona, New Mexico, and a large 
 part of Northwestern Mexico, embracing a portion of the States 
 of Sonora, Zacatecas, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, and part of 
 Jalisco. The collective number of the race in Mexico is esti- 
 mated by the government authorities at 85,000 souls, but explorers 
 aver that the Pimas are much more numerous. Those of the high- 
 lands are stalwart and prolific, increasing constantly in number, 
 while those of the unhealthy and burning lowlands are dying out. 
 Some authorities maintain that the Pimas belong to the same lin- 
 guistic group as the Shoshonean and the Aztec or Nahuatl. The. 
 Pimans are frequently mentioned in the chronicles of the first 
 Spanish explorations towards the North and West. These de 
 scribe them as peaceable, industrious, hospitable, and easily con- 
 verted to Christianity. In evidence of which the first Jesuit census 
 taken in 1678 gives the number of Christianized alone as 8,300. 
 Latterly many have lapsed into heathenism, the missionaries 
 
 205
 
 having neglected them, yet several tribes still hold to the Chris- 
 tian traditions, and their members assemble regularly .on Sunday 
 in the dilapidated chapel of the village, and repeat in unison the 
 few fragments of prayer they remember. 
 
 The Pimans of the Baja tribe inhabit the slopes of the Sierra 
 Madre. They are of medium height, alert, agile, and fleet of foot. 
 They have long straight hair, which sometimes waves; their skin 
 is of a dark-brown color, paling to yellow in the shady barrancas; 
 their cheek bones prominent, and their features resemble in all 
 respects those of the Indians of Arizona and New Mexico. 
 
 GOVERNMENT. The tribe is governed by the chief, as the 
 family is by the father. The father consults his wife and chil- 
 dren with regard to all important family questions, as the chief 
 consults the heads of the families with regard to matters of tribal 
 interest. More powerful than the chief, however, is the shainan, 
 or medicine-man, who is believed to control the life celestial, as 
 well as that terrestrial, of every man, woman, and child of the 
 tribe. He is the poet, priest, physician, historian, prophet, and 
 judge; his duties are many and varied, while his privileges and 
 perquisites are endless. He is believed to have direct communi- 
 cation with the gods, and his dictates are law. His actual knowl- 
 edge of medicine, contrary to the usual belief, is extremely limited, 
 consisting for the most part of ritualistic formulas and ceremonies 
 of amazingly elaborate detail, which produce a great impression 
 upon the mind of the patient, and are consequently magical or 
 thaumaturgic in character. The real treatment of the sick is done 
 by his subordinates, old women called roakari, who use simple 
 remedies, and are quite successful. When the malady is beyond 
 their skill, or the patient is rich, the offices of the shaman are 
 invoked. These are very expensive, and rated according to the 
 elaboration and the rarity of the performance. At times the 
 shaman's charges amount in value to several hundreds of dol- 
 lars, consisting of gifts in clothing, provisions, and highly prized 
 articles. 
 
 INDIAN FEASTS. Shamanistic genius has invented most ela- 
 borate ceremonies for all occasions ; such as the formal acceptance 
 of the new-born infant as a member of the family, the harvest feast 
 (for details of which see Chapter VI.), the incantations and dances 
 
 2O6
 
 for ram, for good crops, for fine weather, and those against devas- 
 tation and illness; finally, the disposal of the dead, and the pro- 
 vision for their spiritual welfare. 
 
 FUNERAL CUSTOMS. Three separate ceremonies are performed 
 in honor of a male within a year after his demise, and four in 
 memory of a woman or female child. The last ceremony, which 
 is the most important, takes place on the anniversary. The first 
 one occurs three days after death, and is the funeral proper. The 
 corpse is disposed in an upright sitting posture, with the knees 
 drawn up to the chin and clasped by the arms, as are those of the 
 Peruvian mummies. The corpse is then carried to the chosen 
 place of sepulture, and around it is built up a hut of twigs and 
 grasses well daubed with mud to prevent the intrusion of beasts 
 of prey. The construction is the same as that of a dwelling, but 
 naturally much smaller, and without any doorway. When the 
 walls are completed, it is roofed over, and near it is set up a 
 cross, while fresh dishes of food and drink are daily brought and 
 placed before it for the use of the dead. In the regions near the 
 forest, the burial hut is almost always constructed within its pale ; 
 in the desert, the sepulchre is erected not too far from a water- 
 course so that the adobe can be easily mixed. These tombs do 
 not crumble away until the body is reduced to dust. Any utensils 
 the departed may have set store by are left for a while near the 
 grave, but the people are too poor to bury much with the corpse. 
 The funeral dances occur after sundown, and resemble the feast 
 described in Chapter V., save that an especial invocation, or rather 
 exhortation, of the dead is pronounced by all the weeping assist- 
 ants in turn. The same musical instruments are used. 
 
 DRUMS AND FLUTES, DANCE RATTLES. The dance rattle 
 is made from the small desert gourd. A circle about an inch in 
 diameter is removed from around the stem, and a circular disk, 
 slightly larger than the opening, cemented over the hole with mes- 
 quite gum. A short handle of sehuara cactus wood is thrust 
 through the hole cut in the cemented top plate and the bottom of 
 the gourd. The noise is produced by a few small pebbles. This 
 rattle is carried in the hand of the dancer, and is shaken with a 
 circular motion of the forearm, which causes the pebbles to rotate 
 inside the shell. Leg rattles are also used, and excellent time is 
 
 2O7
 
 kept to the shuffling of the feet, and to the drum and flageolet 
 played by the musician, who sits near the fire. 
 
 THE DRUM. The drum is composed of a circular rim of wood 
 or bark with two rawhide drum heads, strung on rings of mesquite 
 wood, and a continuous thong passed back and forth over the mes- 
 quite rings, by which the drumheads are tightened. It is about 
 thirteen inches in diameter and four inches in depth. The drum is 
 tuned by warming each head in turn over a small heap of wood 
 coals until it is in harmony with the flute. These two instruments 
 are played by the same individual. 
 
 REED PIPE. The usual flageolet or reed pipe is about twenty- 
 two inches long, and is made of two sections of reed (Phragmites 
 Com munis') bound with sinew. The head or upper part has the 
 usual whistle-shaped sound-hole. The plug is a section of reed 
 held against the upper portion of the tube by a peg. The space 
 between the upper portion of the tube and the reed forms the air 
 passage, and the space between this and the lower portion of the 
 tube is filled by the lower lip. The lower half of the pipe has two 
 finger holes, sixteen and seventeen and one-eighth inches from the 
 sound hole. There is a thumb hole fourteen and three-eighths 
 inches from the sound hole. The diaphragms in the reed are all 
 removed, with the exception of the last lower one, which has a 
 quarter-inch perforation through it. The Indians also make a 
 magic flute out of the same quality of reed. This consists of two 
 sections of reed in the middle, and one-half section at each end. 
 The diaphragm of the upper section is removed, but that of the 
 middle one remains, and two elongated holes are made on opposite 
 sides of this partition, with a notch cut between them in the dia- 
 phragm to form the air passage ; a strip of any flexible material is 
 placed over this so that its lower edge is on a line with the lower 
 edge of the last hole. The finger serves at times as a cap. It has 
 three other finger holes, and the lower diaphragm is punctured. 
 
 The Christians are apt to share the belief of the pagans that the 
 soul of the departed enters into an animal rather than into Purga- 
 tory. For this reason they not only place food near the sepulchre, 
 but also at the memorial cross situated within fifty yards of the 
 former residence of the dead. Around this cross they dance as 
 often as possible, or pay others to dance, which is just as effica- 
 
 208
 
 cious. This encourages the departed, and induces the god of 
 death to take his soul out of the animal and carry it home. They 
 strew ashes about the cross to see by the foot-prints in what kind 
 of beast the departed is lodging. If he has led a good life, they 
 believe he has insured for himself a quick deliverance, but if he 
 has not, they pay all the more to the shaman, and dance with all 
 the greater ardor to hasten the bad man on his way to Paradise, 
 for as long as he is in an animal he is capable of hurting any one 
 against whom he becomes angered. Sorcerers and the childless 
 poor who have none to dance for them, or to pay others to do 
 so, are exposed to the agony of wandering forever in the form of 
 animals. 
 
 Owing to the superstitions which they have encouraged among 
 the natives, the shamen charge also large sums for sanctifying 
 charms and amulets. These are generally deposited in box-like 
 baskets made of split agave leaves. 
 
 FAMILY FETICH. A specimen family fetich is reproduced on 
 page in. It consists of four bunches of golden eagle feathers 
 (aquila Chrysaetos)* and one bunch of prairie falcon feathers 
 (falco Me.ricanus\ and one hollow stem of reed nine inches 
 long and three sixteenths of an inch in diameter, very much worm- 
 eaten. The feathers are wrapped in strips of coarse calico, printed 
 in patterns which came into fashion about twenty-five years ago. 
 The Papago family (a branch of the Pimas), from which this fetich 
 was obtained, alleged that the essential part the feathers and 
 reed had been in the possession of one family for three genera- 
 tions. The box-like basket of split agave containing the fetich is 
 probably quite recent. The fetich was obtained with much diffi- 
 culty and expense after a long pow-wow in which all the ancients 
 of the village took part. These asserted that its powers are great 
 enough to protect a whole tribe. 
 
 PERSONAL FETICH. One of these is represented as wrapped 
 in a coarse travel-stained cloth ready to be slung, by means of a 
 rope of maguey fibre, to the waist or shoulder, that it may be 
 carried by its possessor as a protection from danger in travelling 
 and hunting. This particular fetich is called among the Indians 
 " killed and eagle." It contains some of the feathers of the first 
 full-grown eagle captured by a young brave. In a land where the 
 !* 2O9
 
 arms of offence and defence are rude, such an act of prowess is 
 much extolled, for it generally involves a personal combat of long 
 duration and many painful wounds. 
 
 ARROW STONES AS CHARMS. Another potent fetich consists 
 of a quartzite stone grooved for the straightening of the arrow. 
 The stone is heated, and the twig which is to serve as an arrow is 
 passed rapidly back and forth therein with a rotary motion until 
 all irregularities are scorched away. The larger groove is destined 
 for polishing war and big game arrows, while the smaller is for 
 bird arrows. The stone arrow-head accompanying it is of Apache 
 origin. The Indians believe that the soul of the arrow, like that of 
 the human being, resides in the head, and is beneficent or malig- 
 nant, so that by preserving the benignant arrow-head, which has 
 been shot at a Piman by an Apache or other enemy without striking 
 the mark, it will protect him and warn away all brother arrow-heads 
 that they harm not its possessor. This arrow-head and stone was 
 worn by its possessor attached to his belt wrapped tightly in the 
 cloth which is represented near it. 
 
 GAMES. 
 
 FOOT BALL. Another fruitful source of revenue for the shaman 
 is the game of foot ball, for which the Indians have a passion. The 
 competitors believe that incantations alone will fit or unfit them for 
 success, and so the words of the medicine-men, more than those of 
 the chiefs, direct the contest. A foot ball game is described in 
 Chapter V. The foot balls are made of mesquite wood, shaped 
 into a rude sphere, which the men dexterously pick up with their 
 toes and cast to great distances. In the contests between women 
 a flattened mesquite crotch is used. Other sports which the 
 Indians enjoy are riding, shooting, hunting, and fishing. 
 
 GAMING-BONE. For the hot and for the rainy season they 
 have several gambling games. The gaming-bone (composed of 
 one of the hock bones of the American bison) is used in playing a 
 game called " Tan-wa." The game is played by two persons who 
 sit facing each other, four or five feet apart. The bone is twirled 
 into the air out of the thumb and forefinger, the back of the hand 
 being held upward. The position of the bone when it falls on the 
 
 2IO
 
 ground controls the count in the game. So long as the player 
 succeeds in throwing the pitted side, or " cow-hoof,'' as it is called, 
 upward, he retains possession of the bone, and with each throw 
 wins one bean from a pre-arranged number equally divided among 
 the players. The sides do not count in the play, and the thrower 
 may play again and again without forfeiting the bone unless he 
 throws the flat side (opposite the ''cow-hoof") upward, when the 
 bone goes to his opponent to throw under the same conditions. 
 The winning of the entire number of an opponent's counters con- 
 stitutes a game. 
 
 WA-PE-TAIKH-GUT. The game of Wa-pe-taikh-gut consists of 
 three parts, namely : First. Four single joints of reed (Phragmites 
 Communis] each about 7^ inches long and i inch in diameter, of 
 which one end is open, the other closed by the diaphragm of the 
 joint. They are marked with small squares, cut in simple pat- 
 terns on the face of the cylinders. By these designs they are 
 separated into pairs called the "Old People" and the "Young 
 People." 
 
 Second. A scarlet chirocote bean, each player usually possess- 
 ing his private bean. 
 
 Third. One hundred grains of corn, or a greater number, as may 
 be determined by the players prior to beginning the game. Two 
 contestants usually engage in the play, though any number may 
 enter the same game. Before the game proper begins, an initia- 
 tory struggle takes place between the two players to gain posses- 
 sion of the reeds. Each of the contestants takes a pair of reeds, 
 and holding them vertically in one hand, with the opening up, 
 rapidly passes the other, in which a chirocote bean is held, over 
 the opening, dropping it in one of them when he considers the 
 adversary sufficiently confused by the motion. Each fills his reeds 
 full of sand from a small heap collected for that purpose, and 
 throws them down before his opponent. Each then chooses one 
 of the other's prostrate reeds, thought to contain the bean. If 
 both fail, or both succeed, in finding the bean in the same throw, 
 the hiding operation is repeated. If one succeeds and the other 
 fails, the foui reeds go to the fortunate guesser, and the game 
 begins. 
 
 The possessor of all the reeds repeats the passes with the bean 
 over their open tops, fills them with sand, and throws them down 
 
 21 I
 
 in front of his antagonist, who separates them into pairs, usually 
 the " Old People " and " Young People," though it is not compul- 
 sory to so pair them. The guesser crosses a pair, by placing one 
 above the other at right angles, and selects one of the uncrossed 
 reeds of the other pair (the one thought to contain the bean), and 
 pours the sand from it. If he succeeds in finding the bean in this 
 reed, all the reeds immediately go to him, and he in turn performs 
 the operation just described, his opponent doing the guessing. If 
 he fails, the position of the reed containing the bean counts so 
 many grains of corn to the man who placed the bean ; the top- 
 crossed reed counting ten, the under crossed six, and the single 
 reed four. 
 
 In beginning the game the counters, or grains of corn, are all 
 placed at one side, and each player draws his winnings from this 
 pile or bank until it is exhausted, when the exchange is made 
 directly from the winnings of the players, until one or the other 
 has lost all his kernels. The possessor of all the grain becomes 
 the winner of the game. 
 
 So long as the player fails to guess in which reed is the bean, 
 his opponent continues to hide the bean in the sand he pours into 
 the reeds. 
 
 GHIXG-SKOOT. This game is played by means of four sticks 
 painted red on one side, and marked with black lines of numeral 
 and sex significance on the other. 
 
 Second. By a rectangle marked on the ground, usually 
 about twelve by eight feet, having holes or pockets along the 
 sides. 
 
 Third. By moving pieces called horses, which are moved into 
 various pockets determined by the numerical value of the sticks 
 thrown. 
 
 Fourth. By a hammer-stone to drive the sticks into the air. 
 
 This is a gambling game in which two, three, or four players 
 may engage, playing as individuals, or as partners in a four-handed 
 game. In the play the sticks are held vertically bunched in the 
 right hand, and struck from underneath, on their lower ends, by a 
 stone grasped in the left hand. The blow shoots them into the 
 air, and the position of the upturned faces and backs determines 
 the number of holes or pockets the horses may be moved along 
 the rectangle. 
 
 212
 
 The stick count is as follows : 
 
 When the two backs and two fronts of the four sticks come up 
 it equals 2. 
 
 When three fronts and one back of the four sticks come up it 
 equals 3. 
 
 When three backs and the " Young Man " come up it counts 4. 
 
 All fronts up count 5. 
 
 When three backs and the " Old Woman " come up it counts 6. 
 
 All backs count 10. 
 
 When three backs and the " Old Man" come up, it counts 15. 
 
 If the sticks touch or fall on one another the throw must be 
 repeated. 
 
 THE RECTANGLE. Along the sides of the rectangle are holes 
 or pockets, ten in number, counting the corners each time ; the 
 quadrant, or place called the house or kee, has five holes not count- 
 ing the corners. 
 
 Counters, or pieces called horses, are used in moving along the 
 pockets, the move being determined by the numerical throw of the 
 marked sticks. Two horses are usually used, though any number 
 previously agreed on may be put into play. 
 
 The horses are put into play consecutively, and by alternate 
 throws of the players. A throw of less than five ( Yon-fa) which 
 does not carry the horses out of the door, prevents a player from 
 entering another horse until his aggregate throws are five plus, thus 
 putting his horse into the rectangle proper. 
 
 After all the horses of a single contestant are in play, he may 
 move the same horse continuously. 
 
 In counting the pockets, from the door to either of the nearest 
 corners is fifteen. It is optional with the player whether he turn 
 to the left or right upon leaving the door, though he must move 
 his horse around the rectangle in the same direction after once 
 starting. 
 
 If " X " throws fifteen, moving to "a," and "W" throws the 
 same number, enabling him to move to the same point, he "kills " 
 or throws " X's " horse out of the play, and must start his piece 
 over again; and also, if he should throw fourteen he accomplishes 
 the same result (there is no one in the stick count). However, if 
 " X " should get to " c " and " W " throw ten from " house " 
 and get to "d" he does not "kill" him. If on the next throw 
 
 213
 
 "W" throws fourteen and "X" meanwhile has not moved from 
 "c " he "kills" him. 
 
 A horse must run entirely around the rectangle and back into 
 the house pockets, where he is safe from being "killed"; but to 
 make him a winning piece the exact number to count to the door 
 is required. A two throw is considered out. 
 
 The object of the game is to safely carry all the horses around 
 the pockets and out again at the door ; the first player succeeding 
 in this being declared the winner. 
 
 CLOTHING. 
 
 The costume of the girls and women has been described in 
 chapter second. The clothing of the boys and men consists gen- 
 erally of a breechclout, or short piece of drapery in cotton cloth, 
 supported around the waist by an aloes cord. For warmth (the 
 fall of temperature at evening is excessive), blankets with a hole 
 in the centre through which to pass the head are donned, or the 
 Pimans wrap themselves in blanket as do the Indians of the North. 
 For head-covering some possess conical, broad-brimmed Mexican 
 hats, but as a rule a band of plaited grass, or a strip of cotton 
 cloth is wound around the bare head to keep the strands of long 
 hair out of the eyes. 
 
 SANDALS. Cow-hide sandals are universally worn. A strap 
 of doeskin about two inches broad, pierced at either end, is passed 
 through two slits in the sandal to form a support for the ankle. 
 Through a hole in the sole, placed bsneath the root of the big toe, 
 a long leathern thong is passed, and wound about the ankle and 
 passed through the holes in the deerskin strap. 
 
 SPURS. The men and women of the Sierra Madre alike ride 
 bareback or with saddles. They use spurs which are made from 
 a sharpened mesquite-wood crotch, and furnished with leathern 
 tie-strings at the end of the forks. The Indians near the settle- 
 ments purchase iron and silver spurs. 
 
 PAPOOSE. The Indian baby is swaddled much as is the infant 
 of the Orient or of the Old World. It is laid in an infant carrier 
 about twenty-four inches long and eight inches wide. The frame is 
 made of bowed mesquite-wood, held in place by short crosspieces 
 
 214
 
 of wood, notched at the ends, and tied on by strips of doeskin or 
 cloth. On this bow is spread a mat of plaited yucca leaves, and 
 the child is bound upon it with doeskin thongs. A ring of plaited 
 yucca leaves, about eleven inches in diameter, is attached around 
 the head of the cradle to protect the infant's eyes from the sun. 
 
 CRADLE. Another species of cradle is made by bending a sap- 
 ling one-half inch in diameter and six feet long into an arch, and 
 bringing the two ends together, fixing them in place by a buckskin 
 tie. The kite-shaped frame thus made is thirty inches long by four- 
 teen inches wide. Eight thin, flat pieces of wood are tied trans- 
 versely across the frame two or three inches apart, and are held 
 in position with thongs of buckskin, cloth strips, and sinew. A 
 single long cord of buckskin is tied to the frame near the centre of 
 one side. The infant, wrapped in swaddling-clothes, with bare feet 
 and head exposed, is firmly lashed to this frame by the long tie 
 cord. A stick attached to the apex of the bow is planted on the 
 ground, and at the slightest touch the child see-saws, this stick 
 and the crossed points of the sapling serving as rests. 
 
 STOOL. The need of chairs and stools seems never to have 
 been felt by the Indians, although stools are found among them, 
 probably constructed for the use of the priests and of Mexican 
 visitors. The stool in the illustration is composed of thirty-five 
 pieces of wood from ten to thirteen inches in length; thirty- 
 three of ocatiya cactus, one of split sehuara cactus, and one 
 piece is missing. Almost square, it is built up in log-house fashion 
 by notching each stick near either end, and alternating the parallel 
 sides in superposition, having the notches fitted into each other at 
 right angles. The seat is composed of ten crosspieces laid close 
 together. The entire frame is held in place by rawhide lashings 
 at the crossing of each stick with another, and is exceedingly 
 weighty. 
 
 HUNTING. The Pima Bajas are very fond of hunting. They 
 are good shots, and very cunning at snaring game. Formerly they 
 used only the bow, but of late the aboriginal weapon has been 
 relegated to the boys, and most of the men are possessed of old- 
 fashioned rifles. 
 
 Two or three times a year a battu takes place, participated in 
 by most of the tribe, but as a rule the hunting is done singly or in 
 
 215
 
 small parties, moving forward in a semi-circle, and driving the 
 game before them. 
 
 FISHING. The tribal fishing parties are also great events All 
 the able-bodied of the tribe then go into camp by one of the large 
 streams, which they poison temporarily by throwing into it large 
 quantities of palo de flecha (Sebastiana palmieri). (See descrip- 
 tion of flora.) This stuns the fish, which rise to the surface, so 
 that the fishermen catch them in their hands or land them by drag- 
 ging the stream with a seine formed of blankets sewn together. At 
 other times the natives go out alone, and fish by means of a baited 
 bent bone or cactus pin bent into a hook attached to a line made 
 of agave twine. 
 
 CATTLE REARING. The Pima Indians rear cattle, ponies, 
 sheep, goats, pigs, and fowls. They tan skins, following about the 
 same system as that in use among the more northern Indians. 
 They have domesticated dogs and cats, as well as birds which 
 they have caught when young and keep in cages. 
 
 FOOD. They eat beef, mutton, goat, pig, deer, and small game, 
 birds, vermin, fish, cereals, cacti, wild roots, and berries. The 
 women do the cooking. The meat is generally boiled to strings 
 and eaten very fresh. They have no grindstones, and the maize 
 and various beans and- seeds are beaten to hominy or flour in a 
 stone mortar by means of a stone pestle, called by the natives 
 metates. 
 
 PESTLE AND MORTAR. A large smooth stone of volcanic 
 bowlder, which is somewhat concave on one side, is selected, and 
 sunk into the ground near the uk-sd, or kitchen ring. A regular 
 round depression is then produced by the housewife, who indus- 
 triously pounds the concave surface, and through constant use 
 the stone becomes worn into a smooth, deep bowl. Naturally 
 the older the mortar the more perfect the depression. The bowl 
 varies somewhat in size, six inches in depth and eight inches in 
 surface breadth being a good average. The outside dimension is 
 roughly about 15 by 18 by 10 inches. The top rises but little 
 above the surface of the ground, and the surrounding clay having 
 been mixed with ashes, puddled and stamped, is reduced to a hard, 
 smooth winnowing-floor about four feet in diameter. The girls 
 and women pound the seeds, maize, and mesquite pods to flour 
 
 2l6
 
 with the heavy pestle, which is grasped in both hands and raised 
 above the head, whence it strikes down into the mortar. The 
 women squat upon the ground in a most uncomfortable position 
 with their feet drawn under them, and pound away for hours. 
 During the arduous operation the hulls are removed from the rlour 
 by winnowing. 
 
 KNEADING-TKOUGH. The flour is mixed with water in the 
 kneading trough, which is made of mesquite wood, to contain the 
 dough while being worked, as pottery vessels are not sufficiently 
 strong to stand the pressure. Kneading-troughs are usually about 
 thirty inches long by twelve inches wide. Other wooden dishes are 
 sometimes made, such as thin, circular, concave, or elliptical leg- 
 less platters or troughs with the rudimentary legs, seen in the 
 illustration. 
 
 TORTILLA STONE. The dough is usually made into tortillas, 
 a species of thin, dry cake. The rolling-out takes place upon a 
 flat stone with raised edges, which is slightly tilted forward. The 
 edges hold in the dough, and the fragments fall into a basket 
 placed at the lower end of the stone. The roller is wooden. 
 
 HEARTH. The cakes are cooked on the Mat, heated stones of 
 the hearth. These are enclosed by three pointed ones set on end 
 to hold the earthenware pot or olla. 
 
 UK-sA (KITCHEN RING). The cooking is done within an en- 
 closure known as the kitchen ring ^ik-sa), which is built of sap- 
 lings set upright save for a wide ingress, and surrounded by a 
 bundle of sacaton grass or of fagots, so as to protect the fire from 
 being blown about by the wind. 
 
 THE DWELLING. 
 
 The men of the Pimas gather the material for the dwellings, 
 although as a rule the women carry it to the village on their backs, 
 using the " kee-ho," or carrying basket; the men also do the build- 
 ing of all save the natal kees. 
 
 THE KEE, SACCATON HUT. The simplest dwelling, and also 
 the most picturesque, is constructed of the saccaton grass which is 
 found throughout the region, and makes a most excellent thatch. It 
 
 217
 
 is strong, long, and glossy, and a new kee shimmers in the sun like 
 satin. It is erected by planting eight stripped mesquite saplings 
 in two parallel rows, and interlacing them to form an arch. Other 
 saplings are tied to these horizontally, leaving an opening in the 
 centre. The ties are made of yucca fibre. Bunches of grass are 
 set up closely around the sapling frame, and held in place by pass- 
 ing yucca ties in and out through the grass wall and around the 
 sapling binders, so that the grass may be tied tightly to them, and 
 thus form a firm, thick wall. Other saplings are then laid horizon- 
 tally outside of the thatch, and fastened in the same manner. The 
 yucca ties are passed in and out by means of a long wooden 
 needle sixteen inches in length, made from schuara cactus wood. 
 The head of the needle is elliptical, and about half an inch in its 
 greatest width ; the eye is cut half an inch from the top, the rest 
 of the needle is nearly round, tapering to a blunt point. A grass 
 or leaf house is always called a kee, and kees are constructed with 
 especial ceremonies to serve at child-birth and for the dead. Some 
 kees are much larger than others and have a smoke-hole in the top. 
 The evenings and mornings are very cold in the Sierra Madre, 
 and a fire is frequently kindled in the centre of the hut to warm its 
 proprietors, who sleep around in a circle with the head to the wall 
 of the hut. The door of a kee is composed of a grass hurdle, and 
 is drawn across the opening when the family has retired, or it 
 consists simply of an old bed-mat. 
 
 CACTUS HOUSE. The cactus house is one degree better than 
 the kee. It is constructed out of mesquite poles, or split stems of 
 the schuara cactus wattled with the long straight stems of the 
 ocatiya cactus. A cactus house is flat-roofed, calked with mud 
 and pebbles. It generally possesses a rude porch, beneath which 
 is a wattled door called " jonta," swung on leathern hinges. The 
 roof serves as a storing place for all the extra pots, baskets, and 
 implements of the family. 
 
 GRANARY. Here are often placed the native granaries, 
 large baskets formed like inverted beehives, and roomy as hogs- 
 heads. They are made of twisted cornstalks or split willow, 
 wound into a thick cable and sewed together one row upon another 
 until the desired bulk is reached. A lid of the same material is 
 fitted to this receptacle, and when the family absents itself a 
 
 218
 
 "hickori" or fetich is deposited within to guard it, the cover 
 sewed on, and the crevices daubed with clay on which the Indian 
 makes his mark. Then he goes away, satisfied that on his return 
 he will find his property intact. 
 
 ADOBE BRICK. Along the R'io Gila, in Arizona, are to be seen 
 ancient ruins of adobe mud. These edifices were built not of 
 separate brick, but of soft mud poured between brush retaining- 
 walls placed along the permanent structure. The mud-plastered 
 grass and cactus huts resemble these more than do the modern 
 adobe houses made from mud bricks, shaped by hand, and 
 strengthened by foreign ingredients, such as sand, small pebbles, 
 straw, corncobs, etc. The mud bricks are usually about a foot 
 in length, four inches in depth, and six inches in width. They are 
 laid in courses with mortar of soft mud, while no attention is paid 
 to breaking the joints evenly, and the houses though ugly are 
 strong. They are innovations, however, introduced among the 
 Indians by the Spanish missionaries 
 
 ADOBE HOUSE-CASITA. The houses are never over one 
 story in height, and seldom have more than a single doorway and 
 perhaps a small window-hole near the top of the wall. The roof 
 is constructed by laying mesquite poles or split schuara cactus 
 (Cereus giganteus) stems across the walls, covering them with 
 grass and earth. Adobe houses standing alone generally possess 
 a rude sun-shelter or porch, consisting of vertical posts and cross- 
 beams covered with brush and mud. 
 
 HUNTING SHEDS. When hunting or fishing in the barrancas 
 the Indians rapidly construct lean-tos out of a few saplings tied 
 together, with one end resting against the wall of the gorge, and 
 roofed with boughs. Here an entire family will live for months 
 until the necessities of agriculture or the inclemency of the season 
 compels a return to the village. 
 
 POTTERY-MAKING. The Papago and Pima Indian women are 
 manufacturers of large quantities of pottery which they sell or 
 trade in the nearest American and Mexican towns, often carrying 
 an immense load of it many miles across the desert on their backs 
 in a heavily laden kee-ho. The standard vessel of commerce is a 
 deep round-bottom vase, with symmetrically curved sides and flaring 
 lip, holding anywhere from two to fifteen gallons. 
 
 219
 
 These vessels are commonly known as " ollas^ and they are 
 used by the whites as well as the Indians for cooling water. Glazed 
 jars of the same shape and shallow bowls, large and small, form 
 the culinary and table service of the Indians, who all dip into the 
 pot in which the meal has been prepared. 
 
 The raw material of the water-cooler is compounded of yellow and 
 white clay, sifted sand, and horse manure, the oxidation of which 
 in firing produces the porosity of the ware. In preparing the clay 
 for the Indian cooking vessels, instead of the manure, tempered 
 pounded quartz is used to make the ware strong and impervious. 
 Sufficient water is mixed with the ingredients to produce a stiff 
 paste which is stored away for several days in damp cloths to go 
 through a seasoning process, and insure evenness for the following 
 working. 
 
 The modelling and shaping of the plastic vessels differs from 
 the process followed by the more northern tribes of Indians, who 
 construct their wares by super-imposing thin strips of clay from the 
 bottom to the top, rubbing away the jointure lines as they proceed. 
 
 CAJITA. The Papago Pima potters model the first half of the 
 jar, which they call a " cajita," upon the rounded bottom of a spe- 
 cially constructed mould of thick terra cotta having the shape of an 
 olla with a much constricted mouth. A lump of clay is flattened 
 out into a nearly circular disk an inch in thickness, and spread 
 upon the centre of the inverted mould ; it is then paddled and 
 thinned out with a spade-shaped paddle of mesquite wood until 
 it covers the mould as far as its incurving. Several half-ollas -are 
 prepared in succession and laid beside the mould to dry somewhat 
 before the upper portions of the vase is added, but a bowl is com- 
 plete at this stage, save for the flaring rim. The cajita is built up 
 to the finished form of a jar by adding heavy rings of clay (usually 
 two or three), and paddling each successively up to a thin wall by 
 the aid of narrow paddles. The soft clay vase is allowed to dry 
 for a number of hours, and then polished over its entire outer sur- 
 face with small rubbing stones. 
 
 OLLA PADDLES. The olla paddles are cut out of mesquite or 
 pine wood. The broad, slightly concave paddle is used in shaping 
 the clay over the pottery mould. The narrower, rounded and flat 
 paddles are used in thinning the superadded rings of plastic clay 
 
 22O
 
 which are patted into place against the moist edge of the vase. 
 A round hand-stone, such as is seen beneath the first paddle, is 
 used as a buffer or stop, being held by the left hand against the 
 inside edge in shaping its upper portion, while a broad paddle is 
 used in the right hand against the outside to sustain the thin rim 
 of clay. 
 
 Three varieties of stones are used in the construction of the pot- 
 tery ; they are commonly thin and disk-shaped. Some are natural 
 quartzite pebbles, selected from a water course on account of their 
 shape. Broken metates of nearly rectangular outline are often 
 used, although argillaceous and volcanic rocks are also converted 
 into olla stones by grinding down to the desired shape. The size 
 of the shaping stone is usually three to four and one half inches in 
 diameter, and three fourths to two and one-half inches in thickness. 
 They sometimes subserve other purposes, such as hammering or 
 flaking. 
 
 A polishing of the olla or cajita is resorted to in all the market- 
 able ware. A fine closely-grained pebble of quartz and chalcedony 
 highly polished by friction is used for the polishing. The stone is 
 grasped between the tips of the fingers and thumb, and by a rapid 
 reciprocating motion the vessel is rubbed until it has taken on a 
 high gloss. This polishing still further amalgamates the particles 
 of clay and reduces the danger of breakage in firing. 
 
 The firing is done in shallow pits partly filled with mesquite 
 bark. The pottery is piled up and surrounded by a wall of mes- 
 quite bark slabs and dry manure, and when the outer wall is con- 
 sumed the firing is considered completed. After firing the vases 
 are usually painted red with black ornaments ; a second and final 
 polishing being resorted to as soon as the red ochre slip has dried 
 in. This red ochre is produced by the decomposition of a ferru- 
 gineous rock found in stray lumps or attached to the rocky moun- 
 tain-sides. 
 
 PAINT. The crude material is broken up and dissolved in 
 water. A small sediment precipitates itself to the bottom of the 
 retaining vessel, whence part of the water and the larger fragments 
 are removed. The sediment is rapidly stirred with a stick until 
 the lighter particles rise and are poured off into another vessel. 
 This process is repeated until the paint is sufficiently fine for use. 
 It is then allowed to thoroughly settle, the clear water is poured 
 
 221
 
 off, and the moisture evaporated, leaving a hard cake of red paint 
 which is stored away. When the pottery-maker desires to use the 
 paint she dissolves it, stirs and adds water until a thick cream 
 is obtained. This she applies with a soft cloth to the inner rim 
 as well as the entire surface of the bowls and jars. Simple black 
 geometric decorations are made by means of a paint prepared 
 from the mesquite gum. The gum is dissolved in water and poured 
 off into another receptacle in the same manner as the preparation 
 of the ochre. It will not stay in solution in cold water, but soon 
 falls in a heavy deposit. The paint is applied, rather thick, by 
 means of a feather brush, to the red surface of the pottery. 
 
 OLLA WATER COOLER. Under the shade of the open brush 
 shelters of the Pimas and other Indian tribes of the southwestern 
 desert region, as well as under the more pretentious verandas of 
 the Americans and Mexicans, from a meridian line drawn across 
 Arizona and New Mexico far down to the southward in Mexico, 
 may be seen the indispensable water-cooling jars or ollas of un- 
 glazed pottery suspended by cords from the girders, or more com- 
 monly supported by a breast-high mesquite post. On the three 
 prongs at the top rests the water-cooling vessel which is a luxurious 
 necessity in a hot, dry climate, where the constant quenching of 
 thirst is imperative. The liquid percolates rapidly through the 
 porous walls of the vessel, reducing the temperature of its contents 
 to a delightful degree. A cup or dipper, fashioned from a culti- 
 vated gourd, or the half-shell of the small round gourd indigenous 
 to the desert, is usually hung up beside the olla. 
 
 KEE-HO OR CARRYIXG-BASKET. All the baskets in use among 
 the Indians are made by the women. The largest is the " kee-ho,'' 
 a carrying-basket or hod. This is composed of five parts : 
 
 First. A framework of sehuara cactus sticks. 
 
 Second. A lace net of maguey fibre twine bound to a wooden 
 ring of mesquite sticks. 
 
 Third. An oblong mat of woven yucca leaves, which rests upon 
 the bearer's back, protecting it from the burden. 
 
 Fourth. A forehead band or frontlet of yucca leaves plaited in 
 a ring and flattened. The frontlet is connected with the basket by 
 means of ropes of horse hair tied to its ends and passed downwards 
 through the oblong mat and around the lower point of the basket. 
 
 222
 
 where they are furnished with a twisting peg which serves for the 
 adjustment of the length. 
 
 Fifth. Four rope ties or stretchers for the net are knotted one 
 to each stick, passed beneath the net ring and drawn taut. After 
 the net, which is of a soft yellow color, is finished and stretched, it 
 is painted in red and blue designs, which form a very pretty deco- 
 ration, following the openwork of its lacelike pattern, which is 
 produced by a kind of knitting stitch. The paint is laid on by 
 means of a soft, pithy plant stalk. The tie ropes are often made 
 of human hair. They are very soft and perfectly cylindrical, 
 woven in a fancy plait like that of old-fashioned hair chains. 
 
 When the basket is in position for carrying, the greater portion 
 of the load rests upon the back, the head and the neck taking little 
 of the weight. The frontlet serves to place the load on the most 
 efficient point between the shoulders. Cross-sticks are often tied 
 to the long projecting poles of the framework ; this greatly increases 
 the carrying capacity of the "kee-ho." 
 
 LOAD OF POTTERY. Both bulky and heavy loads of pottery, 
 cereals, fire-wood, and wood for house-building are carried long 
 distances by means of the kee-ho, and the women of the Sierra 
 Madre travel from sunrise to sunset carrying therein the simple 
 products of their homes to the Mexican ranches and settlements. 
 The women make exclusive use of the kee-ho, a man consider- 
 ing it beneath his dignity to be seen with one, although he will 
 sometimes relieve an exhausted member of his family, provided no 
 one is in sight. 
 
 THE GORRITA. As useful as the kee-ho is the gorrita, a kind 
 of platter or bowl composed of basket-work. A whole collection 
 of these, in various shapes and sizes, belongs to everv prosperous 
 Indian family. The gorrita varies in form from a circular, slightly 
 concave platter, to a deep bowl or bottle with high curved sides, 
 decorated in pretty black and white geometric figures. The gorrita 
 is invariably constructed out of split willow twigs, stripped martinia 
 fibre, and narrow ribbons of yucca leaves or saccaton grass. The 
 large wig-like object in the centre of the illustration consists of a 
 bundle of raw martinia pods, or Martinia athecefolia, called by 
 the Indians ec-hooks, and by the Mexicans unas de gatto. The pods 
 are pulled apart, and a bundle formed of them by binding a few 
 
 223
 
 ee-hooks together, and then thrusting hook after hook into the 
 centre, letting the broad end fall outside. In this shape they are 
 stored away till required for manufacturing the gorrita. 
 
 At odd moments the women shred the half martinia pod or 
 ee-hook. It is soaked in water until pliable, the sharp extremity is 
 bent back upon itself until the woody core breaks out, the point is 
 pulled backward along the outer curve of the hook, carrying with 
 it a strip of fibre from eight inches to a foot long ; the rest is 
 thrown away. The fibres are bound up into small circular coils 
 four to five inches in diameter and two inches in thickness (see 
 illustration), and then laid away. Split twigs of willow are pre- 
 pared in the same way, the twig being cut in the spring or rainy 
 season, the bark stripped off, the twig split through the middle, 
 and the irregularities smoothed away. The prepared twigs are 
 bunched in the hand and twisted into a small ring, bound about 
 with a strip of bark, and stored away ready for use. 
 
 Some yucca fibre, or a small bunch of saccaton grass, one-eighth 
 of an inch in diameter, is wound around with martinia or split 
 willow, according as a black or white centre for the gorrita is 
 desired. This is coiled into a button, which is held in shape by 
 passing the ends of willow or martinia strip through its core. The 
 basket is then worked around gradually from this centre by con- 
 stantly threading the outer wind through the core of each previous 
 circumscribing band and drawing it taut, binding the coils com- 
 pactly together. A variety of geometric designs, such as Greeks, 
 Swastikas, diamonds, etc., are produced by alternating the outer 
 windings with black martinia and white willow. The baskets, 
 when well made, will hold water and withstand long and hard 
 usage. They serve all the domestic purposes where there is no 
 contact with fire. 
 
 AGRICULTURE, FAUNA AND FLORA. 
 
 The Indians cultivate maize, or Indian corn, for the main- 
 tenance of their families. They also cultivate a small amount of 
 tobacco, which they look upon as a luxury as well as the sacred 
 accessory of many ceremonies. 
 
 DIGGING-STICK. The Indian does not individually possess the 
 land, but occupies or cultivates any waste piece which suits his 
 
 224
 
 fancy. The ground is sometimes prepared by means of an archaic 
 wooden plow, introduced, probably, by the Spanish missionaries. 
 The aboriginal implement, which is still everywhere in use, consists 
 of a flattened digging-stick of mesquite wood about thirty inches 
 long by three or four inches broad. A man picks out a stretch of 
 ground which pleases him, seats himself upon his heels, and prods 
 and scratches the earth in a circle about him with a digging-stick. 
 In the upturned soil he scatters a handful of seed corn which he 
 takes from a convenient basket. Over the seed he harrows the 
 loose earth with his fingers and toes. His task completed, he 
 moves on to a fresh spot, which he prepares in like manner, chang- 
 ing his position until he feels that enough corn has been planted 
 to supply his household with food. If it rains at the right time, 
 .and the sun shines, there is a crop ; if not, the family subsists on 
 roots and cacti until the next planting season. The father removes 
 to another part of the mezas, builds a new hut and sows afresh, 
 for the fault is evidently in a curse which lies upon the soil, and it 
 is ruinous, and not always efficacious, to engage a medicine-man 
 to liberate the land from the curse. 
 
 MAIZE. Maize is to the Indian of the Sierra Madre what 
 rice is to the Chinese, and rye to the rural inhabitant of central 
 Europe, namely, his food, his drink, and the fodder for his 
 cattle. There are several varieties of maize in use among the 
 Indians, the chief difference being in the red, blue, white, and 
 speckled color of the kernels. This difference has been attained 
 by a process of natural selection, one variety flourishing in a soil 
 where another cannot sustain itself. 
 
 CORN STALKS. The dried stalks of matured maize are used 
 for fuel, for roofing, and in the construction of dwelling-huts and 
 the Uk-sa (kitchen ring), when saccaton grass and boughs are not 
 convenient. The more tender parts are used for fodder; these are 
 dried, and stored out of the reach of the animals in the fork of a 
 tree or heaped upon the flat roof of a house or porch. 
 
 CORN KERNELS. The cobs are shucked by hand, and the 
 kernel stored away in the granaries, which consist of walled-up 
 caves, or of the huge baskets already described, and fetched in 
 sufficient quantity when wanted. The ceremonial blue corn-bread 
 and red corn-bread is prepared from carefully selected kernels by 
 the roakari. This bread is of an electric blue or a bright wine 
 i5 225
 
 color, and the paste composing it is rolled out into a wafer as thin 
 as a sheet of paper. The process of preparation is attended with 
 elaborate ceremonies, which begin with the collecting, the storing, 
 and the planting of the seed, and continue through the growth of 
 the corn, the harvesting, the shucking, storing, grinding, and cook- 
 ing. A very interesting account of these ceremonies is to be 
 found in an article on the Zuni Creation Myth, written by Mr. 
 Frank Hamilton Gushing, and published in the thirtieth annual 
 report of the Bureau of Ethnology at Washington. 
 
 TEQUINO, OR TESWIN. The sprouted corn is made into 
 teguino, or teswin, which is used at feasts. This liquor, with 
 which the Indians become intoxicated, is the original, unadul- 
 terated American whiskey. 
 
 CORN HUSKS. The husks, still attached to a knob of stem, 
 but with the ear removed, form a wrapper or casing for the Indian 
 dainty tomales, which is relished by the Mexicans, and hawked 
 about the railway stations and market-places of Mexico. It is 
 prepared from corn, softened with alkali water and broken in a 
 mortar until it resembles hominy. This is mixed with chopped or 
 shredded meat, red pepper, and onions, if any of the latter are avail- 
 able. A husk is packed with the mixture, the leaves are gathered 
 closely together and tied up with strips of corn fibre. The packet 
 is boiled or roasted and eaten hot, the husk wrapper serving as an 
 impromptu dish. 
 
 CIGARETTE WRAPPER. The cigarette wrapper of the Indians 
 is a corn husk. The Pima Bajas do not use pipes, and the ciga- 
 rette is only lit after the sun has gone below the horizon. Smoking 
 by daylight is considered an insult to the gods who control the ele- 
 ments, and a calamity-breeder. Tobacco smoke especially offends 
 the sun, and brings tears to his eyes at the wrong time. When the 
 tribe desires rain, however, at the end of the dry season, the corn 
 stubble, the mezas, and the prairies are set on fire, to cause the 
 sun to veil his face; but as that quality of smoke is acceptable, in 
 the opinion of the Indians, it causes the gods to send the rain. 
 The corn husks are kept wrapped in bundles hanging to a handy 
 peg in the wall of the hut or porch, and also serve the Indian for 
 twine, and on many occasions when a civilized man would use 
 paper. 
 
 226
 
 CUCURKITA PALMATA (PUMPKINS). The Indians cultivate 
 ordinary pumpkins of an inferior quality, and a species of native 
 gourd which runs along the ground, and is known botanically as 
 Cucurbita palmata, or perennis. Its fruit is much smaller than 
 that of the pumpkin. The Mexicans called it Chili coyote, because 
 of a myth connecting it with the coyote, which the Indians believe 
 feeds upon it, and thus obtains a magical or occult power, and for 
 this reason the dance rattles are made of its ripe fruit. Its leaves 
 are silvery green and hairy, like those of the ordinary pumpkin. 
 Its flowers are of a rich yellow. Its fruit is round and rilled with 
 a red pulp in which the seeds are imbedded in parallel lines. The 
 pulp is luscious and nourishing when sliced and cooked by boiling 
 or roasting. The natives scoop out this interior with the finger 
 and eat it raw, or devour it piece-meal, gnawing it down to the 
 rind, which is thrown away. Soldiers, attracted by the delicious 
 flavor and refreshing qualities of the raw fruit, partake of it freely 
 on first encountering it, but soon repent of their rashness, because 
 of the pain and discomfort it produces in those unaccustomed to 
 it. The seeds are dried, pounded, and made into a mush, which is 
 very palatable and nutritious, or diluted to form a delicious drink 
 of an especial efficacy in relieving thirst. The immature rind is 
 cut up into continuous strips about an inch in width, which are 
 hung up to dry upon the eaves and porches of the Indian houses, 
 very much as the Neapolitans hang up macaroni. When dry, it is 
 made up into bundles by bending the strip back and forth upon 
 itself in lengths of about a foot, wrapping the strip about the 
 middle and tucking in the end. The bundle thus formed is laid on 
 the roof for a final drying, and then stored away in a granary. 
 When required for food, the strips are soaked in water until soft- 
 ened, and afterwards boiled. They furnish a meal by themselves, 
 or are eaten as an accessory to other food. The pulp of the imma- 
 ture gourd is used as soap, and out of the roots, which also possess 
 saponaceous characteristics, a valuable cathartic and excellent 
 poultice can be made. 
 
 WATER BOTTLE. Another species of Mexican gourd culti- 
 vated by the Indians produces a fruit about a foot high and eight 
 inches in diameter. This is prepared for food and storing in the 
 same way, or allowed to ripen, when it is dried and made into a 
 water-bottle. Tightly encased in an irregular network of maguey 
 
 227
 
 twine, and furnished on the upper side with a single handle of 
 twisted fibre, it serves as well as an earthen bottle for carrying 
 water on extended journeys across the desert, and is much lighter 
 to carry. 
 
 HOFFMANSEGGIA STKICTA, OR INDIAN POTATO. This is a 
 
 vegetable very much prized by the inhabitants of the desert It 
 resembles the so-called Irish potato. The tubers differ but little 
 in size and shape, and the mode of their preparation for food is 
 identical; but the growth above ground of the Indian potato re- 
 sembles that of the sensitive plant. 
 
 AGAVE. The agave (l^asylirioni Wheeleri) furnishes the In- 
 dians with beer and a species of strong, sweet liquor, as well as a 
 material for baskets and mats, while certain varieties are used for 
 roofing houses. The plant branches out from the ground, forming 
 an inverted cone of long, narrow leaves, with short, upward curving 
 thorns along both edges. The hard point of the end of the leaf is 
 cut partly off and stripped downwards to the root, shredding off 
 several threads of fibre which, on being twisted, form a fine twine 
 about four feet long provided with a natural needle, and admirably 
 adapted for sewing together mats. Many plaited baskets, mat- 
 tresses, olla rings, kee-ho bands, and shoulder mats are composed 
 of these leaves. The thorny edges are split off, leaving a straight 
 band, or this may be split again into ribbons a quarter of an inch 
 wide. The strips are soaked while pliable, and plaited in a herring- 
 bone pattern, produced by passing the strip of leaf over three and 
 under three other strips alternately. The thickened border of the 
 mat is made by adding to the edge a narrow plait composed of 
 yucca leaves. The double edges are held together by thrusting a 
 single strip of ornamental yucca plait beneath the exterior strip 
 of the plait composing the mat. The mats are used as doors, beds, 
 tables, chairs, and hammocks, and few are the houses which do 
 not possess an assortment of them. 
 
 AGAVE LECHEGUEA. The native hair-brushes very much 
 resemble shaving brushes, composed of the fibre of the Agave 
 lecheguea. The short, broad leaves of this species of agave 
 are removed close to the stalk, where the fibres are almost as 
 strong and elastic as hog bristles. Enough fibre to form a brush 
 is bunched together in the hand so as to leave the brush end 
 
 228
 
 slightly rounded, and in the centre a tie is drawn tightly around it 
 before the fibre turned upwards to form a tassel. This is bound 
 securely in place by a flat braid of horse-hair laid around it with 
 great symmetry, a simple geometric design being produced by- 
 passing the black braid at proper intervals under two strands of 
 fibre. Hair brushes are also made of yucca fibre, and of the roots 
 of several varieties of desert plants. 
 
 CACTI. The cacti not only serve as shade trees, and to furnish 
 fire-wood, beams, and wattles, but also as articles of food, the 
 Indians cooking and eating the succulent pads and the raw fruit 
 with avidity. 
 
 CEREUS GIGANTEUS. The Cereus giganteus, or Cactus can- 
 delabrum, as well as the Cereus sehuara, under favorable conditions 
 grows to a height exceeding forty feet, and produces very beautiful 
 flowers and an extremely luscious fruit. It is the most conspicuous 
 as well as the most useful of all the vegetable growth of the South- 
 west. Its pithy core, when dried, hardens into wood and serves 
 in the construction of houses, while its fruit, in season and out of 
 season, is a benediction. Its seeds, separated from the pulp, 
 are made into wine, the fermented product being considered a 
 great luxury, or are often ground and roasted as a delicacy, or 
 made use of in many of the religious ceremonies. The shape of 
 this exotic is that of a candelabrum, hence its name. At times it 
 raises its solid grooved trunk destitute of every sign of foliage, 
 like a patina-covered bronze column ; again it is adorned with 
 innumerable sturdy limbs. 
 
 BISMOGA CACTUS. The Bismoga Cactus is only eaten cooked. 
 The Echino Cactus Polycephalus, or the Devil's Pincushion, and 
 EC hino Cactus Wislizena, are better known as the Barrel Cactus. 
 They are covered with long wiry spines, which are sharp and 
 tough, and are used for fastening leaves, skins, and textiles 
 together, from which comes the name of Nature's Pins. The 
 ball at the top is composed of close, white, silky fibre, like the 
 head of a small ripe thistle. The spines are bent and used as 
 fish-hooks by the natives, and answer all the purposes of the 
 metal ones. The flesh is like that of a green water-melon, and is 
 often eaten to allay thirst. It is particularly refreshing to the 
 traveller parched and nauseated by the alkali waters of the arid 
 
 229
 
 regions, as is also the Nopal, or Indian fig, of which the fruit is 
 eaten raw, and the young pads make an excellent vegetable for 
 cooking. To this family belong many of the hickori or sacred 
 cacti, venerated as divinities, which are described in Chapter V. 
 
 PITAIYA. The Pitaiya is most useful, as is the Cena Cactus, 
 which grows up thickly from the ground. 
 
 OCATIYA CACTUS. The ocatiya cactus is most curious in 
 effect, looking like an overgrown and leafless thorn-tree. It 
 reaches a height of twenty feet without a regular trunk or much 
 branching, and resembles a bunch of fagots. It is pictured in the 
 background of the illustration "The Scientist's Assistants." With 
 the mesquite, the ocatiya furnishes the best material for the con- 
 struction of houses and corrals, either by binding perpendicularly 
 to mesquite or sehuara, or by being used so as to form an impene- 
 trable wattle. 
 
 YUCCA BACCATA. Another economic plant, which assumes 
 the size of a tree, and is of great use to the Indians, as it would 
 be to more civilized races, is the Yucca baccata, vulgarly known 
 as the Spanish Bayonet. The Mexicans call it Datalies, because 
 its fruit resembles a dried date or fig. This fruit is mildly cathar- 
 tic on account of the seeds it contains. The meal made from 
 these seeds is called amole, and is one of the most nourishing 
 and pleasant preparations consumed in the Pima section of the 
 country. Mixed with water it forms a gruel which, when flavored 
 with sugar or berries, is delicious. Made into cakes it is called 
 pinole, and the Indians can subsist for a remarkable length of 
 time on a few pinole or a little diluted amole. All travellers carry 
 one or the other in a small bag slung about the neck, and the 
 chewing of the dried fruit is an excellent resource against thirst 
 and fatigue when traversing the desert. Yucca seeds are used 
 mixed with agave in making tequino or tesivin. The yucca is 
 also called Soap Root, because its fibrous roots produce a cleaning 
 lather. These are exported and universally known to trade. The 
 long, dagger-shaped leaves are used as thatch, and are plaited into 
 all kinds of baskets, mats, door-curtains, etc. The olla ring which 
 serves as a stand for the jars, or as a head pad for the woman car- 
 rying water, is composed of yucca leaves plaited into a band four 
 inches wide, and turned in upon itself, producing a ring of double 
 
 230
 
 thickness four to five inches m diameter, and half the original 
 height. The Indians often adapt old mats to other uses ; see the 
 bird-cage which has been made out of a worn out kee-ho mat. 
 
 ROPES. The leaves of the maguey are reduced to fine fibre 
 by macerating the pulpy portions between stones, and alternating 
 washing until only the long stringy fibres remain. These are 
 brought together in straight bunches or coils, and serve various 
 industrial uses, principally for rope and twine-making, and for the 
 core of goiritas and of the elaborately braided horse-hair bridles 
 The fibre is made into rope by twisting it in a twisting-machine, 
 and doubling it two, three, or four ply. The rope-twisting machine 
 consists of two parts, - first, the twister, a heavy piece of ocatiya 
 cactus stem, fourteen inches in length, in the smaller end of which 
 a hole is bored one and one-fourth inches from the end. Above 
 this are two cut notches, around which the operator ties the fibre 
 to be twisted. A handle of mesquite wood, one-fourth inch in 
 diameter, provided with a small button (to prevent its passing 
 entirely through), is thrust into the hole. The ends of the strand 
 to be twisted are held between the thumb and curved forefinger of 
 an assistant, while beside him lie additional strands of the proper 
 size. The operator grasps the handle and rapidly twirls the twister 
 around and around the handle of mesquite wood, while the assist- 
 ant holds the twisting cord taut, and feeds the additional strands 
 into the preceding until the desired length of the single cord is 
 obtained, the operator backing away from the assistant as the cord 
 increases in length. Thus are produced the lassos, the pack- 
 cinches, the bridle-ropes, fish-lines, etc. 
 
 MESQUITE-TREE. This is at once the ornament and blessing 
 of the dry regions of Arizona and Mexico. The name mesqtiite is 
 given indifferently to two separate species of trees, the Alga- 
 robia glandiilosa and the Prosopis juliflora. The wood of the 
 mesquite serves the Indians for beams, poles, and every use to 
 which the wood of forest trees is put in more favored regions. Its 
 leaf-covered branches are used for thatching, with or without mud 
 plastering. 
 
 MESQUITE BEANS. The beans are collected and carefully pre- 
 served, as they are considered a most precious article of food. They 
 are always perforated with holes, owing to the innumerable insects 
 
 231
 
 which exist upon the tree. They are reduced to flour by placing 
 the dry pods in the cavity of a stone mortar. The mesquite also 
 yields a black medicinal gum which is not unlike gum arabic, 
 and exudes from the tree at points where the branches have 
 been broken off or the trunk otherwise injured. On large trees 
 great lumps gather, and the gum runs down the outside of the 
 bark as does turpentine on a tapped pine. When fresh, the gum 
 is of a light-brown color and semi-translucent, but rapidly changes 
 on exposure into a brittle black mass. It is broken away from the 
 trees in this condition and stored until wanted. The gum is not 
 only used as glue, but also as a paint for pottery, and mixed with 
 mud to color the hair a deep black. In the Orient, the natives are 
 said to use a gummy preparation for a similar purpose. From the 
 mesquite gum is also obtained a blue coloring matter for tattooing, 
 which is applied by means of agave spines that have been hardened 
 by heating in the fire. The preparation of the mesquite gum as 
 paint is described under the head of POTTERY-MAKING. 
 
 PINE-TREE. There are a great many other varieties of trees 
 in the watered regions of the Sierra Madre. The Indians have 
 nearly a dozen different names to designate the varieties of pine 
 alone. These pine trees add greatly to the beauty of the land- 
 scape, crowning the heights with their feathery plumes. Certain 
 kinds have short needles resembling larches, while others such 
 as the Pinus ponderosa scopularum have large pendant spikes 
 over four inches long. It is from this latter tree that the aborigines 
 draw pitch. 
 
 The native oak trees have leaves over ten inches long; and of 
 oak certain tribes make their bows, foot-balls, etc. The Indians 
 cook into a very palatable dish the young shoots and tender leaves 
 of the ash tree. They also relish the fruit of the fig tree and the 
 roots of the silk-cotton tree. The chilicothe or coral tree is more 
 beautiful than useful ; and there are alders Evonymus, Madrono. 
 (or arbutus), willow, cotton-wood, and many other growths of the 
 temperate regions, to be found in the barrancas, hung with orchids 
 and epiphytes galore, so that their branches seem hung with tufts 
 of hay, yellow veils, and baskets of flowers. 
 
 AQUILEGIA. Along the water-courses are found the yellow 
 mimulus, and several varieties of Cohimbine aquilegia. 
 
 232
 
 MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
 
 LAUREA MEXICANA MOREA. The Laurea Mexicana morea, 
 or creosote wood, is called by the natives tah-sun-up. It is a 
 hardy growth, often reaching a height of twelve feet. It pos- 
 sesses a strong odor of arnica, and is very extensively used medic- 
 inally. Its foliage is bright green, its flowers are yellow, and 
 develop into downy balls. Its leaves are cleft like tiny devils' 
 hoofs, and the plant has been dubbed "The Devil's Foot" by 
 white settlers. A lotion brewed from the branches is healing to 
 the sores of man and beast, as well as good for rheumatism. A 
 powder prepared from the dried leaves is used on chronic sores, 
 and the black gum serves as a styptic, and, like that of the mes- 
 quite, for gluing the dance rattles, the arrows against the bow. As 
 the creosote wood grows throughout the desert, it is much used as 
 firewood, and emits an aromatic odor in burning. 
 
 SEBASTIANA PALMERI. This, vulgarly known as "arrow wood," 
 or "the tree of the jumping bean," is a most interesting shrub 
 from eight to twelve feet in height. It is very common around 
 the Alamas. Its Mexican colloquial name is palo de flecha. It 
 exudes a white gum or milk which is a violent cathartic, and 
 crystallizes into a clear, brittle substance, also used for poisoning 
 arrows. The natives dread the plant, for when introduced under 
 the skin it becomes fatally poisonous. Dr. E. Palmer (for whom 
 it is named) informed Dr. McCormick that he had seen its fatal 
 action, and that a violent opthalmia or conjunctivitis had resulted 
 from its juice getting into his own eyes. 
 
 JUMPING BEANS. The Indians use the bark in fishing to 
 stupefy the fish, as its effect upon them is transitory. The jump- 
 ing of the dry beans (called Carpocarpsa saltitans}, which is looked 
 upon as a great curiosity, is caused by the gnawing of a grub, the 
 egg of which is deposited in the green fruit by a small green and 
 white butterfly with black and orange spots upon its wings. When 
 it is mature, the grub gnaws a semicircular opening in the side of 
 the bean, and pushes it open like a trap door, the butterfly soaring 
 away while its chrysalis sheath remains attached to the opening. 
 
 SIMMONSIA CALIFORNICA. This shrub is used by the white 
 settlers and half-breeds as a substitute for quinine, and called by 
 
 233
 
 them quinine plant. The leaves are steeped in water and drunk 
 as a beverage. The Indians use the same preparation to allay 
 fever. They also char the bark and leaves, pound the ashes, and 
 dust them thickly upon abrasions, wounds, and sores, as an anti- 
 septic. The simmonsia resembles the mistletoe, although it is a 
 shrub and not a parasite. Its fruit is of the size, form, and color 
 of the caper, and very much relished by the Indians. When fully 
 ripe, the fruit yields a fine oil. 
 
 THAMNOSMA MONTANUM. This is a species of wild rue used 
 for kidney trouble by the Apaches and Pimas, and for headache 
 by the Panamints. 
 
 SALVIA COLUMBARIA AND SALVIA TILIFOLIA. The Salvia 
 columbaria and the Sal-via tilifolia, locally called chia, is a beauti- 
 ful desert plant, used as a beverage by the Indians and Mexicans, 
 and also dried and carried into the cities, where it is sold about 
 the streets. It is used by the natives as a remedy, and the seeds 
 ground into meal form an efficacious poultice for wounds. 
 
 Another remedy much used by the Indians for rheumatism is a 
 decoction of fern fronds. They reason that as the fern frond is 
 first seen curled up like the victim of rheumatism, and gradually 
 unfurls beneath the heat of the sun, the patient who is possessed 
 by the evil spirit of rheumatism, if dosed well with fern tea and 
 exposed to the sun for a sufficient length of time, must perforce 
 unbend. But close observation of fern nature indicates a fresh 
 danger. The curled-up fern frond is elastic, but the freshly un- 
 furled frond is excessively brittle, a touch sufficing to break it. 
 They have therefore sought out another object which is found 
 curled up, yet distends itself without being brittle, and selected the 
 green measuring worm, and make of it an infusion which is drunk 
 by the convalescent to complete the cure. 
 
 FAUNA. 
 
 CANIS LATRANS. The native mammalia of the region are 
 comparatively scarce though varied. There are deer, lions, bears, 
 llanos, wild pigs, peccany, coons, and many kinds of smaller ani- 
 mals, besides the coyote or Cam's latrans, the wolf-dog of the 
 American hemisphere, which is found from Costa Rica to above 
 
 234
 
 fifty-five degrees north latitude. All authors speak of this animal's 
 dexterity in avoiding traps. The Indians destroy it by shooting or 
 poisoning. Dr. Cones says : ' It enjoys a very bad reputation on 
 account of its howling habit. One must have spent an hour or 
 two vainly trying to sleep before he is in a condition to appreciate 
 the full force of the annoyance." Mivart (Mon. of Canidae) says : 
 "The howling of two or three wolves gives the impression that a 
 score are engaged, so many and so long-drawn are the notes, and 
 so uninterruptedly are they continued by one individual after an- 
 other. A short, sharp bark is followed by others which grow 
 faster and faster, becoming a long-drawn lugubrious howl. They 
 will give tongue at any time in the night as well as morning or 
 evening, though they are rarely or never heard during the day." 
 
 The coyote prefers animal food, but when it cannot secure this, 
 will eat vegetable substances, such as prickly pears or juniper 
 berries. It is not very swift, and depends largely on strategy for 
 animal food, relishing rats, mice, rabbits, and young birds. 
 
 LEPUS TEXIAXUS EREMICUS OR JACK RABBIT. The varieties 
 of rabbit indigenous to Arizona and northern Mexico are the Lepns 
 Texianus ere/nicus, (J. A. Allen), which occurs in southern Arizona 
 and southward to Mexico, and the Lepus callotis (Wagler), which 
 is found not much further south than San Luis Potosi. They be- 
 long to the same family as the Lepus Californicus, commonly called 
 jack rabbit, a misnomer for jack hare. Dr. Cones speaks of the 
 geographical distribution of the Lepus Californicus as follows : 
 " It ranges from the northern parts of California southward along 
 the coast to Cape San Lucas. It seems to be mainly restricted to 
 the region of the Sierra Nevada mountains, but in the latitude 
 thirty-five degrees, according to Dr. J. G. Cooper, it extends east- 
 ward to the Colorado River." 
 
 RATS AND MICE. The rats and mice belong to several vari- 
 eties, and many of them resemble kangaroos in coloring and legs. 
 The Crictodipus flavus (Baird), commonly called the Yellow 
 Pocket Mouse, is common to the caves and dwellings of the Rocky 
 Mountain region southward and eastward from the British posses- 
 sions, latitude forty-nine, to Chihuahua, Mexico; while in the 
 Pacific region, it is replaced by the Crictodipus parvus, or Least 
 Pocket Mouse, the smallest specimen. The Perogtiathus flavus 
 
 235
 
 {Baird) is also found in Nebraska, Utah, the Rocky Mountains, 
 Texas, New Mexico, Sonora, El Paso, Chihuahua, and Matamoras. 
 The Perognathus fasciatus and the Fasciatus flavescens are the 
 same in part as the P.flavus. In the desert region are found half 
 a dozen other of these wise-looking little rodents with names as 
 long and bristling as their tails. The Dipodomys agilus, Gambel, 
 or five-toed kangaroo rat, is most interesting. The genus was first 
 described in 1841 by Gray, the type being the Dipodomys philipsi 
 and having only four toes on the hind feet. In 1889 Mr. True dis- 
 covered that some species of Dipodomys had five toes on the hind 
 feet, and called attention to the fact. The following year Dr. C. 
 Hart Merriam in North American Fauna. No. 3, gave to the five- 
 toed species a new generic name of Dipodops. The first of the 
 five-toed species to be described was the Dipodomys agilus (the 
 large creature at the extreme side of the illustration), which has 
 been taken as typical of the genus Dipodops (Merriam). How- 
 ever, in 1893 this name was found untenable, and it now goes 
 under the name of Perodipus agilus (Gambel). 
 
 BATS. The bats, like the rats and mice, partake of the pale col- 
 oring of the region they inhabit, that is to say, those which haunt 
 the desert and dry mezas are yellow, buff, cream, or white. The 
 smaller bats are of the sub-species Vespertilio e-votis of the V. al- 
 bescens, being called by Dr. Harrison Allen, in his revised mono- 
 graph (1893), the Vespertilio albescens evotis. He maintains that 
 not only does it extend along the Pacific Coast from Puget Sound 
 to Lower California, but it is also to be found east of the Rocky 
 Mountains in the highlands of Montana, Washington, Colorado, 
 Arizona, and Dakota. This species has the largest ear of any of 
 the American species of Vespertilio, and its fur is white, long, and 
 very thick. 
 
 The larger bat is the Vampyrus spectrum (Peters). It is found 
 in Central America, Guatamala, and southward. Dobson states 
 that "it is the largest known species of bat in the New World." 
 It was believed by the older naturalists to be sanguivorous in its 
 habits, and named accordingly by Geoffroy : but it has been shown 
 by the observations of modern travellers to be mainly frugivorous, 
 and the inhabitants of the countries in which it is found consider it 
 perfectly harmless. 
 
 236
 
 BIRDS. 
 
 In the barrancas, which are watered by large streams , fish are 
 plentiful, and herons, fish-hawks, and ducks haunt the moist, um- 
 brageous water course ; whereas, on the open highlands, turkeys, 
 black-birds, crows, green parrots, and goat-suckers are found, and 
 in the woodlands titmice, wood-peckers, and the brilliant trogon. 
 
 PAISANO, CHAPARRAL COCK. The birds, save the road-runner 
 or Chaparral Cock, Geococcyx Californianus, avoid the desert. This 
 species of pheasant is called ' paisano " by the Mexicans. It is 
 famous for its rapidity of foot, being able to outrun the fleetest 
 hound. Owing to this, it seldom flies, save to cross a canon. In run- 
 ning on the ground it carries its long tail more or less erect, and its 
 wings slightly spread. Its breast is marked like that of the Eng- 
 lish quail ; all its feathers are exquisitely iridescent, while the long 
 tail-feathers are very soft, and marked with peacock and white 
 shadings. Its skin about the eyes is featherless and colored a 
 brilliant blue, shading into orange; its legs are also blue and its 
 beak yellow. It is about sixteen inches long, including the tail, 
 and is shy and silent. It usually goes in pairs, each pair keeping 
 to its own restricted locality. It feeds largely upon beetles, scor- 
 pions, insects, snails, small snakes, and other creeping things. 
 
 TROGON AMBIGUUS. The most beautiful bird of the region is 
 the Trogon ambiguus, or copper-tailed trogon, which is about 
 eleven inches in length. The trogon is one of the characteristic 
 dwellers in the coniferous forests of the mountainous region of 
 northern Mexico, beyond which it extends for a short distance into 
 Arizona. It is a solitary bird, and spends the greater part of the 
 day perched upon a swinging branch in a dark, secluded nook of 
 the forest, in an upright position, with head drawn in as if dozing. 
 From this position it suddenly arouses itself and starts in search 
 of an insect or a berry, of which it is especially fond, berries of 
 various kinds constituting its chief diet. Its hunger satisfied, it 
 resumes a pensive attitude until again stimulated to search for 
 fresh nourishment. Its note is a plaintive call of many syllables. 
 It probably nests in the hollow of trees as do other better-known 
 species of trogons. They all belong to the order of Heterodactyli, 
 and have two toes in front and two behind, as have also the road- 
 
 237
 
 runners. Their plumage is extremely delicate, the tenderness of 
 their skin and the loose attachment of their feathers is extraordi- 
 nary. If a trogon is shot, in falling through the branches it be- 
 comes practically skinned, leaving feathers upon every twig and 
 leaf ; and even when killed with the greatest care, large quantities 
 of the feathers are lost. The trogon's coloring is most brilliant, 
 resembling that of certain species of parroquets. Its beak and legs 
 are yellow ; its head and back a brilliant, iridescent, peacock green. 
 Its wings and under tail-feathers are shaded from white to buff 
 and gray, the latter being speckled with black, while its outer tail 
 feathers are stiff and copper-colored. Its breast is adorned with a 
 soft white ring beneath a bib of metallic green, and below this 
 extend most exquisite rose and flame colors, shading into red. 
 
 BRIDLED TITMOUSE. Another pretty denizen of the pine-lands 
 is the bridled titmouse, Parus ivollweberi. This active little bird 
 is gregarious, and frequents the brush as well as the trees. It is 
 about five inches in length, with a pearl-gray breast shading into 
 white at the throat, while its back, wings, and tail are dark gray. 
 It has snow-white cheeks, and a pretty aigrette of fine black 
 feathers with black markings about the back of the head, cheeks, 
 throat, bill, and eyes, to which it owes its name of " bridled tit- 
 mouse." It is a very sociable little bird, not only travelling in 
 flocks of its own kind, but mixing freely with other varieties of 
 small birds. Like all titmice, it builds its nest in small natural 
 cavities, in deserted woodpeckers' nests, or in holes which it drills 
 in soft decaying wood. 
 
 Its habits are exceedingly active ; it moves swiftly over the 
 trees, scanning each piece of detached bark, or bunch of dead 
 leaves, ever on the alert for the small insects and spiders, which 
 constitute its food. One of its favorite positions is to hang, head 
 downwards, from a ripe pine cone, pecking at the insects attached 
 to the gummy end. Its curiosity is insatiable, and unless dis- 
 turbed, it will not move away from a locality until it has peeped 
 into every crack, crevice, and hole. 
 
 REPTILES AND INSECTS. 
 
 CROTALUS ATROX (RATTLE-SNAKE). Although the Indians 
 fear the bite of a great variety of reptiles, the most dangerous 
 
 238
 
 and the most common is the Crotalus atrox, the large Mexican 
 variety of rattle-snake, which is to be found of a size varying from 
 three to six feet, and of a great age as indicated by the buttons of 
 its rattle. 
 
 HELODERMA HORRIDUM. An insane fear is harbored by the 
 natives with regard to the Heloderma horridum, a kind of lizard of 
 the family Helodermatidor, having besides other anatomical char- 
 acteristics, the head and body covered with rounded scales resem- 
 bling small nail-heads (see Johnson's Encyclopedia). The tongue 
 is fleshy and slightly forked ; the teeth are grooved and connected 
 with the outlets of highly developed salivary glands, but they are 
 in no way poisonous, although so-called braves have been known 
 to swoon on accidentally touching one of them. Its color is black 
 with irregular yellow markings, varying, like those of lizards, 
 according to the surrounding conditions and the time that has 
 elapsed since shedding the epidermis There are two varieties, 
 the Heloderma horridum of our illustration, which is indigenous 
 to Northern Mexico, and the Gila Monstri {Horridum suspectum) 
 from Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Both are sluggish in 
 their movements, and feed to a considerable extent on birds' eggs. 
 They are particularly interesting because they are the only lizards 
 which are supposed to be venomous. Chickens, pigeons, and cats 
 have been bitten by them, however, without any observable con- 
 sequences; while on the other hand, pigeons, frogs, and rabbits, 
 hypodermically injected with the saliva, have died within a few 
 minutes. The poison did not in these cases attack the nerve 
 centres, but affected the action of the heart, producing paralysis. 
 
 TARANTULA MYGALE (SPIDER). Many varieties of spiders 
 are found upon the trees, bushes, and grasses, and are very much 
 feared by the natives. The most interesting and uncommon is the 
 big Tarantula itiygale, a hairy ground-spider with a leg span of 
 five inches or more. It is of a ruddy brown color, and possessed 
 of two enormously developed poison glands, beneath which are 
 situated the powerful fangs by means of which it wounds and 
 poisons small birds, mice, bats, etc. 
 
 It is commonly called the Trap-door Spider, because its nest 
 consists of a hole which it bores in the ground, lines with a soft, 
 gray silky web, and provides with a covering or trap-door com- 
 posed of the same web daubed with mud, fitted exactly to the 
 
 239
 
 orifice and attached on one side by means of a web hinge. This 
 nest is only distinguishable from the surrounding soil when the lid 
 is raised by the insertion of one of the insect's claws. The spider 
 slips into the hole with great rapidity, and drawing down the cover 
 seems to have disappeared by enchantment. 
 
 SCORPIONS. Beneath the stones, and in the crevices of the 
 adobe and other constructions swarm the Hadrurus hirsutus, or 
 scorpions, which are larger than the poisonous variety of Europe, 
 but also less poisonous, the pain and swelling consequent on their 
 bite being less. 
 
 LUPHONUS GlGANTEUS, WHIP-TAIL SCORPION. The Lu- 
 
 photius giganleus is another variety of scorpion which is very much 
 feared by the natives and Mexicans, who call it Vinegarone. It is 
 known to the white man as the whip-tailed scorpion. Mr. Howell 
 declares that it is perfectly innocuous. He has made a pet of it 
 while studying its peculiarities, and says it cannot bite as is com- 
 monly supposed, because its mandibles, which resemble lobster- 
 claws, enclose the true claws which are very small, and the muscles 
 which operate them are too weak to admit of its using force. Its 
 elongated, filamentous tail, which is jointed, has no stinger : its 
 attacks are restricted to its natural prey the cockroach, which it 
 catches and crushes with ease, and it runs away from everything 
 else. It owes its name Vinegarone to the strong acid smell emit- 
 ted through its well-developed odoriferous glands. 
 
 TYPHON. The Philampelus Typhon is a large, beautiful moth, 
 with a wing span of over five inches. It is found in the region of 
 Sonora, Northern and Southern Mexico. Its body is covered with 
 long plush-like hair, of a deep brown color with pale blue and black 
 markings. Its front wings are golden-brown and silver-gray ; the 
 upper portion of the back wings is pink, shading into brown and 
 pale blue, with black markings, and a white fringe on the edge 
 brilliantly iridescent. These moths are allied in form and hue to 
 those found on grapevines in cultivated regions. It is supposed 
 to exist in the larva? and pupa state upon the Virginia Creeper, 
 or some analogous vine, of which there are several varieties in 
 Mexico. 
 
 LYOENA SONORENSIS (BUTTERFLY). The most common 
 butterfly of the region is a beautiful little creature, about an inch 
 
 240
 
 and a half in wing span, known as the Lyc&na Sonorensis, Feld. 
 It is of a brilliant, iridescent sky-blue, shading into turquoise, 
 violet, and pink, through all the tints of the aqua-marine and the 
 fire opal. The body is a smoky brown, dusted with black and 
 white specks, while the wings, which are particularly graceful in 
 shape, are fringed and tipped with bands of black and white, and 
 spotted with black, white, red, and yellow. These insects light in 
 swarms, and as the explorer traverses the blooming mezas flutter 
 up before him like blue snow-flakes. 
 
 BEETLES. In Illustration No. 68 is seen a large and handsome 
 black beetle of silky lustre with long antennas, the Stenaspis soli- 
 taria. Its habits are similar to those of the Callichroma plicatum 
 (Lee.), also known as Stenaspis verticalis, which is also a large 
 and handsome longicorn beetle with brilliant metallic wing cases 
 having the surface minutely wrinkled like crepe. These are col- 
 lected in numbers on the bushes of the mesquite, and probably live 
 in its wood. 
 
 The Erioprosopus splendens is a large golden-green and red 
 beetle also found on the mesquite. 
 
 The Strigidion anulatum is a large golden-brown beetle with 
 black markings on the under part of the body, also found on the 
 mesquite. 
 
 The Oncideres putator (Thorn), is a longicorn beetle about an 
 inch long, and light-brown in color, mottled with dark-brown and 
 cream. It girdles the mesquite twigs, cutting them off in order to 
 kill the wood for the support of its young. 
 
 The Eburia mutica (Lee.). This is a light-gray longicorn beetle 
 boring into the dead wood of the mesquite 
 
 The Ischnocuemis bivittatus (Dup.). This is a longicorn beetle 
 of medium size and striking appearance, with lines of pure white, 
 upon its body contrasting with the dark-brown color. It is most 
 frequently found on the mesquite bushes. 
 
 The Polycaon plicatus (Lee.). This is an elongate cylindrical 
 beetle of black color with purple reflections, three-quarters of an 
 inch in length. It is one of the largest members of the family of 
 Ptinictae. It is parasitic, living upon the grubs of other longicorn 
 beetles, etc. 
 
 The Trogosita virescens (Fab.) is a brilliant, polished, metallic 
 16 241
 
 green and blue beetle. It lives under the loose bark of the mes- 
 quite, and is predatory upon the wood-borer. 
 
 There are several varieties of the Epitragus found upon the 
 mesquite. These are elongate, oval, flattened beetles covered with 
 dark-gray pubescences on a brown, slightly metallic surface. They 
 are the enemies of the scale and other plant-feeding insects. 
 
 The Bruchus prosopis and the Bruchtts uniformis (Lee.), are 
 grayish pea-weevils of small size, feeding upon the seeds and ravag- 
 ing the pods of the mesquite. 
 
 The Chrysobathris octocola is a flattened, oval, buprestid beetle 
 of dark color, with eight bright metallic dots upon its wing-cases. 
 The larvae bore into the wood of the mesquite. 
 
 Many bark lice (Cocidce) attack the mesquite. One of the most 
 striking of these is the Ceroplastes nivea (Cockerell), which covers 
 the branch as with a coating of snow, the separate insects appear- 
 ing like small oval cocoons of velvety white wax. 
 
 The Pasimachus depressus is a large shining black ground- 
 beetle with a big head and powerful jaws, which is found on the 
 ground under the dead leaves of the mesquite bushes. It is an 
 extremely useful destroyer of cut-worms and other insects; but 
 the Mexicans, who call it Citcuroza^ are very much, afraid of it, 
 because they believe that its bite is fatal and very poisonous. It 
 is in reality perfectly harmless, although its strong jaws enable it 
 to pinch quite sharply in self-defence when handled, and is exces- 
 sively timid, never attacking any creatures save the insects which 
 form its food. 
 
 The blossoms of the mesquite attract multitudes of showy in- 
 sects, such as butterflies, moths, wasps, bees, and a variety of flies. 
 These do not feed upon the plant, but enjoy the honey of the 
 blossoms. One of the largest and most striking of the flies is the 
 Volucella Mexicana, of black color, with black, opaque wing-cases, 
 shading into transparent, luminous tips. It makes a loud, hum- 
 ming noise when flying as does the humble bee. 
 
 242
 
 GLOSSARY OF INDIAN AND MEXICAN 
 TERMS. 
 
 Amole ..... Meal made from the seeds of the Yucca 
 baccata, or " Spanish Bayonet.'' 
 
 Cajita ..... A kind of jar made by potters. 
 
 Casita An adobe house. 
 
 Chia The name locally given to the Salvia tilla- 
 
 folia, or lime-leafed sage. 
 
 Chili Coyote . . The Cucurbita palmata, or perennis, a na- 
 tive gourd. 
 
 Datalies .... The Mexican term for the Yucca baccata. 
 
 Ghing-skoot . . A kind of gambling game. See Notes, page 
 214. 
 
 Gorrita .... A basket platter or bowl. 
 
 Hikori .... The sacred cactus. 
 
 Jonta A wattled door. 
 
 Kee A house of grass or leaves. 
 
 Kee-ho .... The largest kind of carrying basket used by 
 the Indians. 
 
 Metates .... A stone pestle. 
 
 Nopal The Indian fig. 
 
 Ollas Jars of pottery used as water-coolers. 
 
 Paisana .... The Chaparral Cock (Geococcyx Calif orni- 
 anus), a kind of pheasant. 
 
 Palo de flecha - The arrow wood or tree of the jumping bean 
 (Sebastiana palmer i}. 
 
 243
 
 Pinole . . .A cake made from the flour of the Yucca 
 
 baccata. 
 Shaman .... A medicine-man or sorcerer. 
 
 Sinpee Decorations on pottery. 
 
 Tah-sun-up . . . The Lanrea Mexicana morea, or creosote 
 wood, a plant having antiseptic qualities. 
 A game described in the Notes, page 212. 
 A liquor made from sprouted maize. 
 A dish prepared from corn meal mixed with 
 shredded meat, and seasoned with red 
 pepper and onions. 
 Thin dry cakes made from maize flour. 
 A kitchen enclosure. 
 
 A Mexican term for the pods of the Mar- 
 tinia atheafolia, called by the Indians 
 ee-hooks. 
 Vinegarone ... A name given to the whiptail scorpion 
 
 {Luphonus giganteus). 
 
 Wa-pe-taikh-gut . A game played with reeds, chirocote beans, 
 and kernels of corn. See Notes, page 213. 
 
 Youta A throw of less than five in the game of 
 
 Ghing-skoot 
 
 Tan-wa .... 
 Tequino, or Teswin 
 Tomales . 
 
 Tortillas . . 
 Uk-sa . . . . 
 Unas-de gatto . 
 
 244
 
 AMPHARITA: AN AMERICAN IDYLL. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR 
 
 THE COUNTESS DI BRAZZA. 
 
 Second Edition. Price, $1.00. 
 Peace Bureau, 37 West Twenty-second Street, New York.
 
 "AMPHARITA: AN AMERICAN IDYLL." 
 
 The Countess di Brazza is well known in this country. Before 
 her marriage with Count di Brazza, the head of one of the oldest 
 families in Italy, she was Miss Cora Slocomb, the last of the 
 prominent Slocomb family, of New Orleans. It will be remem- 
 bered that she came over to the World's Fair at Chicago as the 
 able directress of the wonderful Exhibition of Italian Laces that 
 was under the patronage of Queen Margherita of Italy, and con- 
 tained many priceless heirlooms belonging to the Italian aristoc- 
 racy. She wrote "A Guide to Old and New Lace in Italy," 
 published at that time, and has delivered in this country numerous 
 public addresses on the lives, work and needs of those of the 
 Italian laboring class who are engaged in lace making. The 
 Countess has the sympathy and co-operation of her husband in 
 her views and projects. 
 
 In " Ampharita : An American Idyll," she comes for the first 
 time before the public in a strictly literary capacity, and it must 
 be admitted that she has produced a suggestive and most touching 
 as well as entirely unique story. 
 
 Mrs. Ellen Richardson says, in the Arena, of February, 1897: 
 
 "Ampharita: An American Idyll," by the Countess di Brazza, is a true 
 story told in a most charming way. It gives graphically an easy understand- 
 ing of a phase of human life, primitive and natural, such as can only be found 
 on our continent among certain tribes of our North American Indians. 
 
 The story has for its hero a noted scientist, whose name is not given ; 
 he is called throughout the tale the white "Shaman," or Medicine Man. 
 The heroine is an Indian maiden bearing the name of Ampharita (the silent 
 one). 
 
 It is so rare to find a tale of Indian life which gives the pure, sweet, 
 honor side of the Indian nature that this book of the Countess di Brazza is 
 more than a valuable contribution to our historical or folk-lore libraries ; it 
 is as well a story of healthy sentiment and a grand tribute to these children 
 of nature. 
 
 The scene of the story is laid in Arizona and among the Sierra Madre 
 mountains in northwestern Mexico. The Pima Baia tribes of whom the 
 story treats belong to the best agricultural tribes of all the North American 
 Indians; they are noted for their peaceable, industrious, hospitable ways. 
 They are of" a religious nature, and easily convertible to Christianity. 
 Their own beliefs would make a valuable contribution to the study of 
 comparative religions as carried on in the Monsalvat School at Greenacre, 
 Eliot, Maine. 
 
 " The Scientist," who is the hero of the story, was on an exploring 
 expedition into the southern portion of what we call the Great American 
 Desert, not only- to study the "topography of the country, the language, 
 customs, and physiognomy of its human inhabitants, its meteorology and 
 
 feology ; but also to collect and classify, as far as possible, specimens of its 
 ora and of the animals, reptiles, and insects of the highlands of the Sierra 
 Madre, which are even less known to science than the scattered aborigines 
 of the same desolate region. 1 "
 
 There are descriptions of the adobe, mesquite, and cactus wood houses, 
 of the plants, flowers, insects, and reptiles of that region, all of which are 
 made more interesting: by the illustrations drawn by the Countess, who 
 seems to be as facile with her pencil as with her pen. 
 
 Ampharita was one of the children of the Pima Bajas who ran hither 
 and thither collecting specimens for the "Shaman." She was a keen observer 
 and lover of nature, and her knowledge was quite as accurate as her 
 master's. "Whether as guide leading him on arduous expeditions up the 
 mountain side, or when seeking for unknown growths on the mezas or in the 
 barrancas, he found her never at fault." 
 
 Nature had taught Ampharita the quality of her creatures, and she in 
 turn taught much to the Scientist. As time went on he grew fond of his 
 silent companion, and beguiled many a homesick hour while resting from 
 his arduous studies, by describing to her his own home, and life in the cities 
 of the civilized world. He told her about the schools and the amusements of 
 the educated people, of music as it is known to the cultured ; he described 
 our museums, hospitals, and churches. Of the hospitals she would ask over 
 and over again, "trying to grasp the stupendous suggestion contained in 
 such an assertion as : We have especial homes for poor children who have 
 lost their parents. Many of them wider and higher than this barranca, and 
 filled with more babies than there are men and women and children in your 
 whole tribe. 1 " The description of "the churches, though grand, left 5 her 
 somewhat cold, for she did not like the idea of a roof, the emblazoned 
 walls and stained glass windows, which she said must shut out the breath of 
 God." 
 
 However, " the more Ampharita heard about the world as white women 
 know it, the more her wonder grew, and at last gave birth to an intense 
 yearning actually to behold some of the marvels with which she had become 
 familiar by hearsay." 
 
 The master and assistant teach many lessons to each other, equally valu- 
 able to the reader of the book, who may well ask as she lays the book down, 
 Is it better to be civilized or uncivilized? 
 
 We find ourselves drawn into the soliloquy of the Scientist, when he asks, 
 " What is civilized learning ? What is our philosophy ? They are the 
 servants of the love of the world. Our existence is an unknown mystery, 
 insolvable by science. ' Thou hast hidden these things from the knowing 
 and prudent, and revealed them unto babes.' Our many books crush the 
 spirit. Eyes grow dull that see only printed words. Incessant analysis of 
 matter atrophies the soul. Death is the most wonderful of all the changes 
 in Evolution. Science stops at the grave as if the circle of life were com- 
 pleted, as if the component parts were dispersed and reabsorbed, as if a 
 man's entity were gone." 
 
 The pleasing and skillful management of light and shade through out the 
 book, in the contrast of the kind of knowledge possessed by the hero and 
 the heroine, and the test that is put to truth in their episode of sentiment, 
 lead the reader to ask if the greater study, "Man, know thyself," is not the 
 neglected science, which has turned our conditions topsy-turvy. " So many 
 delving in Science know only the prejudices of the world, taking in one- 
 sided views of events and human intercourse ; what they call self-develop- 
 ment is supreme selfishness. Things that are eternal do not figure in the 
 calculations of such. Truth walks with us here, but we know it not. Are 
 human sacrifices needful to wake the intellect and catch the vibrations of 
 one's own soul?" 
 
 "An American Idyll" is a healthy book, calculated to inform and 
 better the world. It is not only most entertainingly written, but it is 
 truth, conveying simple and strong lessons of a life in a style to be easily 
 assimilated. . 
 
 From the Anthropological Society, Washington, D. C. : 
 
 I have just finished your book, " An American Idyll," and I wish to say 
 it is charming, not only because it is well written and. is a pretty story, but 
 because an added charm lies in its construction. 
 
 The scientific facts are woven into the thread of the story with such skill 
 that, instead of the usual trite, prosy descriptions of such material found in 
 similar publications, each plant, animal, piece of pottery, custom, religious 
 ceremony, and myth, forms a part of the chain, so that the dropping out of 
 a single one would destroy the continuity of the whole. This is something
 
 that no other woman has attempted, not even pretending to thorough 
 scientific training. 
 
 Your descriptions and illustrations are accurate and admirable, as I 
 know from personal familiarity with the objects, when you copied them 
 from the specimens here. 
 
 The appendix is very good. On the whole, I congratulate you upon the 
 book. You should have a good and quick sale of the editions ; it will be one 
 of the books of the day, and a money-maker for your publisher. 
 
 Sincerely yours, J. H. McCORMlCK, M.D., 
 
 Secretary of the Anthropological 
 Society ; Ass't-Secretary of the 
 American Folk-Lore Society ; 
 Ass't-Secretary of the American 
 Antiquary, etc. 
 
 From the Scientific American, February 20, 1897: 
 
 The accomplished author, who so gracefully bears the title and does 
 honor to the station of a Countess, has in this little prose poem interwoven a 
 fabric of sentiment with varicolored threads of science. The hero is a 
 scientist visiting northern Mexico in the pursuit of studies anthropological, 
 zoological, geological, etc., and his assistant, the heroine, is a young Indian 
 maiden. As together they try to collect data which may be of assistance in 
 solving some of nature's mysteries, their mutual interest in each other 
 becomes of far greater moment to both of them than the work itself. It is 
 the old, old, but ever new story, narrated with a felicity of expression, an 
 amplitude of illustration, and a psychological insight into character, similar 
 perhaps, though in such a widely different field, to that shown by Corinne 
 in her conversations with Nevil, in the great work of Madame de Stael. 
 The book also presents, in text and illustrations, a good deal of new and 
 valuable information about the Pima Indians of Northern Mexico. 
 
 The Portland (Ore.) Oregonian, of February 14, 1897, does 
 not agree with the widely diffused and esteemed Scientific 
 American, however, for it says: 
 
 In "An American Idyll," Countess di Brazzahas woven an Elaine and 
 Launcelot romance from the love of a young Pima Indian girl for an 
 exploring white man who lived with her father's tribe in Arizona, collect- 
 ing specimens for scientific use. Something of the habits and thought of the 
 Pimas is worked into the story, but it is all done in a schoolgirl fashion that 
 creates no more impression of reality than do the crude illustrations of 
 native tools, huts and flowers that are scattered at random through the story. 
 
 The New Orleans (La.) Times-Democrat, March 7, 1897, 
 however, does not agree with the Oregonian. It says: 
 
 The Pima Bajas inhabit the elevated table lands which slope gradually 
 from the Sierre Madre to the arid regions between El Paso and the more 
 fertile neighborhood of the capital of Chihuahua. Here they dwelt when 
 the Spanish explorers first passed through that region on their way to the 
 Pacific coast, and here they have remained ever since, a hospitable, peace 
 loving people, famed for their culture, virtue, civility and docile acceptance 
 of the teachings of the missionary friars. It is "among them that the 
 Countess di Brazza has laid the scene of her little romance, the story of the 
 love and devotion of one of the untutored maidens of the tribe for a scientist 
 who sojourned for a time at the pueblo. The little story, which the author 
 professes to have had from the lips of the Scientist himself, is told with 
 sympathetic tenderness and much poetic grace. 
 
 From Portland (Me.) Express, March 2, 1897: . 
 
 The author of this pathetic story was formerly Miss Cora Slocomb, of 
 New Orleans, and she is also well known as the directress of the exhibition 
 of Italian laces at the Chicago Exposition. She is also the author of the 
 book "A Guide to Old and New Lace in Italy." In an "American Idyll"
 
 she comes before the public for the first time in a strictly literary 
 capacity. She tells the touching story of a scientist and an Indian girl 
 of the Baja tribe of the Pima Indians in Northern Mexico. It is a touching 
 and pathetic story, and the contrast between the civilized European and the 
 uncivilized Indian girl is strongly presented, and there is nothing objection- 
 able in the story, both the hero and the heroine being actuated by the purest 
 motives. The book is fully illustrated by drawings from the photographs 
 and actual specimens from the region described, and contains much infor- 
 mation about a little-known territory and people. 
 
 From the San Francisco (Cal.) Call, February 21, 1897: 
 
 " An American Idyll" is her first purely literary work. It relates to a 
 young scientist who goes out among the Indians of Northern Mexico to 
 study them and the fauna and flora of their habitat. The heroine of the 
 story is an Indian girl, Ampharita, who assists him in his zoological and 
 botanical studies. 
 
 From the Brooklyn Standard Union, February 27, 1897: 
 
 " An American Idyll," by the Countess di Brazza (Cora Slocomb). is 
 a mixture of science and romance, botany, love and agriculture, and a 
 very interesting story it is. The book is nicely illustrated. 
 
 From the Baltimore (Md.) Sun, February 25, 1897: 
 
 Indian customs and traditions, strung upon a thread of story, is the 
 substance of " An American Idyll." Bv the Countess di Brazza (Cora 
 Slocomb.) The interest centres in an Indian girl. There are explanatory 
 notes on the Indian terms employed in the book. 
 
 From the Burlington (Iowa) Hawk Eye, February 19, 1897: 
 
 " An American Idyll," a story by the Countess di Brazza, is one of the 
 most touching and in a sense the most unique story of the day. Its hero, a 
 young European of wealth, is known only as "the scientist." In his scientific 
 thirst for new worlds to conquer he visits the chief settlement of the Baja 
 tribe of Pima Indians in Northern Mexico. Here takes place the tragedy 
 brought about by the love of " Ampharita" (the silent one), the lovely, inno- 
 cent Pima maiden, for the scientist. 
 
 From the Tacoma (Wash.) Daily News, February 19, 1897: 
 
 " An American Idyll," by Countess de Brazza. This is an unique story of 
 the adventures of a young European scientist among the almost unknown 
 Baja tribe of Pima Indians in Mexico, where he meets the heroine, a young 
 Piman maiden, who becomes his guide and assistant in specimen gathering 
 expeditions as well as his servant in every day life. The scientist tells her 
 of life among his people in Europe, and she wants to accompany him there. 
 A peculiar state of feeling grows up between the two, and the height of 
 civilization and the depth of savagery meet in a manner peculiar to no other 
 book. The outcome is hardly creditable to civilization, but there is nothing 
 risqu in the story, the author believing that " purity is more typical of the 
 human race than impurity." The valuable and rare information concerning 
 the Pimas and their country is entirely authentic, and the book contains 
 seventy-five illustrations, all drawn from original specimens and photo- 
 graphs of the people, plant life and scenes in this scarcely known part of the 
 American continent. 
 
 From the Denver Republican, February 15, 1897: 
 
 " An American Idyll," by the Countess di Brazza (Cora Slocomb) 
 The scene of this story is laid in Arizona and among the Sierra Mad re 
 mountains in Northwestern Mexico. The Indian tribes, whose habitations, 
 customs, and characters are pictured, are the Pima Bajas, who are among 
 the most peaceful, industrious, and hospitable Indian tribes in America. 
 The book tells a great deal about the " Great American Desert," its topo- 
 graphy, the language, customs, and physiognomy of its inhabitants, its 
 meteorology, geology, animals, reptiles, etc. And through the work on the 
 natural history of this region the author carries a little story of sentiment.
 
 From the New York Times, April 3, 1897 : 
 
 The Countess di Brazza has a winning way in clothing a scientist in 
 fairly bright colors as the hero of "An American Idyll." The archaeological 
 romance has been attempted before, and it has failed because it was too 
 archaeological. In the pretty story of " Ampharita." we have mixed in fair 
 
 Eroportions the ways and habits of the Indians in Northern Mexico, their 
 Dlk-lore, and a sympathetic episode of love. The story is a clever and 
 touching one, and artistically wrought out. 
 
 From the Portland (Ore.) Evening Express, March 2, 1897 : 
 
 "An American Idyll," by the Countess di Brazza . In "An American Idyll '' 
 she comes before the public for the first time in a strictly literary 
 capacity. She tells the touching story of a scientist and an Indian girl of 
 the Baja tribe of the Pima Indians in Northern Mexico. It is a touching and 
 pathetic sfory, and the contrast between the civilized European and the 
 uncivilized Indian girl is strongly presented. The book is fully illustrated 
 by drawings from the photographs and actual specimens from, the regions 
 described, and contains much information about a little known territory and 
 people. 
 
 From the Portland (Me.) Transcript, February 17, 1897 : 
 
 'An American Idyll " is the title chosen by the Countess di Brazza for 
 her first distinctly literary production. Its hero, a voung European, devoted 
 to science, visits the Pima Indians, where he finds Ampharita, the fairest 
 daughter of the tribe, who becomes his attendant, servant, guide and friend. 
 The best of the book lies in the careful descriptions of the Indian life and 
 civilization and their country. There are many illustrations. 
 
 From the Westerly (Conn.) Daily Sun, January n, 1897, and 
 the Norwich (Conn.) Bulletin, January 9, 1897: 
 
 Friends of Countess Cora Slocomb di Brazzi, daughter of Mrs. Cuthbert 
 Harrison tjlocomb of Ciroton, have been aware for some time that she \yas 
 making a careful study of Indian life in America with a view to obtaining 
 local color for an historical novel. This study has culminated in an "Ameri- 
 can Idyll," advance copies of which have been issued this week. The 
 scenes of the story are laid in the country of the Pima Indians in Southern 
 Arizona, the picturesque background furnishing an effective setting for the 
 charming love tale with which the historical facts are interwoven. In cotn- 
 panv with her husband the Count, who is deeply interested in scientific 
 study, i Countess di Brazza- has travelled extensively in obtaining material 
 for this work, which is illustrated by her own drawings, and both hurried 
 back to America from the recent wedding of the Prince of Naples in order 
 to supervise the finishing touches of the book, which is beautifully bound. 
 
 Explanatory notes bearing upon the Pimas and their homes and lives, 
 and a glossary of Indian and Mexican terms, add to the practical value of the 
 book for the general reader. The heroine is a charming child, ingenuous 
 and engaging. In her introduction the titled author vouches for the love 
 tale as true, and the narration of a well known scientist whose name is 
 illustrious throughout the civilized world. 
 
 From the Kansas City (Mo.) Times, February 8, 1897 : 
 
 "An American Idyll," by the Countess di Brazza (Cora Slocomb). The 
 Countess di Brazza is well known in this country. In the present volume 
 she comes for the first time before the public in a purely literary capacity. 
 
 The hero of the story, a handsome and wealthy young scientist, pays a 
 visit to the chief settlement of the Baja tribe of Pima Indians in Northern 
 Mexico, about whom next to nothing has ever been known by the outside 
 world. The book contains much valuable and rare information concerning 
 the Pimas and their country.
 
 From the Elmira (N. Y.) Telegram, February 7, 1897, and 
 the Philadelphia (Pa.) Evening Item, February 8, 1897: 
 
 In "An American Idyll " the Countess di Brazza conies for the first time 
 before the American public in a more strictly literary capacity. 
 
 It must be admitted that she has produced a suggestive and a most touch- 
 ing, as well as in one sense an entirely unique, story. Its hero, who is 
 known throughout simply as " the Scientist," is a handsome young European 
 of wealth and position, devoted to scientific pursuits. 
 
 In his scientific thirst for new worlds to conquer, he pays a long visit, 
 with a view to making an anthropological, meteorological, topographical, 
 :geological, zoological, and botanical study of them and their habitats to the 
 chief settlement of the Baja tribe of Pima Indians in Northern Mexico, 
 about whom next to nothing has ever been known by the outside world. 
 
 Here the heroine, a young Piman maiden, Ampharita ("The Silent One") 
 by name, the most intelligent and skillful person for his purposes to be found 
 in the village, becomes his guide, attendant and assistant on specimen^ 
 gathering expeditions, and his aid in preserving and arranging the booty, 
 as well as his servant in every-day life. 
 
 It may be said right here that Ampharita is the real charm of the book. 
 She hits us hard with a fascination that may neither be resisted at the time 
 nor afterwards forgotten. 
 
 Just budding into womanhood, promising rare beauty, possessing abso- 
 lutely nothing in the way of education as civilization understands the term, 
 with her distorted visions of the European life the Scientist has tried 
 to describe to her, and no experience of the world, but with her native 
 eloquence (once her heart has unloosed her tongue), a keen mind that has 
 silently mastered, assimilated and reasoned upon the pabulum Nature and 
 her daily life have spread before her, with phemomenal observation, dis- 
 cernment, memory, all her intuitions unspoilt, as Natiire gives them, and the 
 woman's heart that knows no clime, condition nor color here was a chance 
 for a creation indeed, and the chance has been grasped to the full ! 
 
 For the state of feeling and the story that grew up between these two, 
 and the lesson that story contains, the reader can only in justice be referred 
 to the book itself. 
 
 Civilization and Savagery meet in two choice representatives, and the 
 credit does not exactly lie with Civilization in the sequel. It may be stated 
 that there is nothing risque in the story ; the author holds that "purity is 
 more typical of the human race than impurity," and is a firm believer in 
 "healthy literature. 
 
 From the Indianapolis (Ind.) Sentinel, February 24, 1897: 
 
 "An American Idyll" is an illustrated story by the Countess di Brazza, for- 
 merly Miss Cora Slocomb, of New Orleans. The hero here is "the Scientist," 
 a handsome young man of wealth and position, devoted to scientific 
 pursuits. He visits the Baja tribe of Pima Indians in Northern Mexico, 
 Here is found the heroine, a young Pima maiden. Being the most 
 intelligent and skillful person in the yillage, she becomes the scientist's 
 
 fuide, attendant and assistant on specimen gathering expeditions. This 
 eroine is the interesting study of the book. We are also interested in 
 this meeting of two choice representatives of civilization and savagery. 
 The valuable and rare information concerning the Pimas and their country 
 is entirely authentic. Quite a lengthy appendix is given, furnishing full 
 information about the Pima Indians, and there is also a glossary. 
 
 From the Portsmouth (N. H.) Daily Chronicle, Feb. i, 1897: 
 
 In " An American Idyll " the Countess di Brazza comes for the first 
 time before the American public in a literary capacity. It must be admitted 
 that she has produced a suggestive and a most touching, as well as in one 
 sense an entirely unique, story. It may be stated that there is nothing risque 
 in the story ; -the author holds that "purity is more typical of the human 
 race than impurity," and is a firm believer in healthy literature. The valu- 
 able and rare information concerning the Pimas and their country is entirely 
 authentic. The numerous illustrations, both full page and in the text, were 
 drawn from original specimens and photographs recently collected in 
 Mexico by an expedition under the auspices of the United States Bureau of 
 Ethnology.
 
 Published simultaneously with the second edition of"Ampharita.'" 
 
 A LITERARY FARCE. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 COUNTESS Dl BRAZZA. 
 
 Edition de Luxe, 50 Cents. 
 
 A Social, Up-to-date Comedy in Three Scenes. 
 
 DEAR MADAM : I have read with a great deal of interest and pleasure 
 your little work for the stage. ... It would, I think, interest and enter- 
 tain an audience on some special occasion. 
 
 Very truly, 
 
 AUGUSTIN DALY. 
 
 DEAR COUNTESS : . . . While writing may I be very frank in offering 
 my criticism of your work ? Its positive excellence makes me regret what 
 1 regard as a defect ; the habit of labeling character Lady Modish, Lord 
 Scapegrace and the like is obsolete. It is an artificial note, and your nimble 
 fancy is natural and full of grace, and your quick wit merits better treat- 
 ment at your hands. 
 
 . . . The names Mr. Social Success and Prof. Blue-Pencil Lynx might 
 have caused me to drop the book, and in so doing I should have done the 
 writer grievous injustice, and deprived myself of a real pleasure, too. 
 
 Please pardon this quite uncalled for expression of opinion ; it is simply 
 the sincere criticism of a very humble writer to a fellow-craftsman, and is 
 offered from a sheer love of good art as such, and interest in the success of 
 your own good gifts. It may be that 1 am alone in my feeling. The 
 comments I hear about it are of praise, and it may be that even if it 
 commended itself to you to change the names, your publishers would resent 
 it ; and in any case I may be all wrong. But my conviction is such that I 
 should not be honest to you if I withheld it. 
 
 Thanking you for a delightful experience, 
 
 Sincerely, 
 
 MARGUERITA MERRINGTON. 
 
 From the Editorial department of the Century Magazine, 
 New York City: 
 
 MY DEAR COUNTESS DI BRAZZA : I comply at once to your request by 
 sending the play herewith. I have not read it. I am glad to find an author 
 in such demand, and congratulate you. It is an experience the Century 
 does not often have, to return MSS. before decision. . . . 
 
 With kindest wishes for your success, 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 R. M. JOHNSON, Associate Editor.
 
 A 000118272 A