A curious young squaw, from the opened slit of her _tepee_, watched the
approach of the party with their bedevilled machine. Her position was
excellent; but no sooner had the operator arranged his camera for a snap
shot at this picturesque subject, than, with a scared yell, the woman
bounded out of range, closing behind her the aperture--her front door.
The result was merely an uninteresting view of an Indian _tepee_, which
is like nothing more than a mammoth ant-hill, minus the symmetry and
nice perpendicular of that more intelligently fashioned structure.
Two incorrigible squaws in "durance vile" for making _tiswin_, as they
sullenly served their sentence of hard labor at the reservation
woodpile, looked defiantly up from their task of chopping fuel, and
scowled viciously at the witch machine and its abettors.
They, however, succeeded in getting a fairly good picture of these
hideous-faced beings, as "withered and wild" as the uncanny sisters who
brewed "hell broth" before the appalled Macbeth, beneath the midnight
moon, on Hampton Heath.
A mild-eyed Indian woman, whose peaceful occupation was to scrub the
reservation floors, kindly submitted to the bother of being put into a
picture, along with the insignia of her office,--a scrubbing-pail.
Not so "Hot Stuff," a highly picturesque squaw, claiming the proud
distinction due to the "oldest inhabitant." This "contrairy" female,
impervious to moral suasion, was finally induced to pose before the
terrible "witch-thing" by the threat of having her rations withheld
until her consent to be "taken" was obtained. Scared and reluctant, she
was at last photographed; but required Lieutenant Stottler to protect
her with his arm through the perils of this unfamiliar ordeal. This he
good-naturedly did, and is immortalized along with this aged squaw.
After an interesting visit of two nights and a day at the reservation,
the Koshare turned their faces towards Mesilla Valley, where, after two
uneventful days, they arrived in safety, full of the novelties
encountered, charmed with the courteous and gentlemanly agent, but
wearied with the long ride, and heartily glad to return to white
civilization.
CHAPTER XIV
It was at the close of the week succeeding that of the little journey
across the mountains that the Koshare held their last Saturday evening
session. To punctuate the finality of this gathering, a variation from
the usual programme was proposed by the Antiquary. Members of the Club
were requested to supplement his brief paper by giving such written or
verbal statements, along the same line as their own research might
enable them to make. To this proposal many of the Koshare had agreed,
and had come well primed for lively discussion.
The attendance was unusually full, nearly all the boarders, in addition
to the regular Club members, being in attendance.
The Antiquary led with the following interesting paper, which, as he
explained, was, in a way, supplementary to those on the Aztecs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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