Sabotage -- Fiction; Science fiction; Space stations -- Fiction
"It's addressed to me," said the Chief with sudden clumsiness, "in the
World-by-itself Canoe. That's the Platform here. And it says--I'll have
to translate, because it's in Mohawk." He took a deep breath. "It says,
'We your tribesmen have heard of your journeyings off the Earth where
men have never traveled before. This has given us great pride, that one
of our tribe and kin had ventured so valiantly.'" The Chief grinned
abashedly. He went on. "'In full assembly, the elders of the tribe have
held counsel on a way to express their pride in you, and in the friends
you have made who accompanied you. It was proposed that you be given a
new name to be borne by your sons after you. It was proposed that the
tribe accept from each of its members a gift to be given you in the name
of the tribe. But these were not considered great enough. Therefore the
tribe, in full council, has decreed that your name shall be named at
every tribal council of the Mohawks from this day to the end of time, as
one the young braves would do well to copy in all ways. And the names of
your friends Joe Kenmore, Mike Scandia, and Thomas Haney shall also be
named as friends whose like all young braves should strive to seek out
and to be.'"
The Chief sweated a little, but he looked enormously proud. Joe went
over to him and shook hands warmly. The Chief almost broke his fingers.
It was, of course, as high an honor as could be paid to anybody by the
people who paid it.
Haney said awkwardly, "Lucky they don't know me like you do, Chief. But
it's swell!"
Which it was. But Mike hadn't said a word. The Chief said exuberantly:
"Did you hear that, Mike? Every Mohawk for ten thousand years is gonna
be told that you were a swell guy! Crazy, huh?"
Mike said in an odd voice: "Yeah. I didn't mean that, Chief. It's fine!
But I--I got a letter. I--never thought to get a letter like this."
He looked unbelievingly at the paper in his hands.
"Mash note?" asked the Chief. His tone was a little bit harsh. Mike was
a midget. And there were women who were fools. It would be unbearable if
some half-witted female had written Mike the sort of gushing letter
that some half-witted females might write.
Mike shook his head, with an odd, quick smile.
"Not what you think, Chief. But it is from a girl. She sent me her
picture. It's a--swell letter. I'm--going to answer it. You can look at
her picture. She looks kind of--nice."
He handed the Chief a snapshot. The Chief's face changed. Haney looked
over his shoulder. He passed the picture to Joe and said ferociously:
"You Mike! You doggoned Don Juan! The Chief and me have got to warn her
what kinda guy you are! Stealing from blind men! Fighting cops----"
Joe looked at the picture. It was a very sweet small face, and the eyes
that looked out of the photograph were very honest and yearning. And Joe
understood. He grinned at Mike. Because this girl had the distinctive
look that Mike had. She was a midget, too.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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