In fact, these Indians prefer silver to gold for purposes of
personal adornment. The blanket which this Indian wore around his
waist was worth at least two hundred dollars; never have I seen its
equal in beauty of pattern and texture.
The chief dismounted and withdrew with Don Juan behind a wagon for a
talk, as I presumed. They reappeared soon, and the chief mounted his
steed and cavorted around our camp as one possessed. Furiously
lashing his horse, he scattered our cooking utensils and acted in a
most provoking manner generally. I noticed then that the noble chief
was intoxicated, and when I questioned Don Juan sharply, he admitted
that he had given the Indian some whiskey, and on the day before as
well. I warned the Don to have no further dealings with these Indians
and advised him to break camp at once in order to avoid trouble. I
informed him also that he had committed a serious crime by selling
liquor to Indians and that he was liable to be arrested at any time
should a patrol from the fort happen our way. As the Mexican was
frightened now, we took to the road in a hurry and traveled until a
late hour that night. In fact, we did not stop until the cattle were
exhausted.
Hardly had we prepared our camp and were sitting around our fire,
when a horde of Indians appeared, clamoring for whiskey.
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