Page:B M Bower - Heritage of the Sioux.djvu/185

THE WILD-GOOSE CHASE over with adobe, with a hole in the center of the lid-like roof to let the smoke out and a little light in; and dogs, that ran out and harked and yelped and trailed into mourning rumbles and then harked again; and half-naked papooses that scurried like rabbits for shelter when they rode up; and two dingy, shapeless squaws that disappeared within a hogan and peered out at one side of the blanket door.

Luck started to dismount and make some attempt at a polite request for water, and for information as well, but Applehead objected and finally had his way.

If the squaws could speak English, he argued, they would lie unless they refused to talk at all. As to the water, if there was any around the place the bunch could find it and help themselves. "These yer Navvies ain't yore Buffalo-Bill Sioux," he pointed out to Luck. "Yuh can't treat 'em the same. The best we kin look fer is to be left alone—an' I'm tellin' ye straight."

Luck gave the squalid huts a long stare and turned away toward the corral and a low shed that served as a stable. A rusty old mower and a 173