Page:Life among the Apaches.djvu/75

 want him punished here, at the Copper Mines, where the band of the dead brave may see him put to death—where all the Apaches may see him put to death. (Here Ponce made the sign of suspending by the neck.) Then the Apaches will see and know that their American brothers do justice to them."

Commissioner.—"I will propose another plan to the Apaches. It is to keep the murderer in chains, as you now see him; to make him work, and give all he earns to the wife and family of your dead brave. This I will see paid in blankets, in cotton cloth, in corn, in money, or anything else the family may like. I will give them all that is now due to the man, and at the end of every month I will give them twenty dollars in goods or in money. When the cold season comes, these women and children will come in and receive their blankets and cloth to keep them warm, and corn to satisfy their hunger."

Ponce.—"You speak well. Your promises are good. But money will not satisfy an Apache for the blood of a brave! Thousands will not drown the grief of this poor woman for the loss of her son. Would money satisfy an American for the murder of his people? Would money pay you, Señor Commissioner, for the loss of your child? No; money will not bury your grief. It will not bury ours. The mother of the dead brave demands the life of his murderer. Nothing else will satisfy her. She wants no money. She wants no goods. She wants no corn. Would money satisfy me (striking his breast) for the death of my son? No! I would demand the blood of the murderer. Then I would be satisfied. Then I would be willing to die myself. I would not wish to live and feel the grief which the loss of my son would cause me."

Reply.—"Your words are good. You speak with the