Page:On the border with Crook - Bourke - 1892.djvu/484

 Agency eleven hundred and twenty-eight males capable of bearing arms; this did not include the bands at or near Camp Apache or the Chiricahuas. The Apaches manifested the liveliest interest in the system of trial by jury, and it was apparent that criminals stood but a small chance of escaping punishment when arraigned before their own people. While we were at San Carlos on this occasion Captain Crawford had arrested two Apaches on the charge of making "tizwin," getting drunk, and arousing camp by firing off guns late at night. The jury was impanelled, the trial began, and the room soon filled with spectators. The prisoners attempted to prove an "alibi," and introduced witnesses to swear to the shooting having been done by other parties.

"Eskiminzin" impatiently arose to his feet and interrupted the proceedings: "That man is not telling the truth."

"Tell 'Eskiminzin' to sit down and keep quiet," ordered Captain Crawford; "he must not interrupt the proceedings of the court."

A few moments after, in looking down the long list of witnesses, it was discovered that "Eskiminzin" was present as a witness, and he was called upon to testify.

"Tell the Captain," said the indignant chief, "that I have nothing to say. I do not understand these white men; they let all kinds of people talk at a trial, and would just as soon listen to the words of a liar as those of a man telling the truth. Why, when I began to tell him that So-and-so was lying, he made me sit down and keep my mouth shut, but So-and-so went on talking, and every word he said was put down on paper."

It took some time to explain to "Eskiminzin" the intricacies of our laws of evidence, and to pacify him enough to induce him to give his version of the facts.

Our quarters while at San Carlos were the adobe building erected as a "school-house," at a cost to the Government of forty thousand dollars, but occupied by the late agent as a residence. It had been erected at a net cost of something between eight and nine thousand dollars, or at least I would contract to duplicate it for that and expect to make some money in the transaction besides. The walls were covered over with charcoal scrawls of Apache gods, drawn by irreverent youngsters, and the appearance of the place did not in the remotest sense suggest the habitation of the Muses.