Page:On the border with Crook - Bourke - 1892.djvu/514

 fifty years. You are making a great fuss about seeing 'Ka-e-ten-na'; over a year ago, I asked you if you wanted me to bring 'Ka-e-ten-na' back, but you said 'no.' It's a good thing for you, 'Geronimo,' that we didn't bring 'Ka-e-ten-na' back, because 'Ka-e-ten-na' has more sense now than all the rest of the Chiricahuas put together. You told me the same sort of a story in the Sierra Madre, but you lied. What evidence have I of your sincerity? How do I know whether or not you are lying to me? Have I ever lied to you? I have said all I have to say; you had better think it over to-night and let me know in the morning."

During this conference "Geronimo" appeared nervous and agitated; perspiration, in great beads, rolled down his temples and over his hands; and he clutched from time to time at a buckskin thong which he held tightly in one hand. Mr. Fly, the photographer, saw his opportunity, and improved it fully: he took "shots" at "Geronimo" and the rest of the group, and with a "nerve" that would have reflected undying glory on a Chicago drummer, coolly asked "Geronimo" and the warriors with him to change positions, and turn their heads or faces, to improve the negative. None of them seemed to mind him in the least except "Chihuahua," who kept dodging behind a tree, but was at last caught by the dropping of the slide. Twenty-four warriors listened to the conference or loitered within ear-shot; they were loaded down with metallic ammunition, some of it reloading and some not. Every man and boy in the band wore two cartridge-belts. The youngsters had on brand-new shirts, such as are made and sold in Mexico, of German cotton, and nearly all—young or old—wore new parti-colored blankets, of same manufacture, showing that since the destruction of the village by Crawford, in January, they had refitted themselves either by plunder or purchase.

Mr. Strauss, Mr. Carlisle, "José Maria," and I were awakened at an early hour in the morning (March 26, 1886), and walked over to the rancheria of the Chiricahuas. "Geronimo" was already up and engaged in an earnest conversation with "Ka-e-ten-na" and nearly all his warriors. We moved from one "jacal" to another, all being constructed alike of the stalks of the Spanish bayonet and mescal and amole, covered with shreds of blanket, canvas, and other textiles. The "daggers" of the Spanish bayonet and mescal were arranged around each "jacal" to form