Tawannears shook his head.
"That is too many. We do not require enough arrows to pay for them. You would have to empty every quiver."
"You can trade us so many or we will come and take them," threatened the chief.
Tawannears started to knee his horse around to return across the river.
"Wait!" called the Tonkawa. "We will give other weapons."
This was more than Tawannears really had expected—as he later admitted—to maneuver the other side into enlarging the scope of the trade. He went through the form of a consultation with me, and then asked:
"The Tonkawa make fine weapons. That is said everywhere. What will you give for twenty horses?"
"Six quivers of arrows, two bows and a leather cuirass for yourself."
"It is not enough." Tawannears rejected the offer decidedly. "With six quivers you must give six bows—and we will take four cuirasses and ten knives and hatchets."
The Tonkawa scowled furiously.