"My white brothers are welcome," he said courteously. "There is room by the fire for them," and he motioned to them to sit down by his side. A pipe, composed of a long flat wooden stem studded with brass nails, with a bowl cut out of red pipe-stone, was now handed round, each taking a short puff.
"Does my brother speak the language of the Navahoes?" the chief asked in that tongue.
"I can get along with it," Jerry said, "as I can with most of your Indian dialects."
"It is good," the chief said. "My brother is wise; he must have wandered much."
"I have been a goodish bit among your hills, chief. Have you come from far?"
"The moon was full when we left our village."
"Ah, then you have been a fortnight on the road. Well, chief, I have come here to trade. I want to buy a couple of ponies."
The chief said a word or two to a boy standing near, and he with four or five others at once started up the valley, and in a few minutes returned with a drove of Indian ponies.
"They are not a bad lot," Jerry said to Tom.
"They don't look much, Jerry."