"Is that a regret you are giving vent to, Chief?" he asked him. "If so, it seems to me very unsuitable from your lips, since it was you who sold me the territory I occupy."
"That is true," the Indian said with a shake of his head. "Monkey-face has no right to complain, for it was he who sold to the Palefaces of the West the ground where his fathers repose, and where he and his brothers so often hunted the elk and the jaguar."
"Hum, Chief, I find you very sad to-day; what is the matter with you? Did you, on waking this morning find yourself lying on your left side?" he said, alluding to one of the most accredited superstitions among the Indians.
"No," he continued, "the sleep of Monkey-face was exempt from evil omens, nothing arrived to alter the calmness of his mind."
"I congratulate you, Chief."
"My father will give tobacco to his son, in order that he may smoke the calumet of friendship on his return."
"Perhaps so, but first I have a question to ask of you."
"My father can speak, his son's ears are open."
"It is now a long time, Chief," the Captain continued, "since we have been established here."
"Yes, the fourth moon is beginning."