"Yes, yes," I answered in Indian, "I know all that; but I know too that you Hiaquis are clever horse dealers, and are perfectly up to the trick of dressing a horse for sale."
On hearing me speak his language, the Redskin, who was, moreover, deceived by my hunting garb, took me for a wood ranger, and immediately treated me with great respect.
"Your excellency will try Negro, if it be really your pleasure to buy," he said, at once reassuming the language of his tribe, instead of the Spanish he had hitherto employed.
"But," I continued, "supposing that Negro, as that is his name, suits me, I must know the price you want for him."
"Wah!" he said, with a cunning smile; "I will not let your excellency have Negro under two ounces, and anyone else would pay much more."
Two ounces are about six guineas of our money, so if I had judged the horse aright, it was plain that I should make a good bargain. I made an appointment with the Hiaquis for the next morning, and withdrew under the ironical congratulations of my friends upon my excellent acquisition.
The Indian was punctual. At daybreak I saw him at my door, mounted on another horse and holding Negro by the bridle. I immediately got into the saddle, and left Guaymas, accompanied by my Redskin, and started at a smart trot for the forest.
I soon perceived that Negro was a very easy goer, and that he did not tire, though he was very eager—excellent qualities in a charger. Moreover, I saw that, like all prairie horses, whose mouth is generally hard, he was very sensitive to the spur.
The expedition of which I had the honour to be a member was about to proceed into half savage countries, where roads have never existed, and we should have to go across sandy deserts, and through almost impassable virgin forests; hence I wished to know at once what help I had to expect from my horse, and what confidence I could place in him. I therefore resolved to make him leap a stream several feet in width. For this purpose I gave him his head, and pressed his flanks with my knees without spurring; the intelligent animal seemed to understand that it was on trial, and leapt over the obstacle with the agility of an antelope. I turned round, and tried the leap over and over again, always with the same result. Certain of his agility, I wished to try his strength, consequently I took him to a muddy and very difficult morass. Negro, however, entered it, smelling the water as if to judge its depth, a proof of sagacity and prudence with which I was greatly pleased, and I found him prompt and decided in the wheels and counter wheels I made him take.
I had still an experiment to make with Negro—could he swim?