I waited patiently. In 1911, with troops on the reservation, it had required four months to consider a similar injustice, and by that time the soldiers were gone; and later, with respect to the restricted range over which the Hopi and Navajo wrangled, the Office had concluded, as a mild corrective, that “this is a very perplexing question.”
But less time was lost on this occasion. The answer was brief, pointed, final. It was written on a half-sheet, for paper was being saved to reduce the national debt.
Dear Mr. Crane:
Your report of —— date received, relating the facts in the case of a Hopi boy named Lidge, who shot a Navajo of about the same age.
Your action in this matter is approved.
Cordially yours,
[[325]]
XXV
WANTED AT COURT
When the coster’s finished jumping on his mother,
He loves to lie a-basking in the sun;
Ah! take one consideration with another—