"Birch-bark baskets. To sell."
"Other baskets, too, didn't they? I have a lot of Indian baskets at home."
"Not from here," said Ben.
"No, you are right about that. But today I saw some baskets an Indian woman was selling at the station. They are made at the Reservation, aren't they?"
Ben looked up with the first sign of real interest he had shown. "That was Pahrunta. She comes down sometimes to sell the baskets that her mother makes. Her mother is Ehimmeshunka. She came from another tribe,--many moons away, they said. She was stolen, I guess. She makes baskets like the western Indians, not like the Indians here."
"You have seen her working, then?"
"Yes."
"Was that when you were with Selby?"
"Yes. My dad was chummy with Washitonka,--brothers, they called each other. Ehimmeshunka was Washitonka's squaw."
"Did Selby learn how to make baskets like Ehimmeshunka?" asked Burton. Immediately he regretted that he had put the question so bluntly, for a surprised question came into Ben's face. He fixed his somber eyes on Burton for a moment before he answered curtly: "No."