"Yes, I think he did," said Mr. Page.
"But you don't think it was any harm, do you?" inquired Nellie.
"No, I don't," was the reply.
"I'd have emptied the whole bucket on his head if I had been an Indian," said Walter. "Those people are too patient."
"And so you would be, my son, if you had been hunted for five hundred years as they have been," said Mr. Page.
Early the next morning there was an unusual stir in the village. The Indians had donned their best clothes, and a general air of expectation pervaded everything. All eyes seemed to turn in the direction of the Cold Spring, from which it was expected the visitors would arrive. At last a carriage was seen approaching, and all the natives were out to meet it. After luncheon in the restaurant the people followed the commissioners to the schoolhouse, where Mr. Charles Lummis explained the case to them as clearly as it was possible to do. They listened in respectful silence, and then went slowly and silently away.
The next morning they reassembled.
"Have you thought about what was said yesterday?" asked one of the commissioners.
"Yes," came in a low murmur from the crowd.