"You must not think of quarreling with him, Walter," said Nellie.
"I sha'n't, if he lets me alone," her brother replied. "But if he turns out to be a nagger, I'll settle him, once and for all."
"Would you like to see the Lavenderia?" asked Francisco, as a company of Indian women passed them with huge bundles thrown across their shoulders.
"What is that?" Nellie inquired.
"What you call washing-house—laundry," replied the boy. "They are going now to wash. All day long, from early, early morning, they come. For so it must be. They have to wash the clothes, but all cannot do it at once; so one week a few come in the early morning, and others later; and the next week the late ones come first. But always, except on Sunday, until night they are washing."
"Shall we leave the water here and go now?" asked Nellie.
"I think not," replied Francisco. "It is better first to leave the water at your camp; then you can sit on the wagon again, and your brother and I will walk beside."
"Let's hurry up, then," said Nellie. "I just love to watch those women as they trot along. But why don't the men help them carry those heavy bundles."
Francisco regarded her for a moment with astonishment.
"Carry clothes to the wash?" he said. "It is not men's work—that."