"But where are they to go?" asked Nellie, her round blue eyes opening with every word. "Where can they go?"
"The United States government will place them on some other reservation," said Mrs. Page. "A commission has been appointed to select one where the land is fertile and water plentiful. It will not be very long now, I think, before some place will be decided upon. It is a very good thing that every one on the commission is a friend of the Indians, and would allow them to remain in their present home if they could arrange it."
"Is Warner's Ranch a very large tract of land, mother?" asked Walter.
"Very large, my son."
"Why can't they let the Indians stay on their little bit of land, then? They haven't a great deal, have they?"
"Not much, compared with the extent of the whole tract. However, the owners of the ranch wish to derive profit from the springs, as the Indians are doing, only they would erect wooden buildings and make many improvements. They wish to make the springs a popular resort."
"I'd never go there if they did, never!" said Nellie. "How can the government be so unjust as to put those Indians out, when they have always lived there?"
"It seems that when the tract was originally sold the Indians should have presented their claim to the portion they occupied. As they did not do that, after a certain number of years their rights were forfeited. That is the law."
"Why didn't they present their claims?" asked Walter.