“Ishklish!” assented the Navajo.
The Golfer pursued his philological meditations to a triumphant end.
“Slicklish means matches!” he announced.
His discovery did not impress us as he expected.
“Why should he come up to a party of motorists at five in the morning to say ‘matches’?” we asked.
“Because he wants a cigarette,” answered our linguist. “As it is a marked discourtesy among Indians to offer a cigarette without matches, he takes the more subtle way of begging a smoke by asking for matches. Slicklish!”
“Ishklish!” nodded the Navajo. Apparently he could keep on like that forever.
Pulling out his cigarette case, the Golfer gave the Indian a handful with a match. The latter gave us a radiant smile, and rode away.
“You see that’s what he meant.”
Murray often put his finger on the point. “What good does that do us?” he asked.