"We have enough of killing," said the one called Scar-Face. "Let him have a woman's dress and stay to mend the fire."
So it was done in the presence of all the camp; and because he was a boy, and because he was an Indian, he said nothing of his vow, nor opened his mouth in his defense, though his heart quaked and his knees shook. He had the courage to wear the badge of being afraid all his life. They brought him a woman's dress, though they were all too sad for much laughter, and in the morning he set to bringing the wood for the fire.
Afterward there was a treaty made between the Paiutes and the settlers, and the remnant went back to the campoodie of Tres Pinos, and Joe learned how Walter had been sent out of the valley in the beginning of the war, but that did not make any difference about the woman's dress. He and Walter never met again. He continued to go about in dresses, though in time he was allowed to do a man's work, and his knowledge of English helped to restore a friendly footing with the cattlemen. The valley filled very rapidly with settlers after that, and under the slack usage of the tribe, Mahala Joe, as he came to be known, might have thrown aside his woman's gear without offense, but he had the courage to wear it to his life's end. He kept his sentence as he kept his vow, and yet it is certain that Walter never knew.
PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY Of INDIAN NAMES AND WORDS
CAMPOODIE (k[)a]mp'[=o]-dy). A group of Indian huts, from the Spanish campo, a field or prairie. In some localities written "_campody_."
HINONO (h[)i]-n[)o]-n[)o]). A legendary Indian hero.
MAHALA (m[.a]-h[:a]'l[)a]). An Indian woman, perhaps a corruption from the Spanish _mujer_, woman.
MESA (m[=a]'sä). A table-land, or plateau with a steeply sloping side or sides.
MESQUITE (m[)e]s-k[=e]t'). A thorny desert shrub, bearing edible pods, like the locust tree, which are ground into meal for food.
NA'[:Y]ANG-WIT'E. An Indian gambling game.
OPPAPAGO (op-p[)a]-p[=a]'g[=o]). A mountain peak near Mt. Whitney. The name signifies "The Weeper," in reference to the streams that run down from it continually like tears.
PAHRUMP (p[.a]h-r[)u]mp'). From the Indian words _pah_, water, and rump, corn, "corn-water," i. e. a place where there is water enough to grow corn.