“’Nother time,” resumed the honest blacksmith, “the Gov’ment at Washington, D.C., sent out orders for all the Injun kids to be sent off to school.  Lots of the fathers made trouble about this, but Pete was the worst of all—­the old scoundrel!  The agent said to him would Pete send his kids peaceful; and Pete said not by no means.  So the agent says in that case they’ll have to take ’em by force.  Pete says he’ll be right there a-plenty when they’re took by force.  So next day the agent and his helper go down to Pete’s tepee.  It’s pitched up on a bank just off the road and they’s a low barrier of brush acrost the front of it.  They look close at this and see the muzzle of a rifle peeking down at ’em; also, they can hear little scramblings and squealings of about a dozen or fourteen kids in the tepee that was likely nestled up round the old murderer like a bunch of young quail.

“Well, they was something kind of cold and cheerless about the muzzle of this rifle poked through the brush at ’em; so the agent starts in and makes a regular agent speech to Pete.  He says the Great White Father at Washington, D.C., has wished his children to be give an English education and learnt to write a good business hand, and all like that; and read books, and so on; and the Great White Father will be peeved if Pete takes it in this rough way.  And the agent is disappointed in him, too, and will never again think the same of his old friend, and why can’t he be nice and submit to the decencies of civilization—­and so on—­a lot of guff like that; but all the time he talks this here rifle is pointing right into his chest, so you can bet he don’t make no false motions.

“At last, when he’s told Pete all the reasons he can think up and guesses mebbe he’s got the old boy going, he winds up by saying:  ’And now what shall I tell the Great White Father at Washington you say to his kind words?’ Old Pete, still not moving the rifle a hair’s breadth, he calls out:  ’You tell the Great White Father at Washington to go to hell!’ Yes, sir; just like that he says it; and I guess that shows you what kind of a murderer he is.  And what I allus say is, ’what’s the use of spending us taxpayers’ good money trying to educate trash like that, when they ain’t got no sense of decency in the first place, and the minute they learn to talk English they begin to curse and swear as bad as a white man?  They got no wish to improve their condition, which is what I allus have said and what I allus will say.

“Anyway, this agent didn’t waste no more time on Pete’s brats.  He come right away from there, though telling his helper it was a great pity they couldn’t have got a good look into the tepee, because then they’d have known for the first time just what kids round there Pete really considered his.  Of course he hadn’t felt he should lay down his life in the interests of this trifling information, and I don’t blame him one bit.  I wouldn’t have done it myself.  You can’t tell me a reservation with Pete on it would be any nice place.  Look at the old crook now, still lamming that axe round to beat the cars because he thinks he’s being watched!  I bet he’ll be mad down to his moccasins when he finds out the Old Lady’s been off all day.”