Had you asked for bread, I would have given it to you, for the door of
my house is always open to the friendly red man; but, as for whisky,
you can have none from my hands. Raise that whip but once to strike
me, and I will dash your brains out with this mass of lead." Suiting
his actions to his words, Sanchez drew forth from the pocket of his
hunting-shirt a slung shot that weighed nearly four ounces, which
he always carried to dispatch his game with when it was in the last
agonies of death. With uplifted hand, the Indian hesitated; for, he
knew the character of the man who stood before him, as they had hunted
together during many moons gone by, on the same mountains and on the
same trail. At last, using his own savage dialect, in order that his
words could not be understood by others about him, the savage answered
the Mexican hunter by saying, "that by chance they might some day meet
again;" a threat which fell harmless at the feet of Sanchez. As he
took his departure, the chief added, in Spanish, "I will tell these
things to my father,[20] Kit Carson," as if further attempting to
intimidate the hunter; but Sanchez knew that his own and Carson's
opinions were the same in regard to this man; therefore, he smiled
at the rascal's knavery. _Chico Velasques_ was followed in his
chieftainship by _Blanco_, who did his utmost to walk in the footsteps
of his illustrious predecessor; but, he was not so cunning, and was
less successful in his encounters with the Americans and Mexicans,
and therefore had not that influence with his tribe which the former
possessed. Still, he performed his quantum of mischief, and yet lives
to play his part in the great drama of Indian life. An Apache Indian
is rather small in stature, but everything about him denotes symmetry
and strength. His limbs are almost straight, and their muscles are
as hard as iron. The elasticity of his movements, when in the least
excited, shows a high degree of physical training. His coal-black eye
exhibits an amount of treachery rarely seen elsewhere, proving the