General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1920 Original Publisher: s.n. Subjects: Fiction / General Fiction / Classics Fiction / Literary Fiction / Westerns Literary Criticism / American / General Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER III Cast In By The Sands 44 T us sPeak m the pale-face tongue! I A girl of fourteen placed the tips of the first and second fingers of her right hand to her lips as a sign of silence. Her brother, two years younger, had spoken. Raising her hand for silence again, the girl rose and went to the only door of the little room and looked out. From the door to the small window in the rear she ran noiselessly and again looked out. Tehana no hear us now; we may talk a little white tongue, she said, seating herself on a rug made from the skin of a desert lion. She spoke in a soft, sweet voice that blended with the low sound of the desert wind. Her large black eyes shot glances alternately from the face of the boy to the door, that she might not lose the words that fell so slowly from bis lips and at the same time guard against surprise from the outside. Why do Tehana care if we speak Mokava’s tongue? Mokava no care if we speak Tehana’s tongue, inquired the boy, continuing with a spirit of bravado, when I get to be a brave – a – man, I’ll speak Mokava’s tongue all time!
Speak it as low as the wind now, or Tehana will hear you! cautioned the girl. I will not fear Tehana when I am big, repliedthe brother, scarcely above a whisper. Why may we not speak the tongue of our father? Why do Tehana want us talk like Panamint Joe and Old Mag? I do not like Injun talk. They grunt like big black hog and sing like coyote.
Sh! They talk and s…