Stacy limped off by himself, then stood leaning against a rock, still in his underwear, gazing moodily at the waters of Havasu River. Stacy was much chastened for the time being.
All at once the lad started. Ned Rector had laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Oh, it"s you?"
"Yes. You aren"t angry with me, are you, Chunky?"
"Angry with you?"
"Yes."
"Did you ever have a sore lip, Ned?"
"Of course I have," laughed Rector.
"When you couldn"t have laughed at the funniest story you ever heard?"
"I guess that about describes it."
"Well, I"ve got a sore lip all over my body. If I were to be cross with you I"d crack the one big, sore lip and then you"d hear me yell,"
answered the fat boy solemnly. "No, I"m not angry with you, Ned."
Rector laughed softly.
"I don"t want you to be. I"m always having a lot of fun with you and I expect to have a lot more, for you are the biggest little idiot I ever saw in my life."
"Yes, I am," agreed Stacy thoughtfully. "But how can you blame me, with the company I keep?"
"I"ve got nothing more to say, except that if you"ll come back to what"s his name"s camp I"ll help you put on your clothes. Come along.
Don"t miss all the fun."
Stacy decided that he would. By the time he had gotten on his clothes he felt better. He wandered off to another part of the village, where his attention was drawn to a game going on between a lot of native children who had squatted down on the ground.
Stacy asked what the game was. They told him it was "Hui-ta-qui-chi-ka,"
which he translated into "Have-a-chicken."
Most of these children were pupils at a school established by the United States government in the Canyon, and could speak a little English. Chunky entered into conversation with them at once, asking the names of each, but he never remembered the name of any of them afterwards. There was little Pu-ut, a demure faced savage with a string of gla.s.s beads around her neck; Somaja, round and plump, because of which she got her name, which, translated meant "watermelon."
Then there was Vesna and many other names not so easy. Chunky decided that he would like to play "Have-a-chicken," too. The little savages were willing, so he took a seat in the semicircle with them.
Before the semicircle was a circle of small stones, with an opening at a certain point. This opening was called, Chunky learned, "Yam-si-kyalb-yi-ka," though the fat boy didn"t attempt to p.r.o.nounce it after his instructor. In the centre of the circle was another flat stone bearing the musical name of "Taa-bi-chi."
Sides were chosen and the game began. The first player begins by holding three pieces of short stick, black on one side, white on the other. These sticks are called "Toh-be-ya." The count depends upon the way the sticks fall. For instance, the following combinations will give an idea as to how the game is counted:
Three white sides up, 10; three blacks, 5; two blacks and a white up, 3; two whites and a black up, 2, and so on in many different combinations.
The reader may think this a tame sort of game, but Chunky didn"t find it so. It grew so exciting that the fat boy found himself howling louder than any of the savages with whom he was playing. He was as much a savage as any of them, some of whom were of his own age. Every time he made a large point, Stacy would perform a war dance, howling, "Have-a-chicken! Have-a-chicken!"
The chief"s son, who also had come into the game without being invited, was playing next to Stacy. Stacy in one of these outbursts trod on the bare feet of the young buck.
Afraid Of His Face, adopting the methods of his white brethren, rose in his might and smote the fat boy with his fist. Now, the spot where the fist of Afraid Of His Face landed had been parboiled in the "Hole In The Wall." Stacy Brown howled l.u.s.tily, then he sailed in, both fists working like windmills. The Indian youngsters set up a weird chorus of yells and war whoops, while all hands from the chief"s ha-wa started on a run for the scene.
CHAPTER XXIII
STACY AS AN INDIAN FIGHTER
In the meantime there was a lively scrimmage going on near the "Have-a-chicken" circle. The stones of the circle had been kicked away, the younger savages forming a human ring about the combatants.
Afraid Of His Face was much the superior of the fat boy in physical strength, but he knew nothing of the tricks of the boxer. Therefore Stacy had played a tattoo on the face of the Indian before the latter woke up to the fact that he was getting the worst of it.
In an unguarded moment the young buck put a smashing blow right on Stacy"s nose, now extremely sensitive from its near boiling in the "Hole In The Wall."
Not being fast enough in the get away, the young buck received on his own face some of the blood that spurted from Brown"s nose.
"Ow-wow!" wailed Chunky, rendered desperate by the severe pain at this tender point. But his rage made him cooler. Chunky made a feint.
As Afraid Of His Face dodged the feint Stacy b.u.mped the young Indian"s nose.
"Have another," offered Stacy dryly, as his left drove in a blow that sent the young Indian to his back on the turf. Frightened screams came from some of the young Indian girls, who gazed dismayed at the human whirlwind into which Stacy had been transformed.
"Ugh!" roared Afraid Of His Face, and reached his feet again. "Ugh!
Boy heap die! Plenty soon!"
Again the combatants closed in. There was a rattling give-and-take.
"Here! Stop that!" ordered Professor Zepplin, striding forward. The chief and his Indians were coming up also. The chief caught at one of the Professor"s waving arms and drew him back.
"Let um fight," grunted the chief. He next spoke a few guttural words of command to his own people, who fell back, giving the combatants plenty of room.
"Yes, let "em have it out!" roared the boys. "Stacy never will learn to behave, but this ought to help."
Stacy, having it all his own way with his fists, now received a kick from the buck that nearly ended the fight.
"Wow! That"s your style, is it?" groaned Chunky, then he ducked, came up and planted a smashing blow on the buck"s jaw that sent the latter fairly crashing to earth.
That ended the fight. Afraid Of His Face made a few futile struggles to get to his feet, then lay back wearily. Chunky puffed out his chest and strutted back and forth a few times.
"Huh!" grunted Chick-a-pan-a-gi. "Fat boy heap brave warrior."
"You bet I am. But it"s nothing. You ought to see me in a real fight."
"Hurrah for Chunky!" shouted Ned Rector. "Hip, hip, hurrah!"
Professor Zepplin now strode forward, laying a heavy hand on the fat boy"s shoulder.
"Ouch!" groaned Chunky. "Don"t do that Don"t you know I haven"t any skin on my body?"