352 ON THE FRONTIER 



adventures possess, but which is so unusual in fact, may 

 appear flat, unnatural, or disappointing. That truth is 

 stranger than fiction is, if true, most strange. Hume's 

 History of England is popularly supposed to be a true 

 story. It contains the strange events of centuries. What 

 part of it, however, is as strange as the "Arabian Nights' 

 Entertainments," or " Alice in Wonderland " ? But perhaps 

 I mistake the adage. To be strange is to be uncommon, 

 unusual, not often met with. Verily, truth is stranger than 

 fiction. About some things truth is very hard to tell, 

 because there is no getting at it. As the bear said of the 

 mosquito in his ear, " there are not adequate means for the 

 purpose." In everything relating to the Apache Indian 

 this is most applicable. When he is making a treaty with 

 you he is probably lying ; if not, you cannot tell. Anyway 

 he will break the compact before you find out. You rarely 

 see him except to fight him ; he has no literature that you 

 can decipher, no home that you can find, no industries 

 worth mentioning; you cannot collect statistics about him 

 how can you count what you cannot see ? He will not 

 trade with you, nor tell you his religious beliefs, nor let you 

 behold his ceremonies, except his torture ones, and then 

 only on condition that you personally furnish the victim ; 

 no reports have been published; no, you cannot find out 

 much about him. How many are there of them to the 

 square mile ? How many square miles are there to the 

 Indian ? Is there a confederated nation of them, or is 

 every family a nation to itself I Have they a head chief ? 

 Have they a supreme council ? Have they anything ? 

 What is it they have not got or its Indian equivalent for ? 



