In view of their tidy raiment and their general air of cleanliness, it seemed a mistake to class them as Indians.

These were the Moquis, a remnant of one of the semi-civilizations of America, perhaps a colony left behind by the Aztecs in their migrations, or possibly by the temple-builders of Yucatan.
Impossible to converse with them.

Not a person in the caravan spoke the Moqui tongue, and not a Moqui spoke or understood a word of Spanish or English.

But it was evident from their faces and gestures that they were enthusiastically friendly, and that they had rushed down from their fastness to aid the emigrants against the Apaches.

There was even a little sally into the plain, the Moquis running a quarter of a mile with amazing agility, spreading out into a loose skirmishing line of battle, brandishing their bows and defying the enemy to battle.