Page 256 - TheHopiIndians

248 MESA FOLK OP HOPILAND

Keen, shrewd eyes has he and very evasive. Tom,
however, is not "bad" in the Arizona sense, nor will
his make-up allow him to be altogether good. He is,
therefore, a man, for which this sketch is to be con
gratulated. While Tom's early history may never
be known to the world, his step in leaving the Paiute
for the Hopi is very much in his favor. Here he fell
naturally in his place as serf to Chakwaina, of whom
something has already been said.
Tom became washerman for the Fewkes expedition
while the party sojourned at Walpi. Percy, who
prides himself on his faultless "American," held the
position in former years, but having gotten a few
dollars ahead, felt above work at this time. It must
be said that Tom is an excellent laundryman. The
idiosyncrasies of wayworn civilized garb do not stump
him; in fact, he is "ol' clo'es man" for the whole
East Mesa. His many quests for discarded garments
to Winslow, Holbrook, and other points on the rail
road are always successful. The people of Winslow
affirm ,that wearing apparel often disappears from
clotheslines and other exposed situations coincidently
with the visits of Hopi, who clear the town of rags as
the winds do of loose paper. When the physician of
the place lost a pair of overshoes which were reposing
on the back kitchen steps, he remembered too late that
a Hopi had gone down the alley sometime before. The
disappearance of the overshoes can scarcely arouse as
much wonder as their presence and utility in arid,