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Management Information Systems, 14e (Laudon)
Chapter 6 Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management

1) The relationship between entities and attributes is best illustrated by


A) the entity CUSTOMER with the attribute PRODUCT.
B) the entity CUSTOMER with the attribute PURCHASE.
C) the entity PRODUCT with the attribute PURCHASE.
D) the entity PRODUCT with the attribute CUSTOMER.
E) the entity PURCHASE with the attribute CUSTOMER.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 218
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Analytical thinking
CASE: Analysis
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

2) The traditional file environment does not typically have a problem with
A) data inconsistency.
B) program-data independence.
C) lack of flexibility in creating ad-hoc reports.
D) poor security.
E) data sharing.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 218
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Analysis
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

3) A(n) ________ is a characteristic or quality that describes a database entity.


A) field
B) tuple
C) key field
D) attribute
E) relationship
Answer: D
Page Ref: 218
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

1
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
4) A(n) ________ is an example of non-digital data storage that is comparable to a database.
A) library card catalog
B) cash register receipt
C) doctor's office invoice
D) list of sales totals on a spreadsheet
E) schedule of due dates on a project outline
Answer: A
Page Ref: 218
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytical thinking
CASE: Analysis
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

5) ________ creates confusion that hampers the creation of information systems that integrate
data from different sources.
A) Batch processing
B) Data redundancy
C) Data independence
D) Online processing
E) Data quality
Answer: B
Page Ref: 219
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

6) Data ________ occurs when the same data is duplicated in multiple files of a database.
A) redundancy
B) repetition
C) independence
D) partitions
E) discrepancy
Answer: A
Page Ref: 219
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

2
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
7) When the same attribute in related data files has different values, this is called data
A) redundancy.
B) duplication.
C) dependence.
D) discrepancy.
E) inconsistency.
Answer: E
Page Ref: 219
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

8) A database record is a grouping of characters into a word, a group of words, or a complete


number.
Answer: FALSE
Page Ref: 218
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

9) An attribute is a characteristic or quality used to describe a particular entity.


Answer: TRUE
Page Ref: 218
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

10) The coupling of data with the software programs that manipulate the data, such that changes
in programs requires changes to the data, is called program-data dependence.
Answer: TRUE
Page Ref: 220
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

11) Databases record information about general categories of information referred to as entities.
Answer: TRUE
Page Ref: 218
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

3
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
12) When you design the new contracts database for the publishing house mentioned above,
what fields do you anticipate needing? Which of these fields might be in use in other databases
used by the company?
Answer: Author first name, author last name, author address, agent name and address, title of
book, book ISBN, date of contract, amount of money, payment schedule, date contract ends.
Other databases might be an author database (author names, address, and agent details), a book
title database (title and ISBN of book), and financial database (payments made).
Page Ref: 218-221
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytical thinking
CASE: Synthesis
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

13) List at least three conditions that contribute to data redundancy and inconsistency.
Answer: Data redundancy occurs when different divisions, functional areas, and groups in an
organization independently collect the same piece of information. Because it is collected and
maintained in so many different places, the same data item may have:
1. different meanings in different parts of the organization,
2. different names may be used for the same item, and
3. different descriptions for the same condition. In addition, the fields into which the data is
gathered may have different field names, different attributes, or different constraints.
Page Ref: 219
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytical thinking
CASE: Analysis
LO: 6.1: What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

14) Which of the following features enables a DBMS to reduce data redundancy and
inconsistency?
A) enforces referential integrity
B) couples program and data
C) data dictionary
D) two-dimensional tables
E) minimizes isolated files with repeated data
Answer: E
Page Ref: 222
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

4
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
15) A DBMS makes the
A) physical database available for different logical views.
B) relational database available for different logical views.
C) physical database available for different analytic views.
D) relational database available for different analytic views.
E) logical database available for different analytic views.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 221
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

16) The logical view of a database


A) displays the organization and structure of data on the physical storage media.
B) includes a digital dashboard.
C) allows the creation of supplementary reports.
D) enables users to manipulate the logical structure of the database.
E) presents data as they would be perceived by end users.
Answer: E
Page Ref: 221
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

17) Which of the following is not a DBMS for midrange computers?


A) DB2
B) Oracle
C) Microsoft SQL Server
D) Microsoft Access
E) Microsoft Exchange
Answer: D
Page Ref: 222-223
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

5
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
18) A(n) ________ organizes data in two-dimensional tables.
A) non-relational DBMS
B) mobile DBMS
C) relational DBMS
D) hierarchical DBMS
E) object-oriented DBMS
Answer: C
Page Ref: 222
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

19) Microsoft SQL Server is a(n)


A) DBMS for both desktops and mobile devices.
B) Internet DBMS.
C) desktop relational DBMS.
D) DBMS for midrange computers.
E) DBMS for mobile devices.
Answer: D
Page Ref: 223
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

20) In a table for customers, the information about a single customer would reside in a single
A) field.
B) row.
C) column.
D) table.
E) entity.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 223
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Analysis
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

6
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
21) In a relational database, a record is referred to in technical terms as a(n)
A) tuple.
B) row.
C) entity.
D) field.
E) key.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 223
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

22) A field identified in a table as holding the unique identifier of the table's records is called the
A) primary key.
B) key field.
C) primary field.
D) unique ID.
E) primary entity.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 223
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

23) A field identified in a record as holding the unique identifier for that record is called the
A) primary key.
B) key field.
C) primary field.
D) unique ID.
E) key attribute.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 223
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

7
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
24) In a relational database, the three basic operations used to develop useful sets of data are
A) select, project, and where.
B) select, join, and where.
C) select, project, and join.
D) where, from, and join.
E) where, find, and select.
Answer: C
Page Ref: 224
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

25) The select operation


A) combines relational tables to provide the user with more information than is otherwise
available.
B) creates a subset consisting of columns in a table.
C) identifies the table from which the columns will be selected.
D) creates a subset consisting of all records in the file that meet stated criteria.
E) creates a subset consisting of rows in a table.
Answer: D
Page Ref: 224
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

26) The join operation


A) combines relational tables to provide the user with more information than is otherwise
available.
B) identifies the table from which the columns will be selected.
C) creates a subset consisting of columns in a table.
D) organizes elements into segments.
E) creates a subset consisting of rows in a table.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 224
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

8
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
27) The project operation
A) combines relational tables to provide the user with more information than is otherwise
available.
B) creates a subset consisting of columns in a table.
C) organizes elements into segments.
D) identifies the table from which the columns will be selected.
E) creates a subset consisting of rows in a table.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 224
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

28) The data dictionary serves as an important data management tool by


A) assigning attributes to the data.
B) creating an inventory of the data elements contained in the database.
C) presenting data as end users or business specialists would perceive them.
D) maintaining data in updated form.
E) providing a guide to database terms and settings.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 226
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

29) An automated or manual file that stores information about data elements and data
characteristics such as usage, physical representation, ownership, authorization, and security is
the
A) data dictionary.
B) data definition diagram.
C) entity-relationship diagram.
D) relationship dictionary.
E) data table.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 226
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

9
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
30) The specialized language programmers use to add and change data in the database is called
A) a data access language.
B) a data manipulation language.
C) structured query language.
D) a data definition language.
E) a DBMS.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 226
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

31) The most prominent data manipulation language today is


A) Access.
B) DB2.
C) SQL.
D) Crystal Reports.
E) NoSQL.
Answer: C
Page Ref: 226
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

32) DBMSs typically include report-generating tools in order to


A) retrieve and display data.
B) display data in an easier-to-read format.
C) display data in graphs.
D) perform predictive analysis.
E) analyse the database's performance.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 227
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

10
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
33) The process of streamlining data to minimize redundancy and awkward many-to-many
relationships is called
A) normalization.
B) data scrubbing.
C) data cleansing.
D) data defining.
E) optimization.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 228
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

34) A schematic of the entire database that describes the relationships in a database is called a(n)
A) data dictionary.
B) intersection relationship diagram.
C) entity-relationship diagram.
D) data definition diagram.
E) data analysis table.
Answer: C
Page Ref: 229-230
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

35) A one-to-many relationship between two entities is symbolized in a diagram by a line that
ends with
A) one short mark.
B) two short marks.
C) three short marks.
D) a crow's foot.
E) a crow's foot topped by a short mark.
Answer: E
Page Ref: 230
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

11
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
36) You are creating a database to store temperature and wind data from national airport
locations. Which of the following fields is the most likely candidate to use as the basis for a
primary key in the Airport table?
A) address
B) city
C) airport code
D) state
E) day
Answer: C
Page Ref: 223
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytical thinking
CASE: Analysis
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

37) The logical and physical views of data are separated in a DBMS.
Answer: TRUE
Page Ref: 221
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

38) Every record in a file should contain at least one key field.
Answer: TRUE
Page Ref: 223
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

39) NoSQL technologies are used to manage sets of data that don't require the flexibility of
tables and relations.
Answer: TRUE
Page Ref: 224
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

12
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
40) The DBMS programming language that end users and programmers use to manipulate data
in the database is called CGI.
Answer: FALSE
Page Ref: 226
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

41) Complicated groupings of data in a relational database need to be adjusted to eliminate


awkward many-to-many relationships.
Answer: TRUE
Page Ref: 228
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

42) A physical view shows data as it is actually organized and structured on the data storage
media.
Answer: TRUE
Page Ref: 222
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

43) DBMS have a data definition capability to specify the structure of the content of the
database.
Answer: TRUE
Page Ref: 226
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

13
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
44) Relational DBMSs use key field rules to ensure that relationships between coupled tables
remain consistent.
Answer: FALSE
Page Ref: 229
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

45) The small publishing company you work for wants to create a new database for storing
information about all of their author contracts. What factors will influence how you design the
database?
Answer: Student answers will vary, but should include some assessment of data quality,
business processes and user needs, and relationship to existing IT systems. Key points to include
are:
Data accuracy when the new data is input, establishing a good data model, determining which
data is important and anticipating what the possible uses for the data will be, beyond looking up
contract information, technical difficulties linking this system to existing systems, new business
processes for data input and handling, and contracts management, determining how end users
will use the data, making data definitions consistent with other databases, what methods to use to
cleanse the data.
Page Ref: 221-230
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytical thinking
CASE: Synthesis
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

46) List and describe three main capabilities or tools of a DBMS.


Answer: A data definition capability to specify the structure of the content of the database. This
capability would be used to create database tables and to define the characteristics of the fields in
each table.
A data dictionary to store definitions of data elements in the database and their characteristics. In
large corporate databases, the data dictionary may capture additional information, such as usage;
ownership; authorization; security; and the individuals, business functions, programs, and reports
that use each data element.
A data manipulation language, such as SQL, that is used to add, change, delete, and retrieve the
data in the database. This language contains commands that permit end users and programming
specialists to extract data from the database to satisfy information requests and develop
applications.
Page Ref: 226
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytical thinking
CASE: Analysis
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

14
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
47) Identify and describe three basic operations used to extract useful sets of data from a
relational database.
Answer: The select operation creates a subset consisting of all records (rows) in the table that
meets stated criteria. The join operation combines relational tables to provide the user with more
information than is available in individual tables. The project operation creates a subset
consisting of columns in a table, permitting the user to create new tables that contain only the
information required.
Page Ref: 224
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Analysis
LO: 6.2: What are the major capabilities of database management systems (DBMS) and why is a
relational DBMS so powerful?

48) Big data does not refer to


A) datasets with fewer than a billion records.
B) datasets with unstructured data.
C) machine-generated data (i.e. from sensors).
D) data created by social media (i.e. tweets, Facebook Likes).
E) data from Web traffic.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 230
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Analysis
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

49) Which of the following technologies would you use to analyze the social media data
collected by a major online retailer?
A) OLAP
B) data warehouse
C) data mart
D) Hadoop
E) DBMS
Answer: D
Page Ref: 232
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Analysis
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

15
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
50) Which of the following is not one of the techniques used in Web mining?
A) content mining
B) structure mining
C) server mining
D) usage mining
E) data mining
Answer: C
Page Ref: 238
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Reflective thinking
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

51) You work for a retail clothing chain whose primary outlets are in shopping malls, and you
are conducting an analysis of your customers and their preferences. You wish to find out if there
are any particular activities that your customers engage in, or the types of purchases made in the
month before or after purchasing select items from your store. To do this, you will want to use
data mining software that is capable of
A) identifying associations.
B) identifying clusters.
C) identifying sequences.
D) classification.
E) forecasting.
Answer: C
Page Ref: 237
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytical thinking
CASE: Synthesis
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

52) You work for a national car rental agency and want to determine what characteristics are
shared among your most loyal customers. To do this, you will want to use data mining software
that is capable of
A) identifying associations.
B) identifying clusters.
C) identifying sequences.
D) classification.
E) forecasting.
Answer: D
Page Ref: 237
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Analytical thinking
CASE: Synthesis
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

16
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
53) A data warehouse is composed of
A) historical data from legacy systems.
B) current data.
C) internal and external data sources.
D) historic and current internal data.
E) historic external data.
Answer: D
Page Ref: 231
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

54) All of the following are technologies used to analyze and manage big data except
A) cloud computing.
B) noSQL.
C) in-memory computing.
D) analytic platforms.
E) Hadoop.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 231-235
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

55) A household appliances manufacturer has hired you to help analyze their social media
datasets to determine which of their refrigerators are seen as the most reliable. Which of the
following tools would you use to analyze this data?
A) text mining tools
B) sentiment analysis software
C) Web usage mining technologies
D) data mining software for identifying associations
E) data mining software for forecasting
Answer: B
Page Ref: 238
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Evaluation
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

17
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
56) The tool that enables users to view the same data in different ways using multiple dimensions
is
A) predictive analysis.
B) SQL.
C) OLAP.
D) data mining.
E) Hadoop.
Answer: C
Page Ref: 235
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

57) OLAP is a tool for enabling


A) users to obtain online answers to ad-hoc questions in a rapid amount of time.
B) users to view both logical and physical views of data.
C) programmers to quickly diagram data relationships.
D) programmers to normalize data.
E) users to quickly generate summary reports.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 236
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

58) Data mining is a tool for allowing users to


A) quickly compare transaction data gathered over many years.
B) find hidden relationships in data.
C) obtain online answers to ad-hoc questions in a rapid amount of time.
D) summarize massive amounts of data into much smaller, traditional reports.
E) access the vast amounts of data in a data warehouse.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 236
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

18
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
59) In terms of data relationships, associations refers to
A) events linked over time.
B) patterns that describe a group to which an item belongs.
C) occurrences linked to a single event.
D) undiscovered groupings.
E) relationships between different customers.
Answer: C
Page Ref: 237
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

60) ________ tools are used to analyze large unstructured data sets, such as e-mail, memos,
survey responses, etc., to discover patterns and relationships.
A) OLAP
B) Text mining
C) In-memory
D) Clustering
E) Classification
Answer: B
Page Ref: 238
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

61) In place of application server software to allow a Web server to communicate with a back-
end database, you can use
A) CGI.
B) HTML.
C) Java.
D) SQL.
E) NoSQL.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 239
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

19
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
62) HTML has become the preferred method of communicating with back-end databases because
it is a cross-platform language.
Answer: FALSE
Page Ref: 239
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

63) Legacy systems are used to populate and update data warehouses.
Answer: TRUE
Page Ref: 231
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

64) Multiple data marts are combined and streamlined to create a data warehouse.
Answer: FALSE
Page Ref: 231
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

65) To perform multidimensional data analysis, you would use OLAP.


Answer: TRUE
Page Ref: 235
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

66) OLAP is unable to manage and handle queries with very large sets of data.
Answer: FALSE
Page Ref: 236
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Information technology
CASE: Content
LO: 6.3: What are the principal tools and technologies for accessing information from databases
to improve business performance and decision making?

20
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Photo. by Emri Kopte
THE CHIEF SNAKE-PRIEST. LEADER IN THE WALPI CEREMONIES
At the upper end of the kiva was an elaborate sand-painting after the
fashion of the Navajo, no doubt another adoption, of foreign origin. A
sand-painting is a mosaic-like picture of Indian symbols and fetishes,
worked out in colored sands. This was surrounded or fenced by peeled
wands, placed close together on end. And at this ceremonial altar stood,
practically nude, two of my schoolboys, bronzed lads of about sixteen,
who had taken part that morning in the sunrise race.

Under the ladder and on the main floor a number of older Indians were
grouped, having close to them large bowls of clay holding water or other
liquids. And these priests were arrayed for a ceremony. The sacred-meal
pouches were in evidence. Soon a chant was intoned. The Hopi chants
are primitive, but have in them an echo of Catholic litanies. I have seen a
Hopi priest anoint with and toss the sacred meal just as his forbears saw
the padres bless the people. The Hopi is an assiduous adapter. And while
listening to the chanting, I have often expected to catch the response: “Ora
pro nobis.” The padres were sacrificed to the desert gods in that red revolt
of 1680, but their peaches dry each season on the pueblo housetops, and
Hopi ceremonies carry an unconscious echo of the black-robes who
taught the solemnity of ritual.

Around the walls of the kiva, at the height of one’s head, were wooden
pegs set in the stone, and draped over these were masks and costumes.
As my position at the end of the platform brought me close to one of these
bundles, I leaned against it and the wall, half turned, to give an eye to the
nearest snakes of my corner, and another eye to the proceedings of the
elders. A snake wriggled out [273]from the pile and came closer; but the
Indian who had received us waved him back with a feather-whip.
Someone was watching that sector, and I grew more confident.

We stood there for a little time in silence. From above came the noises of
the crowd, thronging through the village streets. One could look up
through the square opening of the entrance and see the blue Arizona sky.
The ladder was very comforting. Several of the guests sat down on the
edge of the platform, but I did not. I leaned comfortably against my pile of
regalia, and kept a wide-angled view of the whole interior.
Then one of the Indians crossed the platform, gathered a few snakes and
passed them swiftly to the old men at the bowls. They uttered invocations,
stretched the snakes out, and anointed them with meal, all the while
chanting in a low tone. A number of the men had lined up against the wall,
carrying rattles and insignia. They too began a chant. And then suddenly
the old men plunged the snakes into the water of the bowls—a quick,
unceremonious ducking; the choir raising its chant to a savage crescendo.
It was no longer rhythmic and solemn. It was like a scream of death, a
wild, unreasoning challenge that ended in a blood-curdling shriek; and at
that final cry the snakes were hurled up the kiva, to fall on the sand-
painting. The peeled wands were knocked over by their swirling bodies.
Somnolent before, the snakes now waked up, and twisted about, seeking
escape, their heads raised, their tongues darting in and out. A hissing and
whirring sounded. Their movements in the sand caused the design to be
obliterated.

Now came another handful of snakes, swiftly passed for the baptism, and
again the low chanting, but faster now, faster, and always that wild ending
of the chant, and [274]the throwing of the reptiles. More and more snakes
squirmed on the wrecked sand-painting. All the wands were down now.
And in among the snakes, with a calmness that chilled the blood, walked
my two schoolboys, nude as Adam, hustling back to the sand those that
darted for the walls. Twice snakes reached the stone bench along the
kiva’s end and, climbing it, sought crevices of the upper wall. Each time a
boy reached for the disappearing truant and nonchalantly dragged him
back to his place in this wildest of pagan rites.

Finally all the snakes had been removed from our corners, and several
inches of them made a moving carpet where had been the mosaic. There
came a pause, a significant cessation of action, as if the priests had
reached an unexpected, unforeseen part of the service. There was a quick
consultation among the head-men. One of the boys, Edward, began
looking around. He went to the nearest peg and removed some of the
costumes, dropping a mask to the floor. He examined the mask. Then he
went to another peg and performed this same search. And then he came
straight toward me, at the end of the platform.
“What is it, Edward?” I asked him.

“We had sixty-five rattlesnakes, Mr. Crane,” he replied stolidly, “and now
we count but sixty-four. Let me look through those dresses you are leaning
against. That other one may be—”

“Excuse me,” I said hurriedly, as I went up the ladder. [275]


[Contents]
XXI
DESERT BELASCOS
Of course all Indians should not be forced into the same
mould. Let us try to give each his chance to develop what
is best in him. Moreover, let us be wary of interfering
overmuch with either his work or his play. It is mere
tyranny, for instance, to stop all Indian dances. Some
which are obscene or dangerous must be prohibited.
Others should be permitted, and many of them
encouraged. Nothing that tells for the joy of life, in any
community, should be lightly touched. Roosevelt: A
Booklover’s Holidays.

When I first read this, I thought of and began to compare the different types of
Indian dances and ceremonies I had witnessed: the Butterfly, Basket, and Corn
dances, the Snake and Flute Dances of the Hopi; the Medicine Sings, and
squaw dances, and the Ye-be-chai of the Navajo; the colorful pageants of the
Pueblos, after Catholic Mass is celebrated on the name-days of their patron
saints, and the fiesta begins; the memorial ceremony of the Mohave, and their
cremation of the dead. And those slam-bang, whirlwind dances of the Sioux.

Some of these were commemorative; some were fixed ceremonials; some were
of little moment; some seemed nothing more serious than masquerades; some
were filled with superstition and had just a touch of smoldering fanaticism under
the veneer of paint and feathers. A few were social gatherings, a break in the
monotony of existence, having in them “the joy of life.” And while all of the native
dances should have thrown around them a thin [276]line of supervision and
restraint, many of them should be by no means “lightly touched.”

The Snake Dance may be dangerous, and it is certainly revolting at first sight.
And perhaps it should be prohibited. That is a point of view. I am not thoroughly
convinced of its danger to Indians, since I never heard of a Hopi dying from
snake-bite. I saw so many Snake Dances that the edge has been dulled from
my original thrill. If tourists were denied the pleasure of seeing it, I believe the
ceremony would soon languish, and pass away entirely with the going of the
elders from the mesa stage. Certainly I sought to prevent its perpetuation
through the initiation of children, but without result, for I was unsupported in this,
and alone I feared my inability to stifle a pagan war.
But of those things that should be dealt with gently, the tiny shows that the
vacationist seldom sees and the Bureau has never heard of, I recall the Dance
of the Dolls.

One afternoon, at First Mesa, I came along a trail toward the witch’s camp,
meaning to start for home once the team was harnessed. I met an Indian of the
district walking with my interpreter, and was about to give direction concerning
the horses when the latter said:—

“He wants you to stay and see the Dolls’ Dance.”

Now I had quite a collection of Hopi dolls, those quaint figurines carved with
some skill from pieces of cottonwood, and dressed in the regalia of twig and
feather and fur to represent the various katchinas of the clans. But I had never
heard of a dance devoted to these little mannequins.

“What sort of dance is that?” I asked.

“It is called the Dolls-Grind-Corn dance,” he replied.

“When—to-morrow?” thinking of those monotonous [277]open-air drills, having


various names but scarcely to be distinguished one from the other.

“No. To-night, in the kiva.”

This interested me. I could see that the interpreter longed to remain overnight
among his people, and to take in this show.

“Well,” I said, “is it worth climbing that mesa in the dark?”

“I think you would like it,” he answered; “it is a funny little dance, and the children
go to see it.”

So I did not order up the team.

After supper, when the twilight had faded into that clouded blackness before the
stars appear, I scrambled after my guide up the mesa trail. When we reached
the end of that panting climb, the houses of the people were murkily lighted by
their oil lamps, but most of the householders were abroad, going toward the
various kivas. To the central one we went, and down the ladder.
The place was lighted by large swinging lamps, borrowed for the occasion from
the trader, lamps that have wide tin shades and may be quickly turned to
brilliancy or darkness by a little wheel at the side. I had expected to find it a
gloomy place, whereas they had arranged something very like the lighting of a
theatre. It was a trifle difficult to find a place in that crowded vault. The far end
was kept clear, but the two long sides and the ladder-end were packed with Hopi
women and their little ones. Just as I have seen in our theatres, the children
could scarcely repress their nervous interest, now sitting, now standing on tiptoe,
turning and watching, as if this would hasten matters.

I seated myself on the lower rung of the ladder, believing this place would be
most desirable from my point [278]of view, because from it I had a view of the
kiva’s centre and could most easily make my way to the upper air when things
became too thick. A crowded kiva is rather foreign in atmosphere when filled to
its capacity and with lamps going. But I soon found that I would be disturbed.
From above came the noise of rattles and the clank of equipment, calls and the
shuffling of feet. A line of dancers descended upon me. I moved to let them pass
into the lighted centre-space. They were garbed in all the color and design of
Hopi imagination, and wore grotesque masks. They lined up, and I sensed that
their mission was one of merrymaking. Two clowns headed the band, and soon
had the audience convulsed. They hopped about, postured, and carried on a
rapid dialogue. There was a great deal of laughter.

I had my usual experience in trying to gain a knowledge of the show through an


interpreter, quite the same as that lady who accompanied an attaché to hear a
speech by Bismarck in the Reichstag. You will remember that the visitor kept
demanding interpretation, whereas the attaché remained silent, intently listening,
as the Iron Chancellor droned on, monotonously voluble.

“What does he say?” asked the visitor for the fifth time.

“Madam,” replied the attaché, “I am waiting for the verb!”

And that is about as far as I ever got toward exact knowledge of the clowns in
any dance. I have tried it many times. The interpreter always enjoyed the show
for himself, first, and left me in outer darkness. Occasionally he would attempt to
explain some part of the horseplay in progress, probably such simple portions as
he thought my feeble intellect would rise to. [279]

“You see,” he would begin, pointing, “he is one of the uncles!”


And apparently there are always two, paternal and maternal, I suppose. The
uncle is the great man of the Hopi family. The father does not amount to much—
he can be divorced in a jiffy and, while the mother is the household boss, she is
always dominated by the grandmother, if living, and dictated to by the uncle in
matters concerning alliances with other families. Perhaps one should call him a
social arbiter. He has a great deal to say about weddings, marriage portions,
and the like. Whenever I have watched the clowns at these smaller dances, and
have asked their rôles in the play, invariably they have been of the uncles.
Perhaps the Hopi in this manner square themselves at the expense of the family
martinet.

I could not see that there was anything to cause suspicion of evil in this little
scene. In old Navajo dances the clowns would often engage in dialogue that
interpreters feared to translate. This is the charge too against the clowns of
certain Pueblo and Zuni dances; and the clowns of the Hopi have been known to
indulge in antics that were not elevating. I cannot bring myself to believe,
however, that the clowns of the Dolls’ Dance were relating anything other than
crude witticisms, for the little children laughed as loudly as the others, and it
seemed sheer fooling. Had a slapstick been in evidence, I should have been
sure of the nature of the proceedings; but the Indians have not developed
exactly this form of humor.

Then the dancers filed out, up the ladder, and away.

“They go to another kiva,” said my companion.

And almost immediately came another and different set of fun-makers. They
took the centre of the kiva and [280]soon had all laughing at similar jokes and
grimaces. So, I thought, the old tiresome reel over again, to be continued
throughout the night. For I had seen this dancing in relays last an entire day,
only stopping for hasty meals and new costumes or make-up, and to one who
does not understand the differences in scenes it becomes an intense boredom.
As I once heard a man remark: “They are three days making ready for one day’s
dancing, and the rest of the week getting over it.” This critic was not too severe,
for there is much to be said about the time lost in Hopi spectacles, when one is
seriously engaged in thrusting them along the pathway of progress. I arose and
was about to depart; but my interpreter pulled me down.

“Wait!” he urged. “They will put out the lights.”


This time the dancers did not leave the kiva. One of them came to the lamp just
above me, and at a signal all the lights were dimmed. The kiva was in thick
darkness. One could hear childish sighs of expectation. Perhaps the lights were
off for thirty seconds, although it did not seem so long. Then they flared up, to
reveal a curious little scene that had been constructed in the dark. I had not
noticed that the dancers packed anything in with them. The setting may have
been in that crowded kiva all the time; but where had it been concealed?

At any rate, it was a queer little show, quite like that of our old friend Punch.
There was a painted screen of several panels, and in the centre ones were two
dolls, fashioned to represent Hopi maidens. Before each was the corn-grinding
metate. And farther extended on the floor before them and their stone tubs was
a miniature cornfield—the sand, and the furrows, and the hills of tiny plants.

Hardly had the first sigh of pleased surprise from the children died away, when,
even to my astonishment, the [281]dolls became animated, and with odd life-like
motions began to grind corn, just as the women grind daily in the houses of the
villages, crushing the hard grain between the stone surfaces of the metate and
the mano. These mannequins worked industriously, and with movements not at
all mechanical. Then a little bird fluttered along the top of the screen, piping and
whistling. Shrills of delight from the youngsters, to be followed by audible gasps,
for from a side panel came twisting a long snake, to dart among the corn hills of
the scenic field, and then to retreat backward through the hole from which it had
appeared. These actions followed each other in quick succession. The fellow
behind the screen was quite skillful in working his marionettes for the delight of
those children of the tribe.

Perhaps in all this there was some deep-laid symbolism, checking rigidly with
the North Star and the corn harvests of the past and future. Perhaps it was a
primitive object-lesson, to encourage thrift and industry as a bulwark against
famine. But if you ask me, I saw in it exactly a repetition of the district
schoolhouse or the country chapel at holiday time, when Cousin Elmer obliges
with a droll exhibition of whiskers and sleighbells and cotton snowflakes.
Sometimes the Hopi at these festivals for children give them presents too, and a
handful of piki-bread bestowed by a clown, however bizarre his facial
appearance, has all the gift-wonder of our childhood Santa Claus and his
treasure-pack.
Touch gently! They—all children will be gone soon enough. A little while and you
can rest from anæmic policies and sophist sermons. The Desert will be lonely
without its simple shepherds and their simple customs. Those who strain to
inherit it, through legislation, will [282]pack with them no poetry and attract no
culture. Great cattle- and sheep-camps, monopolies, grimy oil-rigs, and yawning
coal-drifts will mar the Desert. A few old books, a few paintings,—their creators
gone, too,—will picture what you once possessed, and experimented with, and
auctioned off. For one Shelton, discredited perhaps by a clamor of
sanctimonious mediocrity, you have entrusted these people and their empire to
twenty Bumbles. Twice you have sought to partition their community life, to
make swift the end, to hasten the advent of the speculator who follows estates
and bids for the possessions of the dead. At length,—because at length you will
succeed in selling the desert heritage,—there will be only the museum case, and
dust, and a ticket.

The days of approach to a major celebration in the Desert, such as the Snake
Dance, were passed in a ferment of preparation and a stew of unrest. All
employees would be imposed on in one way or another. Some would be called
on to act as stewards, others would surrender their quarters to house
unappreciative idlers. And certainly the men would have to drag cars from
muddy sloughs, ferry them across dangerous washes, repair them when broken,
and perhaps by main strength push some into havens of rest. Certain camps
would have to be arranged, and some supplied. No! we did not welcome these
extra duties, so often repaid with meagre thanks.

But we did enjoy meeting cordial people, both neighbors and visitors, who,
catching the holiday freedom of the moment, invigorated by the tonic of the fresh
desert air, gave us entertainment of a kind that was relief from long monotonies.
Photo. by Emri Kopte
THE ENCHANTED DESERT AND THE MOQUI BUTTES, SEEN FROM THE PUEBLO OF
WALPI

The Snake Dance ends very close to sunset. The [283]crowds leave the mesa-
top, down the trails afoot or mule-back, down the rocky roads in rough wagons,
a scrambling multitude. The sun is gilding the western walls of First Mesa,
throwing the east-side roads and trails in shadow, and above, the ruined crest of
the headland loom black in a gorgeous halo. The farther eastern valley is bathed
in a strange lemon light. The far-away northern capes gleam luminously in
scarlet and gold, and then suddenly are gone. Huh-kwat-we, the Terrace of the
Winds, pales in lavender and grayish green. Twilight, with its mysterious desert
hush, steals over Hopi-land. Something has been fulfilled in accordance with an
ancient prophecy. The desert gods have been appeased.

Soon it is dark, and stars appear as vesper candles. And then, all about the foot
of the great fortress-like mesa, lighting the sand dunes, gleaming warmly
through the peach trees, grow camp-fires. Where is usually a heavy silence at
evening, broken only by sheep bells, now one hears laughter, many voices, the
sound of the chef at work; and the smell of cooking rises. Coffee and bacon,
desert fare, spread their aroma, and a ravenous hunger comes to one. Here is a
tiny group about a tented auto, there amid horses and harness and camp
dunnage are thirty around one board. “Come and get it!”

I recall incidents of my introduction to these scenes. Armijo, the trader’s relative,


had brought his treasured violin. I heard its tones from the trail, and when I came
to Hubbell’s camp, there a group of them, musicians of the posts, were making
ready to match their skill against the melody that tourists bring. Supper put away,
the concert began.

“How do you like this?” asked the master of the bow, and as he swept the
strings, that saddest of memory songs [284]cried poignantly, a song fit for a
desert night and a desert camp: La Golondrina! Such harmonies of double-
stopping I had seldom heard. It seemed to me—or was it desert magic?—that
Kreisler could do no more. Silence. And then applause from fifty camps.

And Ed’s guitar. Soon the lilting airs of old fandangos would sing through the
stunted trees, and one could imagine that the long-dead children of the padres
made fiesta.

“Now, Doctor,” said someone.

“What do you play, Doctor?” I asked.

“I play the banjo,” he replied—I thought with a shade of mockery in his voice.
Now I had just heard the Spaniard’s violin sob a song that had swept a nation,
and Ed’s lightsome Mexican airs were no mean music for a summer camp.
Night, under the old trees and in the shadow of the mesa of the gods, brings the
romance of serenades, especially soothing after a long, tiresome day.

But—a banjo! That thumpety, plankety, plunkety thing! I was sorry I had spoken.
He would oblige with something to fit clogs and the levee, and the whole
atmosphere of that evening would vanish, never to return! The doctor opened a
case.

“What would you like to hear?”

That is a terrible question from a banjoist, isn’t it?

“Well—what do you play?”


“Oh! the—anything—popular classic stuff. Now there’s the Melody in F or
Mendelssohn’s Spring Song, Schubert’s Serenade, the Fifth Nocturne—”

“Great God!” I cried. “On a banjo!”

I think he pulled this little joke on all strangers, for, after allowing it thoroughly to
soak in, he brought that wonder instrument closer to the fire and began
strumming [285]the strings of it until its resonant cadences hushed all the noises
of the camps. Then, softly through the grove, sounded the Melody in F, in organ
tones.

Of course you will perceive that I am no musician and no critic. I have not the
ear of the one, nor the language of the other. I am simply one of those who like
to hear what I like—hopeless. The Andante from the Sonata Pathétique haunted
and eluded me for years and, but for a wandering pianist disguised as an
investigator, I might have classed it with a dream. Sordid duties dull one to
accept coarser things on a phonograph.

“Yes,” said the doctor, “I have played through the East and on Canadian circuits,
but I don’t care for the stage. I took up concert work, traveling with glee clubs
and orchestras, but that wasn’t much better. Hurried life. I like the quiet places.”

And he was a doctor in the Indian Service!

Someone called: “Play it again!” And he played it again—on a banjo!

Down under the hill were camped a bunch of troubadours that once had trooped
with a second company, passing as the Original New York Cast. By the light of a
lantern they played accompaniments on an old melodeon, dragged from the
schoolhouse. A rousing chorus, and then a tenor voice: the Irish Love Song.
Followed a roar of applause that brought drowsy Indians to the mesa edge.
Strange Americanos! Strange Bohannas, who mock at drums and chanting, and
who then make such queer music and many cries.

And by midnight the fires would die down, one by one, to mere glows. The
pueblo lights, high up along the mesa cornice, would be blotted out. Beyond the
camps, only the sound of horses munching, the bray of a desert [286]nightingale
from the upper corrals, or the canter of a mounted policeman through the sand,
as he gave a last look around before rolling in his blanket. Then silence under
the dark star-strewn sky, a tranquil desert silence, to be broken, perhaps—who
knows?—by ghostly sandals, as the padre walked to see that curious company,
asleep in his one-time garden, guests of a pagan feast. [287]
[Contents]
XXII
ON THE HEELS OF ADVENTURE
I have lived both at the Hawes and Burford in a perpetual
flutter, on the heels, as it seems, of some adventure that
should justify the place; but though the feeling had me to
bed at night and called me up again at morning in one
unbroken round of pleasure and suspense, nothing befell
me in either worth remark. The man or the hour had not
yet come; but some day, I think, a boat shall put off from
the Queen’s Ferry, fraught with a dear cargo, and some
frosty night a horseman, on a tragic errand, rattle with his
whip upon the green shutters of the inn at Burford.—
Stevenson: A Gossip on Romance

Adventure! The Standard Dictionary divides it, like Gaul, into three parts,
peculiarly interrelated, yet thinly divisible from each other:—(1) A remarkable or
hazardous experience; an unexpected or exciting occurrence. (2) A hazardous
or uncertain undertaking; a daring feat. (3) The encountering of risks; daring and
hazardous enterprise.

And the writing of it has come to signify swift dramatic action, having a spirited
and triumphant finale.

But life in the Desert,—for that matter, life anywhere,—does not advance to a
whiplash conclusion. One may not dismiss unwelcome characters simply
because convenience or stark justice demands Finis. Despite taut emotions and
unsavory possibilities, they go on living and muddling up the action; and the sun
rises, and to-morrow is another day. My personal experiences among the
Indians in the lonely places have not been [288]exactly hazardous or desperately
daring from my point of view, indeed, not half so venturesome as nights I have
spent in New York. One will have to accept these reminiscences as simply
unusual and I hope not uninteresting happenings, with what of thrill they may
inspire. Would you insist that I lug in ghosts or bandits? Should I stage a
massacre? Perhaps I could contrive to have Youkeoma abduct the trader’s
daughter, and arrange a nick-of-time rescue by the cavalry. But Youkeoma was
interested in ceremonies only, as he told me, and the trader had no daughter. I
should therefore libel a sincere pagan and a bachelor business-man.
Now it strikes me that there is more of nervous drama in Colonel Scott’s going
alone into a half-hostile camp, facing down a band of sullen fellows, and coming
out with obedience to his decisions. It strikes me, too, that in these desert camps
that have known so little of discipline, with no force in the offing and no hope of
one, is the real drama of an Agent’s life. I can relate my kind of thrill, but there
will be little of dramatic conclusions. Nothing of wild rides, and pursuits, and
ambuscades; nothing of foiled villains, and certainly nothing of beautiful maidens
in distress. This last the Indian Service does not invite, and if accidentally
acquired does not long retain.

The nearest to that sort of adventure I ever came was in meeting the mail-hack
one cold sunset, far from the Agency. It was driven by a half-frozen Mexican who
could speak no English beyond: “Buenas dias, señor. Mucho frio. No savvy.”

There was a pleasing young woman with him, who said she was a teacher,
ordered to report to the Agent at Keams Cañon. Our meeting-place was about
thirty miles from the last post-house, and quite ninety miles from the [289]railroad.
I can imagine how strange and timid one feels under such conditions. It had
been a bleak day, and a keen night was coming on. My auto would reach the
Agency hours before those two weary bronks could plod in; so I introduced
myself, and said she would travel quicker to the Agency with me. She looked me
over: dingy hat, rusty puttees, red nose, everything—and decided to remain with
the voluble Mexican.

I can remember leaving Chin Lee one winter’s night, black shadows on the
snow-covered desert and a razor-edged wind coming straight out of that huge
funnel, Cañon de Chelly, to go seventy-five miles to Kayenta, the most isolated
post-office and trading-post in the United States. I had been bluffed into it by my
friend, the Water-Witch, who wanted to save the morrow’s daylight.

“Can you stand an all-night hike?” he asked, solicitously. “Sing out if you can’t.
There’s a good bed here, and—”

“I’m game for it, if you are,” I said, but without enthusiasm.

The engine of his emaciated Ford clucked, and the snow crunched under its
wheels. For the first hour a brisk conversation kept us illuminated and fairly
warm. Then it grew deadly cold, with that relentless, piercing cold to be
experienced only at night in those cruelly bleak, windswept, desert wastes. I bit
down on my pipe to prevent my teeth castanetting. I felt of my face to be sure it

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