The Delight Makers

by Adolph Francis Alphonse Bandelier

  CHAPTER X.

  At the time of which we are speaking, the chief civil officer of thetribe at the Rito,--its tapop, or as he is now called, governor,--was anIndian whose name was Hoshkanyi Tihua.

  Hoshkanyi Tihua was a man of small stature; his head was nearly round,or rather pear-shaped, for the lower jaw appeared to be broader than theforehead. The lips were thin and the mouth firmly set, the nose smalland aquiline. The eyes had usually a pleasant expression, but when thelittle man got excited they sparkled in a manner that denoted not merelyan irascible temper, but a disposition to become extremely venomous inspeech and utterance. Hoshkanyi Tihua was nimble, and a good hunter. Heseldom returned from a hunt without a supply of game. On such occasionshe was always suitably welcomed by his wife, who suffered him to skinthe animal and cut up the body. When that was performed she allowed herhusband to go to rest, but not before; for Koay, Hoshkanyi's wife, wasnot so much his companion in life as his home-tyrant; and howevervaliant the little fellow might try to appear outside of his home, onceunder the immediate influence of that home's particular mistress hebecame as meek as a lamb. Koay was an unusually tall woman for anIndian,--she overtopped her husband by nearly a head; and the result ofthis anomalous difference in size was that Hoshkanyi felt very muchafraid of her. Koay had a temper of her own, besides, which temper sheoccasionally displayed at the expense of the little tapop's bodilycomfort. Among the Pueblo Indians the wife is by no means the slave onlyof the lord of creation.

  Koshkanyi had somehow or other acquired the reputation of being anexperienced warrior. Whether he really deserved that reputation or notwas never accurately ascertained. At all events, he was the luckypossessor of one scalp, and that gave him prestige. There is no doubtthat he acquired the trophy in a legitimate way; that is, he had notstolen it. Once upon a time a war-party of Navajos infested the avenuesto the Rito. They succeeded in killing a defenceless Indian, who hadwandered from the bottom of the gorge, and whom they found on the mesassomewhere wending his way back to the homes of his tribe. After the factbecame known, a party went out to take revenge, and it so happened thatthere was deep snow, and the murderers could easily be trailed. On thetop of what to-day is called the Potrero Viejo the avengers surprisedthe Navajos fast asleep. It was bitterly cold, and evil tongues affirmedthat the Navajo whose scalp Hoshkanyi Tihua brought home had been frozento death previous to the arrival of the hero from the Tyuonyi. Howeverthat may be, our governor returned with one scalp; and he was declaredto be manslayer, and henceforth counted among the influential braves ofhis community.

  Hoshkanyi Tihua was by no means silly. He possessed the valuable facultyof keeping his mouth closed and of holding his tongue undercircumstances when it would be disadvantageous to him to speak. Thisfaculty had been inculcated after long and earnest training by his greatwife. Whenever there was no danger, Hoshkanyi proved very outspoken; butas soon as there was the slightest sign of active opposition he becameextremely wise, and shrouded his views in a cloud of dignified gravity.

  In addition to these qualities Hoshkanyi was the happy owner of anunlimited amount of personal vanity. His ambition had no definiteobject, provided some external authority was associated with his person.After having for a long time fulfilled the rather insignificant officeof assistant to the governor of the tribe, his ambition at last becamegratified with the announcement that after the governor's demise theHotshanyi, or chief penitent, and his associates had designated him asthe incumbent of the office. So Hoshkanyi Tihua rose suddenly to therank of one of the chief dignitaries of his commonwealth.

  The choice thus made by the religious heads of the Queres did notsatisfy everybody, but everybody was convinced that Those Above hadspoken through the mediums to whose care the relations between mankindand the higher powers were specially committed. Everybody thereforeaccepted the nomination, and the council confirmed it at once. Themajority of the clans opposed Hoshkanyi because he belonged to theTurquoise people, who were rendering themselves obnoxious to many bypretensions which they upheld by means of their number, and by theirconnection with the leader of the Koshare. The Turquoise clan wasbeginning to assert in tribal affairs an unusual influence,--one thatreally amounted to a pressure. Tyame and Tanyi particularly felt thisgrowing power of Shyuamo at the expense of their influence. Of all theless numerous groups, Tzitz hanutsh was almost the only one who took theside of Tanyi under all circumstances, and this was due exclusively tothe fact that the marriage of Zashue with Say Koitza bound the two clanstogether. Topanashka himself was a member of the Eagle clan, and throughhim the Water clan, feeble in numbers, enjoyed the support not only ofTanyi but also of Tyame hanutsh.

  In proposing for the vacant position of tapop a member of the Turquoisepeople, the chief penitents had in a measure acted discreetly. Theycertainly acted very impartially, or they considered that already oneimportant office,--the office of maseua, or war-captain,--was held by amember of one of the most numerous hanutsh, Tyame. It appeared unwise tothem to refuse to as large a cluster as Shyuamo an adequaterepresentation in the executive powers of the community. So they choseHoshkanyi, as a member of the Turquoise clan, and proposed him for theoffice of tapop, or civil chief. That more opposition was not made tothis selection was due to two facts,--first, to the tacit acknowledgmenton the part of all that it seemed fair to give Shyuamo a share in thetribal government, and second, to the equally tacit conviction thatHoshkanyi, while in appearance a man of determination and perspicacity,was in fact but a pompous and weak individual, ambitious and vain, andwithout the faculty of doing harm. In both these points public opinionat the Rito was right.

  It will be seen from what has been said that there prevailed a strongdesire on the part of the chief religious authorities to preserve acertain equilibrium between the components of the tribe. That anxiety tomaintain an even balance of power was in itself evidence of danger thatthis equilibrium might be disturbed. The great penitents,--or as theyare erroneously called to-day, caciques,--had not and could not have anyclear conception of the condition of affairs in the government of theirpeople. Men old, even prematurely old from the effects of the life ofconstant abnegation and self-sacrifice to which they had to resignthemselves, excluded from listening to anything that was or mightindicate strife and contention, they knew not what was going on undercover of apparent harmony. Theoretically and from the standpoint oftheir duty, which consisted in praying and suffering for the peace andhappiness of the community, and thus securing these boons by means ofmore direct intercourse with Those Above, their choice was excellent.Practically, it was the most dangerous step that could have beensuggested and carried out.

  They did not consider that instead of giving to Shyuamo a legitimateshare in the government of the tribe, they virtually gave the Turquoisepeople a majority. For the latter had already two representatives ofgreat influence. Tyope was delegate to the council, where he representedhis clan; and the Koshare Naua, who also was a member of Shyuamo, notonly belonged to the leading councilmen but was one of the religiousheads! By adding Hoshkanyi as tapop it gave the Turquoise clan an unfairpreponderance. For while Hoshkanyi was a weak man,--while he wasmortally afraid of his inflexibly honest colleague, the maseuaTopanashka, he was dependent upon Tyope and upon the chief of theDelight Makers, because both belonged to his clan. He very soon began todisplay an utter flexibility to the desires of the two last-mentionedindividuals, to the disadvantage of those who did not coincide withtheir views.

  This marked preponderance of Shyuamo in tribal affairs arousedapprehensions on the part of the other strong clans; it also caused thegreater number of the weaker clusters to gravitate toward the growingelement of power held by the Turquoise people. A schism was slowly andimperceptibly preparing itself among the people of the Rito. That schismwas not the work of circumstances, it was being systematically preparedby two crafty men,--Tyope and the Koshare Naua.

  Juanico: A member of the modern village-council]

  In working at such a division these two men had in view we
ll-definedobjects. Their aim in itself was not absolutely illegitimate, since itforeshadowed what would be an inevitable necessity in the course oftime. What rendered their doings reprehensible and positively odiouswere the means employed to hasten events. Their object was nothing lessthan to expel a part of the people, for the exclusive benefit of theremainder.

  The extent of land that can be cultivated in the gorge of the Rito issmall, and the tribe was growing in numbers. The time was sure to comewhen the crops would no longer be adequate for all. Furthermore, apositive danger threatened the people in their dwellings. The rock,being extremely friable, crumbled constantly; and now and then inhabitedcaves were falling a prey to the wear and tear of the material in whichthey had been excavated. As this slow decay was sure to continue, it waslogical to expect that room must be found for the houseless outside.Already the Corn clan had been compelled to build a house in the bottomof the valley. All this further tended to curtail the space foragriculture, and rendered a diminution of numbers prospectivelyimperative.

  These facts had been recognized by Tyope, and he had talked with theKoshare Naua about them for some time past. They were the only personswho had thought of them, not so much deploring the necessity arisingtherefrom in the future as hailing them as welcome pretexts for theirimmediate personal aims. Neither Tyope nor the Naua had such highambition as to aspire to a change of the basis of social organization.Neither of them had any conception of government but what was purelytribal, but they both aspired to offices and dignities such as tribalorganization alone knows. These seemed unattainable for them as long asthere were other powerful clans at the Rito besides their own, whereasin case some of the former were expelled, it would leave vacant and attheir disposal the positions which they coveted.

  Tyope, for instance, looked forward to the dignity of head war-chief,or maseua; but as long as Topanashka lived he saw no chance for himself.He therefore concocted with the young Navajo the sinister plan ofmurdering the old man. It was even uncertain, in presence of the twopowerful clans of Tanyi and Tyame, whether after the death of Topanashkait would be possible for him to secure the succession. For the chiefpenitents, who selected officially the new incumbent, while they were inno manner accessible to outside influence, might consider the generaltendency of affairs, and for the same reasons that they chose HoshkanyiTihua for tapop might determine upon appointing some member of Tanyi orTyame as maseua. Tyope had foreseen such a contingency, and hadtherefore suggested to Nacaytzusle the propriety of converting theisolated murder into a butchery of the adult men as far as possible. Hissuggestion to surprise the Rito while the Koshare were at work in theirestufa had a double aim,--in the first place it made it less dangerousfor the Navajos, in the second it appointed a time when most of the menof the Turquoise clan were out of reach of an enemy. The blow must thenfall upon the males of other clans, for the majority of the Koshare werefrom the people of Shyuamo. This plan was out of the question since thenight when his negotiations with Nacaytzusle had come to such adisastrous termination. But Tyope had laid his wires in other directionsalso. Seeing that he could not reduce the numbers of the tribe by onefell blow, or that at least his endeavours might not succeed, he wasdevising in his peculiar underhand way means to create a disunion, andtrying to secure for the time of the crisis a commanding position forhis own clan.

  As he could never have attempted all this alone, he needed an associate,an accomplice. That accomplice he readily found in the old Koshare Naua.In the same manner that Tyope aspired to the position of war-chief, thechief of the Delight Makers was coveting the rank of leading shaman, ormedicine-man. Not the dignity of cacique,--for that position entailedtoo many personal sacrifices, and carried with it a life of seclusionand retirement that presented no redeeming features,--but the office ofhishtanyi chayan, or principal medicine-man, was what the Naua desiredto obtain. That position did not entail greater privations than the onewhich the old schemer occupied, but it secured for its incumbent muchgreater sway over the people, and placed him in the position to exert adegree of influence which was beyond the pale of Koshare magic. The Nauawas working toward his end by ways and with means different from thoseemployed by Tyope. His machinations were directed against the religiousheads of the tribe, and he persisted in securing for the society ofDelight Makers a prominence that lay outside of their real attributes.Therefore Hayoue did not speak amiss when, in his interview with Okoya,he accused the Koshare, and principally their leader, of attempting tousurp functions and rights belonging properly to the main officialshamans, and thus secure for themselves undue advantages.

  Tyope and the old Naua had found each other, in accordance with theproverb about birds of a feather. Their understanding was perfect,although it had been brought about gradually and without the formalityof a conspiracy. Each worked in his own line and with his own means, andneither had any thought of going beyond what the tribal organizationcould give them. There was no idea of revolutionizing or even reformingthe organization. Had one of them entertained such a thought the otherwould have become his bitterest enemy, for both were deeply imbued withthe principles on which rested the existence of the society in whichthey had been born. All they aspired to was to eliminate a certainnumber of men or people, in order to secure with greater ease certainadvantages. It was the survival of the fittest, as primitive societyunderstands it and as refined society attempts to enact, though withmore refined means.

  The stumbling-blocks in the path of these intriguers were the chiefpenitents,--the cacique, or as their titles run, the Hotshanyi, orprincipal cacique, and his two assistants, the uishtyaka and theshaykatze. These men, selected for the purpose of doing penance for alland thus obtaining readier access to the ear of the immortal ones, werethe official keepers of peace among the tribe. For the Indian feels thata house divided against itself cannot stand, and that the maintenance ofharmony through a constant appeal to the higher powers is the mostimportant feature in the life of his tribe. To discredit in an underhandway the caciques was the special aim of the Koshare Naua, and to directthe eyes of the people to his own achievements in religious magic,--inone word to place the power of the Koshare and their specific medicineon a higher plane than all that the official penitents might achieve. Todo this was a very slow piece of work, and it had to be brought about insuch a manner that nobody could suspect his object. But both Tyope andthe aged scoundrel were working their plans with the utmost caution, andthe religious heads of the tribe had not the slightest suspicion of whatwas going on against them.

  The Tyuonyi, therefore, was quiet on the surface, but there wereoccasional ripples of that placid brook which earnest and thoughtfulobservers could not fail to notice. Hayoue, although very young, was oneof these observers; but none saw more and penetrated deeper into thereal state of affairs than Topanashka. He and the Hishtanyi Chayan, whoto some extent was his trusty friend, felt that a tempest was coming.Both saw that the disturbing powers were rooted in the society of theKoshare, that Tyope and the Naua must be the leading spirits. But howand to what ultimate end the machinations were intended escaped theirpenetration. For the same reason they could not come actively to therelief of the situation, as no overt action had as yet been committedwhich would justify an official movement against the conspirators.

  Topanashka had for several days been keeping the informal fast uponwhich he had determined for the benefit of his grandson's wooing. It wasa warm, pleasant afternoon. Since the rain which followed upon the ayashtyucotz the sky had been blue again as before; the season for dailyshowers had not yet commenced, and the people were in the corn-patchesas busy as possible, improving the bright days in weeding and puttingthe ground in order. The bottom of the gorge therefore presented anactive appearance. Men and women moved about the houses, in and out ofthe cave-dwellings, and in the fields. From the tasselled corn that grewin these plots a tall figure emerged; it was Topanashka himself, and hedirected his steps toward the cliffs at the lower end, where theTurquoise people dwelt. The old man moved as usual with a
silent,measured step which would have appeared stately had not his head leanedforward. He was clad in a wrap of unbleached cotton, and a leather beltgirded his loins. Around his neck a string of crystals of feldspar wasnegligently thrown; and a fetich of white alabaster, representing rudelythe form of a panther, depended from the necklace hanging upon hisbreast.

  The people of the Turquoise or Shyuamo resided on the lower range ofcliffs, and formed the most easterly group of cave-dwellings on theRito. Here the rocks are no longer absolutely perpendicular; they formsteps; and the slope leading to them is overgrown with shrubbery,except where erosive action of wind, as well as of water or frost, hasscooped out strange formations in advance of the main wall. Theseerosions are mostly regular cones, tent-shaped, between and behind whichopen chasms and deep rents like the one above which, as we recollect,lies the estufa of the Koshare. Topanashka walked toward the upper partof the cluster of dwellings of Shyuamo, where the ascending slope wassparsely covered with brush. In front of one of the caves sat a woman.She was unusually tall for an Indian, and neither young nor old. Sheappeared to be busy extracting the filaments from shrivelled leaves ofthe yucca, which had been dried by roasting, and afterward had beenburied to allow the texture to decay. So engrossed was the woman by hertask that only when the old man stood by her side, and asked, "Where isthe tapop?" did she notice his presence.

  Koay, for it was she, the towering consort of the governor of theTyuonyi, did not condescend to reply in words to the inquiry of thewar-captain. She resorted to a lazy pantomime by gathering her two lipsto a snout-like projection and thrusting this protuberance forward inthe direction of the doorway before which she was squatting. Then sheresumed her occupation.

  The visitor paid no further attention to the uncivil woman. He passed infront of her unceremoniously, and entered the cave. The apartment waslike those we have previously described, with the single difference thatit was better lighted, somewhat larger, and that the household effectsscattered and hung around were of a different character. Implements ofwarfare,--a bow and a quiver with arrows, a shield--convex and paintedred, with a yellow disk, and several green lines in the centre,--weresuspended from the wall. The niches contained small vessels of burntclay and a few plume-sticks. A low doorway led from this room intoanother, and beyond that there was even a third cell, so that HoshkanyiTihua, the civil chief of the Queres, enjoyed the luxury of occupyingthree apartments.

  Still this was not the dwelling which he commonly inhabited. His wifedescended from the Bear clan; and her home, and consequently his also,was higher up the gorge, among the caves belonging to the people of theBear. But as his father had recently departed this life, and his motherwas left alone, she had begged her only son to remain with her until oneor the other of her brothers or sisters might be ready to take her incharge, either by moving into her abode or by her going to them.Hoshkanyi, therefore, had temporarily gone to live with his mother, buthis portly consort was careful not to let him go alone. They had nochildren, and she felt constrained to keep an eye upon the little man.

  In the room which Topanashka had entered, his executive colleague wassitting on a round piece of wood, a low upright cylinder, whose uppersurface was slightly hollowed out. Such were the chairs of the Pueblosin olden times. With the exception of that well-known garment peculiarto Indians and babies, and called breech-clout, the governor's manlyform was not concealed by any vestment whatever. But while he evidentlythought that at home the necessities of costume might be dispensed with,he had not abandoned the luxuries of ornamentation. He wore on his nakedbody a necklace of wolves' teeth, ear pendants of black and greenstones, and wristbands of red leather. The latter he carried in order torelieve his heart, still heavy under the severe blow that he hadexperienced through the death of his father.

  The tapop was also at work. By means of the well-known fire-drill he wasattempting to perforate a diminutive shell disk and thus transform itinto the shell bead so essential to the Indian. So intent was he uponthis arduous task that he failed to notice the coming of Topanashka; andthe latter stood beside him for a little while, an impassive observer.At last Hoshkanyi Tihua looked up, and the visitor said to him,--

  "Umo, you have sent for me and I have come. But if you are engaged, orhave no time now, I do not mind returning again."

  There was a decided irony in the manner in which the old man utteredthese words, and Hoskanyi felt it. He rose quickly, gathered a fewrobes, and spread them on the ground. In short he was as pleasant andaccommodating, all at once, as he and his wife had been careless in thebeginning. Topanashka settled down on the hides, and in the meantime thewoman also entered the room and quite unceremoniously squatted besidethe men. Hoshkanyi said to her,--

  "We have to talk together, the maseua and I." He fastened on his spousea look timid and imploring; it was plain that he did not venture to sendher out directly,--that he was afraid of her. Koay looked at himcarelessly, and said in a very cool manner,--

  "I want to hear that talk."

  "But I will not allow it," interposed Topanashka; and his cold, piercingeye rested on the woman's face. She cast hers to the ground, and heproceeded,--

  "As long as you are here, the tapop and I cannot speak."

  She lifted her head angrily, with the manifest intention of rebelling,but as soon as her eyes met the cold, determined glance of thewar-chief, she felt a chill, rose, and left the room. Hoshkanyi Tihuadrew a sigh of relief; he was grateful to his visitor for having sosummarily despatched his formidable spouse. Then he said,--

  "Umo, I have sent for you because a speech has been spoken here in thishouse, which belongs to my mother. That speech may be good and it maynot be good, and I cared not to tell my thoughts until I had spoken toyou, nashtio. The matters of which it treated belong before the council,but I do not know whether to say to you, the nashtio of the Zaashtesh,Call them together, or not." He was manifestly troubled, and fastened anuncertain glance upon the face of the other.

  Topanashka very composedly answered,--

  "You are as wise as I, umo; you know what your duties are. Whenever yousay to me, Go and call together the council, I shall do it. If you donot tell me to do so, I shall not."

  Hoshkanyi moved in his seat; the reply did not suit him. After somehesitation he continued,--

  "I know, father, that you do as the customs of the Zaashteshrequire,"--he held himself erect with an attempt at pride, for he feltthat in the present instance his personality and word representedcustoms which were law,--"but I do not know that I shall tell you so ornot. Do you understand me, umo?"

  "I understand your words, Tapop, but you know that I have only to act,whereas it is your office to speak."

  The cool reply exasperated the little man. He retorted sharply,--

  "And yet you have often spoken in the council, when your hanutsh wantedsomething!"

  Topanashka lifted his eyes and gazed fully, calmly, at the other; heeven suppressed a smile.

  "Then it is your hanutsh, Shyuamo, that wants something this time?"

  Hoshkanyi felt, as the saying is, very cheap. His secret was out; andhis plan to obtain an expression of opinion from the maseua ere he cameto a conclusion himself, a total failure. The latter added in adeprecating way,--

  "If you do not know what to do, ask the Hotshanyi. He will give you goodadvice." This was just what the governor wished to avoid, but he knewthat when Topanashka had once expressed his opinion it was useless toattempt to dissuade him.

  After an interval of silence the civil chief looked up and said,--

  "Come, let us go to the Hotshanyi."

  Topanashka thought over this proposal for a moment. "It is well," he atlast assented; "I will go." With this he rose. The governor rose also,but was so embarrassed and excited that he would have run out as he was,in almost complete undress, had not the maseua reminded him by saying,--

  "Remember that we are going to the Shiuana," adding, "take some mealalong."

  "Have you any with you?" inquired Hoshkanyi, wit
h a venomous look. Theother responded quietly,--

  "I do not need any. You are seeking their advice, not I." That settledthe matter.

  As both went out, Koay, who had been sitting as close by the doorway aspossible, snappishly asked her husband,--

  "Where are you going, hachshtze?"

  Topanashka took the trouble of satisfying her curiosity by drylyanswering,--

  "About our own business." The icy look with which he accompanied hisretort subdued the woman.

  The Hotshanyi, or chief penitent, lived with the people of thePrairie-wolf clan. His abode consisted of two caves on the lower and oneon the upper tier. The two officers of the tribe wandered slowly alongthe cliffs, past the abodes of the Sun clan, Topanashka walking asusual,--erect, with his head bent slightly forward,--Hoshkanyi with apompous air, glad to display himself in company with his much morerespected colleague, to whom all the pleasant greetings which the tworeceived on their peregrination were really directed. When they reachedthe cave wherein the cacique resided, Hoshkanyi entered first.

  Close to the fireplace, which was one of those primitive chimneys likethe one we have seen in the home of Shotaye, an old man was seated onthe floor. His age was certainly greater than Topanashka's; he was ofmiddle height, lean and even emaciated. His eyes were dim, and hereceived the greetings of his visitors with an air of indifference ortimidity; it was difficult to determine which. Pointing to the floor hesaid,--

  "What brings you to my house, children!" and he coughed a hollow, hecticcough.

  The tapop began,--

  "We wish--"

  "Do not say we," the maseua corrected him, "you wish, not I."

  Hoshkanyi bit his lips and began anew,--

  "I and my brother here have come because I want to ask you something.But if you are at work, grandfather, then we will go."

  "I am not working, sa uishe," said the cacique. "Speak; I listen. Whatis it you wish?"

  "Can I see the kopishtai?" Hoshkanyi whispered anxiously.

  The eyes of the Hotshanyi brightened. His look suddenly became clear andfirm. With surprising alacrity he rose, as if he had become younger atonce. His whole figure, although bent, attained vigour and elasticity.Before leaving the cave he looked inquiringly at Topanashka, who onlyshook his head and said in a low tone,--

  "I have nothing to ask."

  The two left the room. The place where Those Above were thought to beaccessible to the intercession of man was the cave adjoining, but therewas no communication between the two chambers.

  Presently the cacique crept back to where they had left Topanashkaalone, and Hoshkanyi followed. The former resumed his seat by thehearth, whereas the tapop cowered in front of him. He looked anxiouslyin the old man's face, and at the same time shot an occasional quickglance over toward the maseua. In a hollow voice the Hotshanyi said,--

  "You may speak now, sa uishe; the kopishtai know that you are here."

  "Sa umo Hotshanyi," the tapop commenced, "I have listened to a speech.Things have been said to me that concern the tribe." He stopped shortand fastened his eyes on the floor.

  "This is well," the cacique said encouragingly; "you must hear what thechildren of P[=a]yatyama and Sanatyaya are doing; you are their father."

  Hoshkanyi sighed, and appeared to be much embarrassed.

  "Speak, mot[=a]tza," urged the old man.

  "I don't know what to do," the little man stuttered.

  "Have you been asked to do anything?"

  "Yes, they have--" He stopped, sighed again, and then proceeded hastilyand with an expression of anguish in his face, "Shyuamo hanutsh asksthat Tzitz hanutsh--"

  The Hotshanyi commanded him to desist.

  "Stay, stay, Hoshkanyi Tihua!" he hoarsely exclaimed. "You know that we,the mothers of the tribe, will not listen to anything that divides ourchildren among themselves or that might cause division among them. Youask for advice from me. This advice you shall receive, but only onthings that I can know of and which I dare to hear. If you speak to meof strife and dispute, I shall not listen to it. Speak of yourself, notof others."

  Topanashka was an attentive listener, but not a muscle in his facemoved; whereas the little tapop was manifestly in great trouble. Hecoughed, hemmed and hawed, twisted his body, moved uneasily in his seat,and at last continued in a faltering manner,--

  "I do not know whether or not I ought to call the council together."

  "Were you asked to do it?"

  "Yes."

  "Then you must do it; it is your duty," replied the Hotshanyi. He spokeimperatively, and with remarkable dignity of manner. Thus the firstpoint was settled. And the tapop with growing uneasiness proceeded tohis next.

  "It has been said to me that I should send my brother here," pointing atTopanashka, "to call together the fathers. Now is it well to do so, orshall I send the assistant civil chieftain to the men?" Hoshkanyi spokelike a schoolboy who was delivering a disagreeable message.

  The matter in itself seemed of no consequence at all, but the manner inwhich the governor spoke and acted looked extremely suspicious. Both ofhis listeners became attentive; the cacique displayed no signs ofsurprise, but he looked at the speaker fixedly, and inquired of him,speaking very slowly,--

  "Is my brother the maseua willing to go?"

  "I have not asked him as yet."

  "Then ask him," sternly commanded the old man.

  Almost trembling, the tapop turned to Topanashka, who was sittingimmovable, with lips firmly set and sparkling eyes.

  "Will you call the council together, nashtio?"

  "No!" exclaimed the maseua.

  "You have heard what your brother says," coldly proceeded the cacique;"you know now what you are to do. My brother will not go, and you canonly command him if the council orders you to do so. Therefore send theassistant; he is your messenger. Do your duty and nothing else, for itis not good to attempt anything new unless P[=a]yatyama has sodirected." The words were spoken in a tone of solemn warning, and evenTopanashka was startled, for never before had he heard the Hotshanyispeak thus. The old man had always been very meek and mild in hisutterances, but now his voice sounded almost prophetic. Was he inspiredby Those Above? Did the Shiuana speak through him? Was there danger forthe tribe?

  At all events the conference had come to a close, for the cacique hadbent his head, and spoke no more.

  "Trouashatze, sa umo," said Topanashka, and left the room. Hoshkanyifollowed hurriedly. The cacique took no notice of their departure.

  When both men stood outside, Topanashka turned to the tapop coldly,asking,--

  "Are you going to call the council?"

  "I will," whined the little man.

  "For what day?"

  "I don't know yet."

  "But I want to know," sternly, almost menacingly, insisted the other. "Iwant to know, for I shall be present!"

  "Four days from now," cried Hoshkanyi, trembling.

  "What time?"

  "I don't know yet. When the moon rises," he added in despair, as thecold, determined gaze of Topanashka met his eye. Without a further wordthe war-chieftain turned and went off.

  Hoshkanyi was utterly annihilated. He had made a total failure, and ashe stood there like a child that has just been thoroughly whipped hebegan to curse the weakness that had caused him to yield to the adviceand the demands of Tyope. For it was Tyope who had brought him to actthe part in which the unfortunate governor had so disgracefully failed.Tyope, when as representative of the clan Shyuamo he asked the tapop tocall together the council for a matter wherein the Turquoise people wereinterested, had artfully told him that as one of their number it wouldbe better if the maseua would issue the call. He knew very well thatthis was an innovation; but the deceiver made it apparent that ifTopanashka should yield, and commit the desired misstep, the blame wouldof course fall upon the war-chief, and the civil chief would profit bythe other's mistake, and would gain in the opinion of the people at theexpense of the maseua.

  But Tyope, cunning as he was, had underr
ated the firmness andperspicacity of Topanashka as much as he had overrated the abilities ofHoshkanyi. As soon as the latter saw the rigidity of his colleague in amatter of duty, he felt completely at sea; he lost sight of everythingthat Tyope had recommended, tumbled from one mistake to another, andfinally exposed himself to grave suspicions. As the popular saying is,he let the cat out of the bag, and made an absolute, miserable fiasco.All this he saw clearly, and he cursed Tyope, and cursed himself forhaving become his tool. More than that, he trembled when he thought ofwhat Tyope would say, and also what his own energetic wife would callhim, and even perhaps do to him, if he went home. For Koay was sure toexact a full report of what had occurred; and to save himself, nothingremained but to tell her lies. This he finally determined upon. But toTyope he could not lie; to Tyope he must tell the truth; and then?Hoshkanyi Tihua wended his way home wrapped in thoughts of a veryunsatisfactory nature.

  While the governor of the Queres was thus agitated by unpleasantforebodings, the mind of the war-chief was not less occupied by gloomythoughts. Of all the leading men of the tribe, Topanashka saw perhapsmost clearly the sinister machinations of some of the Turquoise people.Still he had not discovered, and could not even surmise, the real objectof their intrigues. Of an intention to divide the tribe he had no idea.Personal ambition, greed, and thirst for influence was all he couldthink of; and he felt sure that they would not prevail, for to personalambition the tribal system afforded little, if any, opportunity. It wasmanifest however from what Hoshkanyi had involuntarily divulged, thatthe clan Shyuamo intended to press some claim against the small Waterclan, which besides was so distantly located from the abodes and thelands of the Turquoise that he could see no just reason for a claim. Itwas equally impossible for him to imagine the nature of the claim.Quarrels between clans are always most dangerous for the existence of atribe, for disruption and consequent weakening is likely to result fromthem. The old man felt the gravest apprehensions; he saw imminent dangerfor his people; and still he could not arrive at any conclusion beforethe threatening storm had broken. There was no possibility of avertingthe peril, for he could not even mention its approach to any one.

  Topanashka was calm and absolutely brave. His life was nothing to himexcept as indispensable for the performance of his duty. He knew longago that the leaders of the movement for which the Turquoise people wereused as battering-rams hated him, that he was a thorn in their flesh, astone in their crooked paths. If the revelations of Hoshkanyi createddeep apprehensions in him, it was out of no personal fear; in thepresent instance it was clear that a trap had been set for the purposeof decoying him into a false move. It was the first time that anythingof the kind had been attempted; and Topanashka looked upon it as veryserious, not for his individual sake, but because it showed that it wasundertaken jointly with a move that was sure to bring about internaldisturbances, and was probably a part of that move itself, and becauseit exhibited a degree of boldness on the part of the schemers whichproved that their plans were nearly, if not absolutely, mature. A crisiswas near at hand; he saw it, but it could not be prevented. A deep gloomsettled on the heart of the old maseua, and something like despondencycrept over him at times. It caused him to forget the matter of hisgrandson's wooing and his proposed appeal to the Shiuana in behalf ofOkoya, and to look forward to the momentous time, four days hence, whenhis mind would become enlightened on the impending danger. All histhoughts were henceforth with the council and the object for which itwas to be held. He looked forward to it with sadness and even with fear.It was clear to him that the hour of that council must become an evilhour in the annals of his people.