YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

From The Estate of
President and Mrs* Hadley
Gift of Their Children

THE DELIGHT MAKERS

Portrait of the Author

THE
DELIGHT MAKERS
BY
ADOLF F. BANDELIER
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
By CHARLES F. LUMMIS
ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
PUBLISHER-!

Copyright, iSoa
By Dodd, Mead and Compakt

Copyright, iff*
Bv Dodd, Head and Compakt, lire.

Copyright, 1918,
By Mrs. Fanny R. Bandelier

PREFACE

This story is the result of eight years spent in
ethnological and archaeological study among the
Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. The first chapters
were written more than six years ago at the Pueblo
of Cochiti. The greater part was composed in 1885,
at Santa Fe, after I had bestowed upon the Tehuas
the same interest and attention I had previously paid
to their neighbours the Queres. I was prompted to
perform the work by a conviction that however
scientific works may tell the truth about the Indian,
they exercise always a limited influence upon the
general public ; and to that public, in our country as
well as abroad, the Indian has remained as good as
unknown. By clothing sober facts in the garb off
romance I have hoped to make^the " Truth^ about1
the Pueblo Indians " more accessible and perhaps
more acceptable to the public in general.
The sober facts which I desire to convey may be
divided into three classes, — geographical, ethnologi
cal, and archaeological. The descriptions of the
country and of its nature are real. The descrip
tions of manners and customs, of creed and rites,
are from actual observations by myself and other
ethnologists, from the statements of trustworthy In-

PREFACE.
dians, and from a great number of Spanish sources
of old date, in which the Pueblo Indian is repre
sented as he lived when still unchanged by contact
with European civilization.
The descriptions of architecture are based upon
investigations of ruins still in existence on the sites
where they are placed in the story.
The plot is my own. But most of the scenes de
scribed I have witnessed; and there is a basis for
it in a dim tradition preserved by the Queres of
Cochiti that their ancestors dwelt on the Rito de
los Frijoles a number of centuries ago, and in a
similar tradition among the Tehuas of the Pueblo
of Santa Clara in regard to the cave-dwellings of
the Puye.
A word to the linguist. The dialect spoken by
the actors is that of Cochiti for the Queres, that of
San Juan for the Tehuas. In order to avoid the
complicated orthography latterly adopted by sci
entists for Indian dialects, I have written Indian
words and phrases as they would be pronounced
in continental languages. The letter a is used to
denote the sound of a in " hare."
To those who have so kindly assisted me, — in
particular to Rev. E. W. Meany of Santa Fe, and to
Dr. Norton B. Strong, of the United States Army, — •
I herewith tender my heartfelt thanks. AD. F. BANDELIER.
Santa Ft, New Mexico.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

The aim of our good and lamented friend in writ
ing this book was to place before the public, in
novelistic garb, an account of the life and activities
of the Pueblo Indians before the coming of white
men. The information on which it is based was the
result of his personal observations during many years
of study among the sedentary tribes of New Mexico
and in Spanish archives pertaining thereto in con
nection with his researches for the Archaeological
Institute of America. He spent months in con
tinuous study at the Tehua pueblo of San Juan and
the Queres pueblo of Cochiti, and the regard in
which he was held by the simple folk of those and
other native villages was sincerely affectionate.
Bandelier's labors in his chosen field were com
menced at a time when a battle with hardship was a
part of the daily routine, and his method of perform
ing the tasks before him was of the kind that pro
duced important results often at the expense of
great suffering, which on more than one occasion
almost shut out his life.
Because not understood, The Delight Makers was
not received at first with enthusiastic favor. It
seemed unlike the great student of technical prob
lems deliberately to write a book the layman might
read with interest and profit; but his object once
vii

viii PREFACE
comprehended, the volume was received in the spirit
in which the venture was initiated and for a long
while search for a copy has often been in vain.
Bandelier has come unto his own. More than one
serious student of the ethno-history of our South
west has frankly declared that the basis of future
investigation of the kind that Bandelier inaugurated
will always be the writings of that eminent man.
Had he been permitted to live and labor, nothing
would have given him greater satisfaction than the
knowledge that the people among whom he spent so
many years are of those who fully appreciate the
breadth of his learning and who have been instru
mental in the creation, by proclamation of the
President, of the "Bandelier National Monument,"
for the purpose of preserving for future generations
some of the archaeological remains he was the first
to observe and describe.
F. W. HODGE.

Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D. C,
September SS, 1916.

NOTE
A special interest attaches to the illustrations,
now first included in this edition. Many of them
are from photographs made by Chas. F. Lummis
in 1890, under the supervision of Bandelier, and
with special reference to "The Delight Makers,'
then being written. These two friends were the
first students to explore the Tyuonyi and its neigh
borhood. In rain and shine, afoot, without blankets
or overcoats, with no more provision than a little
atole (pop-corn meal) and sweet chocolate, they
climbed the cliffs, threaded the cations, slept in
caves or under trees, measured, mapped and photo
graphed the ruins and landscapes with a 40-pound
camera, and laid the basis-notes for part of
Bandelier 's monumental "Final Report" to the
Archaeological Institute of America.
A few later photographs from the same hand
show part of the excavation done in the Tyuonyi by
the School of American Archaeology — through whose
loving and grateful efforts this cafion has been set
apart as a National Monument bearing the name of
its discoverer and chronicler,
ADOLF F. BANDELIER.
Thanks are due also to Hon. Frederick C. Hicks,
M.C., for six very interesting photographs of the
Zufiis and their country.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Portrait of the Author  Frontispiece Facing Page
The East End of the Cation of the Tyuonyi ... 8
A Modern Indian Dance  18
An Estufa  18
Rito de los Frijoles: Cavate Rooms in Cliff; Ruins
of Talus Pueblo at the Foot of Cliff ... 38
A Westerly Cliff of the Habitations of the Tyuonyi,
Showing Second and Third Story Caves, and
Some High Lookout Caves  70
A Navajo Hogan  88
The Heart of the Tyuonyi : The Excavated Lower
Story of the Great Terraced Communal House . 88
Rito de los Frijoles: A Cliff Estufa of the Snake-
Clan  116
The Dance of the Ayash Tyucotz  140
Indian Pueblo Dances of To-day : Lining Up for the
Dance ; The "Clowns"  164
Type of Old Indian Woman  186
Juanico : A Member of the Modern Village-Council 224
The Hishtanyi Chayan, or Chief Medicine Man . . 256
Looking Out from One of the Weathered Cave-
Rooms of the Snake-Clan  320
Rito de los Frijoles: Looking Out from the Cere
monial Cave  384
Ruins of an Ancient Pueblo  472
A Modern Pueblo  486

XI

IN MEMORY

One day of August, 1888, in the teeth of a par
ticular New Mexico sand-storm that whipped pebbles
the size of a bean straight to your face, a ruddy,
bronzed, middle-aged man, dusty but uwweary with
his sixty-mile tramp from Zufii, walked into my soli
tary camp at Los Alamitos. Within the afternoon I
knew that here was the most exraordinary mind I
had met. There and then began the uncommon
friendship which lasted till his death, a quarter of a cen
tury later ; and a love and admiration which will be of
my dearest memories so long as I shall live. I was
at first suspicious of the "pigeon-hole memory" which
could not only tell me some Queres word I was search
ing for, but add : "Policarpio explained that to me in
Cochiti, November 23, 1881." But I discovered that
this classified memory was an integral part of this
extraordinary genius. The acid tests of life-long col
laboration proved not only this but the judicial poise,
the marvelous insight and the intellectual chastity of
BandeHer's mind. I cannot conceive of anything in the
world which would have made him trim his sails as
a historian or a student for any advantage here or
hereafter. Aside from keen mutual interests of documentary
and ethnologic study, we came to know one another
humanly by the hard proof of the Frontier. Thou-

xiv IN MEMORY
sands of miles of wilderness and desert we trudged
side by side — camped, starved, shivered, learned and
were Glad together. Our joint pursuits in comfort
at our homes (in Santa Fe and Isleta, respectively)
will always be memorable to me ; but never so wonder
ful as that companioning in the hardships of what
was, in our day, the really difficult fringe of the South
west. There was not a decent road. We had no en
dowment, no vehicles. Bandelier was once loaned a
horse ; and after riding two miles, led it the rest of the
thirty. So we went always by foot; my big camera
and glass plates in the knapsack on my back, the heavy
tripod under my arm; his aneroid, surveying instru
ments, and satchel of the almost microscopic notes
which he kept fully and precisely every night by the
camp-fire (even when I Had to crouch over him and
the precious paper with my water-proof focusing
cloth) somehow bestowed about him. Up and down
pathless cliffs, through tangled canons, fording icy
streams and ankle-deep sands, we travailed ; no blan
kets, overcoats, or other shelter; and the only com
missary a few cakes of sweet chocolate, and a small
sack of parched popcorn meal. Our "lodging was the
cold ground." When we could find a cave, a tree, or
anything to temper the wind or keep off part of the
rain, all right. If not, the Open. So I came to love
him as well as revere. I had known many "scientists"
and what happened when they really got Outdoors.
He was in no way an athlete — nor even muscular. I
was both — and not very long before had completed my
thirty-five-hundred-mile "Tramp Across the Conti-

IN MEMORY xv
nent." But I never had to "slow down" for him.
Sometimes it was necessary to use laughing force to
detain him at dark where we had water and a leaning
cliff, instead of stumbling on through the trackless
night to an unknown "Somewheres." He has always
reminded me of John Muir, the only other man I have
known intimately who was as insatiate a climber and
inspiring a talker. But Bandelier had one advantage.
He could find common ground with anyone. I have
seen him with Presidents, diplomats, Irish section-
hands, Mexican peons, Indians, authors, scientists and
"society." Within an hour or so he was easily the
Center. Not unconscious of his power, he had an
extraordinary and sensitive modesty, which handi
capped him through life among those who had the
"gift of push." He never put himself forward either
in person or in his writing. But something about him
fascinated all these far-apart classes of people, when
he spoke. His command of English, French, Spanish,
and German might have been expected ; but his facil
ity in acquiring the "dialects" of railroad men and
cowboys, or the language of an Indian tribe, was
almost uncanny. When he first visited me, in Isleta,
he knew just three words of Tigua. In ten days he
could make himself understood by the hour with the
Principales in their own unwritten tongue. Of course,
this was one secret of his extraordinary success in
learning the inner heart of the Indians.
I saw it proved again in our contact with the Qui-
chua and Aymara and other tribes of Peru and
Bolivia.

xvi [IN MEMORY'
I have known many"scholars~Thd'some heroes — but
they seldom come in the same original package. As
I remember Bandelier with smallpox alone in the two-
foot snows of the Manzanos ; his tens of thousands of
miles of tramping, exploring, measuring, describing,
in the Southwest; his year afoot and alone in North
ern Mexico, with no more weapon than a pen-knife,
on the trails of raiding Apaches (where "scientific
expeditions" ten years later, when the Apache was
eliminated, needed armed convoys and pack-trains
enough for a punitive expedition, and wrote preten
tious books about what every scholar has known for
three hundred years) I deeply wonder at the dual
quality of his intellect. Among themall, I have never
known such student and such explorer lodged in one
tenement. We were knit not only thus but in the very inti
macies of life — sharing hopes and bereavements. My
first son, named for him, should now be twenty-two.
The old home in Santa Fe was as my own. The truly
wonderful little woman he found in Peru for mate —
who shared his hardships among the cannibals of the
Amazonas and elsewhere, and so aided and still car
ries on his work — I met in her maiden home, and am
glad I may still call her friend.
Naturally, among my dearest memories of our
trampings together is that of the Rito, the Tyuonyi.
It had never in any way been pictured before. We
were the first students that ever explored it. He had
discovered it, and was writing "The Delight Makers."
What days those were! The weather was no friend

IN MEMORY ITii
of ours, nor of the camera's. We were wet and half-
fed, and cold by night, even in the ancient tiny caves.
But the unforgettable glory of it all !
To-day thousands of people annually visit the
Tyuonyi at ease, and camp for weeks in comfort. The
School of American Archaeology has a summer ses-
session there; and its excavations verify Bandelier's
surmises. Normal students and budding archaeolo
gists sleep in the very caves (identified) of the Eagle
People, the Turquoise, Snake and other clans. And
in that enchanted valley we remember not only the
Ancients, but the man who gave all this to the world.
During the six years I was Librarian of the Los
Angeles Public Library, far later, no other out-of-
print book on the Southwest was so eagerly sought as
"The Delight Makers." We had great trouble in get
ting our own copy, which slept in the safe. The many
students who wished copies of their very own were,
referred to dealers in Americana, who searched for this
already rare volume ; and many were proud to get it,
at last, at ten, fifteen and even twenty times its orig
inal price. It will always be a standard — the most
photographic story yet printed of the life of the
prehistoric Americans.
Charles F. Lummis.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS

THE DELIGHT MAKERS

CHAPTER I.
The mountain ranges skirting the Rio Grande del Norte on
the west, nearly opposite the town of Santa Fe", in the .Ter
ritory of New Mexico, are to-day but little known. The
interior of the chain, the Sierra de los Valles, is as yet im
perfectly explored. Still, these bald-crested mountains,
dark and forbidding as they appear from a distance, con
ceal and shelter in their deep gorges and clefts many a spot
of great natural beauty, surprisingly picturesque, but diffi
cult of access. From the river these canons, as they are
called in New Mexico, can be reached only by dint of toil
some climbing and clambering ; for their western openings
are either narrow gaps, or access to them is barred by colos
sal walls and pillars of volcanic rocks. The entire formation
of the chain, as far as it faces the Rio Grande, is volcanic,
the walls of the gorges consisting generally of a friable white
or yellowish tufa containing nodules of black, translucent
obsidian. The rock is so soft that in many places it can be
scooped out or detached with the most primitive tools, or
even with the fingers alone. Owing to this peculiarity the
slopes exposed to the south and east, whence most of the
heavy rains strike them, are invariably abrupt, and often
even perpendicular ; whereas the opposite declivities, though
steep, still afford room for scanty vegetation. The gorges
run from west to east, — that is, they descend from the moun-
i

2 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
tain crests to the Rio Grande, cutting the long and narrow
pedestal on which the high summits are resting.
Through some but not all of these gorges run never-fail
ing streams of clear water. In a few instances the gorge
expands and takes the proportions of a narrow vale. Then
the high timber that usually skirts the rivulets shrinks to
detached groves, and patches of clear land appear, which,
if cultivated, would afford scanty support to one or two
modern families. To the village Indian such tillable spots
were of the greatest value. The deep ravine afforded shelter
not only against the climate but against roving enemies, and
the land was sufficient for his modest crops ; since his wants
were limited, and game was abundant.
The material of which the walls of these canons are com
posed, suggested in times past^to the house-building Indian
the idea of using them as a home. The tufa and pumice-
stone are so friable that, as we have said, the rock can be
dug or burrowed with the most primitive implements. It
was easier, in fact, to excavate dwellings than to pile up
walls in the open air.
Therefore the northern sides of these secluded gorges
are perforated in many places by openings similar in appear
ance to pigeon-holes. These openings are the points of
exit and entrance of artificial caves, dug out by sedentary
aborigines in times long past. They are met with in clus
ters of as many as several hundred ; more frequently, how
ever, the groups are small. Sometimes two or more tiers
of caves are superimposed. From the objects scattered
about and in the cells, and from the size and disposition of
the latter, it becomes evident that the people who excavated
and inhabited them were on the same level of culture as
the so-called Pueblo Indians of New Mexico.
It is not surprising, therefore, that some traditions and
myths are preserved to-day among the Pueblos concerning

THE DELIGHT MAKERS: 3
these cave-villages. Thus the Tehua Indians of the pueblo
of Santa Clara assert that the artificial grottos of what they
call the Puiye and the Shufinne, west of their present abodes,
were the homes of their ancestors at one time. The Queres
of Cochiti in turn declare that the tribe to which they be
long, occupied, many centuries before the first coming of
Europeans to New Mexico, the cluster of cave-dwellings,
visible at this day although abandoned and in ruins, in that
romantic and picturesquely secluded gorge called in the
Queres dialect Tyuonyi, and in Spanish " El Rito de lo.
Frijoles." The Rito is a beautiful spot. Situated in a direct line
not over twenty miles west of Santa Fe, it can still be
reached' only after a long day's tedious travel. It is a nar
row valley, nowhere broader than half a mile ; and from where
it begins in the west to where it closes in a dark and
gloomy entrance, scarcely wide enough for two men to pass
abreast, in the east, its length does not exceed six miles.
Its southern rim is formed by the slope of a timbered mesa,
and that slope is partly overgrown by shrubbery. The
northern border constitutes a line of vertical cliffs of yellow
ish and white pumice, projecting and re-entering like deco
rations of a stage, — now perpendicular and smooth for some
distance, now sweeping back in the shape of an arched
segment. These cliffs vary in height, although nowhere are
they less than two hundred feet. Their tops rise in huge
pillars, in crags and pinnacles. Brushwood and pine tim
ber crown the mesa of which these fantastic projections are
but the shaggy border.
Through the vale itself rustles the clear and cool brook
to which the name of Rito de los Frijoles is applied. It
meanders on, hugging the southern slope, partly through
open spaces, partly through groves of timber, and again
past tall stately pine-trees standing isolated in the valley.

4 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Willows, cherry-trees, cottonwoods, and elders form small
thickets along its banks. The Rito is a permanent stream
let notwithstanding its small size. Its water freezes in win
ter, but it never dries up completely during the. summer
months. Bunches of tall grass, low shrubbery, and cactus grow in
the open spaces between rocky debris fallen from above.
They also cover in part low mounds of rubbish, and ruins
of a large pentagonal building erected formerly at the
foot of a slope leading to the cliffs. In the cliffs themselves,
for a distance of about two miles, numerous caves dug out
by the hand of man are visible. Some of these are yet
perfect ; others have wholly crumbled away except the rear
wall. From a distance the port-holes and indentations
appear like so many pigeons' nests in the naked rock.
Together with the cavities formed by amygdaloid cham
bers and crevices caused by erosion, they give the cliffs
the appearance of a huge, irregular honeycomb.
These ruins, inside as well as outside the northern walls
of the canon of the Rito, bear testimony to the tradition
still current among the Queres Indians of New Mexico that
the Rito, or Tyuonyi, was once inhabited by people of their
kind, nay, even of their own stock. But the time when
those people wooed and wed, lived and died, in that secluded
vale is past long, long ago. Centuries previous to the ad
vent of the Spaniards, the Rito was already deserted. Noth
ing remains but the ruins of former abodes and the memory
of their inhabitants among their descendants. These an
cient people of the Rito are the actors in the story which
is now to be told ; the stage in the main is the Rito itself.
The language of the actors is the Queres dialect, and the
time when the events occurred is much anterior to the dis
covery of America, to the invention of gunpowder and the
printing-press in Europe. Still the Rito must have ap-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 5
peared then much as it appears now, — a quiet, lovely, pic
turesque retreat, peaceful when basking in the sunlight,
wonderfully quiet when the stars sparkled over it, or the
moon shed its floods of silver on the cliffs and on the mur
muring brook below.
In the lower or western part of its course the Tyuonyi
rushes in places through thickets and small groves, out of
which rise tall pine-trees. It is very still on the banks of
the brook when, on a warm June day, noon-time is just
past and no breeze fans the air ; not a sound -is heard be
yond the rippling of the water ; the birds are asleep, and
the noise of human activity does not reach there from the
cliffs. Still, on the day of which we are now speaking, a
voice arose from the thicket, calling aloud, —
" Umo, — ' grandfather ! ' " *
" To ima satyumishe, — ' come hither, my brother,' "
another voice replied in the same dialect, adding, "See
what a big fish I have caught."
It sounded as though this second voice had issued from
the very waters of the streamlet.
Pine boughs rustled, branches bent, and leaves shook.
A step scarcely audible was followed by a noiseless leap.
On a boulder around which flowed streams of limpid water
there alighted a young Indian.
He was of medium height and well-proportioned. His
hands and feet were rather small and delicate. He carried
his head erect with ease and freedom. Jet-black hair,
slightly waving, streamed loose over temples and cheeks,
and was gathered at the back in a short thick knot. In
front it parted naturally, leaving exposed a narrow strip of
i The word "umo" properly signifies "grandfather;" but it is
used indiscriminately for all ages and sexes in calling. An old man,
for instance, will call his grandchild " umo ; " so will a wife her hus
band, a brother his sister, etc,

6 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
the brow. The features of the face, though not regular,
were still attractive, for large black eyes, almond-shaped,
shone bright from underneath heavy lashes. The complex
ion was dusky, and the skin had a velvety gloss. Form,
carriage, and face together betokened a youth of about
eighteen years.
His costume was very plain. A garment of unbleached
cotton, coarsely woven, covered the body as low as the
knee. This garment, sleeveless and soiled by wear, was
tied over the right shoulder. A reddish-brown scarf or belt
of the same material fastened it around the waist. Feet,
arms, and the left shoulder were bare. Primitive as was
this costume, there was, nevertheless, an attempt here and
there at decoration. The belt was ornamented with black
and white stitches ; from each ear hung a turquoise sus
pended by a cotton thread, and a necklace of coloured
pebbles strung on yucca fibre encircled the neck.
Like a statue of light-coloured bronze decked with scanty
drapery, and adorned with crude trinkets, holding a bow in
the right hand, while the left clenched a few untipped
arrows, the youth stood on the boulder outlined against the
shrubbery, immovable above the running brook. His gaze
was fixed on the opposite bank, where a youngster was
kneeling. The latter was a boy of perhaps nine years. A dirty
wrap hung loosely over shoulders and back, and no neck
lace or ear-pendants decorated his body. But the child
ish features were enlivened by a broad grin of satisfaction,
and his eyes sparkled like coals just igniting, while he
pointed to a large mountain trout which he pressed against
a stone with both hands. He looked at the older youth
with an expression not merely of pleasure, but of familiar
intimacy also. It was clear that both boys were children
of the same parents.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. J
The younger one spoke first, —
"See here, Okoya," he began, grinning; "while you
are older than I, and bigger and stronger, I am more
cunning than you. Ever since the sun came out you
have followed the turkeys, and what have you? Noth
ing ! Your hands are empty ! I have just come down
from the field, and look ! I caught this fish in the water.
Shall we fry and eat it here, or carry it home to the
mother?" The older brother did not relish the taunt; his lips
curled. He replied scornfully, —
" Any child may catch a fish, but only men can follow
turkeys. The tzina is shy and wary ; it knows how sure
my aim is, therefore it hides when I go out to hunt."
The little one replied to this pompous explanation
with a clear mocking laugh.
"Turkeys care nothing about you," he retorted. "It
is nothing to them whether you go out or not ! "
"Shyuote," his brother scolded, "stop prating about
things of which you do not know. It is true I am not
one of the order of hunters, Shyayak, but I may become
so soon." He stopped, as if a sudden thought had struck
him, and then exclaimed : " Now I know why luck has
failed me this morning ! When I left our houses I
should have scattered meal, and placed a pebble on the
heap beside the trail, and offered a plume to our Mother
Above. All this I neglected. Now I am punished for
it by the birds concealing themselves. For had they
come out — "
"You would have missed them," tauntingly replied the
other. "If you want to kill turkeys join the Koshare.
Then you will catch them with roots and flowers."
Okoya grew angry.
" Hush ! foolish boy," he retorted, " what are the Ko-

8 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
share to me? Don't speak about such things here. Come,
take your fish, and let us go home."
With this Okoya leaped over the brook. Shyuote whis
pered audibly to him, "Yes; you are very fond of the
Koshare." But the sarcastic remark was not heeded by
the elder lad, who turned to go, Shyuote following him.
Proudly the little boy tossed his fish from one hand to
the other.
Beyond the straight and lofty pine trunks a whitish
glare soon appeared. Brilliant sunlight broke through the
tree-tops, and played around the dark needles, turning them
into a brighter, lighter, emerald green. A background of
yellow and cream-coloured rocks, visible now through open
ings in the shrubbery, showed that the boys were approach
ing a clear space.
Here the elder one suddenly stopped, turned to his
brother, looked straight at him, and asked, —
" Shyuote, what have you heard about the Koshare?"
Instead of answering the child looked down, indifferent
and silent, as if he had not heard the query.
" What have you heard, boy? " continued the other.
Shyuote shrugged his shoulders. He had no inclination
to reply.
"Why don't you answer?" Okoya persisted.
His brother looked up, cast a furtive glance at the in
terlocutor, then stared vacantly, but with head erect, before
him. His eyes were glassy and without any expression.
Whenever the Indian does not wish to speak on any
subject, whatever it be, no power on earth can compel him
to break silence. Okoya, as an Indian, felt rather than
understood this; and the child's refusal to answer a very
simple question aroused his suspicions. He looked at the
stubborn boy for a moment, undecided whether he would
not resort to force. The child's taunts had mortified his

The east end of the Canon of the Tyuonyi

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. g
pride in the first place; now that child's reticence bred
misgivings. He nevertheless restrained both anger and
curiosity for the present, not because of indifference but
for policy's sake, and turned to go. Shyuote looked for a
moment as if he wished to confess to his brother all that
the latter inquired about, but soon pouted, shrugged his
shoulders, and set out after Okoya in a lively fox-trot again.
The valley lay before them ; they had reached the end of
the grove.
Smiling in the warm glow of a June day, with a sky of
deepest azure, the vale of the Rito expanded between the
spot which the boys had reached and the rocky gateways in
the west, where that valley seemed to begin. Fields, small
and covered with young, bushy maize-plants, skirted the
brook, whose silvery thread was seen here and there as its
meanderings carried it beneath the shadow of shrubs and
trees, or exposed it to the full light of the dazzling sun. In
the plantations human forms appeared, now erect, now bent
down over their work. A ditch of medium size bordered
the fields on the north, carrying water from the brook for
purposes of irrigation. Still north of the ditch, and be
tween it and the cliffs, arose a tall building, which from a
distance looked like a high clumsy pile of clay or reddish
earth. This pile was irregularly terraced. Human beings stood
on the terraces or moved along them. Now and then one
was seen to rise from the interior of the pile to one of the
terraced roofs, or another slowly sank from sight, as if
descending into the interior of the earthy heap. On the
outside, beams leaned against it, and on them people went
up and down, as if climbing ladders. Thin films of smoke
quivered in the air from imperceptible flues.
The cliffs themselves extended north of this building and
east and west as far as the range of view permitted, like a

10 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
yellowish ribbon of towering height with innumerable flex
ures and alternations of light and shade. Their base was
enlivened by the bustle of those who dwelt in caves all
along the foot of the imposing rocky wall. Where to-day
only vacant holes stare at the visitor, at the hour on the day
when our story begins, human eyes peered through. Other
doors were closed by deer-hides or robes. Sometimes a
man, a woman, or a child, would creep out of one of these
openings, and climbing upward, disappear in the entrance
of an upper tier of cave-dwellings. Others would descend
the slope from the cliffs to the fields, while still others
returned from the banks of the ditch or of the brook. At
the distance from which the boys viewed the landscape all
passed noiselessly ; no human voice, no clamour disturbed
the stillness of the scene.
Peaceful as Nature appeared, neither of the youth were in
the least struck by its charms or influenced by the spell
which such a tranquil and cheerful landscape is likely to
exercise upon thinking and feeling man. With both it was
indifference ; for the Indian views Nature with the eyes of a
materially interested spectator only. But the elder brother
had another reason for not noticing the beauty of the scene.
He was not only troubled, he was seriously embarrassed.
The hint thrown out by his little brother about the Koshare
had struck him ; for it led to the inference that the child
had knowledge of secret arts and occult practices of which
even he, Okoya, although on the verge of manhood, had
never received any intimation. Far more yet than this
knowledge, which Shyuote might have obtained through
mere accident, the hint at unpleasant relations between
Okoya and the Koshare startled the latter.
It was perfectly true that he not only disliked but even
hated the cluster of men to which the name of Koshare was
given in the tribe ; but he had concealed his feelings as care-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. II
fully as possible until now. Only once, as far as he could
remember, had he spoken of his aversion ; and then it was
during an absolutely confidential conversation with his own
mother, who seemed to entertain like sentiments.
To his father he had never uttered a word ; because his
father was himself a Koshare. Whatever Shyuote knew, he
could only have gathered by overhearmg a conversation of
the Koshare among themselves, in which it was mentioned
that he, Okoya, harboured ill-feelings toward that brother
hood. In that case he might be exposed to serious danger,
since, as he believed, those people were in possession of
knowledge of a higher order, and practised arts of an occult
nature. Against danger arising from such a source, Okoya
considered himself utterly defenceless.
The more he tried to think over these matters, the more
troubled his mind became. Only one thought appeared
logical and probable and that was that the boy had over
heard one or other of the Koshare's intimate conversations.
But how came it that the Koshare knew about Okoya's
aversion toward them? Who could have told them? Only
his mother knew the secret ! Had she, perhaps, she —
The thought was Uke a spark which glowed for a while, grew
to a flame, flared and flickered unsteadily within his heart,
then began to shrink. No, no ; it was impossible ! it could
not be ! His mother would never betray her child ! The
flame died out, the spark remained fast dying. Suddenly it
blazed up again as if some breath had fanned it.
With renewed insistence, it struck Okoya that even if
Shyuote had merely overheard a conversation and the child's
knowledge was derived from that source, the most extraor
dinary part of the information could only have come from
one source, — the person in whom he had confided, his
mother ! She alone could have told the Koshare that
Okoya hated them. The spark flared up anew ; it burst out

12 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
in a wild flame of suspicion. It singed the heart and
smothered feeling as well as reason. It so completely
absorbed his thoughts, that Okoya forgot everything else.
Instead of walking along at a quiet easy gait, he rushed fast
and faster, wrapped in dismal despair and in wild impotent
wrath. Heedless of his little companion he ran, panting
with agitation, until Shyuote, unable to keep pace and
startled at his wild gait, pulled his garment and begged him
to stop.
" Brother," he cried, " why do you go so fast? I cannot
follow you ! "
Okoya came to a sudden halt, and turned toward the
boy like one aroused from a sinister dream. Shyuote
stared at him with surprise akin to fright. How changed
was his appearance ! Never before had he seen him with
a countenance so haggard, with eyes hollow and yet burn
ing with a lurid glow. Loose hair hung down over fore
head and cheeks, perspiration stood on the brow in big
drops. The child involuntarily shrunk back, and Okoya,
noticing it, gasped, —
" You are right, the day is long yet and the houses near.
We will go slower."
Bowing his head again he went on at a slower gait.
Shyuote followed in silence. Although surprised at the
change in his brother's looks, he did not for a moment
entertain the thought or desire of inquiring into the cause
of it. He was fully satisfied that as long as Okoya did not
see fit to speak of the matter, he had no right to ask about
it : in short, that it was none of his business.
Meanwhile dark and dismal thoughts were chasing each
t other within the elder brother's soul. Doubt and suspicion
became more and more crushing. He was tempted to
break the spell and interrogate Shyuote once more, even to
wrench from him, if needs be, a full explanation. The boy

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 13
was old enough to enjoy that great and often disagreeable
quality of the American Indian, reticence. Furthermore,
he might have been forbidden to speak.
If the Indian is not an ideal being, he is still less a stolid
mentally squalid brute. He is not reticent out of imbecility
or mental weakness. He fails properly to understand much
of what takes place around him, especially what happens
within the circle of our modern civilization, but withal he is
far from indifferent toward his surroundings. He observes,
compares, thinks, reasons, upon whatever he sees or hears,
and forms opinions from the basis of his own peculiar
culture. His senses are very acute for natural phenomena ;
his memory is excellent, as often as he sees fit to make use
of it. There is no difference between him and the Cau
casian in original faculties, and the reticence peculiar to
him under certain circumstances is not due to lack of
mental aptitude.
He does not practise that reticence alike toward all. A
great number of examples seems to establish the fact that
the Indian has developed a system of casuistry, based
upon a remarkably thorough knowledge of human nature.
Certain matters are kept concealed from some people,
whereas they are freely discussed with others, and vice
versa. The Indian hardly ever keeps a secret to himself
alone; it is nearly always shared by others whom the
matter directly concerns. It may be said of the red man
that he keeps secrets in the same manner that he lives, — •
namely, in groups or clusters. The reason is that with
him individualism, or the mental and moral independence
of the individual, has not attained the high degree of de
velopment which prevails among white races.
'i When Europeans began to colonize America in the fif
teenth and sixteenth centuries, the social organization of
its inhabitants presented a picture such as had disap-

14 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
peared long before on the continent of Europe.^ Every
where there prevailed linguistic segregation, — chvisions into
autonomous groups called tribes or stocks, and within each
of these, equally autonomous clusters, whose mutual alli
ance for purposes of sustenance and defence constituted
the basis of tribal society. The latter clusters were the
clans, and they originated during the beginnings of the
human family. Every clan formed a group of supposed
blood-relatives, looking back to a mythical or traditional
common ancestor. Descent from the mother being always
plain, the clan claimed descent in the female line even if1
every recollection of the female ancestor were lost, and
theoretically all the members of one clan were so many
brothers and sisters. This organization still exists in the
majority of tribes ; the members of one clan cannot inter
marry, and, if all the women of a clan die, that clan dies
out also, since there is nobody left to perpetuate it. The
tribe is in reality but a league; the clan is the unit.
At the time we speak of, the affairs of each tribe were
administered by an assembly of delegates from all its clans
who at the same time arbitrated inevitable disputes between
the several blood-relations.
Each clan managed its own affairs, of which no one
outside of its members needed to know anything. Since
the husbands always belonged to a different consanguine
group from their wives, and the children followed their
mother's line of descent, the family was permanently di
vided. There was really no family in our sense of the
word. The Indian has an individual name only. He
is, in addition, distinguished by the name of his clan,
which in turn has its proper cognomen. The affairs of
the father's clan did not concern his wife or his children
whereas a neighbour might be his confidant on such mat
ters. The mother, son, and daughter spoke among them-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 15
selves of matters of which the father was not entitled to
know, and about which he scarcely ever felt enough curi
osity to inquire. Consequently there grew a habit of not
caring about other people's affairs unless they affected one's
own, and of confiding secrets to those only whom they
could concern, and who were entitled to know them.
In the course of time the habit became a rule of edu
cation. Reticence, secrecy, discretion, are therefore no
virtues with the Indian; they are simply the result of
training. Okoya too had been under the influence of such train
ing, and he knew that Shyuote, young as he was, had al
ready similar seeds planted within him. But uncertainty
was insufferable ; it weighed too heavily upon him, he
could no longer bear it.
"Umo," he burst out, turning abruptly and looking at
the boy in an almost threatening manner, "how do you
know that I dislike the Koshare?"
Shyuote cast his eyes to the ground, and remained si
lent. His brother repeated the query; the little fellow
only shrugged his shoulders. With greater insistence the
elder proceeded, —
" Shyuote Tihua, who told you that the Delight Makers
are not precious to me, nor I to them ? "
Shyuote shook his head, pouted, and stared vacantly to
one side. He manifestly refused to answer.
Cold perspiration stood on the brow of the elder brother ;
his body quivered in anguish; he realized the truth of
his suspicions. Unable any longer to control himself he
cried, —
" It is my mother who told them ! "
Trembling, with clenched hands and gnashing teeth, he
gazed at the child unconsciously. Shyuote, frightened at
his wild and menacing attitude, and ignorant of the real

16 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
cause of his brother's excitement, raised his hand to his
forehead and began to sob.
A shout coming from the immediate vicinity aroused and
startled Okoya. A voice called out to him, —
"Umo!"
He looked around in surprise. They were standing
close to the cultivated plots, and a man loomed up from
between the maize-plants. He it was who called, and as
soon as Okoya turned toward him he beckoned the youth
to come nearer. Okoya's face darkened; he reluctantly
complied, leaped over the ditch, walked up to the inter
locutor, and stood still before him in the attitude of quiet
expectancy with downcast eyes. Shyuote had dropped to
the ground; the call did not interfere with his sobs; he
pouted rather than grieved.
Okoya's interlocutor was a man of strong build, appar
ently in the forties. His features, although somewhat flat
and broad, created a favourable impression at first ; upon
closer scrutiny, however, the eyes modified that impres
sion. They were small, and their look piercing rather
than bright. His costume was limited to a tattered
breechclout of buckskin. A collar of small white shell-
encircled the neck, and from this necklace dangled a
triangular piece of alabaster, flat, and with a carving
on it suggesting the shape of a dragon-fly. His hair
streamed loose over the left ear, where there was fas
tened to the black coarse strands a tuft of grayish
down. This individual eyed Okoya in silence for a moment^
as if inspecting his person ; then he inquired, —
" Where do you come from ? "
The young fellow looked up and replied, —
" From below," pointing to the lower end of the
gorge.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1/
"What did you hunt? " the other continued, glancing at
the bow and arrows of the boy.
"Tzina;" and with perceptible embarrassment Okoya
added, "but I killed nothing."
The man seemed not to heed the humiliation which this
confession entailed, and asked, —
"Have you seen tracks of the mountain-sheep down
yonder? "
" Not one ; but I saw at a distance on the slope two bears
very large and strong."
The other shook his head. .
" Then there are no mountaffi sheep toward that end of
the Tyuonyi," he said, waving his left hand toward the
southeast, " thank you, boy," at the same time extending
his right to the youth. Okoya grasped it, and breathed on
the outside of the hand. Then he said, " hoa umo," and
turned and sauntered back to where his little brother was
still squatting and pouting, morose and silent.
The man had also turned around, bent down, and gone
on weeding the com. Withal he did not lose sight of the
boys; on the contrary, an occasional stealthy glance from
his half-closed eyes shot over where they met.
Shyuote rose from the ground. His eyes were dry, but
he glanced at his brother with misgivings as well as with
curiosity. The latter felt a sudden pang upon beholding
the childish features. The short interruption, though an
noying at first, had diverted him from gloomy thoughts.
Now, everything came back to his mind with renewed
force, — the same anguish, the feeling of utter helplessness
in case of impending danger, indignation at what he be
lieved to have been base treason on the part of his mother,
— all this rushed upon him with fearful force, and he stood
again motionless, a picture of wild perplexity. His face
betokened the state of his mind. Shyuote did not dare to

18 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
inquire of him further than to ask a very insignificant ques
tion, — namely, who the man was that had called.
Okoya answered readily, for this query was almost a re
lief, — a diversion which enabled him to subdue his agita
tion. "Tyope Tihua," he said hastily, "wanted to know if
I had seen any mountain sheep. I told him that I had
only seen bear-tracks. Let him follow those," he growled.
" Come on, satyumishe, it is getting late."
While this conversation had been carried on, the boys,
now hurrying and now slackening their pace, had arrived
within a short distance of the tall clay-pile, which was seen
to be a high polygonal building, apparently closed on all
sides. Between them and this edifice there was still an
other lower one, not unlike an irregular honey-comb.
About forty cells, separated from each other by walls of
earth, carried up from the ground to a few inches above
the terraced roof, constituted a ground-floor on which
rested a group of not more than a dozen similar cells.
The walls of this structure were of stones, irregularly bro
ken and clumsily piled, but they were covered by a thick
coating of clay so that nothing of the rough core remained
visible. Instead of doors or entrances, air-holes, round or
oval, perforated these walls.
The house appeared empty. No smoke flitted over the
flat roof; the coating was so recent that many places were
hardly dry.
North of this building, a circular structure thirty feet in
diameter rose a few feet only above the soil, like the upper
part of a sunken cylinder. Its top was flat, and large flags
of stone formed a rough staircase leading to its roof. In the
centre, a square opening appeared, out of which a tall beam,
notched at regular intervals like a primitive ladder, pro
truded, and down which also the beam disappeared as if
extended into the bowels of the earth. This edifice, half

(Upper picture) A modern Indian Dance
(Lower picture) An estufa

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. IQ
underground, half above the soil, was what to-day is called
in New Mexico an estufa} This Spanish word has become
a technical term, and we shall hereafter use it in the course
of the story as well as the designations tshikia and kaaptsh
of the Queres Indians.
The estufas were more numerous in a single pueblo for
merly than they are now. Nor are they always sunken. At
the Rito there were at least ten, five of which were circular
chambers in the rock of the cliffs. These chambers or
halls were, in the times we speak of, gathering places for
men exclusively. No woman was permitted to enter, unless
for the purpose of carrying food to the inmates. Each clan
had its own estufa, and the young men slept in it under the
surveillance of one or more of the aged principals, until they
married, and frequently even afterward.
There the young men became acquainted with the affairs
of their individual connections, and little by little also with
the business of the tribe. There, during the long evenings
of winter, old men taught them the songs and prayers em
bodying traditions and myths, first of their own clan, then of
the tribe.2 The estufa was school, club-house, nay, armory
to a certain extent. It was more. Many of the prominent
religious exercises took place in it. The estufa on special
occasions became transformed into a temple for the clan
who had reared it.
From the depths of this structure there came a series of
1 Estufa properly means a stove, and the name was applied to those
semi-subterranean places by the Spaniards on account of their com
fortable temperature in winter. They recalled to them the temaz-
calli, or sweat-houses, of Mexico.
2 The preservation of traditions is much systematized among the
Pueblo Indians. Certain societies know hardly any other but the
folk-tales relating to their own particular origin. To obtain correct
tradition it is necessary to gain the confidence of men high in degree.
That is mostly very difficult.

20 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
dull sounds like beats of a drum. The youngsters stopped
short, and looked at each other in surprise.
"The new house," whispered Okoya, "which the Corn-
clan have built here is empty, yet there is somebody in its
estufa. What may this mean ? "
" Let us look into it," eagerly suggested Shyuote.
" Go you alone !" directed the elder brother. " I will
walk on, and you can overtake me by-and-by."
That suited Shyuote. He crept stealthily toward the
round building. There was an air-hole in the rim which
rose above the ground. Crouching like a cat, the boy
cautiously peered through this opening, but quickly with
drew with an expression of disappointment. The under
ground chamber was not even finished ; its walls were dark
and raw, the floor rough, and on this floor a half-dozen
young fellows in every stage of dress or undress were loung
ing. One of them mechanically touched a small drum with
a stick, while two or three of the others were humming a
monotonous tune to the rhythm of his rappings. Shyuote
stole away in evident discontent ; his curiosity was satisfied,
but at the expense of his expectations.
Loud laughter, screams, and animated talking diverted
his attention, and caused him to run in the direction of the
new house of the Corn clan. He heard the voice of his^.
brother, but at the same time women's voices also, and as
soon as he turned the farther corner of the building, he saw
what was plainly a playful encounter between Okoya and
a pair of young girls.
The former had his bow in hand ready to shoot, and he
pointed the arrow at the maidens alternately ; they, utterly
unconcerned about his weapon, were pressing him with
weapons of their own, which he was much more anxious to
avoid than thsy his missiles. These were two pairs of very
dirty hands filled and covered with liquid mud with which

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 21
the damsels attempted to decorate his person. Okoya was
clearly on the defensive, and the advantage so far seemed
on the side of his agressors. Shyuote flew to his assistance.
Rushing to a large vessel of burnt clay, standing alongside
the wall and filled with water, he plunged both hands into it,
and began to bespatter the assailants with the not very
clean liquid. Forthwith one of the girls turned against the
new enemy. She was older and taller than Shyuote. Seiz
ing his raven locks she pulled him to the ground on his
face, knelt on the prostrate form, and then and there gave
the boy a series of energetic cuffs against which the young
ster struggled and wriggled in the most desperate but
absolutely ineffectual manner. The fair sex held the bal
ance of power and wielded it. At every attempt of Shyuote
to rise or to roll over, she pushed his face back into the
moist ground, she pulled his hair, thumped his shoulders,
and boxed his ears. She was in earnest, and Shyuote was
powerless in her firm grasp. He could not even scream,
for a thick coating of soil had fastened itself to his features,
had penetrated into eye, mouth, and nostrils. His fate was
as melancholy as it was ludicrous ; it brought about a truce
between Okoya and the other maiden. They dropped, he
the weapon, she her muddy arms, and looked at the other
set of combatants with surprise and with immoderate
laughter. The Indian is not tender-hearted on such occa
sions. When the victorious beauty at last arose, suffering
her victim to turn over again, the merriment became up
roarious, for Shyuote presented the appearance of a blow
ing, spitting, coughing, statue of dirt. His looks were in
no manner improved by his frenzy after the boy had rubbed
his eyes, and recovered his breath. Tears of rage rolled
down his cheeks over patches of sand and mud, and when
he noticed the mirth of the others Shyuote's fury knew no
bounds. He rushed madly at the triumphant lass, who

22 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
did not shrink from the hostile approach. The contest
was threatening to assume serious proportions, when an
other person appeared upon the scene, at the sight of
whom even Shyuote temporarily stayed all demonstrations,
while Okoya seemed both startled and embarrassed. The
new-comer was a young girl too ; she carried on her head
a vessel of burnt clay similar to a flat urn, decorated with
black and red designs on cream-coloured ground, and filled
with water.
To understand this scene we must know that the two girls
had been engaged in putting on the last coat of plaster to
the walls of the abode of the Corn people, when Okoya
suddenly came upon them. At a glance they saw that he
had been on a hunt, and also that he had hunted in vain.
Here was a welcome opportunity for jeering and mockery.
They interrupted their plastic labour, and turned against
him with such merciless allusions to his ill-success, that un
able any longer to reply to their sarcasm Okoya threatened
them, in jest of course, with his bow. Instead of desisting,
the girls at once moved upon him with muddy hands.
The one who last appeared upon the scene, although assis
tant to the others, inasmuch as she carried the water needed
in the preparation of the mud for plastering, had not seen
the engagement just fought. She looked at the group in
blank surprise, stood still without lifting the bowl from her
head, and presented thus the appearance of a handsome
statue, dusky and graceful, whose lustrous black eyes alone
moved, glancing from one of the members of the group to
the other. Those large expressive eyes plainly asked,
"What does all this mean?"
The antagonists of Okoya and Shyuote were buxom
lasses, rather short, thick-waisted, full-chested, with flat
faces, prominent cheek-bones, and bright eyes. The third
maiden was taller and much more graceful ; her features were

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 23
less coarse, less prominently distinctive. The nose was well-
proportioned, the mouth also, although the lips were rather
heavy. The eyes were large and beaming, soft yet not
without an intelligent expression. All three girls were
dressed nearly alike. A dark-blue cotton garment descended
as far as the knees ; it was tied over the left shoulder, and
the right was exposed. A red-tinged scarf served as belt
around the waist. Arms and feet were bare. The long
black hair streamed loosely. Two of them wore heavy
necklaces of green stones, red pebbles, and shell beads.
The last comer carried only a single string of shell beads
with an iridescent conch fastened to it in front. Ear-pen
dants of turquoises hung from the ears of all three.
The attention of the girl with the urn on her head soon
rested on Shyuote, and she was the first to break the
silence by a hearty peal of laughter. This started her com
panions again, and the one nearest to Okoya exclaimed, —
"Mitsha help us throw the water in your urn over the
head of the boy. Okoya began it all, give it to him, too.
You are strong enough."
At the mention of Okoya's name the maiden addressed
as Mitsha started. She threw a quick glance like a flash at
him. Her face quivered and coloured slightly. Turning
away, she deposited the water-urn at the foot of the wall,
and remained standing, her eyes directed to the cliffs, her
lithe fingers carelessly playing with the beads of her neck
lace. She was disinclined to take any part in the fray, and
her behaviour acted as a damper on the buoyancy of the
others. Okoya hastily gathered up his arrows, and called
Shyuote to his side. But the boy did not care to obey.
Thirst for revenge held him to the spot of his defeat ; he
shook his fists at the girls, clenched his teeth, and began to
threaten vengeance, and to shower uncomplimentary ex
pressions upon them. As soon, however, as the one who

24 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
had so effectually routed him showed again a decided
movement toward his raven locks, he beat a hasty retreat to
his elder brother. This change of base excited new hilarity,
and under a shower of jokes and sarcasms the two boys de
parted. Okoya walked along at a steady gait ; but Shyuote,
as soon as he considered the distance safe enough, turned
around, making grimaces at the belligerent damsels, vowing
vengeance, and uttering opprobrious epithets of the choicest
kind. He noticed that the two returned his compliments
without reserve, whereas Mitsha stood in silence leaning
against the house-wall. One single look, one earnest
almost sad glance, she sent after the disappearing form
of Shyuote's elder brother.
The main building was now close at hand. It was an
irregular pentagon, and at places two, at others three
stories high. With one single exception these stories
formed terraces, retreating successively from the ground to
the top like so many steps of a staircase. Nowhere did
there appear any entrance. Notched beams led up to trap
doors in the roofs, similar beams penetrated into the in
terior below. Absolute stillness reigned about the edifice.
Some women scoured scanty clothing in the ditch running
past the structure ; on the terraces not a soul appeared.
The lads directed their course toward that side where the
three stories presented a perpendicular wall, and as they
neared it an entrance, or doorway, high enough for a man
and wide enough for four abreast appeared in the vertical
front. It led them through a dark passage into an interior
court which was fairly clean and contained three estufas.
Its diameter did not exceed one hundred and fifty feet.
Toward this court, or yard, the stories of the building
descended in terraces also ; but though everywhere beams
leaned up as ladders, access to the ground-floor was also
afforded by narrow doorways closed with hides or mats. It

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 2$
was hot and quiet in this yard ; the sun shed glaring light
into it and over the roofs. Naked urchins played and
squirmed below, whereas above, an old woman or some
aged man would cower motionless, shading their blear eyes
with one hand and warming their cold frames in the heat.
Okoya went directly to one of the ground-floor openings-
lifted the deer-skin that hung over it, and called out the
usual greeting, —
" Guatzena ! "
" Opona, — 'come in,'" responded a woman's voice.
Both lads obeyed the summons. At first the room seemed
dark on account of the sudden contrast with the glare out
side, but as soon as this first impression was overcome, it
appeared moderately lighted. It was a chamber about four
teen feet long and ten feet wide, and its walls were white
washed with burnt gypsum. Deer-hides and a mat plaited
of yucca-leaves lay rolled up in one corner. A niche con
tained a small earthen bowl, painted white with black
symbolic figures. A doorway to the right led into another
compartment which seemed darker than the first. As soon
as the boys entered the room, a woman appeared in this
side doorway. She was small, slender, and apparently
thirty-five years of age. Her features, notwithstanding the
high cheek-bones, were attractive though wan and thin.
An air of physical suffering lay over them like a thin cloudy
veil. At the sight of this woman, Okoya's heart began to
throb again ; for she it was whom he so direly suspected,
nay, accused of treachery and deceit. This woman was his
mother.

CHAPTER II.
The homes of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, espe
cially as regards the size and disposition of the rooms, are
to-day slightly modified from what they were in former
times. An advance has been made, inasmuch as the build
ings are not any longer the vast and ill-ventilated honey
combs composed of hundreds of dingy shells, which they
were centuries ago. The houses, while large and many-
storied, are comparatively less extensive, and the apartments
less roomy than at the time when the Queres lived in the
Rito de los Frijoles.
The two rooms where we left the lads and their mother
at the close of the preceding chapter formed such a home.
In the front one the family slept at night, with the exception
of Okoya who was obliged to join the other youths in the
estufa of his clan. The husband was not always at home
after sunset. But the mother, Shyuote, and a little girl
four years old invariably took their nightly rest there. To
the little girl we have not yet been introduced. When the
boys returned she was in the court-yard at play, and in the
usual state of complete undress which is the regular condi
tion of Indian children of her age.
The inner cell was kitchen and store-room, and there
the family partook of their meals.
Among the Pueblos the house was in charge of the
women exclusively, everything within the walls of the house,
the men's clothing and weapons excepted, belonging to tbr

THE DELIGHT MAKERS 2J
housekeeper. Even the crops if once housed were con
trolled by her. As long as they were in the field, the
husband or masculine head of the family could dispose of
them. Afterward he must consult the woman, and he could
not sell an ear of corn without her consent. It is still so
to-day in many villages. Formerly all the field-products
were gathered and stored in the granaries of the several
clans whence each household drew its supplies. Even the
proceeds of communal hunts and fisheries were treated in
this manner. Only where the husband, son, or brother
killed game while out alone, could he do with it as he
pleased. Not many centuries ago the members of each clan, or
rather the women, their offspring, and aged people who
were taken care of by their children, lived together. They
occupied a certain section of the great hive which the com
munal dwelling represented, and such a section was not un
appropriated called in Spanish a quartel or quarter. The
husband also stayed with his wife and the younger children,
but he had no rights as owner, or proprietor, to his abode.
Since it was the custom for women to raise the walls of
buildings, and to finish the house inside and outside, they
owned it also. The man was only tolerated. His home
was properly with his clan, whither he must return in case
his spouse departed this life before him.
It was different in regard to the fields. Each clan had S
its particular holding, and since the field-work devolved ¦
upon the men, the cultivated plots belonged to them alone.
Within each allotment every member who was of age, or
so situated as to have to support himself or a family, owned
and tilled a certain plot which was his by common consent,
although in no manner determined by metes or bounds.
The condition of ownership was regular improvement of the
plot, and if that condition was not complied with, any other

28 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
member of the same clan could step in and work it for his
own benefit. In case of death the field reverted to the ma
ternal relative of its owner, whereas the widow and children
fell back for support upon the resources of their own clan.
Hence the singular feature that each household got its live
lihood from two distinct groups of blood-relatives^ The
home which we have entered belonged to the quarters of
the Gourd people, or clan Tanyi hanutsh, from which the
mother descended; and Okoya had slept at night in the
estufa of that cluster ever since his thirteenth year. But
the cultivated patch which the father tilled pertained to the
fields of his clan, that of Water, Tzitz hanutsh. Though
the Water people were his relatives, the crop raised by him
found its way into the store-room of Tanyi for the support
of the family which he claimed as his own.
Okoya's mother scanned her boys with a sober glance,
and turned back into the kitchen without uttering a
word. Soon a grating sound issued from that apartment, indi
cating that toasted corn was being ground on the flat slab
called in Queres, yakkat, and now usually termed metate in
New Mexico. The boys meanwhile had approached a
niche in the wall. Each one took a pinch of yellow corn-
meal from the painted bowl, and scattered it successively
to the north, west, south, east ; then threw a little of it up
in the air and to the ground before him. During this per
formance their lips moved as if in prayer. Then they
separated, for the spirits had been appealed to, and their
entrance into their home was under the special protection
of Those Above. Shyuote, whose trout had been ruined
during the combat with the girls, threw himself on the roll
in the corner, there to mourn over his defeat. Okoya went
out into the courtyard. Both expected an early meal, for
the fire crackled in the dark kitchen, and a clapping of

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 29
hands gave evidence that corn-cakes were being moulded
to appease their hungry stomachs.
The court-yard had become very quiet. Even the chil
dren had gone to rest in a shady place, where they slept
in a promiscuous heap, a conglomerate of human bodies,
heads, and limbs, intermingled. The form of an old man
rose out of a hatchway in the ground-floor, and a tall figure,
slightly stooping, clad in a garment, and with a head of iron
gray hair, stood on the flat roof. He walked toward a beam
leading down into the court, seized its upper end and de
scended with his face toward the wall, but without faltering.
A few steps along the house brought him in front of Okoya,
who had squatted near the doorway of his mother's dwell
ing. The youth was so absorbed in gloomy thoughts that
the man's appearance was unexpected. Starting in surprise
and hastily rising, Okoya called into the house, —
" Yaya, sa umo, — ' Mother, my grandfather ! ' "
The old man gave a friendly nod to his grandchild, and
crossed the threshold, stooping low. Still lower the tall
form had to bend while entering the kitchen door. He
announced his coming to the inmate in a husky voice and
the common formula, —
" Guatzena ! "
" Raua, — ' good,' " the woman replied.
Her father squatted close to the fire and fixed his gaze
on his daughter. She knelt on the floor busy spreading
dough or thick batter on a heated slab over the fire. She
was baking com-cakes, — the well-known tortillas as they
are called to-day.
After a short pause the old man quietly inquired, —
" My child, where is your husband? "
"Zashue Tihua," the woman answered, without looking
up or interrupting her work, " is in the fields."
"When will he come? "

30 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
The woman raised her right hand, and pointed to the
hole in the wall, whence light came in from the outside.
The wall faced the west, and the height of the loophole
corresponded to that of the sun about one hour before
sunset. " Give food to the children," directed the old man.
"When they have eaten and are gone I shall speak to
you." The fire crackled and blazed, and ruddy flashes shot
across the features of the woman. Was it a mere reflec
tion of the fire, or had her features quivered and coloured?
The old man scanned those features with a cold, steady
look. She removed from the fire the sooty pot of clay in which
venison cut in small pieces was stewing together with corn,
dark beans, and a few roots and herbs as seasoning. Then
she called out, —
" Shyuote, come and eat ! Where is Okoya?"
The latter alone heard the invitation, for Shyuote had
gone to sleep on the hides. The elder brother shook him,
and went into the kitchen. He was followed by the child
who staggered from drowsiness. The mother meanwhile
had placed on the floor a pile of corn-cakes. Beside it, in
an earthen bowl decorated inside and out with geometrical
lines, steamed the stew. Dinner was ready; the table
spread. To enjoy this meal both lads squatted, but Shyuote, still
half asleep, lost his balance and tumbled over. Angry at
the merriment which this created, the boy hastily grabbed
the food, but his mother interfered.
" Don't be so greedy, uak, — ' urchin.' Remember Those
Above," she said ; and Shyuote, imitating the example of
Okoya, crossly muttered a prayer, and scattered crumbs
before him. Then only, both fell to eating.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 31
This was done by simply folding a slice of the cake to
form a primitive ladle, and dipping the contents of the stew
out with it. Thus they swallowed meat, broth, and finally
the ladle also. Okoya arose first, uttering a plainly audible
hoa. Shyuote ate longer; at last he wiped his mouth
with the seam of his wrap, grumbled something intended
for thanksgiving, and strolled back to his resting place in
the front room. Okoya went out into the court-yard to be
alone with his forebodings. The sight of his mother seemed
oppressive to him.
After the boys had gone the woman emptied the remain
der of the stew back into the pot, filled the painted bowl
with water, and put both vessels in a corner. Then she sat
down, leaning against the wall, looking directly toward her
father. Her face was thin and wan, her cheeks were hollow,
and her eyes had a suppressed look of uneasiness.
The old man remained quietly indifferent as long as the
meal lasted ; then he rose, peeped cautiously into the outer
apartment, resumed his seat, and spoke in a low tone, —
" Is it true that you have listened to kamonyitza, — ' black
corn ' ? "
The woman started. "Who says so?" she answered
(frith sudden haste.
" The Koshare," replied the old man, looking at her with
a cold steady gaze.
"What do I care for them," exclaimed his daughter.
Her lips curled with an air of disdain.
"It may be," spoke her father, in measured tones, "that
you do not wish to hear from them ; but I know that they
care for your doings."
" Let them do as they please."
" Woman," he warned, " speak not thus. Their disposi
tion toward you is not a matter for indifference."
"What reason have they to follow my path? I am a

32 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
woman like many others in the tribe, nothing more or less.
I stay with my husband," she went on with greater anima
tion, " I do my duty. What have the Delight Makers to
say that might not be for my good?"
" And yet, you are not precious to them — "
" Neither are they precious to me," she cried. Her eyes
sparkled. Her father heaved a deep sigh. He shook his head and
said in a husky tone, —
"Woman, your ways are wrong. I know it, and the
Koshare know it also. They may know more, much more
than I could wish," he added, and looked into her eyes
with a searching sorrowful glance. An awful suspicion lay
in this penetrating look. Her face flushed, she bent her
head to avoid his gaze.
To the gloomy talk succeeded a still more gloomy
silence. Then the woman lifted her head, and began
entreatingly, —
" My father, I do not ask you to tell me how you come
to know all this ; but tell me, umo, what are these Delight
Makers, the Koshare? At every dance they appear and
always' make merry. The people feel glad when they see
them. They must be very wise. They know of everything
going on, and drag it before the people to excite their
mirth at the expense of others. How is it that they know
i so much ? I am but a woman, and the ways of the men
iare not mine," she raised her face and her eyes flamed;
" but since I hear that the Delight Makers wish me no good,
I want to know at least what those enemies of mine are.''
The old man lowered his glance and sighed.
" My child," he began softly, " when I was young and a
boy like your son Okoya, I cared little about the Koshare.
Now I have learned more." He leaned his head against
the wall, pressed his lips firmly together, and continued,

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 33
"The holders of the paths of our lives, those who can
close them when the time comes for us to go to Shipapu,
where there is neither sorrow nor pain, have many agents
among us. Payatyama our Father, and Sanashtyaya our
Mother saw that the world existed ere there was light,
and so the tribe lived in the dark. Four are the wombs in
which people grew up and lived, ere Maseua and Oyoyaua
his brother led them to where we are now, and this world
which is round like a shield is the fourth womb."
The woman listened with childlike eagerness. Her parted
lips and sparkling eyes testified that everything was new to
her. " Father," she interrupted, " I knew nothing of this.
You are very wise. But why are women never told such
things?" " Don't cut off my speech," he said. " Because women
are so forward, that is why many things are concealed from
them." " But," she continued, heedless of his rebuke, " where
are the other three worlds ? "
" This question I shall answer," he said, " for it is wise
in you to speak so. Haatze the earth is round and flat,
but it is also thick like a cake. The other three wombs
are down below inside, one beneath the other. At Shipapu
the people came out upon this world which is the fourth
womb, but it was cold and dark. Then the great sun rose
in the heavens above. In it Payatyama dwells, and on it
he rides around the world in one day and one night to see
everything which happens. It is day and light, night and
dark. We have also summer and heat, winter and cold.
For this reason there are summer-people and winter-people,
some who like to live when it is cold and others who enjoy
the heat. Every tribe, every clan, has some of both kinds.
Thus they came out of the third world, and thus they have
3

34 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
remained until this day. It was cold at Shipapu when the
people came out on the surface, and Those Above saw that
they felt weak. Toward the south it was warm and bright,
so Maseua and his brother said to their children, the men of
our tribe, ' Go you where there is more light ; ' and the
summer people they directed to go along the Rio Grande ;
the winter people they sent south also but far around by
the east over the plains where the great buffalo is roaming,
where the wind blows and it is cold and dry. To both
kinds of men they said, besides, 'Come together in the
mountains and live there in peace, each one getting food
for himself and others as you are wont to do.' But, lest the
people might get weary on their long journey, Maseua and
his brother commanded that from Shipapu there should
come forth a man whose body was painted white and black,
and who carried on his head dried corn-leaves instead of
feathers. This man began at once to dance, to jump, and
to tumble, so that the people laughed and their hearts be
came glad. This man led the summer-men southward,
and as often as they grew tired he danced again and made
jests ; and the tribe followed him until they came to where
we are now, and all met again. The summer-people never
suffered hunger in all their wanderings, for their leader was
precious, and wherever they went he caused the fruits to be
ripe. That man was the Koshare.1 Since that time there
have been Koshare in every tribe. Their task it is to keep
the people happy and merry ; but they must also fast, mortify
themselves, and pray to Those Above that every kind of
fruit may ripen in its time, even the fruit in woman's womb.
To them is given the yellow flower from the fertile bottoms
which makes the hearts of men glad. Now you know what
the Koshare are and," he added emphatically, "why you
1 This tradition was told me by Tehua Indians, and some friend)
among the Queres subsequently confirmed it.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 35
should not laugh and make merry when you are not precious
to them."
The woman had listened with breathless attention. At
the close, however, she hung her head and sighed. The old
man gazed at her in silence. In the outer room the regular
breathings of the sleeping boy were heard, otherwise all was
as still as a grave.
At last she lifted her face again.
" Father," she asked, " are those who are precious to the
holders of our paths, are they always good? "
" I need not tell you about this," he replied, fixing upon
her a penetrating glance.
" I know of nothing evil," she stammered, " unless it be
bad men."
" And yet you have used owl's feathers ! "
Her face grew pale. She asked hoarsely, —
" Where should I keep them ? "
" The Koshare know it," was the equally husky reply.
She started, her eyes gleamed like living coals.
" Have the Koshare sent you here, father? "
" No," was the gloomy answer ; " but if the old men come
to me and say, ' kill the witch,' I must do it. For you know
I am Maseua, head-war-chief, and whatever the principals
command I must do, even if it takes the life of my only
child ! "
The woman rose to her feet; her attitude was one oi
defiance. " Let the Koshare speak, and do you as you are com
manded. The time must come when I shall have to die.
The sooner it comes, the sooner shall I find rest and peace
with our mother at Shipapu."
Her father also had risen, he clutched his cotton garment
as if a sudden chill went through his body. Without a word
he turned and went off dejected, stooping, with a heavy sigh.

36 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
The woman dropped to the floor beside the hearth with
a plaintive moan. She drew her hair over her face, weep
she could not. The embers on the hearth glowed again,
casting a dull light over the chamber.
Say Koitza, as this wretched woman was called, was the
only child of him with whom she had just had this dismal
interview. His name was Topanashka Tihua, and he was
maseua, or head-war-chief, of the tribe. In times of peace
the maseua is subordinate to the tapop, or civil governor,
and as often as the latter communicates to him any decision
of the tribal council he is bound to execute it. Otherwise
the maseua is really a superior functionary, for he stands in
direct relation to the religious powers of which we shall
hereafter speak, and these in reality guide and command
through oracles and prophetic utterances. In war the ma
seua has supreme command, and the civil chief and the
diviners, or medicine-men, must obey him implicitly as soon
as any campaign is started.
Topanashka was a man of great physical vigour notwith
standing his age. He was highly respected for his skill and
bravery, and for his stern rectitude and obedience to strict
duty. He feared nothing except the supernatural powers of
evil. There is nothing the Indian fears, nay hates, so much
as sorcery. Topanashka could scarcely believe that his
daughter had tampered with magic by causing the dark-
coloured corn to speak, and keeping owl's feathers in her
possession. Still, if such were really the case, he knew of
no other course to pursue but to execute the penalty which
according to Indian ideas she deserved, and which the
leading men of the tribe composing its council would un
doubtedly mete out to her, — death ; a cruel, terrible death.
But she was his only child, and ere he placed faith in the
suspicion communicated to him in secret by one of the sha
mans in the tribe, he wanted to satisfy himself from her own

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 37
behaviour whether it was true or not. To his deepest sorrow
Say Koitza's behaviour seemed to prove that she was not
falsely accused. It was a terrible blow to the old man, who
for the first time in his life rose from a task bewildered and
hopeless. Duty was to him paramount, and yet he could
not utterly stifle the longing to save his only child from a
cruel and ignominious fate.
His daughter too felt utterly wretched, and despondent
in the highest degree. For the accusation against her was
true. She had practised the dread art ; and yet, strange to
say, while conscious of guilt, in the bottom of her heart she
felt herself innocent. Let us recall the past life of the un
happy being to see whether there is in it anything to explain
this apparent anomaly.
When Say Koitza was fourteen years of age her husband
Zashue Tihua began to pay her his first attentions. He
called at her mother's home oftener than any other youth
of her tribe, and one afternoon, when she was returning
from the brook with a jar filled with water on her head, he
stopped her, dipped some water out of the urn, drank it,
and whispered something to which she gave no reply,
hurrying home as rapidly as possible. She could not speak
to her mother about this, for her mother was hopelessly
deaf, and it would not have been proper to consult her
father, since the father belonged of course to another clan.
A whole night and one full day Say pondered over the case ;
at last her mind was made up. The girl took a dish filled
with corn-cakes and rolls of sweet paste of the yucca-fruit,
and placed it on her head. With this load she climbed up
the rugged slope leading to the dwellings of the Water clan,
to which Zashue belonged. The lad was sitting in the cave
inhabited by his family, busying himself with straightening
arrow shafts over the fire, when the girl, pushing before her
the loaded tray, crept through the port-hole. Silently she

38 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
placed the food before him, and went out again without a
word. This was her affirmative reply to his wooing. There
after, Zashue visited the quarters of the Gourd people at the
big house every night. Along the foot of the cliffs, in soft
ground, and in a lonely sheltered spot, he meanwhile planted
four stakes connected by cross-poles. From end to end
cotton threads were drawn lengthwise, and here Zashue
wove a cotton wrap day after day. The girl would steal out
to this place also, carrying food to the young artisan. She
would cleanse his hair while they chatted quietly, shyly at
first, about the present and the future. When the mantle
was done and it looked white and firm, Zashue brought it
to Say Koitza's mother, who forthwith understood the in
tention of his gift, and felt gratified at the prospect of secur
ing a son-in-law who possessed cotton. The plant was not
cultivated near the upper Rio Grande at that time, and had
to be obtained from the far south by barter. Many journeys
distant, Pueblo Indians lived also, and thither the Queres
went at long intervals to trade and to hunt the buffalo on
the southwestern plains.
Topanashka also was pleased with the suitor. In due
course of time Zashue Tihua and Say Koitza, therefore,
became man and wife.
Zashue proved to be a good husband, according to In
dian ideas. He worked and hunted dutifully, providing
the store-rooms of Tanyi Hanutsh with supplies of which
his wife, and through her he also, enjoyed the benefit.
He spun cotton and wove it into wraps, scarfs, and sashes.
Furthermore, he was always good-natured and merry. He
did not spend too many nights out of his wife's home,
either. They had three children, Okoya, Shyuote, and a
little girl. Of these Shyuote became the father's favour
ite, for when the child was yet small it happened that his
father made a vow to make a Koshare of him. Zashue

Rito de los Frijoles
Cavate rooms in cliff ; Ruins of Talus Pueblo at the foot of cliff

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 39
was a Delight Maker himself, and one of the merriest o(
that singular crew. Among them he was perhaps the
most popular; for while good-looking, his strength and
agility enabled him to perform in a conspicuous manner,
and his ready wit and quick conception of everything lu
dicrous caused him to shine as a great light among that
society of official jesters.
So the two lived in quiet and sober content. Zashue
was pleased with his spouse. She kept her looks well with
advancing years, and while there is never among Indians
that complete intimacy between man and wife which en
genders fidelity under all circumstances, while a certain
freedom of action is always permitted to the man toward
the other sex, Say had natural tact enough to never pry
into such matters. She, in turn, did her duty. Always
at home, she faithfully fulfilled her obligations as head
of the house, and naturally shrank from all society but
that of her own sex and such men as were allied to her
by near ties of relationship. When she told her father
in that sad interview that she was faithful to her hus
band, Say had told the truth. And yet there was some
thing that caused her to plead guilty.
The family had lived contentedly, and no cloud appeared
to hang over them until, a few years previous to the date
of our story, Say Koitza fell ill from want of proper care.
Mountain fever is not infrequently fatal, and it was moun
tain fever that had seized upon the delicate frame of the
little woman. This fever is often tenacious and inter
mittent; sometimes it is congestive. Indian medicine
may cure a slight attack, and prevent too frequent returns
of more violent ones; but if the case is a serious one,
Indian remedies are of no avail. Say suffered from a
slight attack at first, and recovered from it. A primitive
cold-water treatment was effective for the time being ; but

40 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
in the year ensuing fever set in again, and no sudorific
was of any use. She tried a decoction of willow bark,
but it did her no good. She took the root of the yucca,
or soapweed, and drank the froth produced by whipping
water with it, but gained no relief. The poor woman
did not know that these remedies are not employed by
the Indians in a. case like hers, but only for toothache
and, in the case of soapweed, for consumption.
Thus it went on for three years. During the dry sea
sons there were no signs of the illness ; but as soon as, in
July or August, thunderstorms shed their moisture over
the mountains, and chilly nights alternated with warm
sunshine, the fever made its appearance. Two years be
fore the rainy season had lasted unusually long, and it
was followed immediately by snow-falls. The attacks
from the disease were therefore unusually violent, and by
November Say Koitza thought herself dying from weak
ness and exhaustion. Her condition was such that her
husband felt alarmed, and every effort was made to re
lieve her by the aid of such arts as the Indian believes in.
The chief medicine-man, or great shaman, of the tribe
had to come and see the patient, pray by her side, and
then go home to fast and mortify himself for four con
secutive days. His efforts had no effect whatever. Every
indigenous medicine that was thought of had been al
ready used, and none had been of any avail.
At last the shaman, encouraged by the many blue and
green stones, cotton wraps, and quantities of com meal
which Zashue Tihua contributed in reward of his jug
gleries, resolved to make a final trial by submitting him
self and his associates to the dangerous ordeal of fire-eating
for the invalid's sake. This ceremony was always per
formed by a certain group of medicine-men, called there
fore Hakanyi Chayani, or Fire Shamans. The Hishtanyi

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 41
Chayan was their official head, and he, with the four
others belonging to the fire-eating crew, fasted rigorously
for four days and nights. Then they went to the house
of Say Koitza, and in her presence sang the powerful song,
while each one of them in turn waved a burning bunch
of long dry grass to the six sacred regions, and each time
bit off a piece of the burning weed and chewed it. When
all had gone through the performances, and their mouths
were well filled with ashes, each one gravely stepped up
to the invalid, and spat the contents of his mouth in her
face. Then they departed as quietly as they had come,
and went home to await the results of the wonderful rem
edy.1 It was a last, a supreme effort.
The condition of Say could not fail to arouse the sym
pathies of her own sex, even outside of her clan. Many
were the calls from compassionate women. They would
drop in, squat down, tender their services, suggest reme
dies, and gossip. Only one woman made herself directly
useful, and that was Shotaye, a member of the Water clan.
Shotaye was a strange woman. Nobody liked her, and yet
many applied to her for relief in secret ; for Shotaye pos
sessed great knowledge of plants and other remedies, and
she had a keen practical sense. But people dreaded her ;
she lived alone in her cave among the abodes of the Water
people, and nobody knew but she might know more than
the official medicine-men themselves. In short, the major
ity of the tribe believed that Shotaye was a witch ; but the
woman was so wary that nobody could prove her to be
one. Shotaye was not an old woman. Her appearance was
not in the least repulsive, on the contrary. The men
knew that the woman showed no objections to occasional
1 This fire-cure was still practised by the Queres not very long
ago.

42 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
attentions, even to intimacy. For this reason, also, she
was not popular among her own sex.
Shotaye had had a husband once ; but he had left her
and was living with another woman. That husband was
called Tyope, badger, a man of strong physique and one
averse to monotony in conjugal life. Tyope was a schem
ing man, cunning and unscrupulous in the highest degree ;
Shotaye an energetic woman, endowed with a powerful
will of her own. Had there not been the little cloud of
marital inconstancy on both sides, the pair would have been
well-assorted for good as well as for evil. Tyope was a
Koshare rather than an agriculturist, he spent his time
mostly in other people's homes and in the estufa of the
Delight Makers, leaving his wife to provide for herself and
for him also, whenever he chose to remain at her house.
In short there were flaws on both sides, and Shotaye being
the house-mistress held the main power. One fine evening
when Tyope presented himself in the grotto occupied by his
wife, she refused to recognize him any longer. He pro
tested, he stormed, he menaced her ; it was of no avail.
Shotaye told him to go, and he left. Henceforth the two
were mortal enemies. The woman said little ; but he was
bent upon her destruction by every possible means. She
kept on the defensive, avoided all conflicts, and was very
careful not to give any cause for a direct accusation of
sorcery. She cured people incidentally, never asking any
compensation for it. She lived alone, and thus earned
enough to be independent of her own clan if need be.
This woman called on Say occasionally, but only between
the periods of the attacks of fever. On such visits she
would assist the patient, do the housework, and arrange the
hides or covers for her. Say harboured a wish to consult
her about her disease ; but Shotaye studiously avoided any
opportunity for confidential talk. One Hay, however, when

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 43
the two were alone in the kitchen, and the invalid felt some
what relieved, she opened her heart to her visitor. Shotaye
listened very attentively, and when Say had concluded, in
stead of asking for further details, she abruptly asked
Whether Say had no suspicion of being bewitched.
If such a question were put to us, we should doubt the
sanity of the questioner. Not so the Indian. Say felt like
one from whose eyes thick scales are suddenly removed.
Indeed, she thought this was the cause of her evil, this
alone could explain the tenacity of the disease, its mysteri
ous intermittence. She told her interlocutor that she must
be right, or else why these regular returns and always during
the season of rain ? Shotaye listened and listened ; every
word she heard was in confirmation of her own thoughts.
Say must be under the influence of some evil charm, and
unless counteracted by magic, it was clear to her that the
poor woman must succumb to its workings.
Whatever there is in nature which the Indian cannot
grasp at once, he attributes to mysterious supernatural
agencies. He believes that nature is pervaded by spiritual
essence individualized into an infinite number of distinct
powers. Everything in nature has a soul according to him,
and it is that soul which causes it to move or to act upon
its surroundings in general. Thus the medical properties
of animals, of plants, or minerals, are due to spiritual mani
festations. His medical art therefore does not consist
merely in eliminating the physical cause of disease. As
soon as any disease is stubborn there must be at the bottom
of it some spiritual source, and this source can be discov
ered and removed only by magic.
Incantations therefore form an important part of Indian
medicine. The formulas therefor are the special property of
the medicine-men, whom we shall hereafter designate with
the much more appropriate name of Shamans. The shaman

44 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
is wizard and physician at the same time. He is also a
prophet, augur, and oracle. His duty it is not only to pro
tect from evil, but to counteract it. He has charms and
incantations which he offers for the production of beneficial
natural phenomena.
Magic for such purposes is regarded by the Indian as
essential to the existence of man. Magic, however, as a
black art is the most heinous crime which he can conceive.
The difference between the two consists mainly in their
purpose ; the manipulations are substantially the same, so are
the objects. To know those details is one of the attributes
of the shamans.
The latter constitute a circle of their own, — a cluster of
adepts, nominally in the arts of healing, but really in the
arts of magic. That circle is wide, and whoever stands
outside of it has no right to infringe upon the duties of its
members by attempting to follow their example. It is an
institution, and its origin dates from untold centuries. It is
subdivided into groups, each of which practises charms, in
cantations, or magic, relating to certain human interests. The
Shyayak are in possession of the spell which charms game,
in other words they are the shamans of the hunt. The
Uakanyi practise magic in warfare, they are the shamans of
war. The Chayani are physicians who combine with the
knowledge of medicine proper, the knowledge of magic
curative powers. They are the shamans of medicine.
Lastly the Yaya combine a knowledge of all these different
branches in their essence. They are the prophets and
priests. These groups may be described as, in a certain
sense, guilds. But they are secret societies also, inasmuch
as the arts and practices of each are special property which
is kept secret from the others, and from the uninitiated
members in the tribe. In order to become a member of a
society of that kind secrecy is required and long apprentice-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 45
ship. The novice rises slowly from one degree of knowl
edge to another,. and only few attain the higher positions.
The members of these secret societies are therefore
magicians or wizards, and when any one dreads danger from
evil sorcery it is his duty to consult the proper shaman for
relief, unless he should be sure of the person of the sorcerer,
in which case he may kill him outright without even men
tioning the deed. In the present instance Say could not
resort to such a summary expedient. It was therefore the
duty of Shotaye, who was better informed on institutions
and customs, to direct her sick friend to a shaman. But
Shotaye was not on good terms with the official wizards,
particularly the Chayani, those who cured, and still less with
the highest religious powers, the Yaya. It suited her pride
to attempt the experiment at her own risk, conscious all the
while that it was dangerous, — dangerous for herself, as well
as for her patient. For it entailed performances which
only the shaman can undertake, and should they be de
tected, the very crime of sorcery, against which their experi
ments were directed, would be charged against them.
Shotaye had still another reason for not encouraging her
friend to speak to the higher chayani. The fever coincided
with the rainy season. As soon as this was over it subsided.
Natural as this was, both women attributed it to a mysteri
ous cause; and Shotaye, suspicious and vindictive even,
thought she had discovered a clew to the guilty party.
The rainy season in New Mexico is of course essential to
the growth of the chief staple of the Indian, — maize or
Indian com. When, therefore, in July daily showers should
occur, the principal shamans of each tribe and the yaya
must pray, fast, and mortify themselves, in order that
Those Above may send the needed rain. The hishtanyi
chayan scatters the powder of the white flower to the winds,
meanwhile murmuring incantations. At night he imitates

46 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
thunder, by whirling a flint knife attached to the end of a
long string, and draws brilliant flashes from pebbles which
he strikes together in a peculiar manner. For the Indian
reasons that since rain is preceded in summer by hghtning
and thunder, man by imitating those heralds is calling the
desired precipitation, — beckoning it to come.
This is the time of the year when the Koshare perform
their chief work. Four days and four nights, sometimes
longer, they must fast and pray in order that the crops
may obtain the moisture indispensable for ripening. The
people look upon the Delight Makers with a degree of re
spect akin to fear at all times, for they are regarded as
powerful intermediaries in matters of life and death to the
tribe ; but during that particular time they are considered
as specially precious to the higher powers. Shotaye hated
the Koshare. They in turn disliked the woman, and gave
vent to their dislike by turning her into ridicule at public
dances as often as possible. This she resented greatly;
but she was powerless to retaliate, since the Delight Makers
enjoy special privileges on festive days. The medicine-
woman's hatred was still increased by the fact that her
former husband, Tyope, was a leading Koshare. To his
influence she attributed the insults which the jesters offered
her, and she saw in the whole group but a crowd of willing
tools handled by her personal enemy.
Since Say's illness coincided with the beginning of the
rainy season, the principal activity of the Koshare immedi
ately preceded the outbreak of the fever. Urged by hate
and desire for revenge, Shotaye combined the two facts in
her mind, and drew the conclusion that the disease was
due to the magic power of the Koshare, directed against
Say for some unknown reason and purpose.
If the Koshare were guilty, it was not only useless, it
was dangerous even, to call upon any chayan for relief.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 47
The Delight Makers were the chief assistants of the sha
mans in any public ceremony, and indispensable to them
in many ways. Beside, Say Koitza could not have applied
to a chayan without her husband's knowledge, and that
husband was a Koshare.
So after explaining to the invalid her suspicions and in
ferences, she suggested direct inquiry about the principals
in the supposed evil actions against her. That inquiry
could be conducted only through sorcery itself, and Say
at first trembled. She feared, and not without good cause,
an appeal to evil powers. Still Shotaye spoke so plausibly ;
she assured so strongly her friend of her own discretion and
fidelity, and was so insistant upon her constant success in
everything she had undertaken as yet, — that the woman
yielded at last against her own convictions. Something
within her seemed to speak and say, " Do not tread for
bidden paths, speak to your husband first." But the argu
ments on the other side were too strong, her own physical
condition too weak ; she grasped the expected relief re
gardless of the warnings of her conscience.
Among the objects connected with evil magic, a certain
kind of maize had the power of speech attributed to it.
It is the dark-coloured variety, called in the Queres language
ka monyi tza. Ears of this corn belonging to a witch are
said to speak in the absence of their owner, and to tell of
her whereabouts and doings. Shotaye knew this, and her
self but indifferently versed in the black art, concluded that
the black corn would also reveal, if properly handled, the
agent whose manipulations caused Say Koitza's sufferings.
She hoped also that by combining the dreaded grain with
another more powerful implement of sorcery, owl's plum
age, she would succeed in eliciting from the former all the
information desired. The woman was quite ignorant of the
evil ways in which she was about to wander ; but she was

48 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
bold and daring, and the hope of injuring her enemies
was a greater inducement than the desire to relieve her
friend. The proposed manipulation was directed in fact
much more against her former husband than against the
disease. But how to obtain the necessary objects ! How to secure
black corn, and how and where to get the feathers of an
owl ! Both were so well known and so generally tabooed
that inquiry after them would forthwith arouse suspicion.
Black maize might be procured on the sly ; but the other
could be found by chance only, — by meeting with the body
of a dead owl on the heights surrounding the Tyuonyi
Shotaye was in the habit of strolling alone all around the
Rito, over the timbered mesa as well as through the gorges
which descend from the mountains. On such excursions
the woman observed the most minute precautions, for there
was danger, — danger from roaming Indians of the Navajo
or Dinne tribe, and danger from spies of her own tribe.
Frequently people had followed stealthily in the hope of
surprising her at some illicit practice, but she had been
lucky enough to notice them in time. Of what is called
to-day the mesa del Rito, the high table-land bordering the
Tyuonyi on the south, Shotaye knew every inch of ground,
every tree and shrub.
On a clear, cool November day she strolled again in that
direction, climbing the heights and penetrating into the
scrubby timber, interspersed with tall pines, which covers
the plateau for miles. To her delight she discovered the
remains of an owl at no great distance from the declivity
of the Rito beneath a rotten pine. Instead of picking up
the carcass she kicked it aside disdainfully, but took good
care to notice whither so as to remember the place. It
landed on a juniper- bush and remained suspended from its
branches. Shotaye went onward carelessly. She looked

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 49
for herbs and plants, picking up a handful here, pulling out
a root there, until she had made a long circuit, which how
ever brought her back to the place where the dead owl
was. Here she stopped, listening, all the while looking
out for plants. As if by accident she neared the bush on
which the carcass was still hanging, and after assuring her
self that the body had not been disturbed, she brushed
past so as to cause it to drop to the ground. She hastily
plucked a few feathers, put them with the herbs and roots
already gathered, and turned homeward. Everything was
quiet and still around her, only at a short distance two
crows flew up croaking.
Say Koitza' was not strong enough to walk up to the
cliffs; therefore Shotaye, when she came to announce to
her friend that the necessary material was at last secured,
suggested that the incantation be performed at the home
of the invalid. A certain evening when Zashue was sure
to be absent, owing to a gathering of the Koshare, was
appointed for the purpose. On that evening the two
women sat alone in the kitchen. Okoya was away in the
estufa of Tanyi hanutsh. The two younger children were
fast asleep in the outer room. It was a cold night, but
the fire on the hearth had almost completely subsided,
only a few embers remaining. Through the loophole in
the wall an occasional draught of chilly air entered. Say
Koitza clung to her friend's shoulder, shivering and tremb
ling from fear as well as from cold.
In the centre of the dark room Shotaye had placed a
few ears of black corn, and on them two bundles of owl's
feathers, each tied to a chip of obsidian. She had also
brought along some bark of the red willow ; this she pul
verized in the hand, and made into two cigarettes with
com husks. At that time tobacco was unknown to the
Pueblos, and red willow-bark was the only thing used for
4

50 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
smoking, while smoking itself was not a relish but exclu
sively a sacrifice.
Handing one of the cigarettes to her friend, Shotaye
directed her to light it and then puff the smoke suc
cessively to the six mythical regions. After this she
was to cast the glowing stub on the pile of corn and
feathers. With a shudder Say Koitza obeyed these in
structions ; her teeth chattered while the cave-woman re
cited an invocation. Then both huddled together to list
en. Even Shotaye felt afraid of the consequences. For
a long time everything was silent; the cold draught from
the outside had stopped ; the women sat in breathless
silence ; they listened and listened. Nothing moved.
Not a sound was heard.
Shotaye overcame her first anxiety and repeated the
dread formula. All was silent. Suddenly a cold blast
pervaded the room again. It fanned the embers to re
newed life ; they shed a faint glimmer over the cham
ber. The women started ; there was a crackling heard ;
the feathers moved ; the ears of corn seemed to change
position. One of the feather bunches rolled on the floor.
They nearly screamed in terror, for their excited imagina
tion caused them to hear ghostly sounds, — disconnected,
uncomprehended words. It was clear that the black
com had spoken. What it said neither could tell; but
the fact of having heard the noise was sufficient to con
vince them that Say was under the influence, of an evil
charm, and Shotaye took care to add that that charm
was exercised by the Koshare or by some one belonging
to their society.
So powerful was the effect of this incantation scene
upon Say that she fainted. After a while she recovered
and Shotaye led her back to the outer room, where, after
some time, she began to slumber from sheer exhaustion.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 5 I
Then the medicine-woman returned to the caves, taking
with her every vestige of the conjuration.
It was wise on her part, for as soon as Say awoke from
feverish and anxious dreams, her first thought was about
the dismal objects. Everything was quiet. Zashue had
returned, and was quietly asleep by her side. She arose
and glided into the kitchen, noiselessly, stealthily. The
floor was clean. She felt around ; not a trace of the ob
jectionable pile could be noticed. Unspeakable was the
feeling of relief with which she returned to her husband's
side and extended herself on the hides again; sound
sleep came to her, and when she awoke it was daylight.
She felt stronger, brighter. Yet thereafter, as often as
Zashue approached her in his harmless, bantering man
ner, she experienced a strange, sudden pang. She was
reminded of having done wrong in not having been open
with him. The Indian's conscience is hemmed in by
bonds arising from his social and religious organization;
why, for instance, should she have told her spouse? He
was neither of her clan nor of her party. He belonged
to the summer people, she to those of winter. She
stood outside of all secret associations, whereas he was
a Koshare.The winter following proved to be mild and dry. Say
recovered slowly. Shotaye kept aloof after the conjura
tion, for a long time at least. All of a sudden she made
her appearance at the home of her convalescent friend.
It was in order to remind her that the first step was only
a preliminary, and that it could not effect a radical cure.
All that had been achieved was to prove that an evil
charm existed, and that the Koshare were the wrong
doers. It remained now to remove the spell by breaking
the charm. This, she represented, had to be attempted
when the Koshare were in their greatest power, and could

52 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
only be effected by means of the owl's feathers. By bury
ing these feathers near the place where the Delight Mak
ers used to assemble, Shotaye asserted that not only would
the disease be ehminated forever, but the guilty one be
punished according to the measure of his crime.
Say would not listen to any such proposals. She saw
no necessity for going any further in forbidden tracks.
Now that her health was restored, why should she attempt
to harm a cluster of men to which her husband belonged,
and thus perhaps imperil his life? Shotaye met this ob
jection with the assurance that the remedy was directed
against the guilty ones only, and that she herself did not
for a moment think that Zashue had participated in the
evil manipulations against his wife ; that consequently he
was in no manner exposed to danger. Say finally told
her visitor that she would wait and see, and then decide.
Winter went and spring came. Warm summer followed
with a dark-blue sky and sporadic thunderclouds. All the
crops were planted, irrigated, and scantily weeded. Now
they awaited the rains in order to complete growth and pre
pare for maturity. The great chayani had gone through
their official fasts, they had made their sacrificial offerings
in the sacred bowls dedicated to rain-medicine. Every
day clouds loomed up in the west, distant thunder rumbled,
but not a drop of rain fell in the Rito and the people began
to look gloomy. The Koshare were therefore required to
go to work earlier than usual. They were to fast four con
secutive days between two full moons.
The estufa in which the Delight Makers used to assemble
is situated at the eastern end of the cliffs, and its access is
difficult to-day. It is a circular chamber in the rock twenty
feet in diameter. At present the outer wall has fallen in,
but a crease in the floor indicates the place where a little
port-hole led into the cave. The cave lies high, so that

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 53
from it a view of the whole valley presents itself, and at its
feet opens a narrow chasm of considerable depth. This is
a mere fissure, so narrow that cross-beams were fastened
into its sides like the rounds of a step-ladder ; and on these
the people ascended to a narrow trail leading up to the
entrance. Other cave-dwellings were scattered along this
trail and farther below. They were inhabited by the people
of the Turquoise clan.
All the Koshare had retired to this secluded spot, and
the first day of fasting was nearly over when Shotaye called
once more at the home of Say. The latter guessed the
object of her coming and felt afraid. Without preamble,
in a sober, matter-of-fact way, the cave-woman stated that
the time had come for a decisive step ; and with this she
placed three bunches of owl's feathers on the floor. In
vain Say Koitza protested, affirming that her health was
fully restored. Shotaye would not listen to refusal or ex
cuse. Now or never, she commanded. She repeated her
former assertion that the charm could not hurt Zashue as
long as he was not guilty. For a long while the women sat
arguing the matter ; at last Say Koitza yielded, and prom
ised to comply.
Night came, and the people of the Rito went to rest.
The moon rose behind the lava-ridge of the Tetilla ; the
rocky battlements of the cliffs shone brightly above the
gorge, whose depths rested in dark shadow. A tiny figure
crept out of the big building and hurried down the vale
along the fields. When she reached the grove where we
met Okoya and his little brother for the first time, she
crouched beneath a tree, covered her head, and sobbed
aloud. It was a dire task for Say Koitza, this errand out of
which harm might arise to the whole cluster to which her
husband belonged. If the charm which she clutched with
trembling fingers should work against him, then he was the

54 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
guilty party. So Shotaye had insinuated, and the word had
stung her like the bite of a serpent. It came back to her
mind as she hurried to perform the deed, and caused her
to start. She rose hastily and turned toward the cliffs.
The uppermost rocks glistened fairly in the light of the
moon ; and where the sharp line of the shadows commenced,
the ruddy glow of a fire burst from an oblong aperture.
There was the estufa of the Koshare. From it issued the
sound of hollow drumming intermingled with the cadence
of a chorus of hoarse voices. A thrill went through Say,
she stopped again and listened. Was not her husband's
voice among them ? Certainly he was there, doing his duty
with the rest. And if he- was as guilty toward her as the
others ? That monstrous thought rose again, it pushed her
onward. She crawled ahead slowly, scarcely conscious of
the danger attending her mission. Large blocks of dehris,
tent-shaped erosive hillocks, impeded her progress; they
crowded along the foot of the cliffs like protecting bulwarks,
and the trail wound around them on a higher plane. But
this trail she dared not follow, there was not enough dark
ness on it. She crept along the base, the sense of danger
coming to her with the increasing obscurity, until suddenly
she stood before a cleft of almost inky hue. Here she re
membered was the ascent to the estufa, here she had to
perform the work, and here overpowered by emotion and
excitement she dropped behind an angular block of stone
unconscious. When she recovered, the chorus sounded directly above
her, and the chant seemed to soar away like voices from an
upper world. She glanced up the dark fissure as through
a flume. The cross-beams were faintly visible. Over the
cleft rested a moonlit sky, but to the rocks clung the figure
of a man. That man stood there a moment only, then
shouting a few words as if calling to somebody within,

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 55
he disappeared. The song was hushed. Say recognized the
speaker ; it was Tyope, Shotaye's former husband, and the
one whom the woman suspected of having done her harm.
Resolutely she went at her task.
Taking a bundle of owl's feathers from her wrap, she
presented it successively to the six regions, and then buried
it carefully in the sand, below where the first cross-beam
traversed the fissure. Again she listened and spied, and
creeping forward concealed the second bunch in another
place near by. Then she whispered the sinister prayer
which was to give to the feathers the power to do harm.
At the close the drum rumbled again within the cliffs above
her, and the chant rose strong and rude. Covering her
head, shaking and shivering with sudden fear, Say Koitza
rushed from the spot. Ere day broke she had reached
home again, and extended her weary frame by the side of
her sleeping children.
Say slept for the remainder of the night a long sleep of
exhaustion. The next morning her first task was to bury
the last bunch of owl's feathers in the kitchen, close to the
fireplace, where it was to protect her from the inroads of
enemies. She felt weak but rather comfortable. Her only
anxiety was now the return of her husband.
Zashue came home at last, good-humoured as ever, but
with a lively appetite akin to hunger. His wife received
him in a subdued manner bordering on obsequiousness;
she was more than ever bent on anticipating any desire on
his part. All the while afraid of detection, every kind word
spoken to her caused remorse, every joke pained her in
secret. It recalled what she had done to his companions,
perhaps to him also.
The incantations of the chayani and the fasts of the
Koshare seemed to have no effect whatever upon the course
of the rain-clouds. The heavens clouded regularly every

56 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
day ; they shed their moisture all around the Tyuonyi, but
not a drop fell in the valley-gorge. Now the three chief
penitents of the tribe, the Hotshanyi, the shaykatze, and the
uishtyaka, were called upon to use their means of interces
sion with Those Above. They fasted, prayed, and made sac
rifices alternately for an entire moon ; still it rained not. In
New Mexico local droughts are sometimes very pertinacious.
Plants withered, the corn and beans suffered, languished,
and died. The tribe looked forward to a winter without
vegetable food. But Say Koitza was secretly glad, for
drought killed her disease. She felt stronger every day, and
worked zealously, anxious to please her husband and to
remove every suspicion. Shotaye called on her frequently ;
she, too, felt proud of the success of her cure, sure of the
revenge she had taken upon her enemies.
When a few rains swept at last down upon the vale, it was
too late for the crops. Only the few stores kept in reserve
and the proceeds of the hunt could save the tribe from
a famine. Women and children put on red wristbands to
comfort their hearts in the prospective distress, for a win
ter without vegetable supplies was until then an unknown
disaster. Say Koitza also placed strips of red buckskin
around her arms. Ostensibly she mourned for her tribe;
in reality it was to relieve her heart from the reproaches of
her own conscience.
But when winter set in and the fever had not put in its
appearance, her mind gradually changed. She lost all fear
of discovery, and finally felt proud of what she had done.
Had she not preserved herself for her own husband, for
her children? Instead of performing a crime, it was a
meritorious act. Shotaye encouraged her in such thoughts.
To her it was less the recovery of her friend than the blow
dealt the Koshare, particularly her former husband, that
excited her satisfaction and tickled her pride.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 57
Say thus felt happy and at rest, but that fatal interview
with her father suddenly dispelled all her fond dreams.
The old man's revelations annihilated everything at one
fell blow. No hope was left ; her life was gone, her doom
sealed. As if lightning had struck her she lay down by
the hearth, motionless, for a long while. She heard noth
ing; she stared vacantly; her thoughts came and went
like nebulous phantoms. At last somebody entered the
outer room, but the woman noticed him not. Three
times the new-comer called her name ; she gave no reply.
At the fourth call, " Koitza ! " she started at last, and faintly
answered, —
" Opona."
Zashue, her husband, entered the kitchen and good-
naturedly inquired, —
"Are you ill?"
She raised herself hastily and replied, —
" No ; but I was asleep."
"The sun is resting on the western mountains," said
Zashue ; " give me something to eat, I am tired."
She stirred the fire, and when dry brush flamed over
the hearth she placed the stew-pot on it. The remain
der of the cornmeal she stirred with water, and began
to mix cakes in the usual way. Her husband watched
her pleasantly.
Zashue was indeed a good-looking Indian. Lithe and
of a fair height, with black hair and large bright eyes, he
appeared the picture of vigour and mirth. He chatted
with the utmost nonchalance, telling his wife about the
insignificant happenings of the day, the prospects of the
crops, what such and such a one had said to him, and
what he had told the other in return. It was innocent
gossip, intimate chat, such as a contented husband may
tell a wife in whom he places entire confidence. How

58 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
happy she felt at the harmless chatter, and yet how in
tensely miserable. His inquiry, "Are you ill?" rang in
her ears with a sickening clang, like some overwhelming
reproach. Why, oh why, had she not spoken to him in
time? He was so good to her. Now it was too late;
and beside, why anticipate the fatal hour when he must
know all ? Why not improve the few moments of respite
granted ere death came?
Say Koitza suffered him to continue, and listened with
increasing interest to the talk of her husband. It might
be the last time. Little by little, as he went on, with
harmless, sometimes very clumsy, jokes and jests, she be
came oblivious of her wretched prospects, and her soul
rested in the present. She began to smile shyly at first,
then she even laughed. As Zashue ate he praised her
cooking; and that gratified her, although it filled her
with remorse and anguish. The children came also and
squatted around the hearth, Okoya alone keeping at a
distance and eyeing his mother suspiciously. Could she
in his presence really feel as merry as she acted? Was
it not evidence of the basest deception on her part? So
the boy reasoned from his own standpoint, and went out
into the court-yard in disgust.
The sun set, and a calm, still night sank down on the Rito
de los Frijoles. As the sky darkened, evidences of life and
mirth began to show themselves at the bottom of the gorge
as well as along the cliffs. Monotonous singing sounded
from the roofs of the big house, from caves, and from
slopes leading up to them. Noisy talking, clear, ringing
laughter, rose into the night. Old as well as young seemed
to enjoy the balmy evening. Few remained indoors.
Among these were Zashue and his wife. The woman
leaned against him, and often looked up to his face with a
smile. She felt happy by the side of her husband, and

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 59
however harrowing the thought of her future seemed to be,
the present was blissful to her.
After a while Zashue rose, and his spouse followed him
anxiously to the door, trembling lest he should leave her
alone for the night. She grasped his hand, and he stood
for a while in the outer doorway gazing at the sky. Every
sound was hushed except the rushing of the brook. The
canopy of heaven sparkled in wonderful splendour. Its stars
blazed, shedding peace upon earth and good-will to man.
The woman's hand quivered in that of her spouse. He
turned and retired with her to the interior of the dwelling.

CHAPTER III.
We must now return to the fields of the Rito, and to the
spot where, in the first chapter of our story, Okoya had
been hailed by a man whom he afterward designated as
Tyope Tihua. That individual was, as we have since found,
the former husband of Shotaye, Say's ill- chosen friend.
After the boys had left, Tyope had continued to weed his
corn, not with any pretence of activity or haste, but in the
slow, persistent way peculiar to the sedentary Indian, which
makes of him a steady though not a very profitable worker.
Tyope's only implement was a piece of basalt resembling a
knife, and he weeded on without interruption until the
shadows of the plants extended from row to row. Then he
straightened himself and scanned quietly the whole valley
as far as visible, like one who is tired and is taking a last
survey of the scene of his daily toil.
The fields were deserted. Everybody had left them
except himself. Tyope pushed aside the stone implement
and turned to go. After leaving the corn he turned to the
right, and gradually stooping went toward a grove of low
pines. Into that grove he penetrated slowly, cautiously,
avoiding the least noise. It was clearly his intention to
conceal himself. Once inside of the thicket of pine boughs
he cowered, and after listening again and satisfying him
self that nobody was around, he plunged his right arm
beneath the branches that drooped down to the surface.
When he withdrew it his hand grasped a bow. He placed
this bow near his feet and dived a second time under the

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 6 1
branches, pulling out another object, which proved to be a
quiver made of panther-skin filled with arrows. He exam
ined each of these arrows carefully, trying their heads of
flint and obsidian, and replaced them in such a manner
that the feathered ends projected from the quiver. A thira
time he ransacked the hiding-place, and produced from
beneath the boughs a short wooden war-club. His last
essay brought to light a cap of buffalo-hide thick enough to
repel an arrow fired at short range, and so fashioned as to
protect the forehead to the eyebrows, while behind, it de
scended low upon the neck. This cap, or helmet, he forth
with placed upon his head. Then he slung the quiver
across his shoulders, wound the thong of the club around
his right wrist, grasped the bow with the left hand, and rose
to his feet.
Daylight was gone. Only a flat golden segment blazed
above the western peaks. The peaks themselves, with the
mountains, formed a huge mass of dark purple. Over the
valley night hovered already, but a streak of mist trailing
here and there like a thin veil marked the course of the
little brook. It was so dark that Tyope could move with
out any fear of being seen. He nevertheless maintained a
stooping position as long as he was on open ground. Once
in the corn he followed its rows instead of traversing them,
as if afraid of injuring the plants. He also examined care
fully the edge of the brook before crossing it to the south
side. Once on the declivity leading up to the mesa, he
climbed nimbly and with greater unconcern, for there the
shadow was so dense that nobody could notice him from
below. From the brink of the table-land Tyope looked back upon
the Rito. He stopped not so much in order to see, for it
was too dark, but in order to listen. Everything was quiet.
A bear snarled far away, but this did not concern the

62 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
listener. He strolled on through the scrubby timber of the
mesa until he arrived at a place where tall pines towered up
into the starry sky, when he stopped again and remained for
quite a while looking up at the heavens. The great bear—.
the seven stars, as the Pueblos term it — sparkled near the
northern horizon, and Tyope seemed to watch that constel
lation with unusual interest. Now a hoarse dismal yelping
struck his ear, the barking of the coyote, or prairie wolf.
Twice, three times, the howl was repeated in the distance ;
then Tyope replied to it, imitating its cry. All was still
again. Suddenly the barking sounded much nearer, and Tyope
moved toward the place whence the sound issued, brushing
past the shrubs. Reaching a clear space, he saw before
him the form of a big wolf. The animal was standing im
movable, his tail drooping, his head horizontal.
"Are you alone?" Tyope whispered. The apparition
or beast, whatever it might be, seemed not to excite the
least apprehension. The wolf bent its head in reply with
out uttering a sound.
" Where are the Dinne? " Tyope continued.
A hollow chuckle seemed to proceed from the skull of
the animal ; it turned and disappeared in the darkness, but
a rustling of boughs and creaking of branches made known
the direction. Tyope followed.
The wolf moved swiftly. From time to time its husky
barkings were heard ; and the Indian from the Rito, guided
by these signals, followed as rapidly as possible. At last he
saw the outlines of a juniper-bush against a faint glow.
Behind it sounded the crackling of freshly ignited brash-
wood, and soon a light spread over the surrounding neigh
bourhood. Stepping into the illuminated circle Tyope
stood before a man squatting by the fire.
The man was heaping wood on the fire which he had

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 63
just started. By his side lay the skin of a large wolf. He
seemed not to notice Tyope, although his face was directed
toward him, for his eyes disappeared below projecting brows,
so projecting that only now and then a sudden flash, quick
as lightning, broke out from beneath their shadow. His
form indicated strength and endurance ; he was of stronger
build than the man from the Tyuonyi. A kilt of deer-hide
was his only dress. His hair was wound around his skull
like a turban. As ornaments the stranger wore a necklace
of panther claws. A bow and some arrows were lying on
the wolf's skin beside him.1
Without a word Tyope squatted down near the fire, facing
the other Indian. It had turned cold, and both men held
their hands up to the flame. The former glanced at the
latter furtively from time to time, but neither uttered a
word. The fire was beginning to decline; its light grew
faint. At last the other Indian said, —
"When will the Koshare go into the round house? "
"As soon as the moon gives light," Tyope carelessly
replied. " How many are there of you ? "
"Why do you want to know this?" inquired the man
from the Rito, in a husky voice.
His companion chuckled again and said nothing. He
had put an imprudent question. He turned away carelessly,
placed more wood on the fire, and poked the embers.
Tyope looked up at the sky, and thus the vivid, scornful
glance the other threw on his figure escaped him.
So far the conversation had been carried on in the
Queres language ; now the stranger suddenly spoke in an
other dialect and in a more imperious tone.
1 This custom of taking the disguise of a wolf is or has been used
by the Navajos frequently in order to surprise herds of cattle and
horses.

64 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Art thou afraid of the Dinne ? "
"Why should I be afraid of them? " responded Tyope in
his native tongue.
" Speak the tongue of the Dinne," the other sternly
commanded, and a flash burst from beneath his eyebrows,
almost as savage as that of a wolf. " Thou hast courted
the people of my tribe. They have not sought after thee.
Thou knowest their language. Speak it, therefore, and
then we shall see." He straightened himself, displaying a
youthful figure full of strength and elasticity.
Tyope took this change of manner very composedly.
He answered quietly in the same dialect, —
" If thou wilt, Nacaytzusle, I can speak like thy people
also. It is true I came for them, but what I wanted" — he
emphasized the word — " was as much for their benefit as my
own. Thou, first of all, wast to gain by my scheme." His
eyes closed, and the glance became as sharp as that of a
rattlesnake. Nacaytzusle poked the embers with a dry stick as if
thinking over the speech of the other. Then he asked, —
" Thou sayest thou hast wanted. Wantest thou no more ? "
" Not so much as hitherto," Tyope stated positively.
"What shall it be now?" inquired the Dinne.
" I will speak to thee so as to be understood," explained
the man from the Rito, "but thou shalt tell thy people
only so much of it as I shall allow thee to say. Thou art
Dinne, it is true, and their tongue is thy language, but
many a time hast thou seen the sun set and rise while the
houses wherein we dwell on the brook were thy home.
When they brought thee to us after the day on which
Topanashka slaughtered thy people beyond the mountains,
thou didst not remain with us long. The moon has not
been bright often since thou left us to join thy people. Is
it not so, Nacaytzusle? Answer me."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 65
The Navajo shrugged his shoulders.
" It is true," he said, " but I have nothing in common
with the House people."
" It may be so now, but if thou dost not care for the
men, the women are not without interest to thee. Is it not
thus?" "The tzane on the brook," replied the Navajo, disdain
fully, " amount to nothing."
" In that case " — Tyope flared up and grasped his club,
speaking in the Queres language and with a vibrating tone —
" why don't you look for a companion in your own tribe ?
Mitsha Koitza does not care for a husband who sneaks
around in the timber like a wolf, and whose only feat con
sists in frightening the old women of the Tyuonyi ! "
The Navajo stared before him with apparent stolidity.
Tyope continued, —
" You pretend to despise us now, yet enough has re
mained within your heart, from the time when you lived at
the Tyuonyi and slept in the estufa of Shyuamo hanutsh, to
make my daughter appear in your eyes better, more hand
some, and more useful, than the girls of the Dinne ! "
The features of the Dinne did not move ; he kept silent.
But his right hand played with the string of the bow that
lay on the wolfs skin.
" Nacaytzusle," the other began again, " I promised to
assist you to obtain the girl against her will. Mind ! Mitsha,
my daughter, will never go to a home of the Dinne of her
own accord, but I would have stolen her for your sake. Now
I say to you that I have promised you this child of mine, and
I have promised your people all the green stones of my tribe.
The first promise I shall fulfil if you wish. The other, you
may tell your tribe, I will not hold to longer."
The Navajo looked at him in a strange, doubtful way and
replied, — 5

66 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" You have asked me to be around the Tyuonyi day after
day, night after night, to watch every tree, every shrub,
merely in order to find out what your former wife, Shotaye,
was doing, and to kill her if I could. You have demanded,"
he continued, raising his voice, while he bent forward and
darted at the Indian from the Rito a look of suppressed
rage, " that the Dinne should come down upon the Tyuonyi
at the time when the Koshare should fast and pray, and
should kill Topanashka, the great warrior, so that you might
become maseua in his place ! Now I tell you that I shall
not do either ! "
The eyes of the young savage flamed like living coals.
" Then you shall not have my child ! " exclaimed
Tyope. " I will get her. You may help me or not ! "
" I dare you to do it," Tyope hissed.
Nacaytzusle looked straight' at him.
" Do you believe," he hissed in turn, " that if I were to
go down to the brook and tell the tapop what you have
urged me and my people to do against your kin that he
would not reward me?"
Tyope Tihua became very quiet; his features lost the
threatening tension which they had displayed, his eyes
opened, and he said in a softer tone, —
" That is just what I want you to do. But I want this
from you alone. Go and see the tapop. Tell him not the
small talk about this and that, but what you have seen with
your own eyes about Shotaye, that witch, that snake, — of her
dark ways, how she sneaked through the brush on the mesa,
and how she found and gathered the plumage of the
accursed owl. Tell him all, and I will carry Mitsha to your
lodges, tied and gagged if needs be."
" Why don't you send the girl out alone ? I will wait for
her wherever vpu say."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 67
" Do you think that I would be so silly? " the Pueblo re
torted with a scornful laugh. " Do you really believe I
would do such a thing? No, Dinne, you and your people
may be much more cunning than mine in many ways, but
we are not so stupid as that. If I were to do that, you
would rob me of my handsome maiden and that would be
the last of it. No, Dinne, I do not need you to such
an extent, I am not obliged to have you. But if you go to
the Tyuonyi and accuse the witch, then you shall go out
free, and Mitsha must follow you to the hogans of your
people, whether she will or not. Do what I tell you, and I
will do as I promise. If you will not neither will I, for
mind, I do not need you any longer."
Tyope glanced at the stars with an air of the utmost in
difference. Nacaytzusle had listened quietly. Now he
said without raising his eyes, —
" Tyope, you ask me to do all this, and do not even give
me a pledge. You are wise, Tyope, much wiser than we
people of the hogans. Give me some token that you also
will do what you have said when I have performed my
part. Give me" — he pointed to the alabaster tablet hanging
on Tyope's necklace — " that okpanyi on your neck."
It was so dark that Nacaytzusle in extending his arm in
voluntarily touched the other's chest. Tyope drew back at
the touch and replied, rather excitedly, —
" No, I will not give you any pledge ! "
"Nothing at all?" asked the Navajo. A slight rustling
noise was heard at the same time.
" Nothing ! " Tyope exclaimed hoarsely.
The savage thrust his arm out at the Pueblo with the ra
pidity of lightning. A dull thud followed, his arm dropped,
and something fell to the ground. It was an arrow, whose
head of flint falling on the ashes caused the embers to glow
for an instant. Both men sprang in opposite directions,

68 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
like snakes darting through the grass. Each one concealed
himself behind a bush. The branches rustled and cracked
for a short space. The place around the fire was vacant ;
nothing remained but a dim streak of ruddy light.
Tyope, after repelling the assault upon him, had taken
refuge behind a low juniper-bush. When the Navajo thrust
a pointed arrow at his chest he had numbed the arm
of the savage by a blow from his club, and then both men,
like true Indians, hurriedly placed themselves under cover,
whence each listened eagerly to discover the movements of
his foe. Tyope could have killed the Navajo while close to
him, for he had the advantage in weapons ; but, although
he really had no further use for the young man, he was not
so angry as to take his life.
Still, under the circumstances, the greater the caution
displayed the better. Intimately acquainted with the char
acter of the Dinne Indians, and that of Nacaytzusle in par
ticular, Tyope had gone on this errand well armed. Open
hostility had resulted from the interview ; it was useless to
make any attempt at conciliation. Speedy return to the
Rito was the only thing left. This return might become
not only difficult, but dangerous, with the young Navajo
concealed on the mesa. Tyope had known Nacaytzusle
thoroughly from childhood.
Twenty years before, the Dinne had killed an old woman
from the Tyuonyi. The murder took place near the gorge,
on the mesa north of it, whither she had gone to collect the
edible fruit of the pifion tree. When the corpse was dis
covered the scalp had been taken ; and this, rather than the
killing, demanded speedy revenge. A number of able-
bodied men of the clan to which the grandmother belonged
gathered in order to fast and make the usual sacrifices pre
liminary to the formation of a war party. On the last night
of their fast a delegate from the hishtanyi chayani appeared

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 69
in their midst, and performed the customary incantations.
He painted their bodies with the black lustrous powder of
iron and manganese ore which is believed to strike terror into
the hearts of enemies. He selected their leader, invested
him with the office, and blessed the war-fetiches. To the
leader he gave a little bag of buckskin filled with the powder
of the yerba del manso, which still further produces iismay
among the foe. That leader was Topanashka Tihua, then
in the full vigour of manhood.'
On the following morning Topanashka left before day
break with five picked men in the hideous garb of Indian
braves. They penetrated cautiously the mountain labyrinth
west of the Rito, concealing themselves during the day and
travelling at night. On the morning of the fifth day they
discovered a few huts of the Navajo. Whether or no their
inmates had participated in the murder of the old woman
they did not stop to inquire, but pounced upon the people
who were still asleep. The results of the surprise were nine
scalps and one captive. This captive was a little boy, and
that boy was Nacaytzusle.
Although barely three years old, he was dragged to the
Rito and had to take part in the solemn dance, during
which the scalps of his parents were triumphantly waved by
those who had killed them. Afterward he was adopted into
the Turquoise clan, for the people of the Eagle clan refused
to receive him, the privilege of so doing being theirs. To
panashka disliked the appearance of the child, and his coun
sels weighed heavily. Thus Nacaytzusle became an adopted
son of the Queres, but it did not change his nature. His
physique at once indicated foreign origin ; he grew up to
be taller, more raw-boned, than the youth of the House
people, and his dark, wolfish look and the angular cut of his
features betrayed his Dinne blood.
Like all the other youth, he received the rude education

fO THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
which was imparted at the estufas. He showed consider
able aptitude for mastering songs and prayers, after once
acquiring the language of his captors. He also watched the
wizards as often as opportunity was afforded, and learned
many a trick of jugglery. Tyope was stmck by the youth's
aptitude for such arts and practices. It revealed natural ten
dencies, and confirmed Tyope in the belief that the Navajos
were born wizards, that their juggleries and performances,
some of which are indeed startling, revealed the possession
of higher powers. The Pueblos hold the Navajos in quite
superstitious respect. Tyope therefore looked upon the
young fellow as one who in course of time might be
come an invaluable assistant. He observed the boy's ways,
and became intimately acquainted with all his traits, bad
and good.
Nacaytzusle was a successful hunter ; he was very nimble,
quick, and exceedingly persevering, in everything he under
took. But he was also a natural lounger and idler, when
ever he was not busy with preparations for the hunt or
repairing his own scanty clothing. Work in the fields he
avoided. He even showed marked contempt for the people
of the Rito, because the men performed toil which he
regarded as degrading. Keeping aloof from the men's
society to a certain extent, he was more attracted by the
women. It was especially Mitsha Koitza, Tyope's good-
looking daughter, who attracted him ; and he began to pay
attentions to her in a manner in keeping with his wild
temperament. Tyope, strange to say, was pleased to notice
this. He would have been happy to have given his child
to the savage, but he had no right to interfere in the matter
of marriage, for this belonged to the girl's own clan to
arrange. The clan was that of the Eagle, and Topanashka
was its most influential member, its leading spirit. Mitsha
avoided the Navajo ; and when Nacaytzusle attempted to

A westerly cliff of the habitations of the Tyuonyi, showing second and third story caves,
and some high lookout caves

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. J I
press his suit, the girl repelled his addresses in a manner
that showed her aversion to him beyond any possible
question. Had Mitsha been less positive in her behaviour, it is quite
likely that the character of the young captive might have
changed, — that he might have softened little by little, en
tering into the path traced by the customs of sedentary In
dians. As it was, his hatred to them increased, and with it
the desire to recover his independence by returning to his
kindred. About a year before, then, Nacaytzusle disappeared from
the Tyuonyi. Shortly afterward Tyope was suddenly ac
costed by him while hunting on the mesa, and a secret
intercourse began, which led to the negotiations of which
we have just heard the main purport. These negotiations
were now broken, and in a manner that made a return to
the Rito rather dangerous. The very qualities which had
fascinated Tyope — the wariness, agility, and persistency
of the Navajo, his physical strength, and above all his sup
posed natural faculties for magic, coupled with his thor
ough knowledge of the country — caused Tyope to ponder
upon his means of escape.
The blow which he dealt the savage was sufficient to
teach him that a hand-to-hand encounter would not result
favourably to him. At the same time this slight injury could
not fail to exasperate the Navajo, and Tyope knew that the
savage would lie in wait for him at some point which he had
to pass on his return. For the present, Nacaytzusle was
very likely concealed in the vicinity, in the same manner
and for the same reasons as the Pueblo Indian himself; but
he was sure to leave his hiding-place and make some move
ment toward preparing either an ambush or a sudden sur
prise. Tyope remained motionless for a while. He glanced
across the sr>ace where the fire had been burning ; but every

72 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
spark was gone, and it was too dark to discern anything.
He finally rose to his knees slowly and cautiously, and
turned his eyes in the opposite direction. There also was
an open space, and the dim starlight enabled him to dis
cover that between his station and the nearest tree some
thing similar to a rock or ledge protruded. He peered and
listened, then turned around on his knees and flattening
his body on the ground began to creep toward the tree.
As soon as he reached its foot he rose to full height, leaned
against the trunk, and glanced at the stars. They indicated
that it was past midnight, and Tyope felt uneasy. In case
he should be delayed, and reach the Rito after daylight, it
might excite suspicions. Yet his only safety lay in making
a wide circuit.
The dismal yelping of a prairie wolf struck his ear, and
to his alarm there was at once a reply near where the
interview had taken place, but slightly to the east and more
toward the deep gorge in which the Rio Grande flows.
He concluded that Nacaytzusle had shifted his position, by
placing himself on Tyope's supposed line of retreat. But
it was also manifest that the boy had not come to the meet
ing alone, — that at least one more Navajo lurked in the
vicinity. At least one, perhaps more.
Another wolf now howled in the direction of the south.
A fourth one was heard farther off, and both voices united
in a plaintive wail. Any one unacquainted with the re
markable perfection with which the Navajos imitate the
nocturnal chant of the so-called coyote, would have been
deceived, and have taken the sounds for the voices of the
animals themselves ; but Tyope recognized them as signals
through which four Navajo Indians prowling around him
informed each other of their positions and movements.
This made his own situation exceedingly critical. The
only mitigating circumstance was that the four were dis-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 73
persed, and only one of them could as yet have an idea of
his whereabouts.
The Indian from the Rito braced himself against the tree,
and taking off his helmet laid it carefully beside him on the
ground. Then he took off the quiver, emptied it, and tied
the strap to which it was fastened around his waist. To
this belt he tied both the quiver and the helmet, distributing
them in such a manner that in the prevailing darkness they
appeared like one of the ragged kilts of deer-skin which
formed the main part of a Navajo's costume. Next Tyope
untied the knot which held his hair on the back of the head,
divided the long strands into switches, and began to wind
those around his skull. Necklace, fetich, and the plume
that adorned his sidelock, he put in the quiver. He was
now so far transformed that any one, Nacaytzusle excepted,
might have taken him in the night for a Navajo warrior.
This metamorphosis was performed rapidly, but without
anxious haste or confusion. The howls had meanwhile been
repeated. They sounded nearer than before from the east,
the south, and the southeast. Nacaytzusle alone, to judge
from the signals which he gave, remained stationary.
Tyope, abandoning his position at the foot of the tree,
glided to the nearest shrub. Thence he struck northward
in the direction of the Rito. He walked erect, but scrupu
lously avoided everything that might create noise. When
near the fireplace he stood still and listened. A wolf yelped
to the right of where the Dinne of whom Tyope was most
afraid seemed to be listening, about two hundred steps
from him, on the swelling of the mesa. He manifestly ex
pected the Queres to return the same way he came. It
was not a sign of much wisdom, but the boy was young and
inexperienced in the stratagems of Indian warfare. Tyope
felt relieved.
Suddenly loud barking sounded directly in front of

74 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
him, and at no great distance. Tyope dropped on the
ground and began to glide like a snake toward the
place whence this last signal came. He crouched behind
a flat rock and raised his eyes. It was in vain ; nothing
could be seen in the obscurity. He felt puzzled. Was
this last signal the voice of another enemy who had hitherto
remained silent, or was it Nacaytzusle who had changed
his position? At all events it was safer to rise and go
directly toward the spot, rather than approach it in a
creeping posture. He walked deliberately onward, at the
same time calling out in a low tone, —
"Nacaytzusle !"
Nothing moved.
He advanced a few steps and repeated, —
"Nacaytzusle! Hast thou seen anything?"
" No," said a hollow voice near by, and a human form
arose as if from beneath the surface. The man stepped
up to Tyope ; and to the latter's unpeakable relief, he
looked stouter and shorter than Nacaytzusle. The Indian
was unknown to him, and Tyope said eagerly, —
"The badger must be hiding near where the fire is.
We should cut off his trail to the north. Nacaytzusle
went too far east; there" — he pointed toward the north
east — "is where he ought to stand."
Tyope spoke the Navajo language fluently.
"Thou art right," said the other; "go thither, and we
will be closer together."
Tyope felt loath to follow this advice, for it would have
brought him uncomfortably near his most dangerous foe ;
yet, under the circumstances and to avoid all suspicion
he accepted the suggestion, and was about to turn in the
direction indicated when the signals sounded again and
simultaneously from every quarter. The strange Indiar
l.eld him back, asking, —

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 75
"How is this? We are five, and four have shouted
now. Who art thou, and where dost thou come from ? "
" I came from above," Tyope replied, with affected
composure. They stood so close together that the Navajo could no
tice some details of Tyope's accoutrements. Grasping the
cap of buffalo hide which dangled from the belt of the
Queres, he inquired, —
"What dost thou carry here?"
All was lost, for the Navajos were well acquainted with
this garment, peculiar to the war dress of the Pueblos.
Tyope saw that only the most reckless act could save him.
So he dropped all his arrows, which until now he had
carried in his right hand, and thrust his club like a slung-
shot into the other's face. With a yell of pain and sur
prise the Navajo tumbled backward into a bush, while
Tyope darted forward in the direction of the Rito. Be
hind him sounded the hoarse cries of the wounded man,
loud yells answering. They came from four sides; all
the pursuers were running at full speed to the assistance
of their companion.
Madly, like a deer pursued by wolves, Tyope bounded
onward. But soon his speed slackened ; he believed that
he was safe, and there was no use in tiring himself. His
movements were no longer noiseless as before. During
his first run he had made so much noise as to lead the
pursuers directly on his trail. These pursuers had sud
denly become silent. Nevertheless, from time to time,
rustling sounds struck the ear of Tyope, and proved that
the pursuit was carried on unrelentingly. He noticed a
suspicious twittering and cracking, not behind him, but
at one side ; and it approached.
He comprehended at once that one of the Navajos,
instead of rushing to the rescue of the one whom Tyope

76 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
had strack down, had taken a direction diagonal to his
own, with the hope of intercepting him near the brink
of the declivity leading down into the Rito, or perhaps
sooner. A change in his line of flight was thereby ren
dered necessary, but in what direction? The warning
sounds were heard directly north of him; then every
thing became quiet. The same stillness reigned all
around ; and this proved that the pursuers, while cer
tainly approaching with the greatest possible alacrity,
were anxious to cover their movements. Tyope stood
still, undecided what to do. The sound of a breaking
or bending twig, faint though audible, caused him to
crouch behind a cedar bush again. He held his breath,
listened, and peered through the branches. Soon a man
appeared, — a Navajo ; but whether it was Nacaytzusle or
not, he could not discover. The Indian glided across the
open space as noiselessly as a spectre, and disappeared in
a northerly direction. Tyope remained in his concealment
for a while, and as nothing more was heard or seen, he
crawled to the nearest shrub to the west. There he
again listened and watched, then rose to his feet and
moved in a westerly direction.
The moon had risen, and its crescent shed a glimmer
over the tree-tops. For some time Tyope walked on.
Frequently he halted to listen ; everything was still. From
this he inferred that his enemies had passed him, and were
now stationed along the brink of the gorge in order to in
tercept him, and that he had gone far enough to risk a de
scent from where he stood. It did not seem likely that
the Navajos had posted themselves so far up the brink,
since he knew it to be beyond the highest cave-dwellings.
Turning to the north, therefore, he soon found himself
under the last trees of the mesa. Beyond opened a whit
ish chasm, and the northern cliffs of the Rito rose like

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. J J
dim gigantic phantoms. Here he knew the descent had to
be made, but here also the most imminent danger was
lurking. The brink of the Rito on the south side is lined by shrub
bery, with high timber interspersed ; but ledges of friable
volcanic rocks advance in places beyond this shade, crown
ing the heights like irregular battlements. Their surface is
bare, and anything moving on them might become visible
to a watchful eye, notwithstanding the dimness of the
moonlight. Tyope lay down, and began to glide like a snake. He
moved slowly, pushing his body into every depression, hug
ging closely every protuberance. Thus he succeeded in
crossing the open space between the woods and the rim of
the declivity. Now he could overlook the valley beneath
and glance down the slope. It was not very steep, and
thickets covered it in places. But between him and the
nearest brush a bare ledge had yet to be crossed. He
crept into a wide fissure, and then down. The crags were
not high, scarcely ten feet. Then he pushed cautiously on
to the open space. When near the middle of it he raised
his head to look around. Immediately a twang sounded
from the heights above him, and a whiz followed. Tyope
bounded to his feet, reeled for a moment ; another twang
and another whizzing, — an arrow struck the ground where
he had lain ; but already the Queres was away, leaping from
rock to rock, tearing through shrubbery and thickets like a
frightened mountain sheep. Stones rolled from above ;
somebody was hastening down in pursuit ; arrow upon
arrow sped after the fugitive. But Tyope was safely out of
reach and in the bottom, whither the Navajo did not dare
to follow. A drizzling noise, like that of pebbles dropping
from a height, told that the pursuer had withdrawn to the
woods again ; then all was stilL

78 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Down below on the edge of the brook lay Tyope, panting
from exhaustion. His life was safe and he felt unhurt, but
he was overcome by emotion and effort. As long as the
excitement had lasted his physical strength had held out.
Now that all was over he felt tired and weak. Yet he could
not think of rest, for daybreak was close at hand. He dipped
some water from the brook and moistened his parched lips,
taking care not to touch his face or body with the liquid.
Tyope was tired and worn out, but at the same time angry ;
and when the Indian suffers or when he is angry he neither
washes nor bathes. Physical or mental pain, disappoint
ment, and wrath, are with him compatible only with lack
of cleanliness, and since he becomes wrathful or disap
pointed or sick quite as often as we do, his bodily condition
is frequently far from pleasant.
Tyope felt angry and disappointed at himself. The fail
ure in regard to Nacaytzusle was not the cause of his dis
appointment. What angered him was that he had not
killed the Navajo whom he struck down on the mesa, and
taken his scalp. There would have been ample time, and
he could have concealed the trophy, returning for it in the
daytime. He had already taken one scalp in his life, but
to have missed this opportunity of securing a second one
was an unpardonable failure. It was this which caused him
to avoid the cooling waters and forget the demands of
cleanliness. He rose and walked on. The valley opened before him ;
the dim light of a waning moon shone into it, allowing a
practised eye to discern grotto after grotto in the cliffs. As
Tyope proceeded down the gorge, following the brook's
course, he glanced at the caves. They were those of the
Water clan. He frowned and clenched his fist in anger.
There lived his enemy, Shotaye, his former spouse. There
was her den, the abode of the hated witch. How often had

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. jg
she crossed his path, how often warned those whom he had
planned to injure ! Yes, she was a sorceress, for she knew
too much about his ways. But now his time would come,
for he too knew something concerning her that must ruin
her forever. He had known it for some time, but only
now was it possible to accuse her. He shook his fist at the
cliffs in silent rage ; the thought of taking revenge filled his
heart with sinister joy, and made him forget the fatigue and
disappointment of the past hours.
He soon stood in front of the place where the cliffs form
a perpendicular wall, and where instead of excavating dwell
ings the people of the Eagle clan had built their quarters
outside, using the smooth surface of the rock as a rear wall.
A row of terraced houses, some three, some two stories high,
others with a ground-floor only, extended along the base of
the rocks, looking like a shapeless ruin in the faint glow of
the moon. Toward this edifice Tyope walked. All was
silent, for nobody had as yet risen from sleep. He climbed
on the roof of a one-story house and stooped over the
hatchway to listen. It was dark inside, and only the sound
of regular breathings could be heard. Tyope descended
into the room. Two persons lay on the floor fast asleep.
They were his wife and daughter. Concealing his weapons
and war-accoutrements, he stretched himself at full length
beside the others. The rushing of the brook was but faintly
heard ; a cold blast entered through the loophole in the wall.
Tyope heaved a deep sigh of relief and closed his weary
eyes. The night was nearly over, but he had reached home
before the dawn of day.

CHAPTER IV.
A bright morning followed the night on which Tyope
underwent his adventures. He slept long, but it attracted
no undue attention and called forth no remarks on the
part of his wife and daughter. They were wont to see
him come and go at any hour of the night. It was very
near noon when he awoke at last, and after disposing of his
late breakfast, d la mode du pays, sauntered off to parts
unknown to the others. The day was one of remarkable
beauty. No dim foggy city sun cast a sullen glance at the
landscape. The sun stood in the zenith of a sky of the
deepest azure, like a flaming, sparkling, dazzling meteor.
Still its heat was not oppressive.
On the mesa above the Rito a fresh wind was blowing.
The shrubbery was gently moved by the breeze. A faint
rushing sound was heard, like distant waves surging back
and forth. In the gorge a zephyr only fanned the tops of
the tallest pines ; a quietness reigned, a stillness, like that
which the poets of old ascribe to the Elysian fields.
There is not much bustle about the big house on the
Tyuonyi. The men are out and at work, and the children
have retired to the court-yard. A group of girls alone
enlivens the space between the main building and the new
home of the Corn people. They are gathered in a throng
while they talk, laugh, and chatter, pointing at the fresh
coat of clay which they have finished applying to the out
side of the new building. Their hands are yet filled with

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 8 1
the liquid material used for plastering, and they taunt each
other as to the relative merits of their work.
One of the maidens, a plump little thing with a pair of
lively eyes, calls out to another, pointing at a spot where
the plaster appears less smooth and even, —
" See there, Aistshie, you did that ! You were too lazy
to go over it again. Look at my work ; how even it is
compared with yours ! "
The other girl shrugged her shoulders and retorted, —
" It may be, but it is not my fault, it is yours, Sayap.
You did it yesterday when we beat off the boys. You
pushed Shyuote against the wall and he thumped his head
here. See, this is the mark where he struck the clay. You
did this, Sayap, not I."
Sayap laughed, and her buxom form shook.
" You are right ; I did it, I served the urchin right. It
was good, was it not, Aistshie? How I punished the
brat, and how he looked afterward with his face all one
mud-patch ! "
"Yes," Aistshie objected, "but I did more. I faced
Okoya, despite his bow and arrows. That was more than
you did."
The other girls interrupted the scornful reply which Sayap
was on the point of giving. They crowded around the
two with a number of eager questions.
"What was it? " queried one.
"What happened yesterday?" another.
" Did you have a quarrel with boys," a third ; and so on.
All pressed around begging and coaxing them to tell the
story of yesterday's adventure. The heroines themselves
looked at each other in embarrassment. At last Aistshie
broke out, —
" You tell it, Sayap."
"Well," began the latter, "it was yesterday afternoon

82 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
and we were just putting on the last touches of the coating,
when Okoya and little Shyuote his brother — "
A clod, skilfully hurled, struck her right ear, filling it with
sand and cutting off the thread of her narrative rather
abraptly. Sayap wheeled around to see whence the blow
had come. The other girls all laughed, but she was angry.
Her wrath was raised to the highest pitch however, when
she discovered that Shyuote was the aggressor. On a little
eminence near by stood the scamp, dancing, cutting capers,
and yelling triumphantly.
" Shyuote is small, but he knows how to throw."
" Fiend," cried Sayap in reply. She picked up a stone,
raised it in the awkward manner in which most girls handle
missiles, and running toward the boy hurled it at him. It
fell far short of its mark, of course, and Shyuote only laughed,
danced, and grimaced so much the more. As Sayap kept
advancing and the other girls followed, he threw a second
clod, which struck her squarely in the face, and so sharply
that blood flowed from her nose and mouth. At the same
time the rogue shouted at the top of his voice, —
" Come on ! All of you ! I am not afraid. You will
never catch me ! "
And as the majority of his pursuers came on, while two
or three remained behind soothing and consoling Sayap,
who stood still, crying and bleeding, he thrust out his tongue
at them its full length; performed a number of odious gri
maces, and then nimbly clambered up between a group of
erosive cones that lay in front of the cliff. He turned
around once more to yell defiance and scorn at his pur
suers, and disappeared on the other side. Farther pursuit
being hopeless, the girls clustered around the weeping
Sayap and held a council of war. They vowed dire ven
geance on the lad, and promised their injured sister to
improve the first opportunity that should present itself.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 83
Shyuote, on the other hand, felt proud of his success.
His revenge was, he felt, a glorious one. Still he was care
ful not to forget the counsels of prudence, and instead of
returning to the house by a direct route, which might have
carried him too near the enraged damsels, he sauntered
along, hugging the cliffs for some distance, and then cau
tiously sneaked into the fields below the new homes of the
Maize clan. Once in the corn he felt safe, and was about
to cross the brook to the south side, when the willows
bordering the streamlet rustled and tossed, and a voice
called to him from the thicket, —
"Where are you going, uak? "
Shyuote stopped, and looked around for the speaker ; but
nobody was visible. Again the boughs rustled and shook,
and there emerged from the willows an old man of low
stature, with iron-gray hair and shrivelled features. He wore
no ornaments at all; his wrap was without belt and very
dirty. In his left hand he held a plant which he had
pulled up by the roots. He stepped up to Shyuote, stood
close by his side, and growled at him rather than spoke.
" I asked you where you were going. Why don't you
answer?" Shyuote was frightened, and stammered in reply, —
"To see my father."
"Who is your father?"
"Zashue Tihua."
The features of the interlocutor took on a singular
expression. It was not one of pleasure, neither did it
betoken anger; if anything, it denoted a sort of grim
satisfaction. " If Zashue is your father," continued he, and his eyes
twinkled strangely, " Say Koitza must be your mother."
" Of course," retorted the boy, to whom this interroga
tory seemed ludicrous.

84 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" And Okoya your brother," the old man persisted.
"Why do you ask all this?" inquired the child,
laughingly. A look, piercing and venomous, darted from the eyes of
the questioning man. He snarled angrily, —
" Because I ask it. I ask, and you shall answer me with
out inquiring why and wherefore. Do you hear, uak?"
Shyuote hung his head ; he felt afraid.
" I forbid you to say anything about what I say to you to
your mother," continued the other, grasping the left arm of
the boy.
Shyuote shook off the grip, and also shook his head in
token of refusal. The old man seized the arm again and
clutched it so firmly with his bony fingers that the lad
screamed from pain.
" Let me go ! " he cried. " You hurt me, let me go ! "
"Will you do as I bid you? " asked his tormentor.
" Yes," sobbed the child. " I will obey. My mother
shall not know anything. Let me go, you hurt ! "
The man loosened his grip slightly.
" To your father you shall say that I, the Koshare Naua,"
— the boy looked up at him at these words in astonishment,
— " send word to him through you to come to my house
on the night after the one that will follow this day, when
the new moon sets behind the mountains. Do you hear
me, boy?"
Shyuote stared at the interlocutor with mouth wide open,
and with an expression of fear and surprise that evidently
amused the other. He gave him a last look, a sharp, threat
ening, penetrating glance; then his features became less
stem. " Have no fear," he said in a milder tone. " I will not
do you any harm ; but you must do as I say. Go to your
nashtio now, and tell him what I said." With this he

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 85
wheeled about and left the boy as abruptly as he had ap
peared. Shyuote stood gaping and perplexed.
He felt very much like crying. His arm still ached from
the grip of the old man, and while he was rubbing the sore
spot his anger rose at the harsh and cruel treatment he
had suffered. He thought of rushing home to his mother
forthwith and telling her all about the bad old man, and
how he had forbidden him to say anything to her. Still,
the Koshare Naua was not to be trifled with, and Shyuote,
young and childish as he was, had some misgivings about
betraying his confidence. His father had told him that the
Naua, or chief leader of the Koshare, was a very wise and
therefore a very powerful man. Zashue, who as soon as
Shyuote was born had pledged the child to become one of
the Delight Makers, was educating the lad gradually in his
duties; and Shyuote had already imbibed enough of that
discipline to feel a tremendous respect for the leader of the
society to which he was pledged to belong. He suppressed
the thoughts of rebellion that had arisen, and strolled on,
crossing the creek and hunting for his father among the
corn-patches on the other side. But his good-humour had
left him. Instead of being triumphantly buoyant, he felt
morose and humiliated.
Zashue Tihua was at work in the fields of the Water
clan, on the southern border of the cultivated plots. He
was not alone ; another young man kept him company.
It was his younger brother, Hayoue. They were weeding
side by side, and exchanging remarks while the work went
on. Zashue looked up, and his handsome face brightened
when he discovered Shyuote coming toward them through
the maize. A visit from his favourite child, although by no
means an unusual occurrence, was always a source of pleas
ure. He liked to have Shyuote around him when he was
at work

86 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Throwing a small, sharp stone-splinter toward the boy, he
called out to him, —
" Come, take this okpanyi and begin weeding where you
stand. Weed toward us until we meet, and we will go
home together to the yaya."
This was still further a source of displeasure to Shyuote,
who above all things disliked work. He had not come
down to the fields to toil. What he sought for was a
friendly chat with his father, a few hours of lounging and
loafing near him. Disappointed and pouting, he bent over
the work assigned, while the two men went on with their
task as well as with their conversation.
Hayoue was taller than his brother, and a strikingly hand
some young Indian. His eyes had a more serious and less
mischievous expression than those of Zashue. He was yet
unmarried; but, notwithstanding, a marked predilection
for the fair sex formed one of his characteristics. He was
held in high esteem by the leading men of the tribe, Tyope
and his adherents excepted, for his sagacity, good judg
ment, and personal valour.
" I tell you," Zashue spoke up, " Shyuote will become a
good one."
Hayoue shrugged his shoulders and replied, —
" You should know your own children better than I, yet
I tell you Okoya also is good; besides, he is wise and
reserved." "Yes; but he is too much with the women, and his
mother stands nearer to him than his father. He never
follows me to the fields unless I tell him. Look at the
little one, on the other hand. He will be a man."
While his brother spoke Hayoue had quietly observed
Shyuote ; and the slow, loitering way in which the boy per
formed his work had not escaped his observation. He
said, —

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 87
"It may be. To-day he certainly acts rather like an
old woman. See how loath he is to weed the plants."
" You always prefer Okoya," replied Zashue. " You like
him because he never opens his mouth unless an arrow is
forced between his teeth."
" And you prefer Shyuote because you are making a Ko
share of him," Hayoue answered, with great composure.
" He surely will become a good one, a better one than
I am." "If he becomes as good a Delight Maker as you are,
Zashue, we may be satisfied. Shall you soon retire to
the estufa?" he inquired, changing the subject of the
conversation. " I don't know ; the Naua has not said anything as
yet, but the time is near at hand when we should begin
to work. Before going into the round house in the rocks,
we ought to be sure that there are no Navajos in the
neighbourhood. You are Kauanyi, a member of the order
of warriors," he added with a side-glance at his brother,
"do you know anything of the sneaking wolves in the
mountains? "
Hayoue denied any knowledge concerning the Navajos,
adding, —
" I did not like it when that fellow Nacaytzusle ran away
from us. He knew too much of our ways."
" He can do no harm. He is glad to stay among his
people." "Still I don't trust him," Hayoue muttered.
"Neither would I, if I were in your place," Zashue
taunted, and a good-natured though mischievous smile lit
up his features. " If I were you I wouid keep still better
guard over Mitsha Koitza."
"What have I to do with the child of Tyope," ex
claimed the other, rather contemptuously.

88 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
"Indeed?" queried Zashue, "so you, too, are against
Tyope? What has he done to you?"
" Nothing, but I mistrust him as much as I do the
Navajo." These last words were uttered in such a positive manner —
they were so earnestly emphasized — that they cut off the
conversation. It was plain that Hayoue had made up his
mind on the subject, and that he did not wish to have it
broached again.
" Sa nashtio," called Shyuote over to where the brothers
were weeding in silence, " come over here ; I must tell you
something, but I must tell it to you alone."
Hayoue at once turned away, while Zashue called the lad
to him. But Shyuote protested, saying that only his father
was to hear his communication, and Zashue at last went
where the boy was standing. It vexed him, and he in
quired rather gruffly what he had to say. Shyuote made
a very wise and important face, placed a finger to his lips,
and whispered, —
" The Koshare Naua told me to tell you that you should
go to see him, not to-morrow, but the day after, when the
moon goes behind the mountains."
" Is that all 1 " exclaimed Zashue, disappointed and angry,
— " is that all you had to say? That much you might have
shouted to me. There was no need of being so secret
about it, and " . — he glanced at the insignificant and care
less work the boy had performed — "is that all you have
done since you came ? You are lazy, uak ! Go home. Go
home at once to your mother and tell her that I shall not
return for the evening, but will stay with Hayoue in the
caves." And as Shyuote, dismayed and troubled, appeared
loath to go, Zashue turned to him again, commanding in a
very angry tone, —
" Go home ! Go home at once \ "

(Upper picture) A Navajo Hogan
(Lower picture) The Heart of the Tyuonyi: The excavated
lower story of the great terraced Communal House

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 89
Shyuote left in haste; he felt very much like crying.
Hayoue said to his brother, —
"Didn't I tell you that Shyuote was lazy? Okoya is
far, far more useful."
" Let me alone about Okoya," growled Zashue ; and both
went on with the work as before.
Shyuote stumbled across the patches of corn, rather
than walked through them. He felt sad, dejected, and very
wrathful. All the buoyancy with which his victory over the
girls had inspired him was gone. Since that heroic feat
nothing but ill-luck had crossed his path. He was angry at
his father for scolding him and driving him home, in the
presence of Hayoue, for whom the boy had as great a dis
like as his uncle had for him. Why, it was worse than the
threats and cuffs of the old Naua ! It was not only an
injustice, it was an insult ! So the lad reasoned, and began
to brood over vengeance. He was going to show his father
that he, the ten-year-old boy, was not to be trifled with.
Yes, he would show his teeth by refusing to become a
Koshare. Would not that be a glorious revenge ! The
little fellow did not know that he was pledged to the
Delight Makers by a sacred vow of his parent which it
was not in his power to break. After a while his thoughts
changed, and he concluded that it might be better to say
nothing and to go home and ask for something to eat. But
never, never again would he favour his father with a
friendly call in the corn-patch. This latter resolve ap
peared to him so satisfactory, the revenge so ample for the
injury received, that he forgot the past and fairly danced
through the fields, hopping sometimes on one foot and some
times on the other. He crossed the brook and reached the
large house almost to his own surprise.
It was noon, and the full blaze of the sun flooded the
vallev with light. Not a breeze fanned the air, nothing

90 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
stirred. No vibrations troubled the picture which the cliffs,
the caves, the buildings, presented in the dazzling glare.
The cliffs had lost their yellowish hue and appeared white,
with every protuberance, every indentation, or cavity,
marked by intense shadows. The houses inhabited by
the Eagle clan along the foot of the rocks were like a row of
irregularly piled cubes and prisms ; each beam leaning
against them cast a jet-black streak of shadow on the
ground. Below the projecting beams of the roofs a short
black line descended along the wall, and the towering
rocks jutted in and out from dark recesses like monsters.
So strong were the contrasts between shadow and light
that even Shyuote was struck by it. He stood still and
stared. Something indefinite, a vague feeling of awe, crept over
him. For the real grandeur of the scenery he had no sense
of appreciation, and yet it seemed to him as if everything
about were new and strange. Thousands of times had he
gazed at the cliffs of his valley home, but never had they
appeared to him as they did now. So strong was this
impression, and so sudden, too, that he shrank from the
sight in amazement ; then he turned his eyes away and
walked rapidly toward home. He was afraid to look at the
colossal pillars and walls ; they appeared to him like giants
threatening to move. All his plans for revenge, every
thought of wrath and indignation, had vanished.
Suddenly his left knee was struck by a stone hurled with
such force that Shyuote bounded and screamed. At the
same time six or seven boys, some apparently of his age
while others were taller and older, rushed from the bushes
skirting the ditch. Two of them ran directly in front of
him. They were armed with sticks and short clubs, and
the largest, who seemed to be of the same age as Okoya,
shouted, —

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 9 1
" You have injured Sayap, and caused her blood to flow.
You rotten squash, you shall suffer for it."
Shyuote took in the situation at a glance. He saw that
only desperate running would save him from being roughly
handled. He darted off like an arrow toward the cave-
dwellings in front of him. Unfortunately these were the
quarters of the Corn people who had not yet moved into
their new homes. To them belonged Sayap and the boys
that were assailing Shyuote ; and as the fugitive approached
the slope, he saw it occupied by other youth ready and
eager to give him a warm reception. At the same time the
tallest of his pursuers was gaining on him rapidly ; rocks
flew past his head ; a stone struck him between the ribs,
stopping his breath almost. In despair he turned to the
left, and making a last effort flew towards the houses of the
Eagle clan. Panting, blinded by exertion and by pain, he
reached one of the beams leading to a roof, rushed upward
along it, and was about to take refuge in the room below,
when a young girl came up the primitive ladder down which
he had intended to precipitate himself. Issuing from the
hatchway she quietly pushed the lad to one side ; then, as
in that moment one of his pursuers appeared on the roof,
she stepped between him and Shyuote.
" Get out of the way, Mitsha ! Let me get at the
wren ! " cried the youth who had just climbed the roof.
Shyuote fled to the very wall of the rock ; he gave up
all hope and thought himself lost. But the girl quietly
asked, —
"What do you want with the boy? "
" He has hurt Sayap, our sister," the tall youngster an
swered. "He threw a stone at her and caused her to
bleed. Now I am going to pay him for it."
" So will I ! " shouted another one from below.
" I too ! " " And I ! " " He shall get it from all of

92 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
us ! " yelled a number of youthful voices, and in an instant
the roof was crowded with boys.
Mitsha had placed herself so as to shield the trembling
lad with her own body. Very quietly she said, —
"Don't you see that he also is bleeding? Let him go
now, it is enough." A stone had indeed grazed Shyuote's
scalp, and blood was trickling down his cheek.
" It is not enough ! " shouted one of the older boys, an
grily. " Get out of the way, Mitsha ! "
"You shall not hurt him on this roof," replied Mitsha, in
a calm but very positive tone.
"Do you intend to protect him?" cried the tallest one
of the pursuers, and another one exclaimed, —
" How does it concern you ? You have nothing to do
here." All turned against the girl. A little fellow, who
carried several large pebbles in his hand for the occasion,
endeavoured to steal a march around Mitsha in order to
reach Shyuote ; but she noticed it, and grasped his arm and
pulled him back so vigourously that he reeled and fell at
full length on the roof. Then she ordered them all to
leave forthwith.
"You belong to the Corn clan," she said, "and have
nothing to do here on the houses of the Eagle clan. Go
down ! Get away at once or I will call our men. As long
as I am here you shall not touch the uak."
"So you take his part?" cried the biggest one of the
invaders. He raised a stick to strike her.
" Lay down your club, you dirty ear of com," replied the
maiden, " or you will fare badly." With this she drew
from under her wrap a heavy war-club ; it was the same
weapon which Tyope had used the night previous.
The boy's arm remained uplifted, but still the attitude of
the girl, her threatening look and resolute appearance,
checked the assailants. Mitsha stood with apparent com-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 93
posure, but her eyes sparkled and the expression of her
face denoted the utmost determination. Besides she was
fully as tall as most of her opponents, and the weapon she
was holding in readiness looked quite formidable. But the
superior number of her assailants exercised a certain pres
sure on these assailants themselves, and the Indian under
such circumstances has no thought of chivalrous feeling.
A dozen boys stood before the solitary maiden on the roof,
and they were not to be intimidated by her. For an in
stant only neither said a word ; then a threatening mur
mur arose. One of the lads called out to the tallest of the
crowd, —
" Strike her down, Shohona ! "
A stone was thrown at her but missed its aim. At this
moment the boys nearest the brink of the roof were sud
denly thrust aside right and left, the one who had threatened
Mitsha with his stick was pulled back and jerked to one
side violently, and before the astonished girl stood Okoya.
Pale with emotion, breathless, with heaving chest, and quiv
ering from excitement, he gasped to her, —
"Go down into the room; I will protect my brother."
Then he turned to face the assailants.
The scene on the roof had attracted a large number of
spectators, who had gathered below and were exchanging
surmises and advice on the merits of a case about which
none of them really knew anything. Now a woman's voice
rose from amid this gaping and chattering crowd, — the
sharp and screechy voice of an angry woman. She shouted
to those who were on the roof, —
" Get down from my house ! Get down, you scoundrels !
If you want to kill each other do it elsewhere, and not on
my home ! " With this the woman climbed on to the
roof. She seized the boy nearest to her by the hair and
pulled him fairly to the ground, so that the poor fellow

94 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
howled from pain. With the other hand she dealt blows
and cuffs, and scratched and punched indiscriminately
among the youngsters, so that a sudden panic broke out
among these would-be heroes. Each sought to get out of
her reach with the greatest alacrity. She at last released
her hold on the first victim and reached out for another ; but
the last of the young Corn people was just tumbling down
from the roof, and her clutch at his leg came too late. In
an instant the roof was cleared. The young braves from
the Maize clan were ungraciously received below. A num
ber of their parents had assembled, and when the woman
began to expostulate, they looked at the matter from her
point of view. They saw that it was an infringement, a
trespass, upon the territory and rights of another clan, and
treated their pugnacious sons to another instalment of
bodily punishment as fast as they, came tumbling from
above. The final result for the incipient warriors of the
Corn people was that they were ignominiously driven
home. While peace was thus restored upon the ground it still
looked quite stormy on the roof. The woman who had so
energetically interfered at last discovered Okoya, who was
looking in blank amazement at this sudden change of af
fairs. Forthwith she made a vicious grab at his ebony
locks, with the pointed remark, —
" Down with you, you stinking weed ! "
But Mitsha interfered.
" Mother," she said gently, " do not harm him. He was
defending his brother and me. He is none of the others."
"What ! " the woman screamed, "was it you whom they
were about to strike, these night-owls made of black com ?
You, my child? Let me tell them again what they are,"
and she ran to the brink of the roof, raised handfuls of dust
from it, and hurled them in the direction of the caves of the

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 95
offenders. She stamped, she spat ; she raved, and heaped
upon the heads of the Corn people, their ancestors, and their
descendants, every invective the Queres language contains.
To those below this appeared decidedly entertaining ; the
men especially enjoyed the performance, but Mitsha felt
sorry, — she disliked to see her mother display such frenzy and
to hear her use such vulgar language. She pulled her wrap,
saying, —
"It is enough now, sanaya. Don't you see that those
who wanted to hurt me are gone? Their fathers and
mothers are not guilty. Be quiet, mother; it is all over
now." Her mother at last yielded to these gentle remonstrances,
turned away from the brink, and surveyed the roof. She
saw Okoya standing before weeping Shyuote, and scolding
him. "What are you doing to this child?" asked Mitsha's
mother, still under the pressure of her former excitement.
She was ready for another fray.
" He is my brother, and the cause of the whole trouble,"
Okoya explained to her. " I chide him for it, as it is my
duty to do. Nevertheless, they had no right to kill him,
still less to hurt the girl."
The woman had at last had time to scrutinize the looks of
the young man. She herself was not old, and when not
under the influence of passion was rather comely. Okoya's
handsome figure attracted her attention, and she stepped
nearer, eyeing him closely.
"Where do you belong? " she inquired in a quieter tone.
" I am Tanyi."
"Who is your father? "
"Zashue Tihua."
The woman smiled ; she moved still nearer to the young
man and continued, —

g6 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" I know your father well. He is one of us, a Koshare."
Her eyes remained fastened on his features ; she was mani
festly more and more pleased with his appearance. But at
the same time she occasionally glanced toward her daugh
ter Mitsha, and it strack her forcibly that Mitsha, too, was
handsome. "I know who you are," she said smilingly. "You are
Okoya Tihua, your little brother is called Shyuote, and Say
Koitza is your mother's name. She is a good woman, but "
— and she shrugged her shoulders — " always sick. Have
you any cotton? " she suddenly asked, looking squarely into
the eyes of the boy.
" No," he replied, and his features coloured visibly, " but
I have some handsome skins."
Mitsha too seemed embarrassed ; she started to go into
the room below, but her mother called her back.
"Sa uishe," she coaxed, "won't you give the motatza
something to eat?"
The faces of both young people became fiery red. He
stood like a statue, and yet his chest heaved. He cast
his eyes to the ground. Mitsha had turned her face away ;
her whole body was trembling like a leaf. Her mother
persisted. " Take him down into the room and feed him," she re
peated, and smiled.
" I have nothing," murmured Mitsha.
" If such is the case I shall go and see myself." With
these words the woman descended the beam into the room
below, leaving the two alone on the roof, standing motion
less, neither daring to look at the other.
While the colloquy between Okoya and Mitsha's mother
was going on, Shyuote had recovered somewhat from his
fright and grief and had sneaked off. Once on the ground he
walked — still trembling, and suspiciously scanning the cliff

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 97
wherein the Corn people had their abodes — as straight as
possible toward the big house. Nobody interfered with
him ; not even his two defenders noticed that he had gone ;
they both remained standing silent, with hearts beating
anxiously. " Okoya," the woman called from below, " come and eat.
Mitsha, come down and give sa uishe something to eat."
A thrill went through Okoya's whole frame. She had
called him sa uishe, — " my child." He ventured to cast a
furtive glance at the maiden. Mitsha had recovered her
self-control; she returned his shy glance with an open,
free, but sweet look, and said, —
" Come and partake of the food." There was no resist
ing an invitation from her. He smiled ; she returned the
smile in a timid way, as shy and embarrassed as his own.
She descended first and Okoya followed. On the floor
of the room, the same chamber where Tyope had taken rest
the night before, stood the usual meal ; and Okoya partook
of it modestly, said his prayer of thanks, and uttered a plain,
sincere hoya at the end. But instead of rising, as he would
have done at home, he remained squatting, glancing at the
two women.
While he ate, the mother watched him eagerly ; her cun
ning eyes moved from his face toward that of her daughter
like sparks ; and gradually an expression of satisfaction min
gled with that of a settled resolve appeared on her features.
There was no doubt that the two would be a handsome pair.
They seemed, as the vulgar saying goes, made for each other ;
and there was something besides that told that they were
fond of each other also. Okoya had never before entered
this dwelling ; but the woman thought that they had met
before, nay, that her desire had been anticipated, inasmuch
as the young people already stood to each other, if not in
an intimate, in a more than merely friendly, relation.

98 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Why do you never come to see us? " asked the woman,
after Okoya had finished his meal.
"I stay at the estufa during the night," was the modest reply.
"You need have no fear," she answered pleasantly,
"Tyope and your father are good friends. You should
become a Koshare ! " she exclaimed.
Okoya's face clouded ; he did not like the suggestion, but
nevertheless asked, —
"Is she," looking at Mitsha, "a Koshare also?"
" No. We had another child, a boy. He was to have
become a Delight Maker, but he died some time ago."
The woman had it on her lips to say, "Do you become
one in his place as our child," but she checked herself in
time ; it would have been too bold a proposal.
Okoya glanced at the daughter and said timidly, —
" If you like, I shall come again to see you ; " and
Mitsha's face displayed a happy smile at the words, while
her mother eagerly nodded.
" Come as often as you can," she replied. "We " — em
phasizing the word strongly — "like it. It is well.''
"Then I will go now," said Okoya, rising. His face
was radiant. " I must go home lest Shyuote get into more
trouble. He is so mischievous and awkward. Good-bye."
He grasped the woman's hand and breathed on it ; gave a
smiling look to the girl, who nodded at him with a happy
face ; and returned to the roof again. Thence he climbed
down to the ground. How happy he felt ! The sun
seemed to shine twice as brightly as before; the air felt
purer; all around him breathed life, hope, and bliss. At
the foot of the slope he turned back once more to gaze at
the house where so much joy had come to him. A pair
of lustrous eyes appeared in the little air-hole of the wall.
They were those of the maiden, which were following him
on his homeward way.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 99
Tyope's wife was right in supposing that her daughter
and Okoya were not strangers to each other. And yet not
a single word had passed between them before beyond a
casual greeting. As often as they had met he had said
"guatzena," and she had responded with "raua." But at
every meeting his voice was softer, and hers more timid
and trembling. Each felt happy at the sight of the other,
but neither thought of speaking, still less of making any ad
vances. Okoya was aware of the fact — which he felt deeply
and keenly — that a wide breach, a seemingly impassable
chasm, existed between him and the girl. That gap was
the relation in which he stood toward Tyope, the girl's
father. Or rather the relation in which he fancied himself
to stand toward him. For Tyope had hardly ever spoken
to him, stiU less done him any wrong. But Okoya's mother
had spoken of Tyope as a bad man, as a dangerous man, as
one whom it was Okoya's duty to avoid. And so her son
feared Tyope, and dared not think of the bad man's
daughter as his future companion through life. Now every
thing was changed.
Mitsha's mother had said that Tyope was a friend of his
father, and that Tyope would not be angry if Okoya came
to her house. Then he was not, after all, the fiend that
Say Koitza had pictured him. On the contrary he ap
peared to Okoya, since the last interview, in the light of an
important personage. Okoya's faith in his mother was
shaken before ; now he began to think that Tyope after all,
while he was certainly to him an important man, was not as
bad as represented. The Koshare also appeared to him in
a new and more favourable light. The adroit suggestion
made by the woman that he should join the society bore its
fruits. Okoya felt not only relieved but happy; he felt
elated over his success. He was well trained in the reli
gious discipline of the Indians ; and now that he saw hope

IOO THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
before him, his next thought was one of gratitude toward
that mother of all who, though dwelling at the bottom of
the lagune of Shipapu at times, and then again in the
silvery moon, was still watching over the destinies of her
children on earth, and to whose loving guidance he felt his
bright prospects due.
He had no prayer-plumes with him. These painted sticks
— to which feathers or down of various birds, according to
the nature of the prayer they are to signify, are attached —
the aborigine deposits wherever and whenever he feels like
addressing himself to the higher powers, be it for a request,
in adoration only, or for thanksgiving. In a certain way
the prayer-plume or plume-stick is a substitute for prayer,
inasi-iuch as he who has not time may deposit it hurriedly
as a votive offering. The paint which covers the piece of
stick to which the feather is attached becomes appropri
ately significant through its colours, the feather itself is the
symbol of human thought, flitting as one set adrift in the
air toward heaven, where dwell Those Above. But as in
the present instance, the Indian has not always a prayer-
plume with him. So he has recourse to an expedient,
simple and primitive.
Two little sticks or twigs, placed crosswise and held to
their place by a rock or stone, serve the same purpose in
case of emergency. Such accumulations of rocks, little
stone-heaps, are plentiful around Indian villages ; and they
represent votive offerings, symbolizing as many prayers.
There were a number of them at the Rito around the big
house, along the fields, and on the trails leading up to the
mesa. Okoya went to the nearest one and placed two twigs
crosswise on it, poising them with a stone. Then he scat-
tered sacred meal, which he always carried with him ii.
a small leather wallet, and thanked the Sanashtyaya, oui
mother, with an earnest ho-a-a, ho-a-a.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. IOI
Then he turned homeward. The very thought of that
home, however, made his heart heavy and sad. For more
and more he became convinced that his mother was false
to him. The assertion made by Tyope's wife that he was
welcome in her house, and that Tyope would not object to
his visiting there, worked another breach in the faith he
was wont to place in his mother's words. Not that the
invitation to Join the Koshare had exercised any influence
upon his opinion regarding that society of men and wo
men. He mistrusted, he hated, he feared them as much as
ever, but toward Tyope personally he felt differently. His
thoughts were carried back to the gloomy subject ; one by
one his doubts and misgivings returned with them, and a
longing after some friend to whom he might communicate
his fears and whom he might consult with absolute confi
dence. As he was thus pondering and walking on, slowly
and more slowly, he saw at some distance two men climb
ing up toward where the cave- dwellings of the Water clan
lay. One of them was his father; he recognized him at
once. Who was his companion? He stopped and looked.
It was his father's brother, Hayoue ; and with this it seemed
as if a veil had suddenly dropped from his eyes. The tall,
slender young man yonder, who was advancing up the
declivity at such an easy gait, was the friend upon whom
he could fully rely, the adviser who would not, at least
purposely, lead him astray. Hayoue was but a few years
older than Okoya. The relations between the two were
those of two brothers and chums, rather than those of
uncle and nephew. Hayoue was not a member of his clan,
consequently not exposed to any influence which his mother,
through her father, Topanashka, might attempt to exert.
Hayoue, he knew, disliked the Koshare as much as he
disliked them himself, and Hayoue was thoroughly trust
worthy and discreet, though very outspoken if necessary,

102 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
and fearless. Yes, Hayoue was the friend in need he so
anxiously desired to find, and now that he had found him
he resolved to seize upon the first opportunity of consulting
him on the subject that so seriously troubled his mind. He
was so delighted at this sudden discovery, as it might be
called, that he attributed it to an inspiration from above,
and stood for a moment in doubt whether he should not
return to the stone-heap and offer another prayer of thanks
to the mother above, for what he considered to have been
a gift of her goodness to him. But the house was too near,
and he bethought himself of Shyuote and what the mis
chievous urchin might have done since he had left him.
He entered the front room of his mother's dwelling with a
lighter and easier mind than the day before, and what he
saw at once diverted his thoughts into another widely
different channel.
Shyuote sat in a corner, and his eyes were red from cry
ing. Beside him stood Say, agitated and angry. Without
giving her elder son time to speak, she asked, —
" Who sent the boy to the fields? "
"I don't know," replied Okoya, in astonishment. He
knew nothing of Shyuote's morning rambles. "He must
know; how could I tell?"
" He says that they drove him from the com because he
threw mud at a girl," added the mother.
" That is quite likely," rejoined his elder brother. " That
is why the lads of the Com clan intended to beat him, I
presume." "Why did you not stay with your father?" cried Say.
"Because," — he held his arm up to his eyes and com
menced to sob, — " because my father drove me off."
"Why did he drive you away?"
"Because — " He stopped, then raised his head as if a
sudden and wicked thought had flashed across his mind,

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 103
His eyes sparkled. " I dare not tell." He cast his eyes to
the ground, and a bitter smile passed over his lips.
"Why dare you not tell?" both Say and Okoya in
quired. "Has sa nashtio told you not to say anything
about it?"
" Not he, but the Koshare Naua." It was like an explo
sion. Say Koitza felt a terrible pang ; she stared vacantly
at the wicked lad for a moment, and then turned and went
into the kitchen. Shyuote wept aloud ; his brother looked
down upon him with an expression of mingled compassion
and curiosity.
The doorway was suddenly darkened by a human form,
and with the usual guatzena the grandfather, Topanashka,
entered the apartment. Okoya stood up quickly and
replied, *—
"Raua opona."
" What is the boy crying for? " inquired the old man.
"The Corn people tried to hurt him because he threw
something at one of their girls," Okoya explained.
"Is that all? I heard scolding and crying going on
here, and so I thought I would come and see what was
the matter. Where is your yaya? "
Say, when she heard her father's voice, came out and
leaned against the entrance to the kitchen. Her face was
convulsed, her eyes glassy. Topanashka scanned her fea
tures quietly and then said in a cold tone, —
" Guatzena."
She understood the meaning of his cold, searching gaze,
and gathered all her strength to meet it with composure.
" Shyuote cries also," she said, " because his father sent
him home from the fields."
"Why did Zashue do that?"
"This he dare not tell, for the Koshare Naua" — her
voice trembled at the mention of the name — "forbade

104 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
him to say anything about it." Her eyes clung to the
features of her father. Topanashka turned away slowly
and quietly, and she followed him to the door. As he
was crossing the threshold he whispered to her, —
"There is nothing new as yet."

CHAPTER V. i
The people of the Water clan dwelt at the western end of
the cliffs which border the Tyuonyi on the north. They
occupied some twenty caves scooped out along the base of
the rock, and an upper tier of a dozen more, separated from
the lower by a thickness of rock averaging not over three
feet. This group of cave-dwellings — and vestiges thereof
are still visible at this day — lay in a re-entering angle
formed by the cliffs, which overhang in such a manner as
to form a sheltered nook open to the south. Ascent to
their base is quite steep, and great heaps of debris cover
the slope. The gorge is narrow, a dense thicket inter
spersed with pine-trees lines the course of the brook, and
the declivity forming the southern border of the Rito ap
proaches the bottom in rocky steps, traversed laterally by
ledges overgrown with scrubby vegetation.
Vestiges of former occupancy are still scattered about
the caves. Some of these furnish a clew to the manner in
which the dwellings were formed by scraping and burrow
ing. Splinters of obsidian and of basalt — sharp fragments,
resembling clumsy chisels or knives — served to dig an ob
long hole in the soft pumice or tufa of the cliff. After this
narrow cavity had penetrated a depth of one or two feet,
the artisan began to enlarge it inside, until a room was
formed for which the tunnelled entrance served as a door
way. The room, or cell, was gradually finished in a quadran
gular or polygonal shape, with a ceiling high enough to

106 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
permit a person of average size to stand erect. Not unfre-
quently side rooms were excavated connecting with the first
by low apertures, to pass through which it was necessary to
stoop, or even to creep on all fours. These passages were
too low for doorways, too short to deserve the name of tun
nels. Into the front apartment light and air were admitted
through the entrance, and sometimes through small window
like apertures. The side cells were utterly dark except
where excavated paraUel to the face of the rock, when
sometimes another entrance was opened to the front,
sometimes an air-hole only admitted light and air.
If on the afternoon of the day when Shyuote had his
perilous adventure with the young people of the Com clan,
we had been able to peep into the third one of the ground-
floor caves, counting from the west end of the group in
habited by the Water people, we should have found the
apartment empty ; that is, as far as human occupancy was
concerned. But not deserted ; for while its owner was not
there, ample signs of his presence only a short time before
could be detected everywhere. In the fireplace wood was
smouldering, and a faint smoke rising from this found
egress through a crude chimney. This was built over the
hearth, with two vertical side slabs of pumice supporting a
perforated square flag, over which a primitive flue, made of
rubble cemented by mud, led to a circular opening in the
front wall of the cave. In a comer stood the frame for the
grinding- slabs, or metates, and in it the three plates of lava
on which the Indian crushes and pulverizes his maize were
placed in the convenient slanting position. Not only the
prismatic crushing-pins, but freshly ground meal also, lay in
the stone casings of the primitive miU, and on these the
plates themselves. Deerskins and cotton wraps were roUed
in a bundle in another corner. Others hung on a line made
of rawhide and stretched across one end of the room, fast

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 107
ened to wooden pins driven into the soft rock. On the
floor — to which a thick coating of mud, washed with blood
and smoothed, gave a black, glossy appearance — there were
beside, here a few stone axes with handles, there some black
sooty pots, painted bowls, and finally the inevitable water-
urn with wide body and narrow top, decorated in the usual
style with geometrical and symbolical figures painted in red
and black on whitish ground. The walls of the cave were
burnished with burnt gypsum ; the ceiling was covered by a
thick coat of soot ; and a band of yellow ochre, like wain
scoting, ran along the base of the sides.
The owner of this troglodytic home, however, is not to
be seen ; but in a side chamber, which communicates with
this apartment through one of the dark and low passages
just described, a rustling sound is heard, as of some one
rummaging about in darkness. After a while a woman's
head peeps through the passage into the outer room, and
little by little the whole body emerges, forcing itself through
the narrow opening. She rises and stands erect in front of
the hearth, and the sunbeam which still enters the apart
ment by the round hole above the fireplace strikes her
features full and enables us to scan them. The woman
into whose dwelling we have pryed, and who stands now in
the dim chamber as sole occupant and owner, is Shotaye,
Tyope's former wife, and the friend who has given Say
Koitza such iU advice.
If Shotaye be a witch, she certainly is far from display
ing the hag- like appearance often attributed to the female
sorcerer. There is even something decidedly fascinating
about her. Shotaye, although near the forties, is for an
Indian woman undoubtedly good-looking. No wonder
some other women of the tribe are afraid of her. She is
tall and weU rounded, and her chest is of that fulness that
develops at an early age in the women of the Pueblos.

108 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Her face is even pretty, — her lips are pouting and sensual,
the nose small and shaped like a short, pointed beak, the
cheek-bones high, while the chin indicates remarkable de
termination. Magnificent black hair streams down her
back. It is as fuU as a wave, as lustrous as polished
obsidian. Her dress consists of a buckskin wrap without girdle,
embroidered at the lower end with multi-coloured porcupine-
quills. Bracelets of white shells, a necklace of feldspar
crystals and turquoises, and strings of yellow cotton threads
around her ankles complete the costume. Such is the
woman who has played and still plays an ominous part in
the history of Okoya's mother, and in the history of the
people at the Rito de los Frijoles. Now that we have seen
her home and her person, let us proceed with the tale of
her doings on the afternoon to which the close of the
preceding chapter has been devoted.
Shotaye had been rummaging about in the inner cell of
her rocky house in search of some medicinal plant, for that
cell was her storeroom, laboratory, and workshop. But as
the room was without light at all, she had entered it with a
lighted stick in her hand ; and just as she had begun her
search the flame had died out. So after a vain attempt by
groping in darkness, she crawled back to the exterior apart
ment and knelt down in front of the hearth to fan the coals
with her breath and thus obtain another torch for her
explorations. At that moment the deerskin robe closing
the entrance to her grotto was timidly lifted, and a feeble
voice called the usual greeting. " Opona," replied Shotaye,
turning toward the doorway. A lithe figure crept into the
cave. When near the fireplace it stood still, enabling the
mistress of the dwelling to recognize the features of Say,
her friend and now fully recovered patient.
But how different was Say's appearance from what it

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 109
was when Shotaye a few days ago saw her last? How
changed, — how thin and wan her cheeks, how sunken her
eyes, how sallow and sickly her complexion ! Her face
seemed to bear the seal of approaching death, for the eyes
stared expressionless, the mouth twitched without speaking.
But one thought seized Shotaye, that her friend must be
ill, very, very ill, — that the old disease had returned in
fuU force and had clutched her anew with perhaps irresist
ible power. Anxiously she rose to her feet, and scanned
the face of the invalid.
" What ails you, my sister," she inquired tenderly. " Has
disease come on you again? Speak, sa uishe, speak to me
that I may know."
Her visitor only shook her head and glanced about as if
seeking a place to rest herself. The medicine-woman
gathered hurriedly a few robes, folded them so as to make
a cushion near the hearth, and then gently urged Say to sit
down on this soft and easy seat. She yielded, and then
remained motionless, her glassy eyes staring vacantly at
the floor.
"Sister," Shotaye reiterated, "sister, what ails you?
Speak, and I will do all I can for you." But the other
merely shook her head and began to shiver. Shotaye no
ticed the wristbands of red leather on her arms, and it
startled her. She asked eagerly, —
"Why do you wear in trouble the colour that should
make our hearts glad? What has happened to you that
causes you to seek relief for your distress? " The tone of
her voice sounded no longer like entreaty; it was an anxious,
nay stem, command. Okoya's mother raised her eyes with
an expression of intense misery ; she threw toward her ques
tioner a look imploring relief and protection, and finally
gasped,— "They know everything ! " Then her head dropped on

HO THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
her knees, she grasped her hair, covered her face and chest
with it, and broke out in convulsive sobs.
" They know everything ! " Shotaye repeated, " Who
know everything?" Suddenly the truth seemed to flash
upon her mind.
" What, the Koshare ? " she cried in terror.
Convulsive sobs and groans were the only reply to her
exclamation. They amply confirmed her worst apprehen
sions. "The Koshare know all." Unconsciously the cave-
dweller uttered these words while staring into the remnant
of gleaming coals on the hearth ; then she became silent.
Neither could Say Koitza utter a word ; only from time to
time her spasmodic sobs broke the stillness of the room.
The bright disk which the light from the outside painted
on the wall opposite was fading little by little, a sign of
approaching sunset.
Shotaye's features displayed few signs of the terror which
her friend's disclosures had produced. Soon her face be
tokened that fear could not retain its hold long on her
resolute mind, that intense reflection had superseded dis
may. She turned to her visitor and asked, —
" Tell me, sister, how you came to know that the De
light Makers are acquainted with your doings ? Tell me,
and do not weep." And as Say remained silent and im
movable she crouched beside her, removed her hair gently
from her face, then raised her head and placed it so as to
rest on her bosom. Then she looked deep into the eyes
of the poor woman. They were glassy and almost lifeless.
While thus gazing intently at Say, Shotaye's features
changed and became sad and dejected.
It was for a moment only. Soon the expression of hope
lessness vanished and the lines of her face became resolute,
hard, and determined. Surprise had yielded to reflection,
reflection to pity and remorse. Now remorse in rum gave

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 1 1
way to determination. Shotaye felt that she, much rather
than her friend, was lost, irretrievably lost ; but her energetic
nature demanded that she should see the situation clearly.
Although the spasmodic hints of Say, her broken words,
spoke enough, she wanted more. Her mind craved the
full truth, however terrible it might prove.
Say Koitza had slowly recovered from her stupor. She
became quieter and quieter. In the arms of her resolute
and sympathizing friend consciousness returned ; she sobbed
no more, and from time to time would raise her eyes with a
look that besought pity, mercy, and assistance. The medi
cine-woman eagerly watched these changes and repeated
her previous query.
" How do you know that the Koshare are aware of it? "
" Sa nashtio told me," moaned the poor woman.
Shotaye sighed. This was bad news indeed. She
muttered, —
" This is bad, very bad. If the maseua knows it, then
the tapop will not be long without notice."
"The tapop knows nothing," breathed Say.
" But how can the maseua have been informed with
out the knowledge of the other?" Shotaye asked with
surprise. " He is my father," replied Say, and wept aloud. " He
is my father, and yet " — she started to rise and grasped
her hair with both hands, screaming — " he has to kill me
with his own hands ! "
So loud and piercing was her shriek that Shotaye was
seized with sudden fright. Rising quickly, she ran to the
doorway and peeped outside to see if the scream had at
tracted attention. But there appeared to be nobody about,
except a few children who were playing and romping in
front of the caves and whose cries had drowned the shriek.
Reassured she returned to Say, who was lying with her face

112 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
on the floor, tearing her hair and uttering low convulsive
groans. Shotaye grew frightened, and brought water in a
gourd. She moistened her forehead and hands with the
liquid, rubbed her face, and thus finally brought her back
to some composure. After drinking some water Say sat
on the robes again, shivering and gasping. Her mind
seemed entirely gone, the expression of her features was
akin to idiocy. The room had grown darker, night was
approaching. As soon as she appeared to be quiet, ¦ Shotaye felt
tempted to resume her questionings. But she bethought
herself of the late hour, and of the suspicion which might
arise in case Say Koitza should not be home in time.
Still, she must ask some questions ; her positive mind re
quired some additional knowledge which must be gained
ere she could afford to let her visitor return home. Shotaye
returned to the entrance, looked stealthily outside, and
listened. Dusk had set in, and the bottom of the gorge
was wrapped in twilight. The shrubbery along the brook
appeared dim and pale, the lofty pines looked like black
monuments. On the southern declivity all detail had van
ished, but the top of the southern mesa glistened yet like a
golden seam. In the recess formed by the angle of the
cliffs which contained her home, the usual bustle of the
evening hours prevailed ; and laughter, merry and boisterous,
issued from a cave opposite that where Shotaye, concealed
by folds of the half-lifted curtain, stood watching with eye
and ear. In those caves fronting hers dwelt the family of
Zashue, Say's husband. Thence sounded the merriment,
and the woman recognized familiar voices. Surely enough
Hayoue was there ; and there could be no mistake, that
clear good-natured laugh was from Zashue himself. Sho
taye dropped the curtain and turned back considerably
relieved. If Zashue was at his mother's and brother's

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 113
home, she reasoned, he would not return to the big house
that night ; and since he was so gay, so merry, it was not
likely that he knew anything of the terrible accusation
against his wife and her. If that were the case there
was no immediate danger, since all the Koshare were not
informed of the matter. Returning to the hearth she
poked the embers, placed on them another stick of pitchy
wood, and fanned it with her breath until the flames burst
forth, lively and bright. Until then Say had remained
motionless in her seat. She had taken no notice of her
friend's movements ; but when the wood flamed and a warm
glow began to spread over the apartment, she started like
one whose dreams are suddenly disturbed and began to
speak. " I must go," she exclaimed anxiously. " I must go
home. I must cook for Zashue ! He is looking for me !
I must go," and she attempted to rise.
Shotaye tried to quell her sudden apprehension, but she
kept on with growing excitement, —
" I must ! Let me go ! Let me go ! For he is looking
for me."
" He is not," assured the other. " Be quiet. He is
yonder with his people in the cave. There he sits and
there he will stay till late."
A sudden tremor seized the body of Say. Her hands
shook like aspen leaves. "Is he there?" she gasped.
" Then he is coming after me. Is he not a Koshare ? "
Her eyes glistened with that peculiar glare which betokens
aberration of the mind.
Any ordinary Indian woman would have concluded from
the appearance and utterances of Say that she was hope
lessly insane, and would either have resorted to incanta
tions or left her in terror. Shotaye, although very much
frightened, did not think of desertion, but only of relief.

1 14 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
With keen self-possession she said in a decided and con
vincing tone, —
" Fear nothing, sa tao ; he will not come, for he knows
nothing." " Nothing ? " inquired Say, looking at her with the shy
and sly glance of a doubting maniac.
" Nothing at all ! " Shotaye exclaimed, firmly. She had
recovered her ascendency. She directed her glance, com
manding and convincing, straight at the wavering gaze of
the excited woman, whose look became dim and finally
meek. Shotaye took advantage of the change.
"Zashue knows nothing at all," she asserted, "and that
is very, very good ; for it gives us hope."
" But if they tell him ! " and the anxious look came back
to her face.
" Let them tell, if they choose," defiantly exclaimed the
other ; " afterward we shall see."
Say shook her head in doubt.
"But how did the Koshare come to know about it?"
Shotaye again pressed the main question.
"I do not know," sighed Say; and she again stared into
the fire, and her face quivered suspiciously. The cave-
dweller quickly interjected, —
"What do the Delight Makers really know about us?"
"They know — they know that I spoke to the dark-
coloured com."
"Is that all?"
" No — yes — no. They know more." She spoke with
greater vivacity, and in a natural tone of voice; "they
know about the owl's feathers, too." A deep sigh followed
this reply, and tears came to her eyes. Say was herself
again. Shotaye also heaved a deep sigh of relief. Her friend's
mind was restored, and she had gained the much-desired

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 115
information. But it would have been dangerous to proceed
further in this conversation, lest the cloud which had threat
ened Say's mental powers should return and settle perma
nently. So, after a short silence, she turned to her friend,
and said in a positive tone, —
" Sister, go home now and rest easy. Nothing is lost as
yet. Go home, be quiet, and attend to your work as usual.
I shall be on the watch."
" But the Koshare ! " Say anxiously exclaimed.
"Leave them to me," the other answered; and so pow
erful was her influence on the timid mind of her visitor, so
unbounded the confidence which the latter had in her abili
ties and her faithfulness, that Say rose without a word, and
like an obedient child, covering her head with one corner
of her wrap, went out and meekly strolled home. It was
night, and nobody noticed her. Okoya was already at the
estufa ; Shyuote and the little girl were asleep. Say lay
down beside her sleeping children and soon sank into a
heavy slumber. Her body, weak from over-strain, com
pelled a rest which the mind might have denied to her.
In her dark chamber in the rock, Shotaye sat alone
before the fire on the hearth. It began to flame lustily,
for the woman fed it well. She wanted the glow, first in
order to cook her food, next in order to brighten the
room; for with the dark and tangled subject on her
mind, she felt the need of light and warmth as her com
panions in musing. When the flames rustled and crackled,
Shotaye squatted down in front of them, folded her arms
around her knees, and began to think.
She felt far from being as reassured about the outlook as
she had pretended to be when she sent Say Koitza home
with soothing and comforting words. But the preservation
of her friend's mental powers was an imperative necessity.
Had Say been permitted to fall a prey to her momentary

Il6 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
excitement, everything would have been lost for Shotaye.
Had Say's mind given way permanently, the cause of that
calamity would have been attributed to her, and she would
have been charged with her friend's insanity in addition to
the charge of witchcraft already being formulated.
These thoughts, however, came to her now in the stillness
of the night and by the fireside. So long as her poor friend
was with her she had acted almost instinctively, with the
quick grasp of an active intellect and under the good im
pulses of compassion and attachment. Now that she was
alone the time had come to ponder, and Shotaye weighed in
her mind the liabilities and assets of her situation. She be
gan to calculate the probabilities for and against.
It was not difficult for her to escape ; but this was only
possible when attempted alone. With Say Koitza flight
was next to impossible. Beside, it appeared very unlikely to
her that the woman would flee from her children.
As for Shotaye, the case was different ; she might leave
her cave and her scanty effects at any time, provided she
knew where to go. This was not so easy to determine.
The Navajos, or Dinne, haunted the country around the
Tyuonyi ; and in case she fell in with one or more of their
number, it became a matter of life or death. The Mo-
shome, or enemies of her tribe, might take a fancy to the
woman and spare her ; but they might feel wicked and kill
her. Death appeared, after all, not such a terrible misfor
tune ; for under present circumstances what else could she
expect at the Rito but a horrible and atrocious death?
But Shotaye was intent upon living, not so much for the
sake of life itself — although it had many sensual charms
for her — as out of a spirit of combativeness resulting from
her resolute character, as well as from the constant struggles
which she had undergone during the time of her separation
from her husband. She felt inclined to live, if possible, in

Rito de los Frijoles
A cliff estufa of the Snake-Clan

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 117
spite of her enemies. To endure the lot of a captive
among the Navajos was repulsive to her instincts; she
hated to be a drudge. Admitting that she succeeded in
eluding those enemies, whither was she to direct her
flight? That there were village communities similar to her
own at a remote distance was known to her ; but she was
aware of only one in which she might be received, and that
belonged to the Tehuas, of whom she knew that a branch
dwelt in the mountains west of the river, inhabiting caves
somewhere in the rocks at one day's journey, more or less,
from the Rito. Between these Tehuas and the Queres of
the Tyuonyi there was occasional intercourse, and a fairly
beaten trail led from one place to the other ; but this inter
course was so much interrupted by hostilities, and the
Navajos rendered the trail so insecure beside, that she had
never paid much attention to it. Still, there was no doubt
in her mind that if she reached the habitations of the Tehuas,
above where the pueblo of Santa Clara now stands, a hospi
table reception would be extended to her. But could she
leave Say alone to her dismal fate ?
After all, death was not such a fearful thing, so long as no
torture preceded or accompanied it. Death must come to
her once, at all events, and then what of it ? There need
be no care for the hereafter, according to her creed. The
Pueblo Indian knows of no atonement after dying; all
sins, all crimes, are punished during this life. When the
soul is released from the thralls of this body and its sur
rounding nature, it goes to Shipapu, at the bottom of the
lagune, where there is eternal dancing and feasting, and
where everything goes on as here upon earth, but with less
pain, care, anguish, and danger. Why therefore shun death ?
Shotaye was in what we should call a philosophic mood.
Such careless philosophy may temporarily ease the mind,
*ince it stifles for a moment the pangs of apprehension and

Il8 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
dread. But with the temporary relief which Shotaye felt,
the demands of physical nature grew more apparent. In
other words she felt hungry, and the more so as, being now
almost resolved to suffer death with resignation, it was im
perative to live, and consequently to eat, until Death should
knock at her door. She poured a good portion of the now
boiling stew into a smaUer bowl and began to fish out the
morsels with her fingers, while between times she drank of
the broth. The warm food comforted her, gave her
strength, and aroused her vital powers, which arduous
thinking had almost put to sleep.
She placed the pot with the stew in a corner and sat
down again, leaning against the wall. No sleepiness
affected her. There was too much to think of as yet. Her
thoughts returned to the absorbing subject of the day, and
with these thoughts, random at first, a pale, wan figure rose
before her inner eye, — a form well, only too well, known to
her; that of Say Koitza. She saw that figure as she had
seen it not long ago, — crouching before that very fire in
bitterest despair, bewailing her own lot, lamenting her
imminent untimely death, and yet without one single word
of reproach for her who had beguiled her into doing what
now might result in the destruction of both. Was not that
thin, trembling woman her victim ? Was she not the one
who had led Say astray ? The Indian knows not what con
science is, but he feels it all the same ; and Shotaye, igno
rant of the nature of remorse, nevertheless grew sad.
Indeed she it was who had beguiled the poor fraU
creature, — she it was who had caused her to perform an act
which, however immaterial in fact, still entailed punishment
of the severest kind according to Indian notions and
creed. She was the real culprit, not Say, — poor, innocent,
weak-minded Say. Shotaye felt that she had done wrong,
and that she alone deserved to suffer. But would her

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 19
punishment save the other? Hardly, according to Indian
ideas. Therefore, while it dawned upon her that by accus
ing herself boldly and publicly she might perhaps ward off
the blow from the head of her meek and gentle accomplice,
that thought was quickly stifled by the other, that it was im
practicable. Again a voice within her spoke boldly, Save
yourself regardless of the other.
Yet she discarded that advice. She could not forsake
her victim. For in addition to the legitimate motives of
sympathy, another and stronger reason prevailed, — the dread
of the very powers whom she thought to have invoked in
Say's behalf, and to whose dark realm she fancied that she
would be fettered and still faster riveted by committing an
action which she regarded as worse than all her other deeds.
Dismissing every thought of self she resolved to remain true
to Say, happen what might. Shotaye had almost become —
" part of the power that still
Produceth good, whilst ever scheming ill."
She believed that death stood plainly at her door.
Nevertheless she hated to die. The philosophy of careless,
frivolous resignation could not satisfy her strong vitality,
still less her stronger feelings of hatred against her enemies.
She felt that there might be a bare possibility of saving her
companion ; and the wish to save herself at the same time,
and in the very teeth as it were of the Koshare, grew
stronger and stronger. It waxed to an intense longing for
life and revenge ? But what was to be done ? There was
the riddle, and to solve it she thought and thought.
Shotaye became oblivious of all around her, completely
absorbed in her musings.
It thus escaped her notice that the curtain over the door
way had been cautiously lifted several times, and that a hu
man face had peered into the apartment. She even failed

120 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
to hear the shuffling step of two men who stealthily en
tered the room. Only when they stood quite near her did
the woman start and look up. Both men broke out into
roaring laughter at her surprise. Shotaye grew angry.
" Why do you come in so unceremoniously," she cried.
"Why do you sneak in here like a Moshome, or like a
prairie wolf after carrion? Cannot you speak, you bear?"
she scolded without rising.
Her anger increased the merriment of the intruders.
One of them threw himself down by her side, forced his
head into her lap, attempting to stroke her cheeks. She
pushed him from her, and recognized in him the gallant
Zashue, Say Koitza's husband. He grasped both her hands.
This she allowed; but continued scolding.
" Go away, you hare, let me alone." He again reached
toward her face, but she avoided him. " Go home to your
woman ; I have no use for you."
The men laughed and laughed ; and the other one knelt
down before her, looking straight into her face with im
moderate merriment. Then she became seriously angry.
"What do you want here," she cried ; and when the first
one attempted to encircle her waist she pushed him from
her with such force that he feU aside. Then she rose to
her feet and Zashue followed.
" Be not angry, sister," he said good-naturedly, rubbing
his sore shoulder; "we mean you no harm."
" Go home and be good to your woman."
"Later on I will," he continued, "but first we want to
see you."
"And talk to you," said Hayoue, for he was Zashue's
companion ; " afterward I shall go." He emphasized the
" I" and grinned.
" Yes, you are likely to go home," she exclaimed. " To
Mitsha you will go, not to your mother's dwelling."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 121
"Mitsha is a good girl," replied the young man, "but I
never go to see her."
His brother meanwhile attempted to approach the woman
again, but she forbade it.
" Go away, Zashue, I tell you for the last time." Her
speech and manner of action were very positive.
" Why do you drive us away ? " he said in a tone of good-
natured disappointment.
"I do not drive you away," replied Shotaye. "You
may stay here a while. But then both of you must leave
me." Her eyes nevertheless gazed at the two handsome
forms with evident pleasure, but soon another thought
arose. "Sit down," she added quietly, as she grasped after the
stew-pot, placed it on the fire, and sat down so that she was
in the shadow, whereas she could plainly see the features of
both men. The visitors had squatted also ; they feared to
arouse the woman's anger, and the surprise they had planned
had failed.
Hayoue spoke up first, —
"You are good, sanaya, you give us food."
"Indeed," she remonstrated, "when I am not willing to
do as you want, you call me mother and make an old
woman of me." She looked at the young man, smiling, and
winked at him.
"You are not very young after all," he teased; "you
might easily be my mother."
"What ! I your mother? The mother of such an elk?
You have one mother already, and if you need another, go
to Mitsha's mother." With these words she fixed her gaze
on the youth searchingly and inquiringly. As her face was
in the shadow Hayoue could not well notice its expression.
But he said again, and very emphatically, —
" I tell you once more, koitza, that I will not have any-

122 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
thing to do with the girl; she is all right, but — " he
stopped and shrugged his shoulders. Zashue interjected, —
"Why not? Tyope would then be your nashtio."
" For that very reason I do not want, his daughter,"
Hayoue exclaimed, looking straight at his brother. He was
in earnest about this matter, and whenever Hayoue grew
serious it was best not to tease him too much.
Shotaye had treasured every word, noticed every look
and gesture. Of course she, as Tyope's former wife, took
care not to take part in the conversation as far as Tyope
was concerned.
Zashue turned to her with the query, —
" Samam, have you any feathers? "
Shotaye was startled ; what might be the import of this
suspicious inquiry? Did he know about her affair and come
only as a spy ? She withheld her answer for a moment, just
time enough for reflection. It was better to seem uncon
cerned, so she replied quietly, —
" I have."
" If you have hawk's feathers, will you give me some ? "
The mention of hawk's feathers reassured Shotaye. At
the same time it indicated to her a prospective trade, and
the woman had always an eye to business. So she placed
both elbows on her knees, looked straight at Zashue, and
inquired, —
"What will you give me for them? "
" Nothing," replied Zashue, with a laugh.
" Promise her the next owl that you may find," Hayoue
taunted. " Be still, you crow," scolded Shotaye, with well-feigned
indignation; "you need owl's eyes that you may sneak
about in the dark after the girls. There is not a single
maiden safe when you are at the Tyuonyi."
"And no man is safe from you," retorted the young man.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 23
"You are safe, at any rate."
" When you call me a turkey-buzzard you say the truth,"
he answered, " else I would not have come to you."
Shotaye understood the venomous allusion and was going
to retort, but bethought herself in time and only said in a
contemptuous tone, —
"Why should I quarrel with you, uak." Then turning to
Zashue and changing the subject, —
" How many feathers do you want, and what will you give
me for them?"
" Four, but they must be long ones."
" What will you give me for them? "
" Let me see the feathers." With this he rose.
Without replying Shotaye poured out two little bowls of
broth, placed them before her visitors, said " eat," took a
lighted stick from the hearth, and crawled into the dark pas
sage leading to her magazine. Soon she was heard to rum
mage about in that apartment, and a faint glow iUuminated
the low tunnel.
While the woman was busy searching for the feathers, the
two men partook of the food she had set before them spar
ingly, as it was a mere matter of etiquette. But while eating
they exchanged sly glances and winks, like bad boys bent
upon some mischief. At last, as Shotaye did not return,
Zashue stealthily arose, removed one of the heavy grinding-
plates from its frame, and placed it across the mouth of the
gangway. Then he stretched himself at full length on the
floor with his back leaning against the slab. Hayoue
watched him and chuckled.
The light of the torch shone through the space which the
slab could not cover ; the mistress of the cave was coming
back. Very soon however the light disappeared and all
grew silent. The firebrand had been extinguished; the
woman was inside, but kept perfectly still, giving no signs

124 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
of impatience or disappointment. The mischievous men
looked at each other in astonishment; they had not
expected that.
They waited and waited. Nothing stirred in the inner
room ; it grew late and later. Hayoue had intended to
make other calls, and Zashue also became impatient to go.
So he called into the dark passage, —
"Shotaye." No reply.
" Shotaye."
, " Shotaye samam ! "
All was as silent as the grave. They sat in expectation
for a while ; then he again shouted, —
" Shotaye samam ! Come out ! "
Nothing was heard. He noisily removed the grinding-
slab from the entrance and cried, —
"Shotaye, we must go. Bring the feathers."
" Let me alone and go," sounded the dull reply at
last. " Give me the feathers first," Zashue demanded.
" Come and get them yourself," replied the voice inside.
This was rather an awkward invitation, for both men,
like almost everybody else at the Rito, were afraid of the
medicine-woman's private room.
" Do bring them," Zashue begged.
" Go ! I will not come out any more," growled the voice
within. " Shotaye, sister, bring me the feathers. I will give you a
fine deerskin for them," implored the husband of Say.
" What do you want them for? "
" For the dance."
" You lie ! There is no dance now."
Anxiously and eagerly Zashue cried, —
" There will certainly be a dance. Three days hence we
shall dance the ayash tyucotz ! "

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 125
And Hayoue, who until then had quietly enjoyed the
dialogue, now interjected emphatically, —
" Certainly, sanaya, in three days."
"What will you give me if I bring them?" came the dull
query again from within.
" A hide."
" Go ! I will keep my feathers."
" I will give you two turquoises."
" Give me four," demanded the cave-dweller.
" It is too much," cried both men at once.
No reply followed. Shotaye remained silent. The trade
was broken off. ¦ StiU the younger brother felt disinclined
to give up. He went to the mouth of the passage and said
aloud, —
" If you give us the feathers you shall have two green
stones and one deerskin."
" Is it true ; do both of you promise it? " asked the wo
man, after a while.
" Yes ! yes ! " cried both men together.
" Then put the things near the hearth and sit down," she
commanded. " We have them not with us."
" Go and get them."
"We cannot to-night."
" Then I will keep my feathers until you bring what you
have promised ; " and with these words Shotaye crept smil
ing out of the passage and planted herself before the dis
comfited men.
" Go home, now, children," she said. " I am tired. I
am sleepy."
They attempted to beg, they pleaded and implored ; but
she was firm. All they finally obtained was her promise to
deliver the feathers on the next day, provided the price
agreed upon was paid. With this the two men had to be

126 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
satisfied, and their exit was as crestfallen and disappointed
as their entrance had been mischievous and buoyant.
They had been completely outwitted and foiled by the
wily woman. Nevertheless, they never thought for a mo
ment of obtaining by force what she so positively refused.
It would have been easy for the two strong men to over
power her ; but both were afraid of the supernatural pow
ers attributed to Shotaye. For the same reason they were
anxious to obtain the feathers. An object coming from
her and having been in her possession was suspected of
having acquired thereby virtues which it did not possess
before. But these virtues were thought to be beneficial
only as long as the object was obtained from her in a legiti
mate way, and with her own free will and kind consent.
In the opposite case, the bad will of the woman went with
the feathers, and was thought to work harm to their new
owner. It was easy to taunt or to tease Shotaye, but to
arouse her anger appeared a dangerous undertaking ; and
as for harming her person, none but the shamans would
have attempted it.
After her guests' departure Shotaye felt wide awake.
She had dismissed them, not in order to go to rest, but
in order to be once more alone with her thoughts. For
during the bantering conversation with the brothers, she
had learned several important facts that changed materi
ally her plans. In order to ponder carefully over the
different aspect of matters, she poked the fire again and
sat down by the hearth in the same position as before the
interruption, and mused.
In the first place, it had become clear to her that Zashue
was utterly ignorant of the accusation against his wife.
Next, she was convinced that Hayoue was far from being
Tyope's friend ; on the contrary, he seemed to dislike him
thoroughly. Hayoue was known to be very outspoken in

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. \2f
matters of sympathy and antipathy, and if he were not
fond of Tyope, the latter certainly had come to feel it in
some way or other. Then, for she knew Tyope well, he
doubtless hated Hayoue cordially, and would have shown
his enmity in the dark, underhand way peculiar to himself.
If Hayoue, on the other hand, was not favourably inclined
toward Tyope, it was quite certain that he, being Cuirana,
nursed feelings of dislike toward the Koshare in general.
Any accusation, therefore, which the Delight Makers would
bring against Say Koitza was sure to meet at first with de
cided incredulity on the part of the young man, and this
incredulity might possibly be converted, through adroit
management, into active opposition.
But the most valuable piece of news she had heard
from the intruders was that three days hence a solemn
dance, the ayash tyucotz, was to be performed at the
Rito. These ceremonies, which are always of a religious
nature, are proposed generally by the principal shamans
to the civil chiefs, — in council or privately, — either on
the strength of some presage or dream, or as a public
necessity. The proposal agreed to, as it usually is, the
time is set ; but no publication is made either of the per
formance or of the hour until the day on which it is to
occur or the evening previous. But the matter is talked
about at home, in the circle of friends, and thus it gradu
ally becomes known to everybody as a public secret, and
everybody has time to prepare for it. Shotaye mixed
very little with the people at the Rito; she hardly ever
went to see any one, and such as came to see her had
other matters to talk about. It was no surprise to her
to learn that an important dance was near at hand; but
it was a source of much gratification nevertheless. For
until the dance was over nothing could or would be un
dertaken against Say and herself. After the perform-

128 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
ance, it was equally sure that several days would elapse
ere the council could meet in full, as the religious heads
of the tribe had yet to go through ceremonies of a pri
vate nature. At aU events, it proved to her that there
was no immediate danger, and that she still had time be
fore her. With time, so the resolute and wary woman
reasoned, there was hope.
Thus musing and speculating, she sat for a long whfle.
The fire went out, but she did not notice it. At last
she arose, unfolded several robes and mantles, which she
easily found in the dark, and spread them out on the floor
for her couch. Shotaye could go to sleep ; for at last
she saw, or thought she saw, her way clearly. She had
fully determined upon her plan of action.

CHAPTER VI.
" Hu-Hu-Hu-Hu-Hu-Hu-Hu-Hu-Hu-o-o-o-o ! "
Shrill cries, succeeding one another in quick succession,
ending in a prolonged shout, proceed from the outer exit
of the gallery that opens upon the court-yard of the large
building. The final whoop, caught up by the cliffs of the Tyuonyi,
echoes and re-echoes, a prolonged howl dying out in a wail.
Men's voices, hoarse and untrained, are now heard chant
ing in rhythmic and monotonous chorus. They approach
slowly, moving with measured regularity ; and now strange
figures begin to emerge from the passage-way, and as they
file into the court-yard the chant grows louder and louder.
A refrain — "Ho-a-a! Heiti-nal Ho-a-a! Heiti-na!"
breaks clearly and distinctly upon the ear, mingled with the
discordant rumblings of a drum. The fantastic procession
advances, forming a double column, composed of men and
women side by side. The former are stamping and the
latter tripping lightly, but all are keeping time. They cer
tainly present a weird appearance, tricked out in their
gaudy apparel and ornamented with flashy trinkets. The
hair of the men is worn loose ; tufts of green and yellow
feathers flutter over the forehead, while around their necks
and dangling over their naked chests are seen strings of
porcupine quills, shell beads, turquoises, bright pebbles, feld
spar, apatite, — anything in short that glitters and shines.
Bunches of similar material glisten in their ears. Fastened
about the waist, and reaching as low as the knee, a rude

130 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
kilt-like garment composed of white cotton cloth or of
deerskin hangs and flaps. It is ornamented with an em
broidery of red and black threads, and quills of the porcu
pine. Below the knee, garters of buckskin, tinged red and
yellow, form a fringe to which are attached tortoise-shell
rattles and bunches of elk-hoofs. The ankles are encased
with strips of the white and black fur of the skunk, and
from the waist a fox-skin hangs, fastened to the back and
reaching almost as far as the heel. Each man carries a
tuft of hawk's feathers in his left hand, while the right
grasps a rattle fashioned from a gourd and filled with
pebbles. The women wear their ordinary dress, emphasized how
ever with a profusion of necklaces, wristbands, and ear
pendants, while in each hand is borne a bunch of pine
twigs wagging from side to side as they move. But by far
the most striking feature of their costume is their headdress.
It consists of a piece of buffalo-hide scraped and flattened
like a board, about fifteen inches long and seven inches
wide, one end of which is cut square. The other termi
nates in what resembles a triple turret, squarely notched.
This is painted green, and decorated with symbolic figures
in red and yellow. White feathers flutter from each of the
three turret-shaped projections, and this peculiar headgear
is held in place by strips of buckskin attached to the
squared end, and knotted about meshes of the dark, stream
ing hair.
The faces of both sexes are generously daubed with white
clay, in addition to which the men have their naked chests,
upper arms, and hands also decorated with stripes and
blotches of the same substance.
The procession is a long one ; couple follows couple, the
men gravely stamping, the women gracefully tripping. At
the head are the tallest and most robust youths, the best

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 131
developed and most buxom girls. Following these, the
dancers are less and less carefully assorted and matched,
while boys and old women, little girls and old men, bring
up the rear.
As the last couple emerges, the chorus bursts out in full
force, the choristers themselves issuing from the dark passage
way. These are twelve in number, all men, dressed or
undressed as each one's fancy dictates, their faces whitened
like the dancers'. Their rude chant or rhythmic shouting is
in the minor key. They advance in a body, keeping time
with their feet, gesticulating in a manner intended to con
vey the meaning of their song. In their midst goes the
drum-beater, an aged man adorned with an eagle's feather
behind each ear. Like the rest, his face is daubed with
white paint ; his drum, which he thumps incessantly with a
single stick, being manufactured from a hollow tree. Both
ends of it are covered with rawhide, and the whole instru
ment is painted yellow. We recognize easily in this musi
cian the head of the Koshare, Shyuote's late tormentor.
At no great distance from the exit, the chorus comes to
a halt, but the singing, gesticulation and beating of the
drum proceed. The dancers meanwhile move about the
whole court to the same step, but the couples separate and
change places ; man steps beside man, woman joins woman,
all turning and passing each other, suggesting by their
movements the flexures of a closely folded ribbon. The
couples then re-form, the double rank strings out as at first,
tramping and tripping in a wide circle to the rhythm and
measure of the monotonous music.
This solemn perambulation and primitive concert is wit
nessed by numerous interested spectators, and listened to
by a large and attentive audience. The Rito's entire
population is assembled, eagerly, at times almost devoutly,
gazing and listening. The assemblage crowds the roofs

132 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
and lines the walls below, all confusedly gathered together.
There is every imaginable posture, costume, or lack of cos
tume, — men, women, children clothed in bright wraps or
embroidered skins, scantily covered with dirty rags, or
rejoicing in the freedom of undress. The several roofs of
the large house, rising in successive terraces three stories
high, form an irregular amphitheatre filled with humanity of
all sizes, shapes, ages, clothing, in glaring contrast with one
another. In the arena formed by the court-yard, form and
colour intermingle with more order and regularity ; and at
the same time greater brilliancy is exhibited. The fan
tastic headdresses of the women nod and vibrate like
waving plants of Indian corn; the lustrous hair and the
gaudy costumes glisten and sparkle in the sunlight, fox
pelts wag back and forth, plumes and feathers flit and
dance, the monotonous chanting, the dull thumping and
drumming rise into the deep blue sky, re-echoing from
the towering cliffs, whose pinnacles look down upon the
weird scene from heights far above the uppermost tier of
spectators. Among those looking on we may recognize some of our
acquaintances. Seated upon one of the terraces, his chin
resting on his hand, is Topanashka, who looks down upon
the actors with a grave, cold, seemingly indifferent gaze.
Say Koitza stands in the doorway of her dwelling, her wan
face wearing an immobile expression. Her little girl, ele
gantly arrayed in a breechclout and turquoise necklace,
clings to her mother's wrap with one hand while the other
disappears in her gaping mouth. The child is half afraid,
half curious ; and has an anxious, troubled look. Shyuote,
however, evinces no sign of embarrassment or humility.
Planted solidly on his feet, with legs well apart and both
arms arched, he gapes and stares at everybody and every
thing, occasionally fixing his glance upon the resplendent

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 133
sky overhead. In vain we search for Zashue and his elder
son, Okoya.
The mass of spectators — hundreds are here already and
more are coming constantly — do not content themselves with
devout and reverent admiration. Criticism is going on, and
it is exercised with the most unlimited freedom. Should
any one attract attention to himself, either by the perfection
or imperfection of his dress measured by the standard of the
critic, he is not only mentioned by name and his garb au
dibly criticised, but pointed at approvingly or derisively.
The men are made the butt of their own sex among the
audience ; while the women praise or depreciate, according
as the occasion may seem to require, the female members
of the procession. Frequently, when the costume of some
dusky beauty in the arena is the object of publicly expressed
admiration, some other within hearing may be seen casting
a covert glance of disappointment at her own less successful
apparel. Or she fixes her eyes upon her gorgeous necklace
with evident gratification, satisfied that her own get-up is
handsomer than the one that the others so much admire,
while she soothes her injured vanity with haughty con
tempt for the taste of those who see so much in her rival to
admire. The beat of the drum ceases, the wild song is hushed,
and the dancers break rank, seeking rest. They collect in
groups or mingle with the bystanders, chatting, laughing,
panting. Their violent exercise has played sad havoc with
the paint upon their faces and bodies, rendering them less
fantastic but more ludicrous. The drummer occasionally
raps his instrument to satisfy himself that it is in order,
otherwise there is a lull of which all avail themselves to take
part in the general conversation. Children resume their
sports in the court-yard.
Suddenly loud peals of laughter are heard on every side,

134 ' THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
and all eyes turn simultaneously toward the passage-way
whence are issuing half a dozen strange-looking creatures.
1'hey do not walk into the polygon, but rather tumble into
it, running, hopping, stumbling, cutting capers, like a troop
of clumsy, ill-trained clowns. When they have reached the
centre of the open space, laughter becomes louder and more
boisterous all around. Such expressions of mirth do not
merely signify amusement, but are meant as demonstrations
of applause. The Indian does not applaud by clapping his
hands or stamping his feet, but evinces his approbation by
laughter and smirks.
The appearance of the six men who have just tumbled
into the arena is not merely strange, it is positively dis
gusting. They are covered with white paint, and with the
exception of tattered breechclouts are absolutely naked.
Their mouths and eyes are encircled with black rings ; their
hair is gathered in knots upon the tops of their heads, from
which rise bunches of corn husks ; a string of deer-hoofs
dangles from each wrist; fragments of fossil wood hang
from the loins ; and to the knees are fastened tortoise-shells.
Nothing is worn with a view to ornament. These seeming
monstrosities, frightful in their ugliness, move about quite
nimbly, and are boldly impudent to a degree approach
ing sublimity. Notwithstanding their uncouth figures and
mountebank tricks their movements at times are undoubt
edly graceful, and they appear to exercise a certain authority
over the entire pageant.
White is the symbolic paint of the Koshare ; hence all the
actors who have performed their several parts, including the
coarse jesters, make up and represent the society of the
Delight Makers, whose office it is to open the ayash tyucotz.
The association whose name has heen selected as the title
of our story is now before us fully represented, arrayed in
its appropriate dress and engaged in the discharge of some

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 35
of its official duties. The clowns, too, the most agile and
sprightly, in a word the most amusing of the company, are
only an exaggeration of the rest, whose joint task it is to dif
fuse mirth, joy, buoyancy, delight, throughout the whole
tribe. The jesters are also the heralds and marshals of the
celebration. They gather together in the centre of the court
and carry on a boisterous conversation accompanied with ex
travagant gestures. No one interrupts their noisy garrulity,
but the entire assemblage listens eagerly, hailing their clumsy
attempts at a joke and their coarse sallies of wit with shrieks
of laughter. Their jests are necessarily of the coarsest;
nevertheless excellent local hits are made and satiric person
alities of considerable pungency are not infrequently indulged
in. One of the clowns has tumbled down ; he lies on his
back, feet in the air ; another takes hold of his legs and
drags him around in the dust. The peals of laughter that
greet this effort give testimony to the estimation in which it
is held by the lookers-on. If one of the spectators has the
misfortune to display immoderate enthusiasm, forthwith he
is made the target of merciless jeering. One of the merry
makers goes up to him and mimics his manner and actions
in the crudest possible way. The people on the terraced
roofs exhibit their joy by showering down corn-cakes from
their perches, which the performers greedily devour. These
things are delightful according to Indian notions, and are
well fitted to show how much of a child he still is, — a child
however, it must be remembered, endowed with the physical
strength, passions, and appetites of adult mankind.
The jesters scatter. One of their number runs up to Say
Koitza, who shrinks at his approach. Nevertheless he plants
himself squarely in front of her, bends his knees sidewise so
as to describe a lozenge with his legs, and thrusts out his
tongue to its fullest possible extent. Upon this the woman
laughs, for in the grimacing abomination she has discovered

136 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
her own husband, Zashue, who thus pleasantly makes himself
known. The hit is simply magnificent in the judgment of
his audience. Meanwhile one of his coUeagues is astride a
beam and endeavouring to crawl up it ; a third is actually on
the roof and scatters the shrieking girls everywhere by his
impudent addresses ; another bursts from a room on the
ground-floor holding ears of corn in each hand, and throw
ing himself upon the earth begins to gnaw them as a dog
would a bone, while one of his companions leaps on him,
and together they give a faithful representation of two prairie
wolves fighting over carrion. The greatest uproar prevails all
about ; the Koshare are outdoing themselves ; they scatter
delirious joy, pleasure, delight, broadcast among the people.
The rumblings of the drum are heard again ; the men
and women dancers take their places ; once more the
chorus surround the musicians. The clowns hush at once,
and squat or lie down along the walls, sober and dignified.
The strange corps de ballet re-forms in four lines, the second
and third facing each other, and the first and fourth front
ing in opposite directions ; men and women alternate.
Loud whoops and yells startle the air ; the dram rolls and
thunders ; each dancer brandishes his rattle. Softly and
gently, at first, the chant begins, —
" Ho-a-a, Heiti-na, Heiti-na.''
Gradually it increases in power, the dancers marking
time. Livelier become the motions, stronger and stronger
the chanting, its text distinct and clearly enunciated, —
" Misho-homa Shi- pap, Na-ya Hate Ma-a-a-se-ua,
Ua-tir-anyi, Tya-au-era-nyi,
Shoto Ha-ya Ma-a-a-se-ua,
Nat-yu-o-o, Nat-yu-o-o, Ma-a-a-se-ua,
Heiti-na, Heiti-na, Ho-a-a, Ho-a-a."
The dancers intermingle ; those in the front shift to the
rear rank ; then all together utter a piercing shriek and dart

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 37
back to their former positions. The ceremony continues
for upward of half an hour, during which the same words
are sung, the same figures repeated. Then there is again a
pause, and the actors disband to rest and recuperate. The
clowns forget their dignity and set to work with redoubled
energy, growing bolder and bolder. A party of them has
penetrated into a ground-floor apartment, and are throw
ing the scanty furniture through the doorway. Now they
spread robes and mats in the open court, lie down on
them, crack jokes, and make faces at the audience. A
specially gifted member of the fraternity hurries down a
beam with a baby in his clutches, which he has powdered
with ashes. He dances about with it, and exhibits the
squalling brat in every attitude as a potential Koshare.
The people scream and shout with unmixed pleasure.
Now they point at a pair of monsters, one stamping
and the other tripping daintily, who effectually mimic the
late partners of the dance in the most heartless manner.
Another of these hideous creatures is sitting down, his
head covered with a dirty rag, staring, stuttering, and
mumbling, like an imbecile. His pantomime is recog
nized at once as a cruel mimicry of the chief penitent
while at prayer, and it is universally pronounced to be a
superb performance. To the Koshare nothing is sacred ;
all things are permitted, so long as they contribute delight
to the tribe.
Topanashka appeared to be lonesome in his exalted seat
upon the roof. He arose quietly; and the by-standers
made room for the tall man as with eyes fixed on an op
posite terrace, he slowly descended and walked along the
houses without deigning to take any notice of the gambols
of the Koshare. He brushed past Say Koitza, and with
out looking at her or moving a feature muttered so that
she alone could hear, —

138 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Watch, lest they discover the feathers."
Passing to the other side of the court he seated himself
near a small, slender man, somewhat younger than himself.
This was the tapop, or chief civil officer at the Rito.
The woman was greatly frightened by her father's words.
It flashed upon her that should the Delight Makers raid
her household and upset it, as they had others, the owl's
feathers might be detected. In the troubled state of her
mind she had failed to destroy or even remove them.
Nevertheless, she could not immediately leave her post,
through fear of awakening suspicion ; she must wait until
the dance should begin and the goblins become quiescent.
Then? What then?
The feathers lay buried in the earthen floor of the inner
room. Their removal must be accomplished with great
care, in such a manner as to leave no signs of the earth
having been recently disturbed.1 There was no choice;
they must be removed at all hazards. There would be
ample time if she could only afterward obliterate aU traces
of her work. Luckily the kitchen was very dark, and the
hearth covered with ashes. Water was there also, but she
dare not use it lest the moistened spot betray her. Her
mind was made up, however, and the attempt would be
made as soon as the dance was renewed.
Singing and drumming are heard once more ; the dancers
fall into line ; and when the chorus was shouting the sec
ond verse, —

1 It was natural for her to think of removing the feathers, as they
would in all probability be looked for just where she had put them ;
that is, under the floor. Such was the case at Nambe in March,
1855, when owl's feathers were found buried at several places in the
Pueblo. The result of the discovery at Nambe was the slaughter of
three men and one woman for alleged witchcraft by the infuriated
mob of Indians.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 39
" Na-ya, Ha-te Oyo-ya-ua,
Ua-tir-anyi Tya-au-era-nyi," —
and the jokers had dispersed, Say slowly retreated within
the room, cowered down by the hearth, a sharp stone-
splinter in her hand and her eyes fixed upon the door,
watching lest anybody should appear. She listened with
throbbing heart to discover whether there was any shuffling
sound to betray the approach of one of the Koshare. She
saw nothing, and no sound was heard except the beats of
the drum and the monotonous rhythm, —
"Heiti-na, Heiti-na,
Nat-yu-o-o, Nat-yu-o-o, Ma-a-a-se-e-e-ua."
The woman began to dig. She dug with feverish haste.
The dance lacked interest for her ; time and again had she
witnessed it, and well knew the figures now being per
formed. She made the hole as small as possible, digging
and digging, anxiously listening, eagerly looking up now
and then at the doorway, and starting timidly at the least
sound. At last her instrument struck a resisting though elastic
object ; it was the feathers.
Cautiously she pulled, pulled them up until she had
drawn them to the top of the hole, then peered about her,
intently listening. Nothing ! Outside the uproar went
on, the chorus shouting at the top of their voices, —
" Ei-ni-a-ha, Ei-ni-a-ha-ay,
Tu-ua Se-na-si Tyit-i-na,
Tyit-i-na-a-a, Ma-a-a-se-ua."
Wrenching the bundle from its hiding-place, she concealed
it in her bosom ; then carefully replaced the earth and
clay ; put ashes on this, then clay ; rubbed the latter with a
stone ; threw on more ashes and more clay ; and finally
stamped this with her feet, — all the while listening, and

140 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
glancing into the outer room. At last, when it seemed to
her that the most rigid search could detect no trace of her
labours, she brashed the ashes from her wrap and went out
under the doorway again.
She appeared composed and more cheerful, but hei
heart was palpitating terribly ; and at every pulsation she
felt the dangerous bundle concealed beneath her clothing,
and she tightened still more the belt encircling her waist.
The third act of the dance soon ended, and the jesters
went to work once more, — women and girls now became
the objects of their attentions. The screams and shrieks
from the roof terraces when a Koshare is tearing about
amongst the women, loud as they are, are drowned by the
uproarious laughter of the men, who enjoy hugely the dis
gust and terror of the other sex.
From some of the houses the white painted horrors have
taken out the grinding-slabs. Kneeling behind them, they
heap dirt on their flat surfaces, moisten it with water, and
grind the mud as the housewife does the corn, yelping and
wailing the while in mimicry of the woman and her song
while similarly engaged. The pranks of these fellows are
simply silly and ugly ; the folly borders on imbecility and
the ugliness is disgusting, and yet nobody is shocked ; every
body endures it and laughs.
Say Koitza herself enjoyed seeing her sex made a butt
by coarse and vulgar satyrs. Suddenly two of the beasts
stand before her, and one of them attempts an embrace.
With a loud shriek she pushes him away, steps nimbly aside,
and so saves the treacherous bundle from his grasp. Both
the monsters storm into the house, where a terrific uproar
begins. Corn is thrown about, grinding-slabs are disturbed,
pots and bowls, robes and mats, are dragged hither and
thither ; they thump, scratch, and pound every corner of her
little house. Gasping for breath, quaking from terror and

The Dance of the Ayash Tyucotz

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 141
distress, she leans against the wall, for in the fellow who
sought to embrace her she recognizes Tyope.
All at once he darts out of the house, rushing past her
with a large ear of corn in each hand which he forthwith
hurls at the head of one of his comrades. This provokes
intense merriment, increased still more by his lying down
and rolling over several times. The climax of his humour
is attained, and exhibits itself in his squatting on the ground
close to one of the clay-grinding artists, where he begins to
feed very eagerly upon the liquid mud, literally eating dirt.
But a terrible weight has been lifted from the breast of the
poor woman, for the dangerous man has, so she must con
clude from his actions, discovered nothing.
Meanwhile the other Koshare had stepped out of the
house with well-filled hands. Say is unconscious of his
approach, and as he passes her he empties his treasures,
fine ashes, upon her devoted head. So sudden is his dis
appearance and so loud the laughter which this display of
subtle humour excites among the by-standers, that Say
Koitza fails to recognize its author, Zashue, her own
husband. She feels much relieved, and her heart has grown light
now that the immediate danger is past. And intently she
tries to catch her father's eye, but the old man is quietly
seated and does not look toward her.
The drum beats to signal the close of the intermission.
The clowns are becoming too impudent, too troublesome,
so that an end must be made to their pranks. The society
of the Koshare will appear now for the last time, as after
the next dance they retire. While this is at its height,
Topanashka rises and returns to his former place.
Walking slowly past his daughter, he looks at her. She
meets his gaze cheerfully, and with a slight nod of appro
bation he moves onward.

142 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
The dance is over, and the Koshare depart to scatter be
yond the large house and to rest. On the disappearance
of the last of their number, including the jesters, whoops
and shouts fill the air again from without, and a second
procession similar to the former marches into the court
yard. It is composed of different persons similarly cos
tumed, except that their paint is bluish instead of white.
No clowns accompany them. They go through a similar
performance, and sing the same songs; but everything is
done with gravity and even solemnity. This band is more
numerous by at least ten couples, and as a consequence
the spectacle is more striking on account of a greater
variety of dress and finery. A tall, slender young man
opens the march. It is Hayoue. His partner is a buxom
lass from the Bear clan, Kohayo hanutsh, a strong, thick-
waisted creature, not so good-looking for a girl as he is for
a man, yet of such proportion and figure as strike the
Indian fancy. They pay each other little attention. Dur
ing the pauses each one follows his own bent, and when
the time calls they meet again.
In an Indian dance there is no need of engaging part
ners, though it is not unusual for such as fancy one another
to seize the opportunity of so doing. The mere fact of a
certain boy stamping the earth beside a certain girl on a
certain occasion, or a certain maiden tripping by the side
of a particular youth, does not call for that active gossiping
which would result if a couple were to dance with one
another alone at one of our balls. A civilized ball is pro
fessedly for enjoyment alone ; an Indian dance is a re
ligious act, a public duty.
The society who are now exercising their calisthenics in
the court has much similarity to the Koshare, yet their
main functions are distinct. They are called the Cuirana.
7f„ during the conversation in which Topanashka in-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 143
formed his daughter as to the origin of the Koshare and
the ideas underlying their role in Indian society, Say Koitza
had inquired of him about the Cuirana he might have
given her very similar information.
With this marked distinction, however, that whereas the
former consider themselves summer people, the latter are
regarded as winter men. While the Koshare are specially
charged with the duty of furthering the ripening of the
fruit, the Cuirana assist the sprouting of the seed.
The main work of the Koshare is therefore to be done
in the summer and autumn, that of the Cuirana in the
spring; and, moreover, while on certain occasions the
latter are masters of ceremonies also, they never act as
clowns or official jesters. Their special dance is never
obscene, like that of the Delight Makers.
During their performance, therefore, the public did not
exhibit the unbounded hilarity which marked that of their
predecessors. The audience looked on quietly, and even
with stolidity. There was nothing to excite laughter, and
since the figures were slavish repetitions, it became monoto- '
nous. Some of the spectators withdrew to their houses,
and those who remained belonged to the cliffs, whence they
had come to witness the rite, as a serious and even sacred
duty. While the dance of the Cuirana is in progress, two of
the white painted clowns are standing outside of the big
building, and at some distance from the new house of
Yakka hanutsh, in earnest conversation. Heat and ex
ercise have partially effaced the paint, so that the features
of Tyope Tihua, and of Zashue, the husband of Say, can be
easily recognized.
"I tell you, satyumishe," asserts the latter, "you are mis
taken, or words have been spoken to you that are not true.
This wife of mine is good. She has nothing to do with

144 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
evil, nor has she tampered with it. You have done her
wrong, Tyope, and that is not right." His features, already
distorted by the paint, took on an expression of anger.
The other responded hastily, " And I tell you, Zashue
Tihua, that I saw your wife sitting by the hearth with
Shotaye," — his voice trembled at the mention of her name,
— "and I heard when that mean, lowaniehna" — his eyes
flashed, giving a terrible expression to his already mon
strously disfigured countenance — " spoke to the yellow
corn ! "
" Did you understand what she said ? " Zashue interjected.
" No, but can any one ask aught of the yellow corn but
evil ? I know, too, that this shuatyam picked up the body
of an owl on the mesa" — he pointed to the southern
heights — " and carried its feathers back to her foul hole
in the rocks."
"But you did not see Say with them?" Her husband
looked in the eyes of the other inquiringly, and at the same
time threateningly.
" That is the truth, but why does she go with the witch,
and for what purpose does that female skunk need owl's
plumage, if not to harm the tribe? She has done harm,
too," — he stamped his foot angrily, — " she is the cause of
our having no rain last summer. She destroyed the maize-
plant ere it could bring forth ears. She did it, and your
wife helped her." Furious, and with flaming eyes, Tyope
turned his head and stared into space.
" Are you sure that Shotaye has done this, and that it is
not Payatyama's will ? "
" Did we not fast and mortify ourselves while it was yet
time, all of us from the Hotshanyi down to the youngest
Koshare?" exclaimed Tyope. " Was it of any use ? No,
for that base woman had power over us in order to destroy
the tribe."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 45
"I am not defending her," Zashue muttered, "but it is
not certain that she is guilty, nor is it proven that she is
the cause of the hunger we suffered last winter."
His companion threw at him a glance of intense rage.
The other's incredulity exasperated Tyope, but he sup
pressed his feeling and spoke in a quieter tone.
" Come, satyumishe, the Naua is expecting us, and in his
presence we shall speak further. Our father is wise and
will teach out hearts."
Say Koitza's husband stood motionless, looking away
from his friend.
" Come," Tyope urged, placing his hand on the other's
shoulder. Zashue at last turned around and reluctantly
followed him. Both went toward the new estufa of the
Maize clan.
From this circular building faint sounds, as of a drum
beaten by a weak or lazy hand, were issuing. The principal
Koshare and the Naua had retired thither for recuperation
after the dance. Although the old man was not of the
cluster to whom the estufa belonged, he had obtained
permission from Yakka hanutsh to use the room on this
occasion as a meeting and dressing place for himself and
his associates. The club-house of the Corn people thus
served to-day a twofold purpose, and was used by two
distinct groups of the inhabitants of the Rito.
At this hour the Koshare Naua was its sole occupant.
He sat on the floor, holding the drum in his lap and touch
ing the instrument lightly from time to time. His vacant
gaze was fixed upon a small heap of dying embers, nearly
in the centre of the room and beneath the hatchway.
Occasionally he raised his head to glance at the wall oppo
site him. The interior of the estufa appeared quite differ
ent from what it did on the day when Shyuote's peep into
it was so poorly rewarded. Its walls had been whitened,

146 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
and were in addition covered with strange-looking paint
ings. The floor was partly occupied by a remarkable
display of equally strange objects.
The painting in front of which the old man sat, and at
which he gazed from time to time, represented in the first
place a green disk surrounded by short red rays, which
three white squares, bordered with black, converted into
something like the rude semblance of a human face. This
disk stood for a picture of the sun. Below it was the
symbol of the moon's white disk, encircled by a black and
red ring, and provided also with square eyes and mouth.
Still lower were painted two crosses, a red one and a white
one, both with black border.
Above the sun there appeared a form intended to be
human, painted in very gaudy colours. This was Payat
yama, the sun-father. On each side of him rose a terraced
pyramid painted green, and from the top of one of these
pyramids to that of the other there spanned or stretched a
tri-coloured arch, red, yellow, and blue, over the sun-father's
head. On each side of sun and moon was the crudely
executed picture of an animal, — the one on the right,
being intended for a bear, painted green ; the one on the
left, for a panther, painted red. The heads of these beasts
were turned toward the central figures. Still farther, beyond
these beasts of prey, two gigantic green serpents with horned
heads swept over the remainder of the wall, leaving but
a narrow space facing the sun, where four maize-plants,
two green ones and two of a reddish-brown hue, were
painted. Below the central figures and not quite reaching up to
them, an arch of wood, painted green with a yellow middle
stripe, was held aloft by two poles driven into the floor of
the estufa. Under this arch stood a wooden screen, green
and black with a yellow border at the bottom, while the

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 47
upper edge was carved into four terraced pyramids sur
mounted by as many black arches. Both right and left of
the screen, pine-branches resembling Christmas-trees of
to-day were stuck into the floor. This strange decoration
expresses symbolically a meaning similar to that intended
to be conveyed by the dance of the ayash tyucotz.
The sun-father, soaring above the sun, moon, and stars, —
for the red cross is the star of morning, the white the eve
ning star, — is surrounded by the symbols of the principal
phenomena in nature that are regarded as essentially benefi
cent to mankind. Thus the terraced pyramids are the
clouds, for the clouds appear to the Indian as staircases
leading to heaven, and they in turn support the rainbow.
The two principal beasts of prey, who feed upon game, like
man, and whose strength, agility, and acute senses man
hopes to acquire, are represented as the bear in the colour
symbolic of the east, and the panther in that of the south.
Farther away from the sun-father are the two monstrous
water-snakes, genii of the fish-bearing and crop-irrigating
water-courses. The sun- father stands surrounded by all
these elements and beings ; he fixes his blissful magic gaze
upon the nourishing maize-plants, that they may grow and
that their ripe fruit may sustain the tribe. Thus much for
the allegory on the wall.
But in order that the wish and hope which this allegoric
painting expresses on the part of man may become realized,
invocation rises before the picture in the shape of the screen,
denoting an altar on which the rainbow has again settled
down as a messenger from above. Both are green, since
it is summer ; and the summer sun, or summer home of the
sun- father, is green also, like the earth, covered with luxuriant
vegetation. Invocation alone does not suffice to incline the hearts
of Those Above kindly toward mankind ; gratitude is re-

148 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
quired as an earnest of sincere worship. But this gratitude
can be expressed by words as well as by deeds, and prayers
must precede, accompany, or follow the offering. In front
of the altar a row of bunches artistically composed of snow-
white down are placed on the floor. Each of these delicate
fabrics has sacred meal scattered about its base, and each
of them symbolizes the soul of one household. They are
what the Queres Indian calls the yaya, or mother, dedicated
to the moon-mother, who specially protects every Indian
home. All these stand below the altar in token of the
many prayers that each household sends up to the moon,
painted above, that the mother of all, who dwells in the
silvery orb, may thank her husband in the sun for all the
good received, and implore him to further shed his bless
ings on their children. Between these feather-bushes and
the embers, a great number of other objects are placed, —
fetiches of stone, animal figures, prayer-plumes, sacrificial
bowls painted with symbolic devices and surmounted by
terraced prongs, and wooden images of household gods
decorated with feathers. Sacred meal is in or about all of
them, and all stand for so many intercessors praying for the
good of the people, giving thanks in the name of the
people and offering their vows in token of gratitude.
Similar to this estufa of the Corn clan are to-day all the
other estufas on the Tyuonyi. They contain similar pic
tures, and similar objects are grouped on the floors in front
of them. Before the altars the swan-white mother-souls
glisten and flutter. The estufas are without human occu
pants, their entrances alone are watched by old men or
women outside to prevent the work of invocation and grati
tude performed inside by symbolic advocates from being
desecrated by rude or thoughtless intruders.
While this work is going on thus silently and without
direct intervention of man, man himself performs a similar

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 149
duty in the open air through the ceremonies of the great
dance. In this dance the Koshare came first, for their request
was one of immediate importance. That the fruit may ripen
is the object of their sacramental performances, — " even
the fruit in woman's womb," Topanashka had explained.
To this end man must contribute with delight and work
with love. Whoever mourns or harbours ill-will cannot
expect his task to prosper. In this manner even the ob
scene performances of the Koshare are symbolic, and then-
part in the great dance is above all an invocation.
Next the Cuirana came. Their labours are over; the
germs which they were to protect with incantations have
sprouted long ago, and the plants are ready for maturing.
For these results of their work they give thanks to the sun-
father, — thanks loud and emphatic, so that he may hear and
see how grateful his children are. Their performance to
day is a testimonial of gratitude.
To close the dance, both societies will finally appear to
gether, and with them representatives of the tribe at large.
All together they will go through the same succession of
ceremonies, in token that all acquiesce in the sentiments of
the Koshare and the Cuirana, — that each individual for
himself and in behalf of all the others joins in giving thanks
for the past and praying for the future.
This is the signification of the ayash tyucotz when per
formed about the time of the summer solstice. However
clumsy and meaningless it may seem, it is still a solemn
performance It gives public expression, under very strange
forms, to the idea that has found its most perfect utterance
in the German philosopher's * definition of " abject reliance
upon God ; " whereas in its lowest form it is still " a vague
and awful feeling about unity in the powers of nature, an
1 Schleiermacher.

150 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
unconscious acknowledgment of the mysterious link con
necting the material world with a realm beyond it."
Seated comfortably and alone, surrounded by the sym
bols of his creed, the old leader of the Koshare was tapping
his drum and humming softly a prayer. On a sudden the
hatchway above him became darkened, and as he looked
up he saw the legs of a man appearing on the uppermost
rounds of the ladder leading down into the subterranean
chamber. As that man continued to descend, the body,
and finally the head, of Tyope appeared. Then followed
Zashue Tihua. When both men were below, they went to
the nearest sacrificial bowl, each one took from it a pinch
of yellow com-meal and scattered it in front of the altar.
Then they turned to the old man, but he did not take any
notice of either of them. Tyope squatted by his side, while
Zashue remained erect.
" Sa nashtio," began the former, " we have not found
anything." "There is nothing," added Zashue, rather excitedly;
"my wife is innocent."
The Naua raised his eyes with an expression of astonish
ment and surprise, as if failing to understand.
"What is it that you have not found?" he asked, rather
dreamily. "No coco — " Tyope stopped and looked at the pic
tures on the wall. It is improper to mention the names of
evil powers or agencies in presence of the symbols of Those
Above. So he corrected himself and said, —
" No hapi."
"Hapi?" the Naua inquired with a vacant stare, " what
sort of hapi? Where did you look for them? " He bent his
head, as if trying to remember.
" Hapi," exclaimed Tyope, " in the house of Say Koitza,
this motatza's wife ; " and he pointed at his companion.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. IS1
" Yes, indeed ; " the chief of the Koshare now recollected.
" I know ; I recollect well." His eyes suddenly bright
ened ; they assumed an expression of cunning as well as of
suspicion. His quick glance moved back and forth from
one of his visitors to the other. "So you found nothing?
Then there is nothing ! You were right, Zashue ; your wife
is good." He gave a chuckle which he intended for a
benevolent smile.
" See," Say's husband exclaimed, turning to Tyope ;
" the Naua believes as I do. My wife is no — " the evil
word he suppressed in time. He stopped, biting his lips in
embarrassment. Tyope's features moved not. He spoke to the chief of
the Delight Makers as quietly and calmly as possible, —
" I believe as you do, nashtio ; but while Say may be
guUtless, Shotaye is not."
" Hush ! " the Naua sternly interrupted ; " think of those
here." He pointed toward the symbols. " Don't you know
that they must not hear the name of that woman? "
Tyope replied hastily, and eager to drown the reprimand
his chief had given him, —
"What shaU we do, Naua?"
The old man became impatient. " Don't you see that I
am at work? I am busy. Those here," he again nodded
at the idols, " leave me no peace. I must be with them
until the last otshanyi begins. In three days we go to the
kaaptsh, — you, he, all our brethren, — and then we may
speak. Now leave me alone. Go ! Leave me ! Go !
Go ! " he cried, and waved his hand upward. He was not
to be spoken to any longer ; he began to beat his drum
and took up the low chant again. Zashue hurriedly climbed
out of the estufa, and Tyope followed with an angry face.
When the latter was on the open ground again, Zashue
stepped up to him and said in a very decided tone, —

152 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" You see now, satyumishe, that Say is innocent. Here
after, Tyope, leave her alone." Turning about, he walked
toward the large house. Tyope cast after him a look less
of anger than of bitter disappointment.
The last act of the great ceremony began. A tremen
dous shout sounded from the outer entrance to the gaUery
leading into the court-yard of the great house. The chant
arose stronger and louder than ever before, and several
drums rumbled at once. Again were the terraces filled
with people, the walls below lined with spectators. Topan
ashka sat on the roof, cold and impassable. Say Koitza
leaned in the doorway of her home, with a quiet, almost
smiling, countenance.
A long array of couples, dressed as before but painted
red, opened the procession ; then came the Cuirana, and
last the Koshare. Topanashka arose and joined the dan
cers; the Tapop stood beside him, and both stamped
along, keeping time as if they were young once more.
The singers were reinforced by several aged men with
snow-white hair, three of whom wore dark wraps, sleeve
less and covered with red embroidery. These were the
chief penitents ; those without badges or distinctive dress,
the principal shamans of the tribe. A thrill of excitement
ran through the spectators ; children on the roofs gathered
in groups, moving in harmony with the strong rhythmic
noise below. The jesters had become very quiet; they
went about gravely keeping order, for the court was now
filled with performers. The green headdresses waved like
reeds before the wind, and the whole space looked like
a rhythmically wafted cornfield. When the dancers were
executing the beautiful figure of the planting of maize, —
man and woman bending outward simultaneously, each
one to his side, and all the rattles sounding as if upon
command, — everything around was hushed ; everybody

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 153
looked on in respectful silence, so correct were the mo
tions, so well-timed and so impressive the sight. Say also
felt genuine delight. She thought of times long past when
she, too, had joined in the dance. Now, alas, she could not.
With all the relief this day had brought her, there still re
mained a dull weight in her bosom, and an inner voice for
bade her to mingle with those so sincerely engaged in rites
of thanksgiving to the powers of good and happiness.
While she stood and gazed around, her attention was
directed to a young couple passing in front of her. The
handsome lad with the dark, streaming hair was Okoya,
and she recognized him proudly as the best-looking youth
on the ground, Hayoue perhaps excepted. But then, was
not Hayoue, Okoya's father's brother? But who was the
girl by Okoya's side? That slender figure of medium
height, that earnest, thoughtful expression of the face, those
lustrous eyes, — whose were they ? The two were manifestly
a handsome pair, and the longer she watched them the
more she became satisfied that they were the prettiest
couple in the dance. They were certainly well matched ;
her son's partner was the handsomest girl of the tribe ; of
this she was convinced, and she felt proud of it. Motherly
pride caused her heart to flutter, and the instinct of woman
made her eager to know who the maiden was who appeared
such a fitting partner for her own good-looking son. Say
Koitza determined to improve the first opportunity that
might present itself for ascertaining who the girl was and
where she belonged.
The day was drawing to a close, a day of joyful excite
ment for the people of the Tyuonyi. The dance termi
nated. As the sun went down the dancers crowded out
of the passage-way; so did the visitors; it grew quieter
and quieter on and about the large house. The swarm of
people leaving it scattered toward the cliffs in little bands

154 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
and thin streams, separating and diverging from each
other like the branches of an open fan. And yet, after
night had come and the moon had risen in a cloudless
sky, there was still bustle everywhere. Households rav
aged by the visitations of the Koshare were being re
stored to order, the exhausted dancers were being feasted,
and the estufas were being cleared of everything bearing
a sacred character. Young men and boys still loitered
in groups, repeating with hoarse voices the songs and
chants they had lately addressed to the ruler of day.
On the terrace roof of the home of Tyope's wife a young
girl stood quite alone, gazing at that moon where the mother
of all mankind, the Sanatyaya, is supposed to reside. It was
Mitsha Koitza, who had just returned from the estufa of her
clan with the mother-soul of her own home, and who still lin
gered here holding in her hands the cluster of snowy, delicate
feathers. She thinks, while her nimble fingers play with it,
of the young man who has been her partner the whole day,
who has danced beside her so quiet, modest, and yet so
handsome, and who once appeared to her on this same roof
brave and resolute in her defence. While she thus stands,
gazes, and dreams, a flake of down becomes detached and
quivers upward into the calm, still air. Involuntarily the
maiden fastens her glance on the plumelet, which flits up
ward and upward in the direction of the moon's sUvery orb.
Such a flitting and floating plume is the symbol of prayer.
Mitsha's whole heart goes anxiously with the feather. It
rises and rises, and at last disappears as if absorbed by
moonlight. The features of the maiden, which till now have
carried an anxious, pleading look, brighten with a soft and
happy smile. The mother above has listened to her en
treaty, for the symbol of her thoughts, the feather, has gone
to rest on the bosom of her who watches over every house,
who feels with every loving and praying heart.

CHAPTER VII.
Among Indians any great feast, like the dance of the
ayash tyucotz described in the preceding chapter, is not fol
lowed by the blue Monday with which modern civilization
is often afflicted. Intoxicating drinks were unknown to the
sedentary inhabitants of New Mexico previous to the advent
of Europeans. If it happened, however, that one or other
of the feasters overloaded his stomach with the good things j
set before him, after the ceremony was over a decoction/
made from juniper-twigs afforded prompt and energetic re
lief. Among the younger men it was not rare for some to
remain in company with the fair sex until the small hours of
morning, in which case the rising sun found them somewhat
out of sleep. But the majority were glad to retire to their
habitual quarters for a good rest after the day's exertions,
and these woke up the following morning bright and active,
as if nothing had happened to divert them from the duties
and occupations of every-day life. To this majority be
longed Okoya.
After the dance was over he had loitered and lounged
about for a time with some companions of his own age, but as
soon as the moon rose he had sauntered home. His mother
was busy putting things into shape, for the Delight Makers
had left behind a fearful disorder. Shyuote was there, too ;
he was careful not to assist his mother, but to stand in her
way as much as possible, which action on his part called
forth some very active scolding. But it struck Okoya that
she appeared more cheerful than before. Her motions were

156 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
brisker, her step more elastic. Say Koitza placed the usual
food before her eldest son, and at this moment Zashue
came in also. He felt exceedingly proud of his exploits as
a jester, and was jollier than ever before. Okoya listened
for a while to the clumsy and not always chaste jokes of his
parent, and then retired to the estufa. The next morning,
bright and refreshed, he strolled back to the house for
breakfast, expecting to meet his father, who would assign
him his day's work.
Zashue had gone already. Nobody asked where, but it
was taken for granted that he had gone to see the old chief
of the Delight Makers about the approaching days of peni
tential retirement. His mother was up ; and she addressed
her son in a pleasant manner, set food before him, and
then inquired, —
" Sa uishe, who was the girl that danced by your side? "
" It was Mitsha Koitza," Okoya replied without looking
up. "Mitsha Koitza," she repeated, "where does she belong?"
" Tyame hanutsh."
"Who is her father?"
"Tyope Tihua. Do you like her?" and he looked at
his mother pleadingly, as if asking her forgiveness and her
consent to his choice.
The woman's brow clouded at the mention of a name
so hateful to her. She looked hard at her son and said in
a tone of bitter reproach, —
" And you go with that girl? "
"Why not ! " His face darkened also.
" Have I not told you what kind of man Tyope is ? "
"The girl is no Koshare," he answered evasively.
"But her mother is, and he."
Both became silent. Okoya stared before him ; his ap
petite was gone ; he was angry, and could not eat any more.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 57
What right had this woman, although she was his mother,
to reprove him because he was fond of a girl whose father
she did not like ! Was the girl responsible for the deeds of
her parents? No ! So he reasoned at once, and then his
temper overcame him. How could his mother dare to
speak one single word against the Koshare ! Had she not
betrayed him to them ? In his thoughts the hatred which
she pretended to display against the Koshare appeared no
longer sincere ; it seemed to him hypocrisy, duplicity, de
ception. Such deceit could mean only the darkest, the
most dangerous, designs. With the Indian the superlative
of depravity is witchcraft. Okoya revolved in his mind
whether his mother was not perhaps his most dangerous
enemy. On the other hand, Say Koitza, when she began to ques
tion her son, had in view a certain object. She was anxious
to find out who the maiden was whose looks had at once
charmed her. Next she was curious to know whether
the meeting of the two was accidental or not. Therefore
the leading question, " And you go with that girl? "
Under ordinary circumstances his affirmative reply might
have filled her motherly heart with joy, for Mitsha's appear
ance had struck her fancy ; but now it filled her with dis
may. Nothing good to her could result from a union
between her child and the daughter of Tyope. That union
trould be sure to lead Okoya over to the home of his be
trothed, which was the home of her mother, where he could
not fail to gradually succumb to the influence which that
mother of Mitsha, a sensual, cunning, sly woman utterly sub
servient to her husband, would undoubtedly exert upon him.
It was not maternal jealousy that beset her now and filled
her with flaming passion, it was fear for her own personal
safety. Under the influence of sudden displeasure human
thought runs sometimes astray with terrific swiftness. Say

158 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Koitza saw her son already going to the house of that
fiend, Tyope, night after night, whereas in reality he had
never called there as yet. She fancied that she heard him
in conversation with this girl, confiding in her little by little,
just as Zashue used, before he and she became man and
wife. But what could Okoya tell after all that might
prove of harm to her? He was a mere child as yet. At
this stage of her reasoning, a cloud rose within her bosom
and spread like wildfire. Was it not strange that the dis
covery of the owl's feathers, the betrayal of that dread
secret, almost coincided with Okoya's open relations with
the daughter of the man who, she felt sure, was at the
bottom of the accusation against her ? A ghastly suspicion
flashed up and soon became so vivid that no doubt could
arise, — her own son must accidentally have discovered the
fatal feathers ; he himself without intending any harm must
have mentioned them to the girl, perhaps even in the
presence of her mother.
Say became satisfied that she held the key to her be
trayal. The riddle was solved. That solution dissipated
all hopes of salvation, for if her own son was to be witness
against her in the dreaded hour when the tribal council had
to determine for or against her guilt, there could be no
doubting his testimony. And Tyope would have that testi
mony in any case, for if Okoya should deny, Okoya's own
betrothed might be brought face to face with him as a wit
ness. Thus she reasoned in much less time than it can be
written, and these conclusions overwhelmed her to such a
degree that she turned away from her favourite child in
bitter passion, with the conviction that her son in whom
she had trusted was her destroying angel. She hid her face
from him in anger and grief.
Okoya noticed his mother's feelings. Her anger was
inexplicable to him, unless it meant disappointment in

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 159
relation to some of her own supposed dark designs. It
made him angrier still, for Say's bitterness against the
Koshare was in his opinion only feigned. Persuaded that
his mother was false to him, and that she was even har
bouring evil designs, he rose abruptly and left the house
in silence.
He could no longer refuse to believe that she was plan
ning his destruction. Otherwise, why did she oppose what to
him appeared the prelude to a happy future ? And why that
apparent duplicity on her part, — condemning the Koshare
to his face, and, as he thought, being in secret understand
ing with them ? Only one explanation was reasonable, the
only one within reach of the Indian mind, — that Say Koitza
was in some connection with evil powers which she, for
some reason unknown to him, was courting for the purpose
of his destruction ; in other words, that Say Koitza, his own
mother, was a witch !
Nothing more detestable or more dangerous than witch
craft is conceivable to the Indian. To a young and un
trained mind like Okoya's the thought of being exposed to
danger from such a source is crushing. The boy felt be
wildered, dazed. He leaned against the wall of the great
house for support, staring at the huge cliffs without see
ing them ; he looked at people passing to and fro with
out taking any notice of their presence. He could not
even think any more, but merely felt, — felt unutterably
miserable. If only he knew of somebody who might help him !
This was his first thought after recovering strength and self-
control. Why not speak to Hayoue? The idea was like
the recollection of a happy dream, and indeed he had har
boured it before. It roused him to such a degree that he
tore himself away from the wall against which he had leaned
as on a last staff, and straightening himself he walked de-

I6b THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
viiberately toward the upper end of the Rito, where the cave-
dwellings of the Water clan were situated.
... Hayoue might be at home, still it was more than likely
That the Don Juan of the Rito had been spending the last
night elsewhere. If at home, so much the better ; if not,
there was nothing left but to wait until he came. The
prospect of waiting and resting was not an unpleasant one
for Okoya, who felt exhausted after the shock of disappoint
ment and disgust he had just experienced. As he slowly
approached the recess wherein the grottoes of the Water
clan lay, he halted for a moment to catch breath, and just
then descried Shotaye, who was coming down toward him.
The woman had been quite a favourite of his ever since she
became so kind to his sick mother. Nevertheless he had
always felt afraid of her on account of her reputation as
a doubtful character. Now the sight of her made him
angry, for she was his mother's friend and a witch also !
So he resumed his walk and passed her with a short, sulky
guatzena. Shotaye noticed his surly manner and looked
straight at him, returning the morose greeting with a loud
raua that sounded almost like a challenge. Then she went
on with a smile of scorn and amusement on her lips. She
was not afraid of the young fellow, for she attributed his
surly ways to sitting up late.
Okoya was glad to get out of the woman's reach, and
he did not stop until at the entrance to the caves which
Hayoue and his folk occupied. There was no necessity of
announcing himself; he merely lifted the curtain of raw
hide that hung over the doorway, and peeped in.
His youthful uncle — so much he saw at a glance — was
not in. Another young gentleman of the tribe lay on the
floor beside the other members of the family. All were
sound asleep yet, and Okoya dropped the curtain quietly
and turned toward the brook. On its banks he selected a

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. l6l
spot where, unseen to others, he could look down the valley,
Here he threw himself on the ground to watch, and await
Hayoue's coming.
Although deeply anxious to meet his uncle, Okoya enter
tained no thought of impatience. He had to wait, that was
all. Beside, his heart was so heavy, so full of grief and
despair, that not even his surroundings could divert him
from gloomy thoughts. The brook murmured and rustled
softly by his side, its waters looked clear and limpid; he
neither heard nor saw them. He only longed to be alone,
completely alone, until his uncle should come. Okoya
had not performed his morning ablutions, but there was no
thought of them ; for he was in deep sorrow, and when the
Indian's heart is heavy he is very careful not to wash.
Flat on his stomach, with chin resting on both hands,
indifferent to the peculiar scenery before him, he never
theless scanned the cliffs as far as they were visible. The
grottoes of Tzitz hanutsh opened right in front of him ;
lower down, the entrances of a few of the caves of Kohaio
hanutsh could be seen, for the rocks jutted out like tower
ing pillars. They completely shut out from his gaze the
eastern cave-dwellings of Tzina hanutsh. Farther to the
east, the waU of cliffs swept around to the southeast,
showing the houses of the Eagle clan built against its base,
the caverns of Yakka hanutsh opening along a semicircle
terminating in a sharp point of massive rocks. In that
promontory the port-holes of some of the dwellings of the
Cottonwood people were visible. Beyond, all detail be
came undistinguishable through the distance, for the north
side of the Rito turned into a dim yellowish wall crowned
by dark pine-timber.
Okoya lay there, scanning, watching every doorway back
and forth the whole length of the view; hours went by;
there were no signs of Hayoue. Yet Okoya did not rise in
n

162 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
anger and pace the ground with impatience, he did not
scratch his head or stamp, he did not even think of swear
ing, — he simply waited. And his patient waiting proved
of comfort to him, for he gradually cooled off, and freed
from the effects of his violent impressions, began to think
what he could do. Nothing, absolutely nothing, at least
until he had seen Hayoue. To wait for the latter was a
necessity, if it took him the whole day. But to wait in the
same posture for hours was rather tiresome, so he rolled
over on his back, and folding his arms under his head began
to gaze on the skies.
Bright and cloudless as they had appeared at sunrise, a
change had come over them since which attracted even
Okoya's attention. Instead of the usual deep azure, the
heavens had assumed a dingy hue, and long white stream
ers traversed them like arches. Had the boy looked in
the west he would have seen shredded clouds looming up
behind the mountains, a sure sign of approaching rain.
But he had become fascinated by what was directly
above him, and so he watched with increasing interest
the white arches overhead. Slowly, imperceptibly, they
pushed up, crossing the zenith and approaching the
eastern horizon, toward which the boy's face was turned.
And while they shifted they grew in width and density.
Delicate filaments appeared between and connected bow
with bow, gradually thickening, until the zenith was but
one vault of pale gray. The boy watched this process
with increased eagerness ; it caused him to forget his
troubles. He saw that rain — one of the great blessings
for which he and his people had so fervently prayed,
chanted, and danced yesterday — was coming on, and
his heart became glad. The spirits — the Shiuana — he
thought, were kindly disposed toward his people; and
this caused him to wonder what the Shiuana might really

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 163
be, and why they acted so and so, and not otherwise.
The Shiuana, he had been taught, dwelt in the clouds,
and they were good; why, then, was it that from one
and the same cloud the beneficial rain descended, which
caused the food of mankind to grow, and also the de
structive hail and the deadly thunderbolt ? 1
A faint, muttering sound, deep and prolonged, struck
his ear. He started, for it was distant thunder. The
Shiuana, he believed, had read his thoughts, and they
reminded him that their doings were beyond the reach
of his mind. Turning away from the sights above, he
looked again down the valley. There, at last, came the
long-expected Hayoue, slowly, drowsily, like one who has
slept rather late than long. Hayoue, indeed, was so
sleepy yet that his nephew had to call him thrice. After
the third umo, however, he glanced around, saw Okoya
beckoning to him, and came down to the brook. Yawning
and rubbing his eyes he sat down, and Okoya said, —
" Satyumishe, I want to speak to you. WiU you listen
to my speech?"
Hayoue smiled good-naturedly, but looked rather in
different or absent-minded as he replied, —
"I will; what is it about? Surely about Mitsha, your
girl. Well, she is good," he emphaticaUy added; "but
Tyope is not good, not good," he exclaimed, looking up
with an expression of strong disgust and blowing through
his teeth. It was clear that the young man was no friend
to Tyope.
1 A clear definition of the Shiuana is not easy to give. In a gen
eral sense, they might be called the "spirits of the Fetiches.'^ As
everything strange, unusual, or inexplicable is attributed to spiritual
origin, the numbers of the Shiuana are very great. Even the pictures
of the sun-father, of the moon-mother, etc., are Shiuana, in the sense
of their supposed spiritual connection with the deified beings they
represent

1 64 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Okoya moved uneasUy, and continued in a muffled tone
of voice, —
" You are not right, nashtio ; it is not concerning Mitsha
that I want to speak to you."
"About what else, then?" Hayoue looked up in sur
prise, as if unable to comprehend how a boy of the age of
Okoya could think of anything else than of some girl.
His brother's son took from his neck the little satchel
containing sacred meal. Without a word he opened it, and
scattered the flour in the usual way to the six regions. Then
he pointed to the clouds and whispered, " The Shiuana are
good," at the same time handing the bag to his uncle.
The latter's astonishment had reached its maximum; the
boy's actions were utterly incomprehensible to him.
Again the sound of distant thunder vibrated from the
west, and the cliffs sighed in return.
"They are calling us," Okoya whispered.
Hayoue became suddenly very sober. He performed
the sacrifice in silence, and then assumed the position of
an earnest and attentive listener.
"Do you like the Koshare?" began Okoya, in a
whisper. " No. But why do you ask this ? "
" Because I don't like them either."
" Is that all you had to tell me ? I could have told you
that in their own presence." Hayoue seemed to be disap
pointed and vexed.
"That is not why I called you, umo," Okoya continued;
"it is because the Koshare know that I dislike them."
" What if they do know it."
" But they might harm me ! "
" They cannot. Otherwise I should have been harmed
by them long ago. But I don't care for them."
Okoya shook his head and muttered, —

Indiar Pueblo Dances of To-day
(Upper picture) Lining up for the dance
(Lower picture) The "Clowns"

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 165
"I am afraid of the Koshare."
The other shrugged his shoulders.
" I am not," he said. « Men can do harm with their
hands and with their weapons ; and against those you have
your fist and the shield. Those Above" — he pointed at
the skies— "can harm us; they can kill us. But men —
why, we can defend ourselves."
Okoya felt shocked at words which sounded to him like
sacrilegious talk. Timidly and morosely he objected, —
" Don't you know that there are witches ! "
"Witches! There are no witches."
Again there was a mutter from the west, a hollow, solemn
warning; and the cliffs responded with a plaintive moan.
Even incredulous Hayoue started, and Okoya sighed.
" I will tell you why I ask all this," said he, and he went
on to explain. Beginning with the incident provoked by
Shyuote, he confessed to the suspicions which it had aroused
in his mind, and laid the whole process of his reasoning
bare before his listener. His speech was picturesque, but
not consciously poetic ; for the Indian speaks like a child, \
using figures of speech, not in order to embellish, but\
because he lacks abstract terms and is compelled to bor
row equivalents from comparisons with surrounding na
ture. Hayoue listened attentively; occasionally, however,
he smiled. At last Okoya stopped and looked at his friend
in expectation. The latter cast at the boy a humorous
glance ; he felt manifestly amused by his talk.
" Motatza," he began, " in what you have told me there
is not more substance than in the clouds above, when the
Shiuana do not dwell in them. It is colour, white colour.
It is nothing. You have been painting; the picture is
done, but no spirit is there. Shyuote is a lazy, idle brat ; he
shirks work ; but when you say to him, Sit down and eat,
then he all at once becomes active. In this way he sneaks

166 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
around from house to house. He may have overheard
something said about you and your ways, he may even have
surprised the Koshare while talking among themselves.
But it is quite as likely that the toad has invented the
whole story just in order to anger you, for he always finds
time to sneak, to lounge, and to hatch lies, the lazy, good-
for-nothing eavesdropper ! I tell you what it is, that boy
is fit for nothing but a Koshare, and a real good one will
he become."
" But," Okoya rejoined, " if the Delight Makers have
spoken about the yaya and me, there must be some cause
for it."
" Don't you know that these shutzuna always find some
occasion for gossip?" Hayoue cried. "Don't they run
into every house ? Don't their women stick their noses
into every bowl, in order to find out what the people cook
and eat ? Rest easy, satyumishe, your mother is good, she
has nothing in common with the Koshare."
" But is not the nashtio one of them ? Your brother, my
father? Is he like the rest of them?"
Hayoue replied, assuming an important mien, —
" It is true that brother is, and I don't like it ; but we
can't change it. It was so ordained long ago, for my father
himself was Koshare. Beside, let me tell you that not all
that the Koshare do is wrong. If there were no Koshare, it
would not be good for the people. They must see that
Those Above assist us when the com ripens, and inasmuch
as they perform their duties, they are necessary to us. It
is also well that they should bring joy and mirth among
the tribe, but " — he raised his hand and his eyes flashed —
" they must not go beyond their duty. Their leader shall
not presume to be more than the Hotshanyi, who has to
suffer and bear for our sake and for our good. They shall
do their duty and no more. It is not their duty to make

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 167
people believe that they are wiser than the chayani and to
induce the people to give them bowl after bowl full of
meal, feathers, shells, and whatever else may be good and
precious. For it is not to the Koshare as a body that all
these things are distributed ; it is only their naua who gets
them, and through him his hanutsh, at the expense of all
the other clans. Neither shall the Koshare alone enjoy our
makatza, pretending that it pleases Those Above ! "
It thundered again, louder and longer than before.
Hayoue stopped, and then went on.
" Zashue faUs to see all this. He is Koshare, and follows
in the tracks of the others like a blind man. But we, the
Cuirana, — we see it. I am not a principal, I cannot sit in
council and speak, but withal I have noticed these doings
for a long time. I tell you, motatza, that if the Delight
Makers, the old fiend who rules them, and Tyope are not
restrained very soon, there will be sorrow in the tribe ; the
people will become weak because they will be discontented,
and finally the Moshome may come and destroy us all."
" But if the Koshare are so powerful," retorted Okoya,
"must I not be on my guard?"
" With some of them, to be sure. Beware of Tyope and
of the old rogue ; they are base and dangerous men. Avoid
Shtiranyi, avoid Ture Tihua, Pesana, and the like of them.
But your father, Zashue, and Shiape, your grandfather's
brother, — do you believe they would forsake you ? Mind,
boy, even if the Koshare be against you, you are not lost.
There is your umo, Topanashka, and he has great weight with
the old men, with the council, and with the people. There
is your clan, Tanyi, and in fine I and my people are here
too." He uttered these words proudly, looking at his
nephew encouragingly. But Okoya was not fully reas
sured ; his doubts were not removed. There was one thing
yet that he held in reserve for the last, and that was his

1 68 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
dread of witchcraft and the suspicion that such a danger
threatened him from his own mother. He resolved to teU
his friend all, including the scene of the morning and the
conclusions he had drawn from it.
" Hayoue," said he, " you are good and wise, much
wiser than I ; still, listen to me once more."
Louder and nearer sounded the thunder. Hayoue bent
over toward Okoya, a close, attentive, sympathizing listener.
The young man related everything, — his relations with
Mitsha, how he had quarrelled with his mother, and the
conclusions at which he had arrived touching his mother's
evil designs and practices. At this point Hayoue began to
laugh, and laughed till he coughed.
" And you really believe this ! " he cried. But at once he
grew very serious and even stern. " Motatza, it is not right
in you to think thus of your mother. Say Koitza is good ;
she is better than most women at the Tyuonyi, far too good
for my brother Zashue, and better than I or you. I know
her well, and even if there should be witches, which I do
not believe — "
A loud thunderpeal caused the mountains to tremble.
Hayoue started, shook his head, and muttered, —
"They call loudly. It may be that there are witches.
At all events" — he raised his voice again — "if there are
such women, your mother does not belong to them. It is not
right, brother, for you to think such things of your mother.
You have done her a great wrong, for I, tell you again she is
good and she is your best friend. Where do you belong?
Whose blood is yours ? Is it your father's ? Are the Water
people your people? No, Tanyi is your hanutsh. Your
mother's clan are your kindred. Mind, satyumishe, our
life is in our blood, and it is the blood of her who gave you
life that flows in your veins. When you say aught against
your mother, you tarnish your own life."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 69
"But why does she not want me to go with Mitsha?"
Okoya asked, and pouted.
" Don't you see why, satyumishe ? Don't you understand
it? Say knows Tyope ; she mistrusts him and is even afraid
of him. Mitsha is a good girl, and your mother has noth
ing against her ; but she is her mother's daughter, and that
mother is Tyope's wife. If Mitsha becomes your wife you
wUl go and live with her, until Tyame hanutsh has a house
ready for Mitsha. You will even have to stay at the home
of Tyope's wife. Now I cannot say that Hannay, the wife
of Tyope, is really bad ; she is not nearly as bad as he, but
then Hannay is silly and allows him to make her his tool.
Everything that concerns her clan — things that he of course
is not entitled to know — she tattles to him ; and she tells him
everything else that she sees, hears, or imagines. I know it
to be so. Now, your mother is afraid lest through Mitsha's
mother, first Mitsha, afterward through her you, might be
come entangled in the coils of that sand-viper Tyope. For I
tell you, motatza," — his eyes flashed, and he shook his
clenched fist toward the houses of the Eagle clan, — " that
man is a bad man ; he is bad from head to foot, and he
thinks of nothing but injury to others for the sake of his
own benefit."
" But what has Tyope done ? How do you know that he
is such a bad man?"
" That's just it. He never acts openly. Like the badger,
after which he is named, he burrows and burrows in dark
ness and covers up his ways ; and when the earth caves in
beneath those who walk over his trap and they fall, he is
already far away, and looks as innocent and bland as a
badger on top of the ground. But if you follow him, then
he will turn around and snap at you, like a real tyope.
Your mother is right in fearing him ; perhaps not so much
on her account as for your sake. You and Mitsha are both

170 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
very young, and that man knows how to entrap such little
rabbits." Okoya could not deny the truth of his uncle's speech.
He felt that he had wronged his mother, had misinterpreted
her motives ; and now he was ashamed of himself. Never
theless Indian nature is exceedingly wary and suspicious in
all important matters, and it struck him that Hayoue was
trying to dissuade him from his project of union with
Mitsha. Knowing the propensities of his gallant uncle in
the matter of women, he began to suspect that the latter
might wish to estrange him from the girl or frighten him
off in order to step into his shoes. So he assumed an air
of quiet indifference and said, —
" I think it is better, after all, not to see Mitsha any
more." With this he attempted to rise ; but Hayoue held
him back, and spoke very earnestly, —
" No ; it would not be well. You are fit for each other,
and you must come together. I wUl help you all I can."
"Can you help me?" Okoya exclaimed, delightfully
surprised. " Perhaps I can, perhaps not. I will talk to your mother
and get her to be in your favour ; but there is one thing you
must promise me faithfully, and that is to be very, very
careful. When you go to the house of Tyope's wife and
you are asked about anything, say nothing ; reveal nothing
in regard to matters of our clans but what you might shout
over the housetops with perfect impunity. Otherwise " —
and his voice sounded like an impressive warning — " you
may do great injury to the tribe."
" But if Mitsha herself inquires of me ? "
" You must be wise, brother, wiser than she is ; for wo
men are seldom wise, — only forward, curious, and inquisi
tive. Wisdom " — and the dandy of the Rito shrugged his
shoulders — "is a gift to man, never to woman. When

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. ijl
you and Mitsha are together alone, be wise. Don't ask her
anything that does not concern you ; and if she begins to
pry into your matters, you will have a right to say to her,
' I don't pry into your affairs, so don't ask me about those
of my people.' I am sure that she will let you alone there
after, for Mitsha is a good girl. Nevertheless, be careful,
for it is as certain as that the brook runs through here that
they will attempt to draw you out. Tyope will say to his
wife, ' Find out this or that from him.' He may even tell
her why he wants to know it. The woman goes to her
daughter, and bids her ask the boy about such and such a
thing. But she is careful not to let out why, and that
Tyope is at the bottom of the inquiry. The girl suspects
nothing wrong and asks you, and you tell her all you know.
In this manner precious things get little by little into evil
hands, and the end of it is evil. If you will promise me
that you will be very cautious, I will speak to Say Koitza
such words that she will feel glad to see you and Mitsha
become one."
Okoya seized the hand of his friend, breathed on it, then
clasped it with both hands, lifting it up to heaven. He
could not utter a word ; joy and hope deprived him of the
power of speech. Hayoue suffered him to go through this
ceremony ; he also felt glad.
The storm was drawing nearer; dense clouds hovered
over the Rito, but they did not notice them. Louder and
louder the thunders rolled, and in quicker succession came
the peals ; they heeded not. From the heights in the west
there was a sound of gushing rain ; they paid no attention
to it.
Hayoue spoke again, —
"Something I have yet to tell you. Although Mitsha
may like you, and even if her mother be in your favour, —
perhaps as much for her own sake as on her daughter's

172 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
account," he added, with a scornful smile, — " it is by no
means certain that Tyope will give his consent. If you
become his tool, if you let him wield you as a hand wields
flint or stone, then he will be in your favour ; if not, he will
not be. He knows very well how precious Mitsha is, and
with the aid of her mother and of that mother's clan he
hopes to sell his pretty girl to his own best advantage. Un
less you are willing to let him use you to grind his corn as
a woman grinds it on the yanyi, you have no chance ; he
will barter away Mitsha to a Navajo, if thereby he reaches
his ends."
Okoya started, horrified. " Is Tyope as bad as that ? "
he asked.
" Do you recollect Nacaytzusle, the savage stranger
boy?" Hayoue inquired in return.
"I do; but he has left us."
" It does not matter ; for to that wild wolf he would
rather give Mitsha than let her be your wife. There is no
danger of my obtaining her," he added, with a grim smile,
" for he hates me like a water-mole. True it is that I, too,
detest him as I do a spider."
Okoya felt bewildered.
"Why should he give Mitsha to a Moshome? " he tim
idly inquired. "What would he gain by it? "
" I don't know ; and nobody knows, except perhaps the
young Navajo, that fiend. But sure it is, and it bodes no
good for us at the Tyuonyi."
A violent crash of thunder was followed by a few drops
of rain. Hayoue looked up and said, —
" Kaatsh is coming ; let us go."
Both rose and walked toward the caves for shelter. On
the high mesa above, the wind roared through the timber ;
in the valley, it was yet quiet. Lightning flashed through
the clouds. Hayoue stood still, grasped the arm of his
companion, and pointed at the southern heights.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 173
" If you ever go up there," he warned, " be very careful."
Okoya failed to understand, and only stared.
"Be careful," the other insisted, "and if possible never
go alone." He turned, and Okoya followed. What he had
heard and learned went beyond his comprehension.
Ere they could reach the caves a fiery dart shot from the
clouds that shrouded the mountain-crests ; it sped across the
sky and buried itself in the forest above the Rito. A clink
ing and crackling followed, as if a mass of scoria were shat
tered, then a deafening peal shook the cliffs to the very
foundations. A strong gust of wind swept down the gorge.
It caused the tall pines to shake, and the shrubbery surged
in the blast. In the nooks and angles of the cliffs the wind
whirled, raising clouds of dust and sand. Raindrops began
to fall, large and sparse at first, afterward smaller but thick
and fast. The first rain of the season poured down upon
the Rito de los Frijoles.

CHAPTER VIII.
Shotaye had taken no part in the great dance, and no
one had missed her. It was known that whenever the
Koshare appeared in public she was certain to stay at
home. In point of fact she seldom left her cell, unless it
was to ascend one of the mesas for the purpose of gathering
medicinal herbs. Shotaye enjoyed the reputation of being
a strange and even mysterious being ; and so long as her
services were not absolutely required, nobody cared to in
trude upon her. Nevertheless, she often received visitors
of the male sex. She despised men most thoroughly, but
accepted their attentions if profitable.
On the day following the ayash tyucotz Shotaye left her
cave in quest of vegetable medicaments. We have seen
how she met Okoya, and how they greeted one another.
The boy's sullen manner amused her ; she attributed his
morose ways to the effects of an over-lively night. Onward
she went, down to the edge of the brook, then turned to
the right up the course of the streamlet. That the skies
threatened to become overcast and that rain might over
take her during the day mattered little. Whenever the
Indian is bent upon the performance of some task, sunshine
or rain, moonlight or snow, are matters of indifference.
Shotaye strolled on regardless of things above or below.
People were of as little interest to her as the clouds. The
latter could do her errand no harm, and that errand every
body might know if they chose to follow her.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS.

175

Wandering up the gorge of the Rito and along its north
ern limit, the woman soon reached the upper part, where
the cliffs crowd the water's edge, where the southern slopes
become more rugged and the valley terminates. There a
series of gigantic steps, formed by high and beetling rocks,
closes the Rito to the west. Down that mass of ledges the
brook trickles from its source, and a trail, formerly much
used by the Navajos on their raids, creeps up, meandering
over and between crags, ledges, and shelves of bare rock.
This trail was seldom trodden at that time, and then only
by armed men, for it was regarded as dangerous. Not
withstanding the proximity of the settlement at the Rito,
the Navajos — Dinne, or Moshome — lurked here quite
often, and many an unfortunate had lost his life while
ascending the trail alone.
Shotaye was therefore travelling an exceedingly hazardous
road, but she did not think of danger. Many a time be
fore had she clambered up and down this rocky labyrinth,
and while the Dinne fairly swarmed, nothing had ever
happened to her. It is true that she was exceedingly wary,
and had in her innumerable excursions gathered quite as
much knowledge of the tricks of war as the most experi
enced scout, so that she felt almost intuitively the approach
of danger. She had gradually become imbued with the
idea that she was invulnerable. To-day, therefore, she
moved along this dangerous trail with the greatest appar
ent nonchalance. Furthermore her thoughts so completely
absorbed her that while ascending from the level of the
Rito she unconsciously went on thinking of nothing else
but of what Say Koitza had told her in the cave, and of
the plans for relief which she had begun to devise, or at
least to revolve in her mind.
The trail is not only rough and long, it is very steep in
places ; and the woman stopped for rest, sitting on a ledge

176 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
of rocks. Below her the vale was no longer visible ; a dark
chasm yawned at her feet ; out of it the cliffs of the Tyuonyi
rose like the heads of giants.
One more difficult stretch had to be overcome before
Shotaye could reach the timber crowning the plateau on the
northern cliffs of the Rito. Massive benches or ledges,
abrupt and high, seemed to render farther ascent impracti
cable. But Shotaye kept on after a short stop without the
slightest hesitation. The trail wound its way upward. It
crept from rocky step to rocky step, led her from crags to
narrow bands skirting dizzy cliffs, until she came to a level
where the timber of the northern mesa was easily reached.
Once in the shade of pines she looked around ; the original
object of her expedition returned to her mind, and she
scanned with particular care the underbrush in hope of find
ing there the herbs on which she based the efficacy of her
cures. It thundered audibly, but that was nothing to her.
There, close to a juniper-bush, grew one of the coveted
plants. She went to it, knelt down, and began to pull it up
by the roots.
Suddenly she felt both of her upper arms seized with
irresistible power. Her body was jerked backward. Ere
she could think of resistance, she was lying on the ground.
Not a shriek, however, escaped her mouth, for although
surprised, the woman had presence of mind enough to
think that either Tyope or some Navajo must have attacked
her. In either case it was useless to scream, for in either
case she was lost. As soon however as she was able to
glance at her captor her worst fears were dispeUed.
The man, or being, whatever he might be, loosened
his grip and stood erect. He looked down into her face
and grinned. That grin did not in the least beautify his
already horrible features. The creature was indeed a man,
but so disfigured by paint and accoutrements that any one

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 77
unaccustomed to the appearance of Indian warriors in full
dress must necessarily have taken him for some fiend or
demon from the nether world. He was of robust build,
his muscular chest was naked to the waist, a kilt of deer-
hide covered his thighs, and his feet rested on small hoops
laid horizontally and tied to them like sandals. Face and
body were painted with a black metallic powder; under
each eye there was a red dash. Out of this sinister face
the eyes gleamed like living coals ; and the srmle, though
intended for a friendly token, appeared more like a beastly
leer. A close-fitting cap covered the skull to the ears, giv
ing it the appearance of ghastly baldness. From under
this protection coarse locks of black hair protruded.
Shotaye looked up at the monster, and, strange to say,
returned his horrid grin with a smile and with encourag
ing winks. But the man did not move ; he only let go her
arms. So she rose. Thereupon he touched her right
arm with his left hand, pointed at himself with the right,
and uttered in a strange dialect, "Tehua." Afterward he
pointed at her, adding, "tema quio," and accompanied
these words by most significant gestures.
Shotaye did not understand the language, but the signs
were clear to her.
" Koitza," she replied, imitating his motions ; " Tehua
hachshtze ; " and with a wink, " amoshko."
The Indian shook his head ; he dropped the arm of the
woman, made with both hands the motion of stringing a
bow, and exclaimed, —
"Uan save." Grasping the war-club that hung from his
wrist he struck two or three blows with it at random, re
peated the words " uan save," and looked askance.
This was beyond Shotaye's powers of comprehension.
She again pointed at herself, saying, —
"Tyuonyi koitza," then in the direction of the Rito,

178 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
made the gesture-sign for killing, and looked at the stranger
inquiringly and with an anxious face.
Now the Indian understood her. His eyes sparkled ; he
shook his head emphatically, uttering, —
" Nyo nyo tema, uan save, uan save ; " at the same time
he pointed to the west and brandished his war-club.
It became clear to the woman that the warrior was
on an expedition against the Navajos, and not after the
scalps of her own people ; but it was equally plain to her
that, being on the war-path, any kind of enjoyment was
prohibited to him. This was a disappointment, and the
strange dialogue came therefore to a stand-still. Each
eyed the other in silence. All at once the stranger
stepped up to her, and extending his arms to the west,
asked, —
" Uan save ? "
She shrugged her shoulders in silence.
" Quio," he said now, and grasped her hand ; " tupoge,"
pointing toward the Rito. " Quio," he beckoned her to
go with him. " Puye," waving his hand to the north.
Lastly he grinned and whispered, "cuinda? "
There was no possibility of misunderstanding the smile
and the motions, although the words, of course, were be
yond Shotaye's comprehension. In return she pointed to
the west again, made the conventional sign for night and
sleep, and began to count her fingers. As she bent the
eighth digit the Tehua stopped her, held up every finger
of the right hand and three of the left, described, as if
in confirmation eight times, an arch from east to west,
and concluded by pointing to the north, exclaiming very
emphatically, —
" Puye ! " He looked at her and laughed aloud, as the
Indian does when he feels delighted, pressed both hands
against his chest, and uttered proudly, —

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 179
" Cayamo."
" Shotaye," she eagerly replied.
The black-painted hero burst out in immoderate laughter.
"Shotaye, Shotaye," he repeated, caught hold of one of
her hands, caressed his chest with it, and danced about
merrily, exclaiming, —
" Cuindae, Cayamo, cuindae, Shotaye, cuinda ! " He
counted the number eight several times, and then suddenly
bent down. One of his sandals had become loose.
These sandals consisted, as mentioned before, of wooden
hoops covered by strips of rabbit-skin and tied to the
naked foot with bands of the same material. The wearer
stood on them as on wheels lying flat on the ground ; he
was able to walk and even to run at a moderate speed,
and the prints which he made, being circular, gave a
pursuing enemy no clew to the direction of his going or
coming. While the man was stooping and fastening the leather
thongs, Shotaye scanned his appearance thoroughly. She
perceived on his back, aside from a bow and the usual
quiver filled with war-arrows, a shield. The painting on
that shield she examined with particular care. The tar
get was painted white, with a black rim ; and in the centre
was a green crescent, with four red crosses. Such figures
have no heraldic signification ; they are but the creation of
fancy or taste, and recall the designs of the ancient Teu
tons which Tacitus describes, " Scuta tantum lectissimis
coloribus distinguunt."
Shotaye evidently took an interest in the stranger. He,
on the other hand, looked up to her from time to time
with a terrific grin that was intended for a sweet smile.
As often as he turned his face toward her she sought to
decipher his real features, which the war-paint rendered
utterly unrecognizable.

180 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
At last the sandal was fastened again, and the Tehua
stood erect. He waved his hand to the west and north,
repeated the words, " Cayamo, cuinda," and placed a finger
on his lips. She nodded, raised eight fingers, softly uttered
" raua, raua, Shotaye," and pointed to the north also. There
upon he moved away stealthily ; but before disappearing in
the timber, he turned around once more and waved his hand
northward. The woman replied with affirmative nods, and
after his form had disappeared she also turned to go. Her
eyes sparkled ; a gleam of intense satisfaction iUumined her
features, as with head erect and heedless of the plants she
had come to gather, she penetrated deeper into the forest.
She now went due east, in a direction opposite to the one
the Tehua had taken.
This had been a very remarkable meeting indeed.
More than ever, Shotaye believed that she was invulnera
ble. The Queres of the Rito and the Tehuas, living north
of them on the other side of savage mountain-fastnesses, and
more than a day's journey distant, were not always on the
best of terms. There was no regular intercourse between
the tribes, for the speech of one differed from that of the
other. Barter and traffic took place at long intervals ; but as
not a soul at the Tyuonyi spoke Tehua, and no one at the
Puye understood Queres, such attempts at commercial inter
course usually terminated in a fracas, in bloodshed even, and
the party offended sought to make things even afterward by
waylaying and murdering such of the other side as might
chance to wander in the neighbourhood of their abodes.
Actual warfare had taken place between the tribes within
the time of Shotaye's recollection, and engagements were
fought; one party got worsted and ran home, the other
went home, too, and that settled the matter for the time
being. It was, therefore, not at all safe for an Indian from
the Rito to meet one from the Puye, and vice versa. Women

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. l8l
made an exception, inasmuch as they were exposed only to
capture and adoption in the tribe to which their captors be
longed. Such compulsory adoption was rendered very easy
by the fact that nearly the same clans existed among all the
Pueblos. But the Eagle clan, for instance, which the Queres
called Tyame hanutsh in their dialect, bore in the Tehua
language the name of Tzedoa.
As soon as Shotaye saw into whose hands she had fallen,
she felt completely reassured. Even if she were carried off
a prisoner, it was no misfortune. When, moreover, she dis
covered that the stranger had not even such an object in
view, but was after the scalp of some Navajo, she experienced
a feeling of delight. When at last the Indian readily under
stood her suggestions, and went so far as to indicate a day
when she should come to him at the Puye, her gladness
knew no bounds. In the accidental meeting, all her hopes
for relief had been realized. She was now able to save
herself by flight to the other tribe, but enough time was left
her to provide for the safety of her companion in peril.
She had no hope or thought of becoming the wife of her 1
new acquaintance. He was probably married ; but marriage, j
as we have seen, was no obstacle to temporary outside friend- !
ships. She could take refuge at the Puye without hesitation, i
and claim the protection of her warrior. In case she after
ward felt like tying herself to one man only, there was no j
doubt in her mind that a domestic animal of the genus hus- j
band could easily be found. How often could she have been i
married at the Rito, had the men not looked upon her as a I
witch !
The friend whom she had now secured among the Tehuas
called himself Cayamo. Thus much she had guessed, and
guessed rightly. But would she be able to recognize him
after his face was washed and the military undress ex
changed for that of civil life ? Never mind, she had noted

1 82 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
the paintings on his shield, and that was enough. There
are no two shields alike in one village ; and by uttering the
name Cayamo and describing the white escutcheon with a
green crescent and four red crosses — a thing easy for Indian
sign-language — she could not fail to identify him. That
Cayamo would recognize her and acknowledge her ac
quaintance she did not doubt for a moment. She even
hoped to meet him half way on the trail to the vUlage of his
tribe, provided the Navajos did not kill the hero. WhUe
she sincerely hoped that he would return safe and in pos
session of many scalps, there was still a possibility of his own
scalp being taken by the enemy. The Navajos were very
cunning, and their arrows were tipped with very sharp flint.
With all her feelings for her knight, and the reliance she
placed on his broad shoulders, heavy neck, strong arms,
and well-turned legs, accidents remained possible. In case
Cayamo should never return to his native village, what
then ? Well, he was not the only man among the Tehuas,
and that consoled her.
There seemed to be but one dark point in the otherwise
bright outlook. Would she have time to put her plans in
execution? Would the Koshare, would Tyope, leave her
sufficient respite ? Things might have taken place during
and after the dance that changed the face of matters and
precipitated them beyond remedy. In case, for instance,
that the Delight Makers had overturned Say's household as
they were wont to overturn others, and had discovered the
feathers, was not all hope gone ? Shotaye suddenly recol
lected how Okoya had greeted her that morning, — how surly
his glance, how gruff and unfriendly his call. Was that sig
nificant ? Still, if the secret had been disclosed, there would
surely have been some noise about it the night before. On
the other hand, it might be that the council had the case in
hand and preferred not to make anything public for the

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 83
present. What if the council were in deliberation at
the very moment, discussing her fate and that of her ac
complice ? Would it not be safer, instead of returning to
the Rito, to follow the tracks of her new friend, Cayamo,
and join him on his dangerous errand?
Yes, it would have been safer, provided Cayamo would
have tolerated the companionship of a woman. But this he
was not allowed to enjoy, and furthermore, what would then
become of that accomplice of hers? The latter thought
staggered her.
Shotaye was a very strange woman. She was heart
less, cold-blooded, merciless, remorseless, in everything that
concerned her relations to others. One person only she
excepted in her selfish calculations, and that was her ac
complice and victim, Say Koitza. Happen what might, she
could not forsake Say. She must at all hazards go back
to the Tyuonyi, call at her house, and find out from her
whether or not anything had occurred that might jeopardize
her plans and designs. In case matters were unchanged,
she intended to tell her friend the occurrence of the day,
giving her at the same time directions for the future.
Shotaye quickened her step, for the road was long. It
was not advisable to return by the trail she had taken in
coming, for she needed a pretext for running into the abode
of Say Koitza as if by chance. At last she noticed the
change in the weather and the approaching shower, and
thought it a good plan to regulate her gait so as to reach
the valley and the big house when the storm broke. She
might then seek shelter under her friend's roof and avoid
suspicion. Crashing thunder roared in the high Sierra, and as Sho
taye looked around she saw the rain-streaks that swept
down on the mesas in advance of the shower. The Sierra
de la Jara had vanished in the clouds, and gray fleeces

1 84 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
whirled about the flanks of the Sierra de San Miguel. She
stood on the brink above the eastern end of the Rito, and be -
gan to descend over boulders and crags, and through bushes.
Only a part of the valley was visible ; in the com-fields not
a living soul appeared. Faster and faster Shotaye ran, re
gardless of rocks and shrubbery. The western mountains
were completely shrouded, lightning tore the clouds, thunder
bellowed nearer and stronger. At last she reached the
bottom and turned toward the houses, panting, perspiring,
but untired. As she passed the new house of the Com
clan, the first angry blast of the storm met her, and she had
to stop. It filled her with lively satisfaction, however, to
see how accurately she had regulated her movements. She
might get into the big house almost unnoticed, for the rain
began to fall.
At the moment when Hayoue and Okoya found shelter
in the caves of the Water clan, Shotaye dashed through
the gangway of the building. A tremendous shower was
falling, and as soon as she entered the court she was
drenched from head to foot, to the great delight of those
who, well protected themselves, were standing in the door
ways of their quarters. One single voice called to her
to come in, but she took no notice of it. Blinded by the
torrents of falling water, she groped her way along the waUs,
and finally stumbled into the open door of Say Koitza's
home. Not a single thread of her scanty clothing was dry ;
her hair, soaked and dripping, clung to her forehead and
cheeks as if glued to the skin ; water filled her eyes, nos
trils, and ears. She removed the hair from her brow, shook
herself, coughed, sneezed, and looked around. The room
was empty, but in the inner cell a fire crackled on the
hearth ; and Say came out. At the sight of her friend she
burst into a hearty laugh, and asked, —
" Where do you come from ? "

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 85
" Tziro kauash." Shotaye coughed, then in a whisper
she inquired, —
" Are you alone ? "
Say's brow clouded, and a deadly pang seized her. What
meant this query, this call so unusual, so mysterious? In a
low, hoUow tone she replied, —
" We are alone," and turned back into the kitchen. Her
friend's question sounded like a prelude to dismal tidings.
Both women squatted close to the fire. Not a word was
spoken. The new-comer was busy drying herself, and the
mistress of the house was struck by her rather cheerful
looks. Possibly her sad presentiment was wrong. It was
almost impossible to talk, except in a very loud tone ; for the
rain fairly roared, peals of thunder followed each other in
quick succession, flashes of yellow lightning quivered outside
of the little port-hole. The room itself was very dark.
How often had the two women sat here years ago in
anxious doubt, but hopeful at last ! How often had Say
Koitza complained to her friend on this very spot, — com
plained of her illness, of the sad outlook before her ; and
when she began to recuperate how often she told Shotaye
about her plans for the future. Now that future had come,
and in what shape !
The roaring outside diminished gradually, the thunder
sounded more remote. Through the roof of mud and
brush rivulets of water began to burst, forming little pud
dles on the mud floor and dripping on the heads of the
two women. Shotaye took no notice of it, but Say moved
to avoid the moisture. The roof seemed a sieve, the floor
became a lagune.
Shotaye inquired, —
" Have the Koshare been here? "
"They have," the other said, "and they turned every
thing upside down, but found nothing."

1 86 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Shotaye drew a long breath, exclaiming, —
" Then everything is right, all right ; and you are safe ! "
But the wife of Zashue Tihua shook her head mournfully.
" No, sa tao," she replied, " it cannot save me. I am lost,
lost beyond hope."
"Rest easy, sister. Believe me," the medicine- woman
assured her, " you are saved ; they can do you no harm."
It rained softly in the court-yard ; inside of the room it
went on, pat, pat, pat, pat, dripping through the ceiling,
Shotaye resumed the conversation.
" Speak, sa tao," she said ; " speak, and tell me what you
think. Why is it that you still believe that bad men will be
able to do you harm ? Don't you know, sister, that you are
safe from them now, and that they cannot injure you any
more? "
Say Koitza shook her head gloomily and replied, pointing
to her ear and eye, —
" Sanaya, what the ear hears and the eye sees, the heart
must fain believe."
" Then speak to me ; tell me, sa uishe, what it is that
your ear has heard, your eye has seen, that makes your
heart so sad." The woman spoke softly, entreatingly,
as if she was soothing a sick child. But the object of her
sympathy sighed, and continued, in the same tone of utter
despondency, —
" Sister, had you been present at the ayash tyucotz, when
all the people danced and sang, your eyes would have seen
what the heart could not approve. I saw my son Okoya
Tihua, the child of Tanyi hanutsh, dancing beside Mitsha
Koitza, the girl from Tyame ; and she is the daughter of our
base enemy."
"Is that all that causes you trouble, koya?" Shotaye
very placidly asked.
"Listen to me further, yaya," Say entreated. "This

Type of old Indian woman

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 187
morning I took the boy to task for it, and then I found out
that Mitsha is near to him, — nearer than his own mother.
I discovered that he goes to see her, and thus gets to the
house of the woman of whom they say that she is Tyope's
ear and eye, tongue and mouth. What do you say to that,
sa tao? "
Shotaye smiled. " Have you ever spoken to Mitsha? "
" Never ! " exclaimed Say. " How could I speak to one
whose mother is a sand-viper, and whose father a carrion
crow? "
"Is that all?"
" You know," Say cried, " how mean Tyope is ! If my
child goes to see his child, is it not easy for the young ser
pent to ask this and that of my son? Then she will go
and tell the old sand-viper, her mother, who will whisper it
to Tyope himself. Don't you see it, sister? "
The argument was forcible, and Shotaye felt the truth of
it. The other proceeded, —
" Okoya may have been going with the girl for a long
while ; and I knew nothing of it. Have you found out,
sister," — she leaned forward and looked at her guest
with a very earnest expression, — " how the Koshare have
learned about the owl's feathers in my house?"
The other shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.
"Neither have I," continued Say; "but might not
Okoya — " The hand of her friend closed her lips.
"Hush!" cried the medicine-woman, imperatively;
" speak not, believe not, think not, such a thing ! Okoya
is good; I, too, know the boy. He will never do what
you suspect."
But Say was too excited to listen to her. She drew
Shotaye's hand away from her mouth and exclaimed, —
" Remember that it is but a short time that the Koshare
have known about the feathers."

1 88 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" And remember, you, that Okoya is of your own blood ! "
" He is young, and the makatza has great power over
him, for he likes her. When Zashue " — her voice trembled
and she turned her face away with a suppressed sigh —
" came to me and I went to him, he often told me things
about your people, — things that your hanutsh would not
have liked, had they known that I knew of them."
" Hush ! I tell you again. Hush, koitza ! " the other
commanded. " Hush ! or I wiU never listen to you any
more. You loathe your own flesh, the very entrails that
have given birth to the motatza ! I tell you again, Okoya
is good. He is far better than his father ! Thus much
I know, and know it well." She looked hard at the wife
of Zashue, while her lips disdainfully curled. Say cast
her eyes to the ground ; she did not care to ¦ learn about
her husband's outside affairs.
It was very still in the dark room. Even the rain was
scarcely heard ; and from the ceiling it dripped in one
place only, — the very spot where the owl's feathers had
lain buried. It seemed as if the waters from heaven
were eager to assist in obliterating every trace of the fatal
tuft. Shotaye turned away from her friend indignantly ;
the mere thought of a mother accusing her child, and such
a son as Okoya, was revolting to her. Say hung her head
and pouted ; and yet she felt that Shotaye was right, after
all. And then it was so gratifying to hear from Shotaye's
own lips how good her son was.
" Sanaya," she asked after a while, timidly, " teU me for
what you came."
" No," the other curtly answered.
Say started. " Be not angry with me," she pleaded. " I
do not mean anything wrong."
"And yet you slander your best chUd."
Say Koitza began to sob.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 89
Shotaye continued, angrily, —
" You may weU weep ! Whoever speaks ill of his own
blood, as you do, ought to be sad and shed tears forever.
Listen to me, koitza. Okoya is good; he will not be
tray anybody, and least of all his mother. And hear my
words, — Mitsha also is good; as good as her father is
bad, as wise as her mother is foolish. Even if Okoya
had found the feathers and had told makatza of it, she
would keep it to herself, and the secret would lie buried
within her heart as deep as if it rested beneath the nether
most rock on which the Tetilla stands. And in the end
let me tell you," — she raised her head defiantly and her
eyes flashed, — " if Okoya likes the girl and she wants
him, they are sure to come together. You cannot prevent
it ; neither can Tyope, the tapop, the Hotshanyi, — not even
the whole tribe ! Those on high hold the paths of our
lives ; they alone can do and undo, make and unmake."
Say wept no more. She was convinced, and lifted her
eyes again.
" Mother," — it was Shyuote's voice which called into the
outer room from the court-yard, — " mother, come out and
look at the fine rainbow." With this he dashed into the
inner door and stood there, the very incarnation of dirt.
He had been playing at Delight Makers in the mud-
puddles outside with some of his comrades, and was
covered with splashes of mud from head to foot. Say
bounded from her seat and pushed back the forward
youngster. "Who is with you, sanaya?" he inquired, while re
treating. " Nobody, you water-mole ! I want to be alone. I
have no time to look at your rainbow. Get away ! "
and she hustled him outside and quickly returned to the
kitchen.

190 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
But Shyuote, not satisfied with his mother's statement,
rushed to the port-hole to see for himself. This Sho
taye had expected ; and as soon as his dirty face dark
ened the opening, it received a splash of muddy rain-water
that caused the boy to desist from further prying.
After Say had resumed her seat by the hearth, Shotaye
bent toward her and whispered, —
" Mark me, the Shiuana are with us ; the rainbow stands
in the skies. Those Above know that what I speak to
you is the truth." Okoya's mother nodded ; she was fuUy
convinced. The cave-dweller took up the former subject again.
"Do not misunderstand me, sister," she said; "I do
not say that it is well that Okoya should go to the house
of the girl's mother. There is danger in it. But your
son is careful and wise, and Mitsha is good, as good as
our mother on high. Therefore don't cross his path ; let
him go as he pleases ; and if Mitsha should come to
you, be kind to her, for she deserves it. All this, how
ever," — the tone of her voice changed suddenly, — "is not
what I came to see you for. What I have to tell you
concerns me and you alone. Keep it precious, as pre
cious as the green stone hidden in the heart of the yaya ;
and whatever may happen, be silent about it, as sflent
as the mountain. Keep your lips closed against every
body until the time comes when we must speak."
Say nodded eagerly, and Shotaye was fully satisfied with
the mute pledge, for she knew that the woman dared not
betray her.
" Believe me," she continued, " your life is safe. You
will not, you cannot, be harmed."
Say Koitza looked at her in surprise ; she ' could not
realize the truth of these hopeful tidings.
" They found nothing in your house," resumed the other,

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 191
" because, I presume, you removed the feathers in time, and
in this you were wise. If Tyope says that he saw you hold
ing owl's feathers in your hands, and you have not kept
them, who can speak against you at the council? Rest
assured of one thing. Tyope is at the bottom of all our
troubles, and unless he or somebody else watched you while
you buried the hapi at the foot of the beams on which
the Koshare go up to their cave, nobody will believe him
when he rises against you. Are you sure," she added,
**that nobody saw you?"
" They were all up there, so Zashue himself told me."
"Tyope, also?"
" Tyope," Say replied with animation, — "I saw Tyope.
tie was outside, clinging to the rock on high like a squirrel
to a tree. But he could not see me."
" Then, chfld, you are safe ; let them do as they please."
" But if he comes and says, ' I saw Say and Shotaye with
black corn, and owl's feathers on it ; and I heard them ask
of the evil corn to speak to them ' ? "
" Then everybody will say, ' Shotaye is a witch, Say only
her tool ; we must punish Shotaye, she must be killed,' and
that will be the end of it."
She brought her face so close to that of her friend that
the latter, while unable to see her features, clearly felt her
breath. The last words of the medicine-woman shocked
Say. She stood toward Shotaye almost in the relation of a
helpless child, and the thought of seeing her friend exposed
to death produced a feeling of dismay and sadness.
"But, sanaya," she asked, "how can they harm you and
let me go free ? Am I not as guilty as you ? What you did,
was it not for me, for my good ? Why may I not go along
if they send you to our mother at Shipapu ? "
" Hush, sa uishe," the other retorted. " Do not speak
thus. I have led you to do things which those on high do

192 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
not like, so I alone must suffer. Nevertheless " — she laid
her hand on the other's lap — " rest easy ; I shall not die."
In her simplicity, Say, when Shotaye mentioned the
probability of her suffering capital punishment, had not
thought of her children and of the consequences that would
arise in case she herself were to share that fate. She felt
greatly relieved upon hearing the cave-woman speak so
hopefuUy of her own case, for she bethought herself of those
whom she would leave motherless. But her curiosity was
raised to the highest pitch. Eager and anxious to leam
upon what grounds Shotaye based her assurance of safety,
Say nestled close to her side in order not to lose a syllable
of the talk. It was necessary, for Shotaye proceeded in a
slow solemn whisper, —
" Sister, I shall be accused and you will be accused also.
If you are brought before the council, and they ask you
about our doings, deny everything, say no to everything,
except when the black corn is spoken of. That you may
confess. They will inquire of you why we used the evil
cobs. Answer, and mark well my words, that you did not
understand what I was doing, that you only did what I told
you to do. Lay all the blame on me."
" But it is not true," the little woman objected.
" Never mind, provided you go free."
"They, then, will kill you ! " Say cried.
" Be not concerned about me ; I will save myself."
" How can you?"
" That is my secret ; still this I wUl confide to you ; "
her whisper became scarcely audible as she added, " I shall
flee ! "
"Whither?" gasped Say in surprise.
" To the Tehuas ! But, sa tao, be sUent, as silent as the
stone, as quiet as kohaio when in winter he is asleep. What
ever you may hear, heed it not ; what you may see, do not

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 193
notice. Deny eveiything you can deny, and what you
have to confess lay on me. Do as I tell you, sa uishe," she
insisted, as Say moved uneasily, " and trust to me for the
rest." Shotaye arose, shook her wet garments, and stepped into
the outer room. There she turned around once more, and
repeated in a low but impressive voice, —
" Sa tao, trust in me, and believe also that Okoya is good,
and Mitsha better yet. Be kind to both and be silent."
She stepped into the court-yard, and Say Koitza remained
standing in the doorway.
The rain had ceased ; the sky was clear again, all ablaze
with the richest golden hues over the crest of the big
houses. It was near sunset. Say watched her friend as
she went to the entrance ; and as Shotaye's form vanished in
the dark passage Okoya emerged from it, coming toward his
mother, slowly, shyly, but with a smile on his countenance.
That was surely a good omen, and she anticipated the
timid " guatzena " with which he was about to greet her by
a warm and pleasant " raua opona."

13

CHAPTER IX.
The interview between Okoya and Hayoue, which took
place at almost the same time that Shotaye fell in with the
Tehua Indian on the mesa, had completely changed the
mind of Say Koitza's eldest son, and turned his thoughts
into another channel. He saw clearly now to what extent
he had been led astray by mere imagination, — to what sin
ister depths his reasoning had carried him. Since Hayoue's
talk, Okoya felt like another man. The world of his
thoughts, limited as it was still, appeared now in rosy hues,
hope-inspiring and encouraging in spite of all obstacles.
These obstacles he saw in their true light, and the last
warning of Hayoue had made a deep impression. But
obstacles clearly understood are half surmounted already,
and "threatened people live long."
It is not good for man to be alone. Okoya had felt the
truth of it bitterly. Now that he knew that he was not
forsaken, he was filled with strength and vigour. On the
whole, an Indian is much less exposed to isolation than a
white man, for his clan and, in a wider range, his tribe,
stand by him against outside danger ; but when that dan
ger arises within the narrow circle of constant surround
ings there is imminent peril. Okoya had fancied that such
peril threatened his own existence, and that he stood alone
and unsupported. Now he saw that in any event he would
be neither abandoned nor forsaken, and this imparted to
his spirit a degree of buoyancy which he had never ex
perienced before.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 195
When he issued from the cave where both his uncle and
he had found shelter, the storm was over, and nature had
assumed a different aspect. A heavy shower in the moun
tains of New Mexico is often followed by illuminations of
peculiar beauty. So it happened then. The west, where
the sun had already descended behind the mountains, was
crossed by a series of arches displaying successively from
below upward the most resplendent gold, bright orange,
green, and finally deep blue colours. In the eastern skies
the storm-king hovered still in a mass of inky clouds above
the horizon, but these clouds had receded beyond the
graceful cone of the Tetilla, which stood out in front of
the dark mass of the storm sharply defined, with a rosy hue
cast over every detail of its slopes. The air was of wonder
ful transparency, and every tint of the brilliant heavens
above and in the west seemed to reproduce itself with in
creased intensity, on the dark, cloudy bank in the east, in
the dazzling arch of a magnificent rainbow. The rays of the
setting sun no longer penetrated the depths of the vale,
they only grazed the moisture-dripping tops of the tallest
pines, changing them into pyramids of sparkling light.
Okoya looked at the scenery before him, but its beauty
was not what caused him to gaze and to smile. The Indian j
is quite indifferent to the sights of nature, except from the ^
stand-point of strictest and plainest utilitarianism.. 'The
rainbow fascinated the boy, not through its brilliancy and
the perfection of the arch, but because the rainbow was
in his conception Shiuana, and a messenger from Those
Above.1 Where the ends of the luminous arch appear to
rest, a message from heaven is said to be deposited. No
more favourable token could have greeted him, for although
1 In the symbolical paintings of the Pueblos, the rainbow is repre
sented usually as a tri-coloured arch with a head and arms at one end
and with feet at the other. It is -. female deity.

196 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
the message was not for him, since the brilliant bow seemed
to stand far off from the Rito, still the Shiuana, the spirits,
graced the sky with their presence. They appeared clad in
the brightest hues, and what is bright and handsome is to
the Indian a harbinger of good.
No wonder, therefore, that the boy greeted his mother
with a happy face and a pleasant smile. He had passed
Shotaye in the entrance, and his salutation to her was widely
different from the gruff notice he had taken of her in the
morning. When, afterward, he met his mother's gaze and
saw how kindly she looked at him, how warm her invitation
to come in sounded, his heart bounded with delight, and he
obeyed her summons with a deep sigh of relief. His ap
pearance was not very prepossessing, for between the caves
and the big house a number of newly created mud-puddles
and rivulets had crossed his path. His scanty clothing was
profusely bespattered, and broad cakes of mud clung to the
soles of his naked feet. Before entering the house he
carelessly shook off and scraped away the heaviest flakes,
and then went in and sat down on the bundle of skins.
Say Koitza offered him no change of clothing ; she did not
bring a pair of slippers, warm and dry, for his wet feet. No,
she simply went into the kitchen and let him alone. Such
is the Indian custom. But in the kitchen she began to
move about. She was cooking, and that proved beyond a
doubt that everything must be right again. After a while
she squatted in the inner doorway and inquired, —
"Where were you while it was raining? "
" With Hayoue."
"How late did he come home?" She laughed; he
chimed in and answered, —
"Late enough; I had to wait a long time before he
came, and so sleepy was he, — as tired and sleepy as a
bear in spring."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. \gj
"Do you know where he spent the night? " The tone
of the conversation sounded easy and pleasant.
" I don't know the name of the makatza," — here Okoya
laughed again and his mother caught the contagion, — " but
she must belong to Oshatsh. He did not say much, for he
was tired from yesterday."
" Was she a short, stumpy girl? "
" I don't know. It must have been the same one with
whom he was at the dance. I paid no attention to her."
" It is Haatze ; I know her. She is a strong girl and
tall." " Do you think he goes to see her? " Okoya asked.
" It may be, and it may be not. Hayoue goes to every
one ; he is like a fly, — he sits down everywhere and stops
nowhere." Okoya enjoyed hugely his mother's joke. The latter
with some hesitancy continued, —
"Does he also visit Mitsha Koitza? "
Okoya bent down to avoid her glance, then he resolutely
replied, —
" No."
"Are you sure of it?"
" I am- sure." He cast a furtive glance at his mother.
" Did Mitsha tell you? "
Not in the harsh tone of an inquisitor were these words
uttered. Say spoke them softly, gently ; and Okoya was
comforted. He was moved by the question.
" No," he replied in the same manner ; " Hayoue spoke
to me about it."
Say felt a decided relief. It was clear to her now where
Okoya had spent the day, and how he had spent it. She
liked her husband's younger brother and trusted him. Al
though very fond of the other sex, Hayoue was stUl honest
and trustworthy in everything else. Her son had evidently

198 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
spoken to his uncle about Mitsha, and in Say's estimation
he could not have chosen a better person in whom to
confide. Hayoue, she knew, harboured toward Tyope
sentiments akin to her own. His advice to Okoya must
therefore have been sound. On the other hand she was
herself, since the talk with Shotaye, greatly drawn toward
Mitsha. This made her anxious to find out what Hayoue
thought of the girl. So she put the direct question, —
"You spoke with your nashtio about Mitsha?"
" I did."
"What says he of the makatza?"
Had the room been better lighted Say would have seen
how flushed Okoya's face became, notwithstanding the
tawny colour of his complexion. The boy saw at once
that he had confessed much more than he had intended,
— that the secret of his interview of the morning was
divulged. Recede he could not ; neither could he con
ceal his embarrassment. He began to twist the end of
his wrap, and stammered, —
" He says not much." And then he stared at the door
way with that stolid air which the Indian assumes when he
is in trouble.
"Does he speak good or ill?" Say insisted.
"Good," muttered Okoya, casting his eyes to the
ground. The mild, soft smile which played over his
mother's features as he uttered the word escaped him.
When he raised his eyes again her looks were serious,
though not stem. He was completely bewildered. What
had occurred to cause his mother to speak in this man
ner? Had she changed her mind since morning, and
why so suddenly? He had, of course, no thought of
attributing to Shotaye and to her influence this surpris
ingly favourable change, for he did not know the inti
mate relations existing between her and his mother. So

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 1 99
he remained silent, staring, wrapped in his own musings.
His mother looked at him in sUence also, but with a half-
suppressed smile.
At last she asked, —
"Sa uishe, will you eat?"
"Yes," he replied, considerably relieved by this turn
in the conversation. He rose and moved briskly toward
the entrance to the cooking apartment ; but Say held him
back. "Tell me, but tell me the truth; did Hayoue say it was
well for you to go with Mitsha?"
Okoya was so embarrassed by this direct query that
he could not answer at once. He stood still and hung
his head.
" Tell me, child," Say insisted.
"He said" — the words were scarcely audible — "that
it was well."
" Did he also say it was good for you to listen to the
words of Tyope and of his woman ? "
Now light began to dawn upon the boy. He felt a pre
sentiment of something favourable. "No," he exclaimed,
" he said that I must beware of Tyope and of his koitza ;
but that Mitsha I could trust."
"Then it is well, sa uishe," replied the mother; "come
in and eat."
Okoya could hardly believe his senses. Had his mother
really said, "It is well?" Was it possible that she was
satisfied and in sympathy with his feeling toward Mitsha?
Such was his surprise that he performed his prayers before
squatting down to the meal without a thought for the ko-
pishtai, to whom he scattered crumbs mechanically. He
forgot to eat, and stared like a blind man with eyes wide
open, heedless of the -food, heedless of everything around
him.

200 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Eat," said Say to him. Twice she repeated the invi
tation ere he came to himself and reached out for the first
morsel. Aware of his mute astonishment and conscious of
his perplexity, his mother finally asked, —
"What is the matter with you, motatza? "
He merely shook his head and stared.
Very few young Indians in Okoya's condition would have
placed so much stress on their mother's consent or dissent.
AU or nearly all of them would simply have left the old
home and would have joined their betrothed at her mother's
house ; and only the clan, and not the family, could have
interfered with their action. In the case of Okoya it was
different, and unusual circumstances complicated the matter.
Mitsha's clan was that of Topanashka, his own maternal
grandfather ; and if he spoke against the union matters
would be desperate. His mother, therefore, held the key
to the situation, inasmuch as through her both the Eagle
clan, to which Mitsha belonged, and Tanyi hanutsh, his
own consanguine cluster, could be favourably or unfavour
ably influenced. As things appeared now, all seemed most
promising. Even his mother — who a short time ago had
expressed herself so bitterly against his choice — was now
favourable to it. What could Tyope do under such cir
cumstances ? Nothing at all. So the boy reasoned uncon
sciously ; but beside, he felt glad, he felt happy, because
his mother approved of him. He was fond of his mother
at the bottom of his heart, as fond as any Indian can be.
Say Koitza approved his choice. There was no doubt
about it, and still she had not spoken plainly as yet. At
any other time he would have maintained a prudent reserve
and waited his time to inquire. To-day he felt so surprised,
so completely stupefied, that only one course was left him,
and that was to learn her real feelings by asking his mother
directly for an explanation of her inexplicable demeanour.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 201
When, therefore, Say asked again, " What ails you, motatza,
why don't you eat?" he turned to her with a heavy sigh,
placed both hands on his knees, and replied, 
" I cannot eat until I have asked a question of you. Tell
me, yaya, how it is that this morning, when I said to you
that I was going with Mitsha Koitza, you grew angry at
me, and now you say it is right? Tell me, sanaya, how
it comes about that you like the girl in the evening, whereas
in the morning she was not precious to you? "
His mother smiled. She sat down beside him, and her
face almost touched his own. The glare of the fire illumi
nated her features, so that their expression became fully
visible to him. Then she spoke softly, —
" Umo, have I not often said to you, ' Beware of Tyope' ?
Is it not so, sa uishe ? "
Okoya nodded affirmatively.
" Can you suppose that I should feel easy at heart, if you
go to the house where dwells the woman of that man? "
Okoya trembled. This was a discouraging beginning.
Had he mistaken his mother's views? In a faltering
voice he replied, —
" No."
Say continued, "When for the first time you said,
' Mitsha and I see each other,' I felt afraid. My heart spoke
to me and said, Your child is lost ; and then sa nashka
became angry. This was early in the morning ; but after
ward, when I was sitting alone here and the Shiuana caUed
loudly above during the storm, it seemed to me as if some
kopishtai whispered, ' Mitsha is good, — she is as good as
Okoya; she will belong to bim, and not to her mother,
much less to her father.' And as I was thinking, I heard
the kopishtai again, saying to me, ' Okoya is good ; he is
your child, and Mitsha will become your daughter, for
she is of your father's own blood.' And as the kopishtai

202 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
thus spoke, the Shiuana thundered louder and more loud.
Then I thought it must be right and good for the motatza
to go to the girl, and I was no longer angry. And then
you came, and I asked you what I wanted to know, and
you told me what Hayoue had said. So it is well, and
thus it shall remain."
The sigh of relief heaved by Okoya at hearing these
words was as sincere as it was deep. He had barely
strength to ask in the meekest manner possible, —
" Then you have nothing against my going to Mitsha? "
" Nothing ; I like to see you go, for Mitsha is good
and " — her voice became a whisper — " the Shiuana have
thus disposed it. But " — she spoke louder again — " hear
me, go to Mitsha, and to her alone."
" But I cannot disown her mother and father."
" You need do nothing of the kind unless you wish. Be
pleasant to the man, as behooves you, but be careful.
Never say sanaya is doing this or that, or to-day they speak
so or so at the estufa. If Tyope queries what is your yaya
doing, answer, her usual work. If he inquires about what
is going on in the estufa of Tanyi hanutsh, reply to him,
' Nashtio, I am only a boy, and do not know what the
men talk about.' To Tyope's wife say nothing but what
even Shyuote might hear. To the makatza you can say,
' Let us be together and live for each other and talk as is
right. What concerns your hanutsh shall be hidden from
me, and I will be silent on anything that concerns mine.'
tf you will do thus, sa uishe, then you can go to see Mitsha ;
ind I myself would like to see the girl who is to become
tfiy child."
This was too much for Okoya. He grasped with both
his hands the hand of his mother, carried it to his lips, and
breathed on it. Then he gave back the hand, and said
With an effort. —

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 203
" You are good, yaya, and I will do as you say. Hayoue
said to me the same things you have."
" Hayoue is a true friend. His tongue is like his heart,
and you did right in taking his advice."
A tall figure stepped into the apartment with a shuffling
step. His loud greeting, " guatzena," cut off further talk for
a moment. Both mother and son, taken by surprise,
answered, —
" Raua A."
It was Hayoue himself who thus suddenly appeared. He
complied with the request to sit down, and afterward with
the customary invitation to eat. But he seemed as much
surprised as the inmates themselves ; for while eating, his
glance flitted inquiringly from mother to son, as if he were
astonished to see them together. When he had finished,
he asked, —
"When will Zashue be here?"
" I do not know," replied Say.
Hayoue turned to his nephew, —
" Okoya, will you let me speak to your yaya alone?"
These words he accompanied with a knowing wink at the
young man. It amused Okoya to see that his uncle came
so decidedly postfestum in the matter, but he at once rose
and went out.
In the court-yard it was still very damp, and hardly any
body was outside of the dwellings ; but from the estufas
there sounded merry talking, singing, and the beating of
drums. Okoya stood a while in the doorway, undecided
whether he ought not to go to Mitsha at once. He
wavered, but at last the impressions received during the
day, especially the warnings about Mitsha's mother, pre
vailed, and he concluded not to go at this time. He was
afraid as yet to cross the threshold of that woman's home.
So he crept into the estufa of Tanyi hanutsh, sat down be-

204 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
side the others, and soon joined in the chorus of discordant
voices in the everlasting refrain, —
" Ho-a-a I Heiti-na I Ho-a-a ! Heiti-na ! "
In the meantime Hayoue had drawn closer to Say in the
kitchen, saying, —
" Sister-in-law, I have come to speak to you concerning
Okoya." She motioned to him to remain where he was, and said,
half in jest, half in earnest, —
" Stay where you are, I hear you. You talk loud enough
for me."
" Rest easy, saman," he replied, with a peal of laughter
that fairly shook his tall and slender form. "Have no
fear, I am tired out after yesterday. But I must talk to
you about the motatza." He patted his knees and looked
straight into her face. "Are you aware that your chUd
goes with the child of Tyope ? "
" I am," said Say, with a smile.
"What do you think of it? "
"Good," was the simple reply. "And you?"
" Good, yes, in one way, and not good in another."
"What do you think of the girl? " the woman inquired.
" Very, very good ! " Hayoue emphatically exclaimed.
" But her mother and her father," — he hissed through his
teeth and shook his head with every sign of disgust, — " they
are very, very bad."
" I think as you do," said Okoya's mother, " and yet
I know that the boy is good and the girl is good. Why
should they not go together?"
" I say the same, but how comes it that you believe
so now?"
" I presume the motatza has told you a different story? "
Say suggested, with a smile.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 205
Hayoue nodded.
"I thought differently," she explained, "but now my
heart has changed."
"You are right," the young man said approvingly, add
ing, "but he must avoid the snares which that turkey-
buzzard Tyope may set for him, and we must, preserve
him from them."
"I warned him."
" So have I, and he promised to be wise."
" Had we not better speak to Zashue ? " suggested Say
Koitza. Hayoue remained thoughtful for a while ; then he said, —
" I dislike to say aught against my own brother, but in this
matter I dislike to speak to him."
"He is Okoya's father," objected Say.
"True, but he is Koshare, and completely under Tyope's
influence. Nevertheless do as you Uke, for you know him
better than I do."
" He ought to come soon," Say said, and rose.
She went out. A noise of quarrelling children was ap
proaching the door. Soon she clearly distinguished the
voice of Shyuote scolding.
" Come with me, worm ! Go home, frog ! " he yelled,
and mournful cries succeeded to his kind invitation. At
the same time his young sister, propelled by a violent push
of his fist, stumbled into the outer room and grasped the
dress of her mother for protection.
"Satyumishe is beating me," whined the little one,
glancing anxiously toward the entrance. In the doorway
appeared Shyuote himself, a solid lump of mud from head
to foot. His black eyes stared out of the dirty coating that
covered his face, like living coals. The appearance of his
mother put an end to his hostile actions, — he felt uncertain
about the manner in which they would be viewed by his

206 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
parent. Say quickly changed his forebodings into absolute
certainty. "Are you not ashamed of yourself, you big, ugly uak,"
she scolded, " to beat your poor little sister? "
" She would not come home."
" Neither would you, lazy brat, else you would have been
here a long while ago ! Do not cry, my heart," — she turned
to the weeping child, — " do not weep. He will not hurt
you any more, the bad, bad mocking-bird. Weep not."
She took the crying child into her arms in order to carry
her into the kitchen, but on the way she turned back and
called, —
"Shyuote!" "What do you want," growled the boy, and stumbled
after her.
" Do you know where your nashtio is ? "
" He is coming."
" Go and tell him to come. Say that Hayoue is here,
and that he wants to see him."
"Did I not tell you that he was coming? " muttered the
unruly lad. This answer was too much for Hayoue, who
until now had been a mere listener. He said in a peculiar
tone of command, —
"Will you go or not, you silly, lazy, good-for-nothing
whelp ! Go at once, or I will lead you where your father
is ; " and he pretended to rise.
Shyuote had not noticed the presence of his uncle. His
sudden appearance upon the scene was to him an unwelcome
sight, and he sped away with unusual and commendable
alacrity. Hayoue was greatly amused and laughed aloud.
" That urchin," he said, " is more afraid of me than of
Zashue and you together. The brat is no good, and will
never do for anything but a Koshare. How different is
Okoya ! "

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 207
Say had again squatted near the hearth. She gathered
the crying child into her arms. The little girl continued to
sob for a whUe, and at first refused to eat. Finally Say per
suaded her to take one of the corn-cakes, and still sobbing,
she pushed the greater portion of it gradually into her little
mouth. Thus chewing, sobbing, and resting on the lap of
her mother, the child forgot all fear, and ultimately forgot
herself and fell asleep.
" Umo," Say began again, " I think it is better to speak
to Zashue about it. Not that he has anything to do in the
matter, but then you know how it is. Sooner or later he
must hear of it, and if we tell him first he may perhaps as
sist us in teaching Okoya and advising him about the future.
AU the boy needs is counsel, for we cannot prevent him from
going to live with the people of Tyame hanutsh with this
girl." " The people of Tyame," Hayoue remarked,, " are good.
It is only that woman of Tyope's who is bad, and after all
she is not all-powerful."
" How would it do," suggested Say, " to call sa nashtio ? "
Hayoue looked at her like one to whom has come a
sudden revelation.
"Topanashka, the maseua," he said; "you are right,
koya, this is a wise thought. Nashtio is very wise. He
will give us counsel that we can trust, but do you think
he is here? "
" He was in his cell while it rained."
Hayoue rose. " I will go and call him," he said. " He
can help us. Zashue listens to the talk of the old man,
and what he says goes far with my brother." With this
Hayoue, ere Say could interpose a word, went out and left
her alone with the sleeping child.
She felt happy. For years past she had not enjoyed the
feeling of contentment, of quiet bliss, that filled her now.

208 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
It seemed as if the danger that threatened her so direly
had vanished. Her thoughts were all with the future of
the child whom only a few hours ago she had so bitterly
accused. Shotaye had worked wonders.
But it was not the influence of Shotaye alone that produced
such a great change in the mind of Say Koitza. It was
the fact that at the same time, and through the unwelcome
interruption by Shyuote, the Shiuana — so she believed —
had sent her a message confirmatory of the woman's ad
monition. Say did not, she could not, reason as we should
under similar circumstances. The rainbow of whose pre
sence the awkward boy informed her appeared to her, not in
the natural order of phenomena, but, in the light of her
creed, as a messenger specially sent by one or more of the
innumerable spirits which surround man in nature, whose
call she had to obey implicitly. This implicit, slavish
obedience to signs and tokens of a natural order to which
a supernatural origin is assigned, is the Indian's religion.
The life of the Indian is therefore merely a succession of
religious acts called forth by utterances of what he sup
poses to be higher powers surrounding him, and accompany
ing him on every step from the cradle to the grave. The
Indian is a child whose life is ruled by a feeling of complete
dependence, by a desire to accommodate every action to
the wills and decrees of countless supernatural beings.
In the eyes of Say Koitza, the whole afternoon appeared
now like an uninterrupted chain of dispensations from Those
Above. She was, of course, convinced that the rain had
come in response to the prayers and ceremonies of yester
day's dance. That same rain had driven Shotaye to shelter
under her roof, had given the medicine-woman an oppor
tunity to clear the mind of Say of many a dismal fear,
many a distressing apprehension and suspicion. The rain
bow, in her eyes, was a token that what the cave-dweller said

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 209
was true ; it was also the messenger through whose agency
Okoya, and later on Hayoue, had drifted into her home
with cheering tidings. Even Shyuote had arrived at the
right moment, in time to be sent after the husband and
father. So happy felt Say, that in view of Shyuote's op
portune coming, she almost regretted having scolded
the boy.
An intense feeling of gratitude toward the powers above
filled her heart. Among these powers there are two that
appear not so much superior to the rest as more intimately
connected with the fate of man, — as more directly influ
encing his weal and woe. These are the prominent figures of
the sun-father and his spouse the moon-mother. It is prin
cipally the latter that moves the hearts of men, and with
whom mankind is in most constant relations. Say Koitza
felt eager to thank the Mother Above for all she had re
ceived that day. She went to the recess in the kitchen wall
where the yaya, that fabric of snow-white down tied into a
graceful bunch of drooping plumage, was carefully stored
away, wrapped in a cover of deerskin. She took out the
plumage and placed it before her on the floor, scattered
sacred meal around it, and whispered a prayer of thanks.
Hardly had she replaced it, when the sound of voices ap
proached the outer doorway. It was Zashue and Shyuote,
who were coming home together.
Zashue seemed vexed at being called home. He looked
around with a scowl, for Hayoue, whom he had expected to
meet, was not there.
"Why did you call me, koitza?" he grumbled, "satyu
mishe is not here. Give me something to eat ! " He threw
himself down on the floor. Shyuote nestled by his side,
proud of being under his father's immediate protection.
Zashue said to him, —
" Have you eaten, sa uishe ? "
14

2IO THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Not yet."
" Why don't you feed Shyuote ? " Zashue asked his wife.
"Surely Okoya had his stomach full long ago, whereas this
poor httle frog here — "
"This toad, you ought to call him," Say interrupted her
husband, in a tone of indignation. " He has been away
from home all day, as he is wont to be. Besides, when he
came home at last, he beat his little sister. Okoya was
here early, therefore Okoya got what belonged to him."
She placed the food on the floor before her husband, and
proceeded in a dry tone, —
" Hayoue has gone to call sa nashtio. I want the maseua
to hear what we have to say to you."
Zashue was surprised at his wife's manner. She spoke in
a way that betokened more resolution than he was wont to
see her display. But he was in her house, and had to ac
cept the situation. So he fell to eating, careful all the while
to supply his favourite child with the best morsels. At the
close of the meal Hayoue returned, saying, —
" Sa nashtio is coming soon." Turning to his brother he
asked, —
" Where have you been all day, satyumishe ? "
" With the naua," was the short reply. " And you? "
" At home ; I felt tired from yesterday."
"And from kenayte ! " Zashue taunted, laughing. Say
joined in the laugh.
" I don't ask you where you were last night."
"At home." Say confirmed it.
"Surely?"" Certainly."
" Then you are better than people say."
"Sh — sh — !" the woman cried, pointing to Shyuote,
" you need not speak thus. Sa uishe," — she turned to the
boy, — " go to rest."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 211
" I won't ! " growled the disobedient child, " I want to
hear what you say."
" That is just what you shall not," commanded the woman.
" Go out at once.' Lie down on the hides."
Even the father became impatient now, for he saw that
nothing would be said in the boy's presence. So he ordered
him to leave. Slowly and reluctantly Shyuote obeyed ; but
when his sullen glance accidentally met the eye of Hayoue
he accelerated his motions. His uncle was not a favourite
of his.
" Well, what do you want ? Why did you call me ? "
This query Zashue negligently addressed to his brother,
as if expecting the latter to inform him of the object of
the interview. But it was Say Koitza who undertook
the task of replying. In earnest and measured tones she
said, —
"Umo, we have called and sent for you in order to tell
you that Okoya, my child, your son, is going with the girl of
Tyope. Now we wish to ascertain what you think of it, and
what you have to say."
"Is that all?"
" Okoya is your child as well as mine," Say emphatically
stated ; " it cannot be immaterial to you whom he selects
for his wife."
"I don't bother about that," he yawned. "The mo
tatza is old enough to care for himself. It is his business
and yours, koitza. It does not concern me, and still less
you," turning to his brother.
"Neither do I take part in it without request from
Okoya," answered Hayoue, sharply. ;'But Okoya has
spoken to me about it and begged me to see his mother
in his behalf. I have therefore a right to be here and to
speak." " We expect sa nashtio also," the woman remarked.

212 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Nashtio ! Who? Tyope? " Zashue looked at his wife
in surprise.
" Tyope ! " Say exclaimed, " he shall never cross my
threshold. I mean Topanashka ; he shall give his speech ;
him we want and expect."
" In that case you do not need me," replied Zashue, at
tempting to rise. " I go to my people." Hayoue touched
his arm.
" Satyumishe," he said gravely, " it is not well for you to
leave us now. We must speak with you more."
" It is none of my business," growled the elder brother.
"And yet you must hear about it, for Mitsha is a
daughter of the Koshare."
" She is not Koshare herself, her mother only and Tyame
hanutsh are entitled to speak." Zashue was becoming
impatient. " Hachshtze," Say interfered, " I know that you are not
fond of Okoya. Still he is good."
" Far better than Shyuote," interjected the younger
brother. She continued, —
" But mark my words ; is it right that our child should go
to the house where dwells the wife of a man who for a
long time past has sought to torment me, who harbours iU-
will toward my hanutsh and your hanutsh, and who, not
withstanding that you believe him to be your friend and
are more attached to him than you are to your wife and
child, is not your friend at all?"
Zashue was visibly impressed by these words of his
wife. Was she perhaps aware of the secret motives of
the upturning of her household, which he and Tyope had
performed yesterday? He could hardly imagine that she
could know anything about it, and yet her utterances inti
mated some occurrence of the past that had opened a wide

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 213
breach forever between her and Tyope. Might not that
occurrence have prompted the latter to his accusation
against Say? This was an entirely new idea to him, and,
while he felt ashamed of having yielded to Tyope against
his own wife, he now began to suspect the real motives
which inspired the man in his denunciations. He replied
hastily, —
" I am not with Tyope."
"He is your best friend," Hayoue objected.
"That is not true."
" Hachshtze," Say said in a tone of serious reminder,
" speak not thus. I know that you and Tyope are good to
each other. I know that he gives you advice, and I know
too " — her voice rose and grew solemn — " that you have
told him many things which neither Tzitz hanutsh nor
Tanyi hanutsh like him to know."
"Tyope is wise."
"And he is also very bad," the younger brother ex
claimed. This made Zashue angry.
" If he is such a bad man why do you want to throw
away Okoya, that jewel," he said with a grin of irony, "on
that bad man's daughter? It seems that you have called
me in, only in order to slander the best of my brethren.
I am Koshare, and will remain Koshare, whether it pleases
you, koitza, or not. The motatza here," alluding to
Hayoue, " has still less to say about it. He is Cuirana and
has his people ; I am Koshare and have my people.
Okoya may do as he pleases. If he thinks that his fa
ther's brother is nearer to him than his father himself, let
him believe it forever. Now let me alone ; and as to his
makatza, do as you please. I will return to my brethren ! "
He rose angrily and went out.
Hayoue shook his head and looked sad ; Say drew a sup
pressed sigh and stared before her in silence. After a whUe

214 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
she rose and fed the fire, and a more vivid glow spread over
the room where both sat again motionless, absorbed by their
own thoughts.
A shuffling sound was heard outside, a muffled step in
the outer room. Then the woman's father entered the
kitchen with the usual salutation, spoken in a hoarse voice.
" Guatzena." He sat down near the hearth, where his
daughter had placed a deerskin for him.
Holding both hands up to the fire, his quick glance shot
from one of those present to the other, scanning the ex
pression of their features. Then he asked quietly, —
"Where is Zashue?"
" He went to the Koshare," Hayoue explained.
" Why did you call me?"
Say answered in a meek, submissive manner, —
" We wished to speak to you, nashtio, for Okoya,
my child, has told me something that may be good, al
though it may also not be good. It is something I like
to see, and yet it also makes my heart heavy. He has
spoken about it to satyumishe, too," — she nodded at
Hayoue, — " before he said anything to me. Therefore
Hayoue came to see me, and we thought it would be well
to seek your advice. For, umo, you are wise and we are
foolish ; you are old and we are but children. Therefore
listen to our speech kindly, and then open our hearts
with your speech as a father should with his chUdren."
The old man was flattered by this address from his
daughter, and glanced at Hayoue with the air of one who
feels proud of the achievements of his chUd. The young
man, too, bowed in approbation. Topanashka turned to
Say, and said in an affable tone, —
" Speak, sa uishe ; I am glad to listen."
" Sa nashtio," she began, " Okoya is young, but he is no
longer a child. His eves have seen a girl and that girl has

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 21 5
pleased his heart. So he has gone to that girl and may be
with her at present. I hold this to be good, umo. What
do you think?"
" It is well, and it is good for him and for the tribe," the
old man asserted.
" Afterward he came and said, ' Sanaya, I am going with
that makatza ; does she please you ? ' I believe that was
right also?"
"It was right."
The woman omitted the incident of her quarrel with
Okoya as well as her interview with Shotaye, and said, —
"He also went to Hayoue and told him to speak to
me for him. Was that right, sa nashtio? "
The old man remained thoughtful for a while, and then
declared, —
" It was right."
" Should he not have said to his father, ' sa nashtio, do
you speak to the yaya for me ' ? "
The reply was very positive, —
« No."
"Why not, sa umo? " Hayoue interjected.
"I will explain this to you later on," Topanashka
answered. Turning to his daughter again he inquired, —
"Who is the makatza, and to which hanutsh does she
belong?" "She belongs to your people."
" To Tyame ? Who is her mother, and what is the name
Of the girl?"
" She is called Mitsha Koitza ; Tyope Tihua is her father,
and her mother you know too. Is all that good also ? "
The maseua pressed his lips together firmly, ener
getically, lowered his eyelids, and gazed before him in
silence. The others exchanged a rapid glance, and then
both looked at the ground, remaining thus in expectation

2l6 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
of the old man's reply. He kept silent for a long whUe.
At last he inquired of the woman, —
" Do you know the child ? "
" I have seen her, but have never spoken to her."
" Do you know her? " He turned to Hayoue.
" Why not ? " replied Hayoue, with a smile. " I know
everybody who wears a petticoat."
" Have you been to see her? "
" No."
" Never? " Topanashka looked at him suspiciously.
« No ! "
" How can you know her, then? "
" As I know all the others, — by meeting them out of
doors, talking, and playing with them. I know them all, —
all ! " And the beau of the Rito yawned complacendy, and
stretched himself.
" Is she a good girl? " continued Topanashka.
" She is," the youth replied emphatically.
"Does she talk much? "
" No."
" Is she easily angered ? "
" That I don't know. I have never teased her."
" Is she a good worker? "
" So they say."
"Good-looking?"
" Raua, raua ! " Hayoue exclaimed.
"Tall?"
"Yes.""Strong?" " I believe so."
Topanashka became silent again, and both Say and
Hayoue observed the proper decorum by fastening their
glances on the floor in silence. Then the old man raised
his head, and spoke slowly and in solemn tones, —

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 2\J
" It is well ; all you have said to me is well, my children.
The daughter of my hanutsh is a good girl, she is a hand
some girl, she is a strong girl. Therefore she is as a
woman ought to be. Okoya is like her; they belong to
each other; and it is wise for a son of Tanyi to wed a
daughter of Tyame. The body must be as the heart ; each
must suit the heart and the body of the other, and since
the two go with each other it is a sign that they are fitted
to live together. But the hearts of men must abide by
what Those Above" — he pointed upward — "command,
and before we decide we should ascertain how the Shiuana
are disposed."
Here Say interrupted him, and suggested, —
" When he was coming to speak to me the rainbow stood
in the skies. Is not that a sign that the Shiuana are with
my child?"
Topanashka smiled a kind, benignant smile, and said, —
"It is right to think thus, sa uishe, but remember that
the rainbow is a messenger to a great many and for many
purposes. As long as we have not asked the Shiuana
themselves, we cannot say; we do not know whether
they approve or not. I shall therefore go to the yaya of
our tribe and ask them to pray to Those Above that they
may let them know if what we now treat of is good or not.
For as long as Payatyama himself does not connect the
paths of the two young people all our doings are in vain.
In the meantime do not hinder Okoya from seeing the
girl ; and when I come to you with the answer from Those
Above, and that answer is favourable, then, Say, go you to
the people of the Eagle and say to them, ' My son asks
for your daughter in order that your numbers may be in
creased.* I myself like to see the blood of my children
flow in that of mine own."
Hayoue and his sister-in-law looked at each other in

2l8 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
mute admiration at this speech, which to them appeared so
wise, so thoroughly appropriate
Topanashka went on, —
" You have told me that Mitsha is the child of Tyope.
That, it is true, is not good. But if Okoya is strong and if
Mitsha is true to him what can Tyope do ? He belongs to
his hanutsh, his daughter to hers ; and the people of Tyame
have no faith in those of Shyuamo, for they mistrust them.
But warn the motatza ; tell him to be prudent ; for Tyope
is cunning, — as cunning as shutzuna and as treacherous as
the wildcat, and my grandson is young. But let them go
together, for I am glad to see Tyame and Tanyi become
one often."
" A-a ! " was the admiring and affirmative ejaculation
of both his listeners. Every word he had spoken was
according to their convictions, and besides, whatever he
said was law to them. Hayoue rose, breathed on the
hand of the old man, said " tro uashatze, umo," and left.
After his departure Topanashka also rose, but before
crossing the threshold he whispered to Say, —
"They found nothing? "
"Nothing.""Was Tyope along?"
" He was."
" In that case they may accuse you as much as they
please, they cannot do you any harm."
" But who could have told them? "
" That I do not know and cannot know ; but rest easy,
you are safe." With these words he left the dwelling and
returned to his own abode, where his deaf consort was
already asleep. The fire had gone out ; it was dark in his
humble home ; still Topanashka did not go to rest, but sat
down in a corner and mused. He felt happy in the
thought that Okoya and Mitsha might become united; it

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 219
caused him pleasure that his grandson should wed a child
of his own clan. Still with his strong attachment to the
faith, or creed, in which he was born, he would not yield
to his own wishes until the will of the higher powers was
ascertained. To that end he was resolved to apply to the
leading shamans of the tribe. In order, however, that the
Shiuana might look favourably upon his request, he deter
mined upon doing penance himself during four consecutive
days. Until this was performed he would not even speak
to the medicine-men. The self-sacrifice he thus imposed
was to be light, and not a formal fast. It limited itself to a
much less substantial nourishment, and to a shorter rest
during the hours of night.

CHAPTER X.
At the time of which we are speaking, the chief civil officer
of the tribe at the Rito, — its tapop, or as he is now called,
governor, — was an Indian 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 the forehead. The lips were
thin and the mouth firmly set, the nose small and aquiline.
The eyes had usually a pleasant expression, but when the
little man got excited they sparkled in a manner that de
noted not merely an irascible temper, but a disposition
to become extremely venomous in speech and utterance.
Hoshkanyi Tihua was nimble, and a good hunter. He sel
dom returned from a hunt without a supply of game. On
such occasions he was always suitably welcomed by his wife,
who suffered him to skin the animal and cut up the body.
When that was performed she allowed her husband to go to
rest, but not before ; for Koay, Hoshkanyi's wife, was not
so much his companion in life as his home-tyrant; and
however valiant the little fellow might try to appear out
side of his home, once under the immediate influence of
that home's particular mistress he became as meek as a
lamb. Koay was an unusually tall woman for an Indian, —
she overtopped her husband by nearly a head ; and the re
sult of this anomalous difference in size was that Hoshkanyi
felt very much afraid of her. Koay had a temper of her
own, besides, which temper she occasionally displayed at

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 221
the expense of the little tapop's bodily comfort. Among
the Pueblo Indians the wife is by no means the slave only
of the lord of creation.
Hoshkanyi had somehow or other acquired the reputa
tion of being an experienced warrior. Whether he reaUy
deserved that reputation or not was never accurately ascer
tained. At all events, he was the lucky possessor of one
scalp, and that gave him prestige. There is no doubt that
he acquired the trophy in a legitimate way ; that is, he had
not stolen it. Once upon a time a war-party of Navajos
infested the avenues to the Rito. They succeeded in killing
a defenceless Indian, who had wandered from the bottom
of the gorge, and whom they found on the mesas somewhere
wending his way back to the homes of his tribe. After the
fact became known, a party went out to take revenge, and
it so happened that there was deep snow, and the murderers
could easily be trailed. On the top of what to-day is called
the Potrero Viejo the avengers surprised the Navajos fast
asleep. It was bitterly cold, and evil tongues affirmed that
the Navajo whose scalp Hoshkanyi Tihua brought home
had been frozen to death previous to the arrival of the hero
from the Tyuonyi. However that may be, our govemor
returned with one scalp ; and he was declared to be man-
slayer, and henceforth counted among the influential braves
of his community.
Hoshkanyi Tihua was by no means silly. He possessed
the valuable faculty of keeping his mouth closed and of
holding his tongue under circumstances when it would be
disadvantageous to him to speak. This faculty had been
inculcated after long and earnest training by his great wife.
Whenever there was no danger, Hoshkanyi proved very
Outspoken ; but as soon as there was the slightest sign of
active opposition he became extremely wise, and shrouded
his views in a cloud of dignified gravity.

222 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
In addition to these qualities Hoshkanyi was the happy
owner of an unlimited amount of personal vanity. His
ambition had no definite object, provided some external
authority was associated with his person. After having for
a long time fulfilled the rather insignificant office of assist
ant to the governor of the tribe, his ambition at last became
gratified with the announcement that after the governor's
demise the Hotshanyi, or chief penitent, and his associates
had designated him as the incumbent of the office. So
Hoshkanyi Tihua rose suddenly to the rank of one of the
chief dignitaries of his commonwealth.
The choice thus made by the religious heads of the Queres
did not satisfy everybody, but everybody was convinced that
Those Above had spoken through the mediums to whose
care the relations between mankind and the higher powers
were specially committed. Everybody therefore accepted
the nomination, and the council confirmed it at once. The
majority of the clans opposed Hoshkanyi because he be
longed to the Turquoise people, who were rendering them
selves obnoxious to many by pretensions which they upheld
by means of their number, and by their connection with the
leader of the Koshare. The Turquoise clan was beginning to
assert in tribal affairs an unusual influence, — one that really
amounted to a pressure. Tyame and Tanyi particularly
felt this growing power of Shyuamo at the expense of their
influence. Of all the less numerous groups, Tzitz hanutsh
was almost the only one who took the side of Tanyi under
all circumstances, and this was due exclusively to the fact
that the marriage of Zashue with Say Koitza bound the two
clans together. Topanashka himself was a member of the
Eagle clan, and through him the Water clan, feeble in num
bers, enjoyed the support not only of Tanyi but also of
Tyarae hanutsh.
In proposing for the vacant position of tapop a member

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 223
of the Turquoise people, the chief penitents had in a meas
ure acted discreetly. They certainly acted very impartially,
or they considered that already one important office, — the
office of maseua, or war-captain, — was held by a member of
one of the most numerous hanutsh, Tyame. It appeared
unwise to them to refuse to as large a cluster as Shyuamo
an adequate representation in the executive powers of the
community. So they chose Hoshkanyi, as a member of the
Turquoise clan, and proposed him for the office of tapop, or
civil chief. That more opposition was not made to this
selection was due to two facts, — first, to the tacit acknowl
edgment on the part of all that it seemed fair to give Shy
uamo a share in the tribal government, and second, to the
equally tacit conviction that Hoshkanyi, while in appearance
a man of determination and perspicacity, was in fact but a
pompous and weak individual, ambitious and vain, and
without the faculty of doing harm. In both these points
public opinion at the Rito was right.
It will be seen from what has been said that there pre
vailed a strong desire on the part of the chief religious
authorities to preserve a certain equilibrium between the
components of the tribe. That anxiety to maintain an even
balance of power was in itself evidence of danger that this
equilibrium might be disturbed. The great penitents, — or
as they are erroneously called to-day, caciques, — had not
and could not have any clear conception of the condition of
affairs in the government of their people. Men old, even
prematurely old from the effects of the life of constant
abnegation and self-sacrifice to which they had to resign
themselves, excluded from listening to anything that was
or might indicate strife and contention, they knew not what
was going on under cover of apparent harmony. Theoreti
cally and from the stand-point of their duty, which consisted
in praying and suffering for the peace and happiness of the

224 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
community, and thus securing these boons by means of
more direct intercourse with Those Above, their choice was
excellent. Practically, it was the most dangerous step that
could have been suggested and carried out.
They did not consider that instead of giving to Shyuamo
a legitimate share in the government of the tribe, they
virtually gave the Turquoise people a majority. For the
latter had already two representatives of great influence.
Tyope was delegate to the council, where he represented
his clan ; and the Koshare Naua, who also was a member of
Shyuamo, not only belonged to the leading councilmen but
was one of the religious heads ! By adding Hoshkanyi as
tapop it gave the Turquoise clan an unfair preponderance.
For while Hoshkanyi was a weak man, — while he was
mortally afraid of his inflexibly honest colleague, the maseua
Topanashka, he was dependent upon Tyope and upon the
chief of the Delight Makers, because both belonged to his
clan. He very soon began to display an utter flexibility to
the desires of the two last- mentioned individuals, to the
disadvantage of those who did not coincide with their
views. This marked preponderance of Shyuamo in tribal affairs
aroused apprehensions on the part of the other strong
clans; it also caused the greater number of the weaker
clusters to gravitate toward the growing element of power
held by the Turquoise people. A schism was slowly and
imperceptibly preparing itself among the people of the
Rito. That schism was not the work of circumstances, it
was being systematically prepared by two crafty men, —
Tyope and the Koshare Naua.
In working at such a division these two men had in view
well-defined objects. Their aim in itself was not absolutely
illegitimate, since it foreshadowed what would be an inevi
table necessity in the course of time. What rendered their

Juanico : A member of the modern village-council

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 225
doings reprehensible and positively odious were the means
employed to hasten events. Their object was nothing less
than to expel a part of the people, for the exclusive benefit
of the remainder.
The extent of land that can be cultivated in the gorge
of the Rito is small, and the tribe was growing in numbers.
The time was sure to come when the crops would no longer
be adequate for all. Furthermore, a positive danger threat
ened the people in their dwellings. The rock, being ex
tremely friable, crumbled constantly ; and now and then
inhabited caves were falling a prey to the wear and tear of
the material in which they had been excavated. As this
slow decay was sure to continue, it was logical to expect
that room must be found for the houseless outside. Al
ready the Corn clan had been compelled to build a house
in the bottom of the valley. AU this further tended to cur
tail the space for agriculture, and rendered a diminution of
numbers prospectively imperative.
These facts had been recognized by Tyope, and he had
talked with the Koshare Naua about them for some time
past. They were the only persons who had thought of
them, not so much deploring the necessity arising there
from in the future as hailing them as welcome pretexts for
their immediate personal aims. Neither Tyope nor the
Naua had such high ambition as to aspire to a change of
the basis of social organization. Neither of them had any
conception of government but what was purely tribal, but
they both aspired to offices and dignities such as tribal
organization alone knows. These seemed unattainable for
them as long as there were other powerful clans at the Rito
besides their own, whereas in case some of the former were
expelled, it would leave vacant and at their disposal the
positions which they coveted.
Tyope, for instance, looked forward to the dignity of head
JS

226 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
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 of murdering the old
man. It was even uncertain, in presence of the two power
ful clans of Tanyi and Tyame, whether after the death of
Topanashka it would be possible for him to secure the suc
cession. For the chief penitents, who selected officially the
new incumbent, while they were in no manner accessible to
outside influence, might consider the general tendency of
affairs, and for the same reasons that they chose Hoshkanyi
Tihua for tapop might determine upon appointing some
member of Tanyi or Tyame as maseua. Tyope had fore
seen such a contingency, and had therefore suggested to
Nacaytzusle the propriety of converting the isolated murder
into a butchery of the adult men as far as possible. His
suggestion to surprise the Rito while the Koshare were at
work in their estufa had a double aim, — in the first place
it made it less dangerous for the Navajos, in the second it
appointed a time when most of the men of the Turquoise
clan were out of reach of an enemy. The blow must then
fall upon the males of other clans, for the majority of the
Koshare were from the people of Shyuamo. This plan was
out of the question since the night when his negotiations
with Nacaytzusle had come to such a disastrous termina
tion. But Tyope had laid his wires in other directions also.
Seeing that he could not reduce the numbers of the tribe
by one fell blow, or that at least his endeavours might not
succeed, he was devising in his peculiar underhand way
means to create a disunion, and trying to secure for the
time of the crisis a commanding position for his 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 man-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 227
ner that Tyope aspired to the position of war-chief, the
chief of the Delight Makers was coveting the rank of leading
shaman, or medicine-man. Not the dignity of cacique, —
for that position entailed too many personal sacrifices, and
carried with it a life of seclusion and retirement that pre
sented no redeeming features, — but the office of hishtanyi
chayan, or principal medicine-man, was what the Naua de
sired to obtain. That position did not entail greater priva
tions than the one which the old schemer occupied, but it
secured for its incumbent much greater sway over the
people, and placed him in the position to exert a degree of
influence which was beyond the pale of Koshare magic.
The Naua was working toward his end by ways and with
means different from those employed by Tyope. His
machinations were directed against the religious heads of
the tribe, and he persisted in securing for the society of
Delight 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 to usurp functions
and rights belonging properly to the main official shamans,
and thus secure for themselves undue advantages.
Tyope and the old Naua had found each other, in ac
cordance with the proverb about birds of a feather. Their
understanding was perfect, although it had been brought
about gradually and without the formality of a conspiracy.
Each worked in his own line and with his own means, and
neither had any thought of going beyond what the tribal
organization could give them. There was no idea of revo
lutionizing or even reforming the organization. Had one
of them entertained such a thought the other would have
become his bitterest enemy, for both were deeply imbued
with the principles on which rested the existence of the
society in which they had been born. All they aspired to

228 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
was to eliminate a certain number of men or people, in
order to secure with greater ease certain advantages. It
was the survival of the fittest, as primitive society under
stands it and as refined society attempts to enact, though
with more refined means.
The stumbling-blocks in the path of these intriguers were
the chief penitents, — the cacique, or as their titles ran,
the Hotshanyi, or principal cacique, and his two assistants, the
uishtyaka and the shaykatze. These men, selected for the
purpose of doing penance for all and thus obtaining readier
access to the ear of the immortal ones, were the official
keepers of peace among the tribe. For the Indian feels
that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and that
the maintenance of harmony through a constant appeal to
the higher powers is the most important feature in the life
of his tribe. To discredit in an underhand way the
caciques was the special aim of the Koshare Naua, and to
direct the eyes of the people to his own achievements in
religious magic, — in one word to place the power of the
Koshare and their specific medicine on a higher plane than
all that the official penitents might achieve. To do this
was a very slow piece of work, and it had to be brought
about in such a manner that nobody could suspect his ob
ject. But both Tyope and the aged scoundrel were work
ing their plans with the utmost caution, and the religious
heads of the tribe had not the slightest suspicion of what
was going on against them.
The Tyuonyi, therefore, was quiet on the surface, but
there were occasional ripples of that placid brook which
earnest and thoughtful observers could not fail to notice.
Hayoue, although very young, was one of these observers ;
but none saw more and penetrated deeper into the real
state of affairs than Topanashka. He and the Hishtanyi
Chayan, who to some extent was his trusty friend, felt that

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 229
a tempest was coming. Both saw that the disturbing
powers were rooted in the society of the Koshare, that
Tyope and the Naua must be the leading spirits. But how
and to what ultimate end the machinations were intended
escaped their penetration. For the same reason they could
not come actively to the relief of the situation, as no overt
action had as yet been committed which would justify an
official movement against the conspirators.
Topanashka had for several days been keeping the infor
mal fast upon which he had determined for the benefit of
his grandson's wooing. It was a warm, pleasant afternoon.
Since the rain which followed upon the ayash tyucotz the
sky had been blue again as before ; the season for daily
showers had not yet commenced, and the people were in
the corn-patches as busy as possible, improving the bright
days in weeding and putting the ground in order. The
bottom of the gorge therefore presented an active appear
ance. Men and women moved about the houses, in and
out of the cave-dwellings, and in the fields. From the
tasselled corn that grew in these plots a tall figure emerged ;
it was Topanashka himself, and he directed his steps toward
the cliffs at the lower end, where the Turquoise people
dwelt. The old man moved as usual with a silent, meas
ured step which would have appeared stately had not his
head leaned forward. He was clad in a wrap of unbleached
cotton, and a leather belt girded his loins. Around his neck
a string of crystals of feldspar was negligently thrown ; and
a fetich of white alabaster, representing rudely the form
of a panther, depended from the necklace hanging upon
his breast.
The people of the Turquoise or Shyuamo resided on the
lower range of cliffs, and formed the most easterly group of
cave-dwellings on the Rito. Here the rocks are no longer
absolutely perpendicular; they form steps; and the slope

230 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
leading to them is overgrown with shrubbery, except where
erosive action of wind, as well as of water or frost, has
scooped out strange formations in advance of the main
wall. These erosions are mostly regular cones, tent-shaped,
between and behind which open chasms and deep rents
like the one above which, as we recollect, lies the estufa of
the Koshare. Topanashka walked toward the upper part
of the cluster of dweUings of Shyuamo, where the ascending
slope was sparsely 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. She appeared to be
busy extracting the filaments from shrivelled leaves of the
yucca, which had been dried by roasting, and afterward had
been buried to allow the texture to decay. So engrossed
was the woman by her task that only when the old man
stood by her side, and asked, " Where is the tapop ? " did
she notice his presence.
Koay, for it was she, the towering consort of the governor
of the Tyuonyi, did not condescend to reply in words to
the inquiry of the war-captain. She resorted to a lazy
pantomime by gathering her two lips to a snout-like pro
jection and thrusting this protuberance forward in the
direction of the doorway before which she was squatting.
Then she resumed her occupation.
The visitor paid no further attention to the uncivil
woman. He passed in front of her unceremoniously, and
entered the cave. The apartment was like those we have
previously described, with the single difference that it was
better lighted, somewhat larger, and that the household
effects scattered and hung around were of a different char
acter. Implements of warfare, — a bow and a quiver with
arrows, a shield — convex and painted red, with a yeUow disk,
and several green lines in the centre, — were suspended from
the wall. The niches contained small vessels of burnt clay

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 23 1
and a few plume-sticks. A low doorway led from this room
into another, and beyond that there was even a third cell,
so that Hoshkanyi Tihua, the civil chief of the Queres,
enjoyed the luxury of occupying three apartments.
Still this was not the dwelling which he commonly in
habited. His wife descended from the Bear clan; and
her home, and consequently his also, was higher up the
gorge, among the caves belonging to the people of the
Bear. But as his father had recently departed this life,
and his mother was left alone, she had begged her only son
to remain with her until one or the other of her brothers or
sisters might be ready to take her in charge, either by mov
ing into her abode or by her going to them. Hoshkanyi,
therefore, had temporarily gone to live with his mother,
but his portly consort was careful not to let him go
alone. They had no children, and she felt constrained to
keep an eye upon the little man.
In the room which Topanashka had entered, his execu
tive colleague was sitting on a round piece of wood, a low
upright cylinder, whose upper surface was slightly hollowed
out. Such were the chairs of the Pueblos in olden times.
With the exception of that well-known garment peculiar
to Indians and babies, and called breech- clout, the gover
nor's manly form was not concealed by any vestment what
ever. But while he evidently thought that at home the
necessities of costume might be dispensed with, he had not
abandoned the luxuries of ornamentation. He wore on his
naked body a necklace of wolves' teeth, ear pendants of
black and green stones, and wristbands of red leather. The
latter he carried in order to relieve his heart, still heavy
under the severe blow that he had experienced through the
death of his father.
The tapop was also at work. By means of the well-
known fire-driU he was attempting to perforate a diminutive

232 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
shell disk and thus transform it into the shell bead so es
sential to the Indian. So intent was he upon this arduous
task that he failed to notice the coming of Topanashka ; and
the 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, or have no time now, I do not mind
returning again."
There was a decided irony in the manner in which the
old man uttered these words, and Hoshkanyi felt it. He
rose quickly, gathered a few robes, and spread them on the
ground. In short he was as pleasant and accommodating,
all at once, as he and his wife had been careless in the be
ginning. Topanashka settled down on the hides, and in
the meantime the woman also entered the room and quite
unceremoniously squatted beside the men. Hoshkanyi
said to her, —
"We have to talk together, the maseua and I." He
fastened on his spouse a look timid and imploring ; it was
plain that he did not venture to send her out directly, —
that he was afraid of her. Koay looked at him carelessly,
and said in a very cool manner, —
" I want to hear that talk."
"But I will not allow it," interposed Topanashka; and
his cold, piercing eye rested on the woman's face. She cast
hers to the ground, and he proceeded, —
" 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, deter
mined glance of the war-chief, she felt a chill, rose, and left
the room. Hoshkanyi Tihua drew a sigh of relief; he was
grateful to his visitor for having so summarily despatched
his formidable spouse. Then he said, —

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 233
" Umo, I have sent for you because a speech has been
spoken here in this house, which belongs to my mother.
That speech may be good and it may not be good, and I
cared not to tell my thoughts until I had spoken to you,
nashtio. The matters of which it treated belong before the
council, but I do not know whether to say to you, the
riashtio of the Zaashtesh, Call them together, or not." He
tvas manifestly troubled, and fastened an uncertain glance
Upon the face of the other.
Topanashka very composedly answered, —
" You are as wise as I, umo ; you know what your duties
ttre. Whenever you say to me, Go and call together the
council, I shall do it. If you do not tell me to do so, I
shall not."
Hoshkanyi moved in his seat ; the reply did not suit him.
After some hesitation he continued, —
"I know, father, that you do as the customs of the
Zaashtesh require," — he held himself erect with an attempt
at pride, for he felt that in the present instance his person
ality and word represented customs which were law, — " but
I do not know that I shall tell you so or not. 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 wanted something ! "
Topanashka lifted his eyes and gazed fully, calmly, at
the other; he even 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 ; and his plan to obtain an expression of opinion

234 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
from the maseua ere he came to a conclusion himself, a
total failure. The latter added in a deprecating way, —
" If you do not know what to do, ask the Hotshanyi. He
will give you good advice." This was just what the governor
wished to avoid, but he knew that when Topanashka had
once expressed his opinion it was useless to attempt to
dissuade him.
After an interval of silence the civU chief looked up and
said, —
"Come, let us go to the Hotshanyi."
Topanashka thought over this proposal for a moment.
" It is well," he at last 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 meal along."
" Have you any with you? " inquired Hoshkanyi, with a
venomous look. The other responded quietly, —
" I do not need any. You are seeking their advice, not
I." That settled the matter.
As both went out, Koay, who had been sitting as close by
the doorway as possible, snappishly asked her husband, —
"Where are you going, hachshtze?"
Topanashka took the trouble of satisfying her curiosity
by dryly answering, —
"About our own business." The icy look with which he
accompanied his retort subdued the woman.
The Hotshanyi, or chief penitent, lived with the people of
the Prairie-wolf clan. His abode consisted of two caves on
the lower and one on the upper tier. The two officers of
the tribe wandered slowly along the cliffs, past the abodes
of the Sun clan, Topanashka walking as usual, — erect, with

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 235
his head bent slightly forward, — Hoshkanyi with a pomp
ous air, glad to display himself in company with his much
more respected coUeague, to whom all the pleasant greet
ings which the two received on their peregrination were
really directed. When they reached the cave wherein the
cacique resided, Hoshkanyi entered first.
Close to the fireplace, which was one of those primitive
chimneys like the one we have seen in the home of Shotaye,
an old man was seated on the floor. His age was certainly
greater than Topanashka's ; he was of middle height, lean
and even emaciated. His eyes were dim, and he received
the greetings of his visitors with an air of indifference or
timidity ; it was difficult to determine which. Pointing to
the floor he said, —
" What brings you to my house, children ! " and he
coughed a hollow, hectic cough.
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. What is it you wish? "
"Can I see the kopishtai?" Hoshkanyi whispered
anxiously. The eyes of the Hotshanyi brightened. His look sud
denly became clear and firm. With surprising alacrity he
rose, as if he had become younger at once. His whole
figure, although bent, attained vigour and elasticity. Before
leaving the cave he looked inquiringly at Topanashka, who
only shook his head and said in a low tone, —

236 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" I have nothing to ask."
The two left the room. The place where Those Above
were thought to be accessible to the intercession of man
was the cave adjoining, but there was no communication
between the two chambers.
Presently the cacique crept back to where they had
left Topanashka alone, and Hoshkanyi followed. The
former resumed his seat by the hearth, whereas the tapop
cowered in front of him. He looked anxiously in the old
man's face, and at the same time shot an occasional quick
glance 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 short and fastened his
eyes on the floor.
" This is well," the cacique said encouragingly ; " you
must hear what the children of Payatyama and Sanatyaya
are doing ; you are their father."
Hoshkanyi sighed, and appeared to be much embarrassed.
" Speak, motatza," 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 hastily and with an expression of anguish in his
face, " Shyuamo hanutsh asks that Tzitz hanutsh — "
The Hotshanyi commanded him to desist.
" Stay, stay, Hoshkanyi Tihua ! " he hoarsely exclaimed.
I "You know that we, the mothers of the tribe, will not
listen to anything that divides our children among them
selves or that might cause division among them. You ask
for advice from me. This advice you shall receive, but

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 237
only on things that I can know of and which I dare to
hear. If you speak to me of strife and dispute, I shall not
listen to it. Speak of yourself, not of others."
Topanashka was an attentive listener, but not a muscle in
his face moved ; whereas the little tapop was manifestly in
great trouble. He coughed, 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
councU together."
"Were you asked to do it? "
"Yes.""Then you must do it; it is your duty," replied the
Hotshanyi. He spoke imperatively, and with remarkable
dignity of manner. Thus the first point was settled. And
the tapop with growing uneasiness proceeded to his next.
" It has been said to me that I should send my brother
here," pointing at Topanashka, "to call together the
fathers. Now is it well to do so, or shall I send the assist
ant civil chieftain to the men?" Hoshkanyi spoke like a
schoolboy who was delivering a disagreeable message.
The matter in itself seemed of no consequence at all,
but the manner in which the governor spoke and acted
looked extremely suspicious. Both of his listeners became
attentive ; the cacique displayed no signs of surprise, but he
looked at the speaker fixedly, and inquired of him, speak
ing 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 sitting immovable, with lips firmly set and sparkling
eyes. " WiU you call the council together, nashtio ? "

238 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" No ! " exclaimed the maseua.
"You have heard what your brother says," coldly pro
ceeded the cacique ; " you know now what you are to do.
My brother will not go, and you can only command him
if the council orders you to do so. Therefore send the
assistant ; he is your messenger. Do your duty and
nothing else, for it is not good to attempt anything new
unless Payatyama has so directed." The words were
spoken in a tone of solemn warning, and even Topanashka
was startled, for never before had he heard the Hotshanyi
speak thus. The old man had always been very meek and
mild in his utterances, but now his voice sounded almost
prophetic. Was he inspired by Those Above? Did the
Shiuana speak through him? Was there danger for the
tribe? At all events the conference had come to a close, for
the cacique had bent his head, and spoke no more.
" Trouashatze, sa umo," said Topanashka, and left the
room. Hoshkanyi followed 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. " I want 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 the cold, determined gaze of Topanashka met
his eye. Without a further word the war-chieftain turned
and went off.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 239
Hoshkanyi was utterly annihilated. He had made a total
failure, and as he stood there like a child that has just been
thoroughly whipped he began to curse the weakness that
had caused him to yield to the advice and the demands of
Tyope. For it was Tyope who had brought him to act the
part in which the unfortunate governor had so disgracefully
failed. Tyope, when as representative of the clan Shyuamo
he asked the tapop to call together the councU for a matter
wherein the Turquoise people were interested, had artfully
told him that as one of their number it would be better
if the maseua would issue the call. He knew very well
that this was an innovation ; but the deceiver made it ap
parent that if Topanashka should yield, and commit the
desired misstep, the blame would of course fall upon the
War-chief, and the civil chief would profit by the other's
mistake, and would gain in the opinion of the people at
the expense of the maseua.
But Tyope, cunning as he was, had underrated the firm
ness and perspicacity of Topanashka as much as he had
overrated the abilities of Hoshkanyi. As soon as the latter
saw the rigidity of his colleague in a matter of duty, he felt
completely at sea ; he lost sight of everything that Tyope
had recommended, tumbled from one mistake to another,
and finally 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 for having become
his tool. " More than that, he trembled when he thought
of what Tyope would say, and also what his own energetic
wife would call him, and even perhaps do to him, if he
went home. For Koay was sure to exact a full report of
what had occurred ; and to save himself, nothing remained
but to tell her lies. This he finally determined upon. But
to Tyope he could not lie ; to Tyope he must tell the truth ;

240 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
and then ? Hoshkanyi Tihua wended his way home wrapped
in thoughts of a very unsatisfactory nature.
While the governor of the Queres was thus agitated by
unpleasant forebodings, the mind of the war-chief was not
less occupied by gloomy thoughts. Of all the leading men
of the tribe, Topanashka saw perhaps most clearly the sinis
ter machinations of some of the Turquoise people. Still he
had not discovered, and could not even surmise, the real ob
ject of their intrigues. Of an intention to divide the tribe
he had no idea. Personal ambition, greed, and thirst for
influence was all he could think of; and he felt sure that
they would not prevail, for to personal ambition the tribal
system afforded little, if any, opportunity. It was manifest
however from what Hoshkanyi had involuntarily divulged,
that the clan Shyuamo intended to press some claim against
the small Water clan, which besides was so distantly located
from the abodes and the lands of the Turquoise that he
could see no just reason for a claim. It was equally impos
sible for him to imagine the nature of the claim. Quarrels
between clans are always most dangerous for the existence
of a tribe, for disruption anji consequent weakening is likely
to result from them. The old man felt the gravest appre
hensions ; he saw imminent danger for his people ; and still
he could not arrive at any conclusion before the threatening
storm had broken. There was no possibility of averting the
peril, for he could not even mention its approach to any
one. Topanashka was calm and absolutely brave. His life was
nothing to him except as indispensable for the performance
of his duty. He knew long ago that the leaders of the
movement for which the Turquoise people were used as bat
tering-rams hated him, that he was a thorn in their flesh,
a stone in their crooked paths. If the revelations of Hosh
kanyi created deep apprehensions in him, it was out of no

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 241
personal fear; in the present instance it was clear that a
trap had been set for the purpose of decoying him into a
false move. It was the first time that anything of the kind
had been attempted; and Topanashka looked upon it as
very serious, not for his individual sake, but because it
showed that it was undertaken jointly with a move that was
sure to bring about internal disturbances, and was probably
a part of that move itself, and because it exhibited a degree
of boldness on the part of the schemers which proved that
their plans were nearly, if not absolutely, mature. A crisis
was near at hand ; he saw it, but it could not be prevented.
A deep gloom settled on the heart of the old maseua, and
something like despondency crept over him at times. It
caused him to forget the matter of his grandson's wooing
and his proposed appeal to the Shiuana in behalf of Okoya,
and to look forward to the momentous time, four days hence,
when his mind would become enlightened on the impend
ing danger. All his thoughts were henceforth with the
council and the object for which it was 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 evU hour in the annals of his people.

16

CHAPTER XI.
The four days at the expiration of which the council was to
take place were drawing to a close, for it was the night of
the fourth, that on which the uuityam was to meet. It was
a beautiful night ; the full moon shone down into the gorge
in its greatest splendour, and only along the cliffs was it
possible to walk in the shadow. The air was cool and
balmy ; not a breeze stirred ; and the population of the Rito
seemed to enjoy the luminous, still, and refreshing hours
that followed upon a warm and busy day. Laughter, sing
ing, shouting, came from the roofs and the vicinity of the
houses, as well as from the caves and their approaches.
The people felt happy; few if any suspected that a mo
mentous question agitated the minds of some of their
number. Two men were walking along the cliffs toward the group
of cave-dwellings which the Prairie-wolf clan inhabited.
They hugged the rocks so closely that most of the time
their figures disappeared in the inky shadows of projecting
or beetling cliffs and pillars. One of these men asked in
a low tone, —
" Are you going to the uuityam ? "
" I am," replied the other.
The words were spoken in a tone sufficiently loud to
enable any one acquainted with the inhabitants of the
Tyuonyi to recognize in the first speaker Tyame Tihua, the
delegate or councilman from the Eagle clan, in the other,

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 243
our old friend Topanashka. After exchanging these few
words both continued their walk in silence.
The round chamber in which the meetings of the tribal
council were usually held exists to-day as a semicircular
indentation in the cliffs, the rudely arched ceiling of which
is still covered with a thick coating of soot. The front wall
has crumbled long ago. At the time we speak of it was
entire, and the apartment formed a nearly circular hall of
more than usual size, with a low entrance in front and two
small air-holes on each side of the doorway.
As the two men approached the place, they noticed that
a number of others were already congregated in front of it,
but that no light issued from the interior. It was a sign
that the council was not yet assembled, and especially that
the religious chiefs had not made their appearance. Those
who were present assumed any posture imaginable, pro
vided it gave them comfort. They talked and conversed
about very unimportant matters, and laughed and joked.
There was no division into separate groups, foreshadowing
the drift of opinions and of interests ; for no lobbying was go
ing on. Every one seemed to be as free and easy as in
his own home or in the estufa among his companions, and
the greatest apparent harmony prevailed. One man only
had retired to a rocky recess where he sat aloof from the
others in the darkest shadow of the already shadowy spot.
It was the old chief of the Delight Makers, the Koshare
Naua. When the last two comers reached the group and offered
the usual greeting, the conversation — in which the delegate
from Tzitz hanutsh, a short, stout man, and his colleague
from Oshatsh had been the loudest participants — came to
a sudden stop. The subject of the discussion was not a
reason for its abrupt breaking off, for it was merely the all-
absorbing topic as to whether two summers ago it had

244 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
rained as early as this year. It was out of respect for the
maseua, out of deference to his presence, that the other
clan representatives became silent, all except one. That
one was Tyope, who continued the subject, as if he in
tended to display greater independence than the rest.
Nevertheless, as no one paid attention to his speech, he felt
at last constrained to drop into silence. Not for a long
time, however, for as if he wished to atone for his lack of
civility he called out to Topanashka, —
" You are late, sa nashtio ! "
" Early enough yet, satyumishe," replied the old man
quietly, and Tyame remarked, —
" Shyuamo dwells nearer to the uuityam than we. The
Turquoise men have everything close at hand, — the tapop,
the place, everything, and everybody. All we have is the
maseua," he added laughing, "and he is very old."
The laughter became general, and Tyope said in a tone
of flattery, —
" Our nashtio is old, but he is still stronger than you,
Tyame. He is also wiser than all of us together. Our
father is very strong, runs like a deer, and his eye is that of
an eagle."
There was something like irony in this speech, but To
panashka took no notice of it. He was looking for the
tapop, a difficult task in the darkness, where a number of
men are grouped in all kinds of postures. Finally he
inquired, —
"Where is Hoshkanyi? "
" Not here," came a reply from several voices.
"And the yaya?"
" Tza yaya," was the negative answer.
"Then we are not too late," said the war-chief, turning
to Tyame. He sat down among the rest, and the talk went
on as before his arrival.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 245
At last the governor came. He offered a short greet
ing and received a careless reply. Then he crawled into
the cave, and his assistant followed him. Soon a rustling
noise was heard inside, a grating like that of a drill fol
lowed, and everybody outside became silent. The tapop
was starting the council-fire, and he used for the purpose
that venerable implement of primitive times, the fire-drill.
It was a sacred performance, therefore the sudden silence
of all within hearing of the process. Little by little a glim
mer of light illuminated the entrance of the cave ; the fire
had started, which was a favourable omen. Now the con
versation might be resumed, but nobody entered the room.
The fire was burning, and its light shone vividly through
doorway and port-holes, and the men outside were begin
ning to move and to yawn, and some had even fallen
asleep, but no one gave a sign of impatience. Stillness
prevailed ; it was so late that all noise and bustle had
ceased, and the rippling and rushing of the brook alone
pervaded the night.
Several more men approached from various directions ;
their steps were almost inaudible, and when they reached
the company each invariably uttered a hoarse " guatzena, sa
uishe." One by one the new-comers glided into the estufa,
until six of them had entered. Then a metallic sound was
heard within, as if two plates of very hard material were
beaten against each other. All rose at once ; those who
had fallen asleep were shaken and pulled until they woke ;
and one after another filed into the chamber, Topanashka
being the last. The metallic sound produced by two plates
of basalt had been the call to council.
The interior of the estufa was as brightly illuminated as a
small fire could make it, the smoke of which found egress
through the door and the two air-holes, or rose to the
low ceiling, where it floated like a grayish cloud. The air

246 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
was heavy and stifling, and the odour of burning pitch pro
ceeded from the pine wood with which the flames were fed
in the centre of the room. Close to the fire the tapop had
squatted, with three aged men by his side in the same
posture. All three wore short, black wraps with red stripes.
We recognize in one of these men, who sit with humble,
downcast looks, the chief penitent, or Hotshanyi ; the other
two are his assistants, the shaykatze and the uishtyaka.
In their immediate neighbourhood sat three others, whose
hair also was turning gray ; but they sat upright and looked
around with freedom and assurance. Their dress had
nothing particular or distinctive about it, but each carried
on his head feathers of a certain kind. One, with a taU,
spare figure, an intelligent face, and dark complexion, wore
behind each ear one blue and one yellow feather. He was
the Hishtanyi Chayan, the principal medicine-man of the
tribe. Next to him was the Shkuy Chayan, or great shaman
for the hunt, equally tall, slender, and with a thin face and
quick, unsteady glance. The third, or Shikama Chayan, was
an individual of ordinary looks and coarse features, who was
decorated by a single upright feather. The leaders of the
societies of the Koshare and Cuirana had squatted among
the central group, while a projection that ran around the
whole room served as a bench, or settee, for the representa
tives of the clans.
This arrangement corresponded closely to the degree of
importance of the various officers, or rather to their as
sumed proximity to the higher powers under whose pro
tection the tribe believed itself to be placed. The tapop,
as chairman of the meeting, occupied the middle, together
with the principal religious functionaries, — the yaya, or
mothers of the tribe. On the outer circumference were
placed the nashtio, or fathers, the delegates of the clans.
The Koshare Naua and his colleague of the Cuirana held

THE DELIGHT MAKERS 247
an intermediate position. Topanashka, as military head,
and the assistant governor, who had neither voice nor vote,
sat beside the entrance, guarding it. A lieutenant of the
maseua crouched outside to prevent the approach of
eavesdroppers. As soon as the rustling noise occasioned by so many
people taking their seats in a small room had subsided,
the Hishtanyi Chayan again seized the two basalt plates and
caused them to ring. When the metallic sound was heard,
everybody became very quiet ; and not one of the twenty-
three men that composed the meeting moved. All main
tained the deepest silence, fastening their eyes on the ground.
The shaman scattered sacred meal to the six regions, then
he raised his eyes to the ceiling, and finally turned to
the three caciques with the formal greeting, " Guatzena,
yaya ! " then to the others, with " Guatzena, nashtio ! "
Raising both hands upward, he pronounced the following
prayer : —
" Raua Payatyama our father, Sanatyaya our mother,
Maseua, Oyoyaua ! You all, the Shiuana all, the Kopishtai all, —
all, raua! Hear what we shall speak, witness all our deeds.
Make wise the heart, cunning the ear, bright the eyes, and
strong the arm. Give us wisdom and goodness, that our hearts
may listen ere we say 'yes,' 'no,' or 'perhaps.' Assist your
children, help the Zaashtesh, that they may remain united among
themselves, wise, far-seeing, and strong. We call upon you, the
Shiuana, the kopishtai ; whisper to us good thoughts and guide
us to the right. To you, Payatyama, Sanatyaya, Maseua, — to
all of you we pray. Raua, raua ! Ho-a, ho-a, raua ! "
Again the speaker scattered yellow meal in front of the
principal penitent, who only bowed in a dignified manner in
response. The remainder of the assembly uttered an affir
mative " A, a," and one after the other rose and deposited
sacrificial meal before the cacique. When each of them

248 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
had resumed his seat, the Hishtanyi Chayan turned to the
tapop and looked inquiringly.
Hoshkanyi Tihua assumed an air of solemn importance,
for he was to play a prominent role. He glanced around
the circle pompously; but when his eye caught the cold
gaze of Topanashka he felt almost a chill, and shrank to
natural and more modest proportions. He looked quickly
in the direction where Tyope was sitting ; but the delegate
from Shyuamo hanutsh held his face covered with both
hands, and did not notice the pleading look of the little
governor. So the latter began in an unsteady tone, —
" Hotshanyi, shaykatze, uishtyaka, and you, the mothers
of the tribe, hear me ! Hear me. also, you who are our
fathers," — his voice grew stronger ; he was recovering
assurance. "I have called you together to listen to
what I say." He crowed the last words rather than
spoke them.
" My brother, the nashtio of Shyuamo hanutsh," con
tinued he, " has spoken to me and said," — he stopped and
shot a glance of inquiry over toward Tyope, but Tyope
failed to note it, — " satyumishe has said, ' Tapop, my hanutsh
is numerous and has many children, but only very little
maize ; the motatza and the makatza are many, but of
beans there are few, and the field we are tilling is small.' "
Hoshkanyi Tihua was manifestly pleased with his own
eloquence, for he again looked around the room for marks
of admiration. Only the icy look of Topanashka met
his gaze, and he proceeded more modestly, —
" My brother from Shyuamo then said to me, ' See here,
nashtio Tapop, there are the people from Tzitz ; they are
the least in numbers on the Tyuonyi, and yet they have as
much ground as we ; and they raised as much maize and
even more beans, for they are higher up than we, and get
raore water than we. Now, therefore, call them together,

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 249
aU the yaya and the fathers, and say to them, "Shyuamo
hanutsh demands from Tzitz hanutsh that it should share
its field with us, for where there are two mouths of Shyuamo
there is only one of Tzitz ; but when Tzitz raises one ear
of corn, Shyuamo grows not more than one." ' "
He had spoken, and drew a heavy sigh of relief. The
most profound silence reigned. Tyope remained with his
head bowed and his face covered with both hands. Topa
nashka sat rigidly immovable, his cold piercing gaze fastened
on the tapop. The representative of the Water clan made
a very wry face and looked at the fire.
The tapop had yet to perform one duty ere discussion
could begin. He turned to the Hotshanyi and addressed
him, —
" Sa umo, you and your brethren the shaykatze and the
uishtyaka, I address; what do you say to what Shyuamo
is asking? Speak, yaya; we are your children; we listen.
You are old and wise, we are young and weak."
The old cacique raised his dim eyes to the speaker and
replied in a hoarse voice, —
" I thank you, sa uishe, — I thank you for myself and for
my brethren here that you have put this question to us.
But " — the voice grew more steady and strong — " you
know that it is our duty to pray, to fast, and to watch, that
peace may rule among the Zaashtesh and that nothing may
disturb it. We cannot listen to anything that calls forth two
kinds of words, and that may bring strife," — he emphasized
strongly the latter word; "we cannot therefore remain.
May the Shiuana enlighten your hearts. We shall pray
that they will counsel you to do good only."
The old Hotshanyi rose and went toward the doorway.
His form was bent, his step faltering. His two associates
followed. Not one of those present dared to look at them.
None of them noticed the deeply, mournfully significant

250 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
glance which the cacique, while he crept through the door,
exchanged with Topanashka.
The address which the governor had directed to the
official penitents was a mere formality, but a formality that
could not be dispensed with. It was an act of courtesy
toward those who in the tribe as well as in the council
represented the higher powers. But as these powers are
conceived as being good, it is not allowed to speak in their
presence of anything that might, in the remotest manner
even, bear evil consequences such as disunion and strife.
Therefore the caciques, as soon as they had been informed
of the subject, could not stay at the meeting, but had to
retire. This happens at every discussion of a similar nature, and
their departure was merely in the ordinary routine of busi
ness. Nobody felt shocked or even surprised at it. But
everybody, on the other hand, noticed the reply given by
the aged Hotshanyi, felt it like some dread warning, — the
foreboding of some momentous question of danger to the
people. An uneasy feeling crept over many of the assis
tants who were not, like Tyope and the Koshare Naua, in
the secrets of the case. After the departure of the caciques,
therefore, the same dead silence prevailed as before.
The tapop broke the silence by turning officially to the
principal shaman and asking him, —
" Sa umo yaya, what do you hold concerning the demand
of our children from Shyuamo? "
The Chayan raised his face, his eyes sparkled. He gave
his reply in a positive tone, —
"I hold it is well, provided Tzitz hanutsh is satisfied."
He bent his head again in token that he had said as much
as he cared to say for the present.
Hoshkanyi Tihua then interrogated the Shkuy Chayan,
who very pointedly answered, - —

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 25 1
" It is good."
His colleague, the Shikama Chayan, remained non-com
mittal, saying, —
" It may be good, it may not be good ; I do not know.
My hanutsh is Shutzuna," — - he cast a rapid glance to where
the delegate of the Prairie-wolf people was sitting, — " and
we have enough land for ourselves."
The governor now addressed the same question succes
sively to the Koshare Naua and to the leader of the Cuirana.
The dim eyes of the former began to gleam ; his shrivelled
features assumed a hideous, wolfish expression as he spoke
in a voice trembling yet clear, —
"It is well. Our brethren deserve what they demand.
If the crops ripen, my children from Shyuamo are those
who pray and fast most of all. My hanutsh alone counts
more Koshare than all the others together. If they get
more land they will fast and pray so much the more, and
this they do not for themselves only, but for the benefit of
all who dwell on the Tyuonyi."
The Cuirana Naua, on the other hand, gave a confused
and unsatisfactory reply. In his opinion it would be well
if both clans could agree.
It was next the turn of the clan delegates to be called up.
They were those most directly interested, but until now
they had, out of deference for their religious leaders, main
tained an absolutely passive attitude. After the Cuirana
Naua had spoken, however, many raised their faces, changed
their positions; some looked at the tapop with an air of
expectancy, others glanced around, still others seemed to
denote by their demeanour that they were anxious and
eager to speak. Tyope and Topanashka, alone, did not
change their attitudes. The former remained with his
head bent and his face covered with both hands ; the lat
ter, who happened almost directly to face Tyope, with

252 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
head erect and an expression of calm watchfulness on his
features. It was of course impossible to foretell the general feeling
among the members of the council in regard to the de
mands of the Turquoise people. The Shkuy Chayan and
the Koshare Naua had declared themselves favourable to
their pretensions, but on the other hand the Hishtanyi
Chayan — and his word had greater weight than their
speeches — had made a very significant suggestion by re
minding the governor in his reply that the matter did not
properly come before the tribal council, but should be settled
between the two clans directly interested. Hoshkanyi
Tihua should have taken the hint; but Hoshkanyi Tihua
had not the slightest tact ; and besides, as a member of
the clan Shyuamo, he felt too much interested in the matter
not to be eager to press it at once, however imprudent and
out of place such action might be. He was, moreover,
utterly unconscious of the fact that he was nothing but a
tool which both Tyope and the Naua wielded to further
their perfidious designs.
The tapop therefore called upon the delegate of the Sun
clan to speak. He dwelt not far from the Turquoise peo
ple, and he expressed himself strongly in their favour.
" It is true," said he, " and I know it to be so, that my
friends of Shyuamo are hungry. I know it, and it is trae
also, that the Water people have too much ground. It is
right, therefore, for Shyuamo to ask for a share of what
they have in excess. How much it shall be, they must
settle among themselves."
Everybody did not appear to be satisfied with this ; but
when the tapop summoned the representative of the Bear
clan to give his opinion, the speech of the latter was not only
stronger, it was even offensive to the Water people. He
accused them of having done wrong in not sharing their

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 253
fields with the clan of the Turquoise some time before,
since it was the duty of those who had too much to divide
with those who were poorer. He said that it was wrong
on the part of Tzitz to have remained sUent when they
knew how much Shyuamo did for the tribe, whUe at the
same time they had not enough for their own existence.
He charged the tapop, in the name of the council, with
delinquency in not having required the Water people to
share their superabundance with those of the Turquoise.
The delegate of Kohaio was not only aggressive in his
speech, but his manner of delivering it was brusque and
violent, and created quite a stir ; and many of the members
cast glances at him which were not of a friendly nature.
It was now the turn of the delegate of the Water people ;
and much depended upon what he would say, for he was,
besides the members from Shyuamo, the party most in
terested in the proceedings. Kauaitshe, as he was called,
was not, unfortunately, the man for the situation. Short and
clumsy in figure, extremely good-natured and correspond
ingly slow in thought and action, he was intellectually
heavy and dull. When the demand upon his clan was
first formulated, he listened to it like one whom it does
not concern, and only gradually came to the conception
that the matter was after all of prime importance to him
and to those whose interests he had been selected to de
fend. Kauaitshe was thunderstruck upon arriving at full
comprehension ; he was bewildered, and would much rather
have run away from the council. But that was impossible.
He heard the men speak one by one, and — what to him
caused most anxiety — he saw the moment approaching
when he also would, be called upon ; and the prospect filled
him with dismay. What should he say ! What could he
say 1 The injustice intended toward his constituents, the
necessity of undertaking a task for which he felt himself

254 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
incapable, terrified him at first and soon drove him to utter
despair ; and as all weak and lazy natures, when they see
themselves driven to the wall, become frenzied, Kauaitshe,
when the tapop turned to him, exploded like a loaded
weapon, venting his wrath upon the governor instead of
calmly discussing the matter itself. He saw in the governor
not only a member of the clan whose plans were detri
mental to the interests of his kinsmen, but chiefly the instru
ment by means of which he was placed in the present
difficult position. His face turned dark, then yellow. His
eyes glowed like embers. Bounding from his seat, he ad
vanced toward the chairman and hissed, —
" I have heard. Yes," — his voice became louder, — "I
have heard enough. Enough!" he screamed. "You
want to take from us what is ours ! You want to rob
us, to steal from my people in order that your people may
prosper and we may suffer ! That is what you want," and
he shook his clenched fist in the face of the tapop. The
latter started up like an irate turkey, and screamed, —
" You lie ! what we want from you is right ! You are
only a few people, and you are lazy ; whereas we are many
and thrifty ; you are a liar ! "
" Hush ! hush ! " sounded the voice of the principal
shaman, between the shouts and screams of the disputing
parties. " No ! no ! " shrieked Kauaitshe, " I will not hush. I
will speak ! I will tell these friends — "
" Water-mole ! " yelled the tapop in response ; and both
the Koshare Naua and Tyope cried at once, —
" We are Shyuamo, not shuatyam." Their voices sounded
like the threatening snarls of wild beasts.
" Hush ! hush ! " the Hishtanyi Chayan now sternly com
manded. Rising, he grasped the little governor by the
shoulder, pulled him back to his place on the floor, and

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 255
warningly raised his hand toward Kauaitshe, whose mouth
one of his colleagues had already closed by force.
" If you hope for light from Those Above," the medicine
man warned the delegate from Tzitz, " you must not name
in their presence the powers of darkness." To the tapop
he said, —
" Do your duty, but do it as it ought to be done ! "
Kauaitshe reeled back to his place, where he sat down in
sullen silence. It happened to him as it always does to
any one who loses his temper at the wrong time and in
the wrong place ; after the flurry is over, they find that
they have wasted all their energies, and remain henceforth
incapable of any effort. The delegate of the Water people
was hors du combat for the remainder of the evening.
The incident had made an impression on the assembly.
Nearly everybody shared more or less in the excitement.
Now that quiet was restored, apparent calmness seemed to
prevail in their minds again. The men stared as motion
less as before; but their faces were dark, and many an
eye displayed a spark of passionate fire. Topanashka had
not moved during the quarrel, and Tyope hid his face in
his hands as before.
Hoshkanyi's voice still trembled as he called upon the
representative of Tanyi hanutsh. The latter replied, —
" There is more land yet at the Tyuonyi ; let Shyuamo
increase their ground from some waste tract."
"There is no room for it," growled the Koshare Naua.
" I say there is," defiantly retorted the other.
The delegate of the Prairie-wolf people was not only of
the same opinion as his predecessor, he even mentioned a
tract of waste land that lay east of the cultivated plots,
from which Shyuamo might take what they needed. The
speaker of Tzina hanutsh, however, was of an adverse
opinion. He remarked that it was always better for a

256 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
smaller clan to divide their ground with a more powerful
one, as in that case larger crops would be raised. As
matters stood, he added, only a portion of the land be
longing to the Water people was tilled. This the mem
ber from Huashpa denied, and reminded him that the
Hishtanyi Chayan had suggested that the whole matter
should be settled by the two clans privately. Both the
Cuirana Naua and Tyame, the delegate of the Eagle clan,
could not refrain from expressing their approval in an
audible manner by the customary "A-a," and the Shikama
Chayan slightly nodded assent.
It was already late, but nobody thought of the hour.
On such occasions the Indian can sit up whole nights
without ever thinking of rest. Not only was everybody in
terested, but the excitement, although barely visible on the
surface, was rapidly growing; and personal Ul-feeling and
spite cropped out more and more.
Tyame having expressed himself in favour of the opinion
of the delegate from Huashpa hanutsh, the tapop could not
refrain from going out of the ordinary routine in order to
slight him, and to give the floor to the member from Hiits
Hanyi. This flattered the popular delegate, and he accord
ingly spoke so strongly in favour of the claim presented by
Shyuamo that at the close of his speech several voices at
once grunted assent. Both parties were growing decidedly
bitter. Tyame noticed the intended slight ; so when Hoshkanyi
called him up he opened his talk with the remark, —
" One can see that you are Shyuamo."
" That is what I am," the little fellow bragged.
" But you are tapop also," Tyame objected.
"Why do you speak thus? Are you angry that you
could not be used for the place ? " venomously inquired
the governor.

The Hishtanyi Chayan, or Chief Medicine Man

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 257
" If I were in your place," retorted the Eagle, " I should
do as is customary, and call upon each one in turn."
" You have time enough left to speak against Shyuamo,"
said the chief of the Delight Makers in a wicked manner.
"That I shall do, most assuredly," exclaimed Tyame.
" I am against giving Shyuamo any more ground than they
have at present. You have enough for yourselves, for your
women, and for all your children. Do more work in the field
and do less penance ; be shyayak rather than Koshare ! "
He rose and turned toward Tyope. "Your woman be
longs to our hanutsh, and I know that it is not you who feed
her > and so you are, all of you. You live from other peo
ple's crops ! "
Tyope looked up, and his eyes flashed ; but in a quiet
tone he answered, —
" Your woman is Shyuamo ; you know best how it is."
The other continued with growing passion, —
"And when your wife was from Tzitz everybody knew
that it was not you who supported her, but that she main
tained you ! "
Loud murmurs arose, and the Shkuy Chayan called Tyame
to order, so that Tyope did not have time for a reply to
this insulting insinuation.
Of all the clans represented three had yet to express
their views. These were the clans of Yakka, of the Pan
ther, and Shyuamo. The delegate of the Corn people was
no friend of Tyame's, therefore he spoke directly against
what the Eagle had intimated. He emphasized how detri
mental it might become for a small cluster to own too much
tiUable land while a large and important clan was suffering
for the lack of vegetable food. With notable shrewdness,
he exposed to the meeting the danger for the whole tribe
in case one of its principal components should begin to
decrease in numbers. He wound up by saying, —
17

258 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" The strong hanutsh are those who maintain the tribe,
for they are those who give us the most people that do
penance for the welfare of all, be they Koshare or Cuirana.
They also have the greatest number of warriors and hunters.
If they have nothing to eat, they cannot watch, pray, and
fast in honour of Those Above ! So the Shiuana and the
Kopishtai become dissatisfied with us, and withdraw their
protection from their children ; and we become lost through
suffering those to starve who are most useful." But he
omitted altogether the important fact that there was still
waste land in the gorge, and that it was far preferable to
redeem such tracts than to create dissension.
Still it must be acknowledged that the clearing of tim
bered expanses, such as those on the eastern end of the
valley mostly were, opposed great difficulties to the Indian.
At the time when the Rito was settled, the native had
only stone implements. To cut down trees, to clear brush
even, was a tedious and protracted undertaking when it
had to be performed with stone axes and hatchets. Fire
was the most effective agent, but fire in such proxim
ity to the dwellings was a dangerous servant. On the
western end there was no tillable land beyond the patches
of the Water clan. Still, if there had been any disposition
on the part of Shyuamo to be reasonable, they would have
remained satisfied with extending their field slowly and
gradually toward the east ; but neither Tyope nor the Naua
really wanted more land ; what they desired was strife,
disunion, an irremediable breach in the tribe.
The Panther clan, whose representative had to speak now,
was a cluster which belonged neither to the larger nor to
the smaller groups. Occupying, as was the case, a section
of the big house, the Panther people were consequently
near neighbours of Tanyi, and they sympathized generally
with the latter. Their delegate, however, was Koshare, and

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 259
he leaned not so much toward the Turquoise as toward
what seemed to be the desire of the leading Delight Makers,
— the Naua and Tyope. He therefore expressed himself
bluntly in favour of Tzitz hanutsh giving up a certain quan
tity of land to the clan Shyuamo, without stating his opinioi
or suggesting in the least how it ought to be done.
Every member of the council, Tyope and Topanashka
excepted, had spoken. The majority of votes seemed in
favour of the claim represented, but it is not plurality of
votes which decides, but unanimity of opinion and con,
viction ; and finally and in the last instance, the utterances
of those who speak in the name of the powers above. The
shamans had given their opinions, the Shkuy was manifestly
favourable to Shyuamo, but his colleague, the Hishtanyi
Chayan, had spoken in a manner that restricted the point
at issue to a discussion among the clans directly interested.
The Histanyi Chayan was a personage of great authority,
and many of those who were on the side of the Turquoise
people thought his word to be law in the end. They had
shown themselves friendly toward their brethren of Shyu
amo, willing, however, to abide by what the closing discus
sion would bring to light. That discussion was yet to
commence, and the opening was to be the speech of Tyope
himself. Much stress also was laid upon what Topanashka
would say, for he too was to take part. Some had their
misgivings concerning the real object of the move which
every one felt certain Tyope and the Koshare Naua had set
on foot ; and when the tapop summoned Tyope to speak at
last, there was something like a subdued flutter among the
audience. Many turned their heads in the direction of the
speaker, others displayed in their features the marks of
unusual attention.
Tyope rose slowly from his seat. He looked around
quietly ; there was a sardonic smile on his lips. His eyes

20O THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
almost closed ; he spoke in a muffled voice, slowly and very
distinctly. He was evidently master of his subject, and a
natural orator.
"Yaya, nashtio, Tapop, I have heard what you have aU
said, and it is well, for it is weU for each one of you to have
spoken his thoughts, in order that the people be pleased
and delight come into their hearts. For there are many of
us, the fathers of the tribe, and each one has his own
thoughts ; and thoughts are like faces, never two alike. For
this reason did I speak to our father the tapop that he
should call in the uuityam, in order that all might hear and
that nobody could say afterward, — ' Shyuamo hanutsh has
taken from Tzitz hanutsh what belonged to the Water
people, and behold we knew nothing about it ! ' Shyuamo
hanutsh " — he raised his voice and glanced around with
flashing eyes — " has many people ; Shyuamo is strong ! But
the men of the Turquoise are just ! They go about in day
light and speak loudly, and are not like the water that roars
at night and drops into silence as soon as oshatsh brightens
the world." After this fling at the delegate of the Water
clan, Tyope paused a moment ; he seemed to wait for a
reply, but none came, the explanation of his action in car
rying the matter before the council appearing to satisfy all.
"Shyuamo hanutsh," he proceeded, "is great in numbers
but weak in strength, for its people have no food for them
selves, and what they raise is barely enough for their koitza,
their makatza, and the little ones. They themselves must
starve," he cried, " in order that other clans may increase
through the children which my men beget with their
daughters ! "
The most profound silence followed these words. The
speaker paused again and looked around as if challenging
an answer. He felt very sure of his point.
" We have worked, worked as hard as any one on the

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 261
Tyuonyi, but our numbers have grown faster than our crops.
Go and look at the field of Shyuamo and you wUl see how
many are the corn-plants, and how large the ears of corn,
but the field is too small ! We have not more land than
the Turkey people, and not as much as the Water clan !
When during last summer no rain fell, notwithstanding all
our fasting, prayer, and sacrifice, when yamunyi dried up and
kaname shrivelled, Tzitz hanutsh still had enough to eat,
and its men grew fat ! " This hint at the stout repre
sentative of the Water clan created great hilarity. Her
representative growled, —
" You are not lean either."
Without noticing this interruption, Tyope proceeded, —
" Its women and its children are well ! But we, at the
lower end of the cliffs," — he extended his arm to the east, —
" starve in order that your daughters and the little ones
whom we have begotten to the other clans shall not perish.
We had no more than food enough to pray for, to fast for,
in order that the Shiuana might not let our brethren be
lost." Here the Koshare Naua, as well as the representa
tive of the Panther clan, uttered an audible " A-a ; " and
even the Shkuy Chayan nodded. " How many Koshare are
there in Tzitz hanutsh ? How many in Tanyi ? How many
in Tyame who would sacrifice themselves for the ripening
of fruit ? How many in Huashpa ? Shyuamo alone has as
many Delight Makers as the remainder of the Zaashtesh.
One single clan as many as eleven others together ! And " —
he drew himself up to his full height and fastened on the
delegate of the Water clan a glance of strange fierceness,
as he cried — "while your Koshare feed themselves well
between the fasts, ours starve to regain strength after they
have watched, prayed, and starved ! "
This explosion of bitter reproach was again foUowed by
deep silence. Tyope was indeed a fascinating speaker.

262 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
The maseua and the Hishtanyi Chayan were the only ones
whom his oratorical talent could not lead astray. He pro
ceeded in a quieter tone, —
"We need more land. Some of our fathers have sug
gested that we should extend our territory to the eastward
and open the soil there. They mean well ; but there is not
enough, and the pines are too near. Shall we go as far as
Cuapa, where there is enough soil, or where the kauaush
descends to the painted cave ? Shall we go and live where
the Moshome would surround us and howl about like hungry
wolves ? No ! Ere we do this we have thought to say to our
brethren, ' Tzitz has more land than it needs ; Tzitz is our
brother ; and we will ask them, " Satyumishe, give us some
of that of which you have too much, so that we may not be
lost." ' But not to the Water people alone did we wish to
speak ; no, to all of you, to the yaya nashtio and the tapop,
that you all may know it and assist us in our need. For
rather than starve we shall leave the Tyuonyi and look for
another place. And then," he concluded, "you will be
come weak and we shall be weak ; and the Moshome, the
Tehuas, and the Puyatye will be stronger than the Queres,
for we shall be divided ! "
He resumed his seat in token that his speech was ended.
From all sides sounded the affirmative grant " A-a-a ; " the
Shkuy Chayan and the Cuirana Naua even nodded. Tyope
had spoken very well.
Hoshkanyi Tihua was delighted with the talk of his clan-
brother. Forgetful of his position as chairman he looked
around the circle proudly, as if to say, " He can do it
better than any one of you." The stillness that followed
was suddenly broken by the voice of the Hishtanyi Chayan,
who called out in a dry, business-like manner, —
" Our brother Tyope has spoken weU, and all the others
have spoken as their hearts directed them to speak ; but my

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 263
brother " — he emphasized the my — " the maseua has not
yet said what he thinks. My brother is very wise. Let
him open his heart to us."
There was a slight commotion among the assembled par
ties. The speech of Tyope had so monopolized their atten
tion that none of them had thought of the maseua. Now
they were reminded of his presence through the principal
medicine-man himself, and that reminder acted like a re
proach. The eyes of all, Tyope and the Koshare Naua
excepted, turned toward the doorway, where Topanashka
was quietly sitting. The two men from Shyuamo affected
to pay no further attention to what was going on.
Topanashka Tihua remained sitting. He directed his
sharp, keen glance to the Hishtanyi Chayan, as if to him
alone he condescended to speak. Then he said, —
" I believe as you do, nashtio yaya, but I also believe as
you, Tyope, have spoken." So great was the surprise caused
by this that Tyope lifted his face and looked at the old
man in blank astonishment. Kauaitshe stared at Topan
ashka like one suddenly aroused by a wondrous piece of
news. " Tyope is right," continued the maseua ; " Shyuamo
has not soil enough. He is also right in saying that
there is not room enough on the Tyuonyi for making
new plantations."
"A-a, " the delegate from the Turquoise interjected.
" It is true our brethren are suffering for want of land
whereon to grow their corn. It is equally true that Tzitz
hanutsh has more land than it needs, and it is well that
Shyuamo should ask for what it wants and not leave the
Zaashtesh forever. Tyope has well spoken."
Nothing can describe the effect of this speech. Even the
chief of the Delight Makers smiled approvingly a hideous,
satanic grin of pleasure. He felt like loving the speaker ;

264 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
that is, provided the schemer had been capable of liking
anybody but himself. The eyes of Tyope sparkled with grim
delight. Kauaitshe and Tyame hung their heads, and reck
oned themselves lost forever. The maseua continued, stUl
addressing the principal shaman, —
" But you are right also, nashtio yaya, when you say that
it is Tzitz hanutsh who shall decide whether or not it wishes
to part with some of its fields for the benefit of the Tur
quoise people." Both Tyope and the Koshare Naua grew
very serious at these words. " We cannot compel the Water
people to give up any of their soil."
" No," the Shikama Chayan audibly whispered.
" But if Shyuamo hanutsh says to Tzitz hanutsh, ' We will
give you such and such things that are precious to you if
you give us the land,' and does it, — then I am in favour of
compeUing Tzitz hanutsh to give it; for it is better thus
than that the tribe should be divided and each part go
adrift. These are my thoughts, sa nashtio yaya."
The Hishtanyi Chayan actively nodded assent, and aU
around the circle approving grunts were heard. The old
man's speech satisfied the majority of the council, with the
sole exception of those who represented the clan Shyu
amo; it was now their turn to become excited, and the
Koshare was the first one to display his dissatisfaction.
" What shall we give ? " he muttered. " We are poor, we
have nothing. Why should we give anything for that which
does not help the others ? It will help us, but only us and
nobody else. We give nothing because we have nothing,"
he hissed at last, and looked at Tyope as if urging him
to be firm and not to promise anything under any circum
stances. Tyope remained mute ; the words of the maseua
appeared to leave him unmoved. But Tyame, the man of
the Eagles, became incensed at this refusal on the part of
the Turquoise people. He shouted to the Koshare Naua, — •

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 265
"What! you will give nothing? Why are you Koshare,
then? Why are you their chief? Do you never receive
anything for what you do? You are wealthy, you have
green stones, red jewels from the water ; you have and you
get from the people everything that is precious and makes
the heart glad. You alone have more precious things than
aU the rest of us together ! "
" It is not true ! " exclaimed Tyope.
" We are poor ! " screeched the Koshare Naua.
Kauaitshe now interfered ; he had recovered from his
stupor and yelled, " You have much, you are wealthy ! "
Turning against Tyope he shouted to him, —
"Why should we, before aU the others, give you the soU
that you want ? Why should we, before all the others, give
it to you for nothing? You are thieves, you are Moshome,
shutzuna, tiatiu ! No ! " He stamped his foot on the ground.
" No ! we will give you nothing, nothing at all, even if you
give us everything that the Koshare have schemed and stolen
from the people ! "
The commanding voice of the Hishtanyi sounded through
the tumult, — "Hush! Hush!" but it was of no avail;
passions were aroused, and both sides were embittered in
the highest degree.
The delegate from Tanyi jumped up, yelling, " Why do
you want the ground from Tzitz alone? Why not our
field also ; " and he placed himself defiantly in front of
Tyope. The member from Huashpa cried, —
" Are the Water people perhaps to blame for the drought
of last year?"
"They are ! " screamed the Koshare Naua, rising; "Ta
pop, I want to speak ; make order ! "
" Silence ! " ordered the little governor, but nobody paid
any attention.

266 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
"Satyumishe Maseua," now shouted the principal sha
man, " keep order, the nashtio Koshare wants to speak ! "
The tall man rose calmly ; he went toward the cluster of
wrangling men and grasped Kauaitshe by the shoulder.
"Be quiet," he ordered.
Nobody withstood his determined mien. All became
silent. Topanashka leaned back against the wall, his gaze
fixed on the Koshare. Everybody was in suspense, in ex
pectation of what the Naua might say. He coughed, and
began addressing the leading shaman, —
" Yaya Hishtanyi, you hear that the Water people refuse
to give us the land that we so much need. They ask of us
that we should give them all we have for a smaU part of
theirs. The motatza from the hanutsh Huashpa has asked
whether Tzitz hanutsh is perhaps the cause that the crops
faUed last year. I say it is the cause of it ! "
" How so ? " cried Tyame.
"Through Shotaye, their sister," replied the old man,
slowly. It was not silence alone that followed this utterance. A
stillness ensued so sudden, so dismal, and so awful that it
seemed worse than a grave. Every face grew sinister, every
one felt that some dread revelation was coming. Tyope
held his head erect, watching the face of the old maseua.
Topanashka's features had not moved; he was looking at
the Koshare Naua with an air of utter unconcern. The
Hishtanyi Chayan, on the contrary, raised his head ; and the
expression of his features became sharp, like those of an
anxious inquisitor. In the eye of the Shkuy Chayan a sinis
ter glow appeared. He also had raised his head and bent
the upper part of his body forward. The Shikama Chayan
assumed a dark, threatening look. The name of Shotaye
had aroused dark suspicions among the medicine-men.
Their chief now asked slowly, measuredly, —

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 267
"You accuse a woman of having done harm to the
tribe? " Henceforward he and his two colleagues were the
pivots around which the further proceedings were to revolve.
The tapop was forgotten; nobody paid attention to him
any longer.
" I do ; I say that Shotaye, the woman belonging to Tzitz
hanutsh, has carried destruction to the tribe."
"In what way? "
" In preventing the rain from falling in season."
"And she has succeeded ! " ejaculated Tyope, in a low
voice, — so low that it was not heard by all.
The Shkuy Chayan continued the interrogatory. Nobody
else uttered a word ; not even the Hishtanyi spoke for the
present. The latter disliked the woman as much as any of
his colleagues ; but he mistrusted her accusers as well, and
preferred, after having taken the initiatory steps, to remain
an attentive listener and observer, leaving it to his associ
ates to proceed with the case. The Shkuy, on the other
hand, was eager to develop matters ; he had been secretly
informed some time ago of what was known concerning the
witchcraft proceedings of Shotaye, and he hated the woman
more bitterly than any of his colleagues did ; and as the
charge was the preventing of rain-fall, it very directly af
fected his own functions, — not more than those of the
Hishtanyi, who is ex-officio rain-maker, but quite as much.
For drought not only affects the crops ; it exerts quite as
baneful an influence upon game ; and game, as food for man,
is under the special care of the Shkuy Chayan. He is
the great medicine-man of the hunt. Drought artificially
produced, as the Indian is convinced it can be through
witchcraft, is one of the greatest calamities that can be
brought upon a tribe. As a crime, it is worse than murder,
for it is an attempt at wholesale though slow extermination.
The sorcerer or the witch who deliberately attempts to pre-

268 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
vent rain-fall becomes the object of intense hatred on the
part of all. The whole cluster of men assembled felt the
gravity of the charge. Horror-stricken, they sat in mute
sflence, awaiting the result of the investigation which the
Shkuy Chayan proceeded to carry on.
" How do you know that the aniehna " — he emphasized
the untranslatable word of insult, and his voice trembled
with passion — " has worked such evil to the people ? " The
query was directed to the Koshare Naua. The latter turned
to Tyope, saying, —
" Speak, satyumishe nashtio." He squatted again.
The eyes of all, Topanashka's excepted, who did not for
a moment divert his gaze from the chief of the Delight
Makers, were fixed on Tyope. He rose and dryly said, —
" I saw when Shotaye Koitza and Say Koitza, the daughter
of our father the maseua," — everybody now looked at the
war-chief in astonishment, dismay, or sorrow ; but he re
mained completely impassive, — " who lives in the abodes
of Tanyi hanutsh, caused the black corn to answer their ques
tions. And there were owl's feathers along with the com.
It was night, and I could not hear what they said. It was
in the beginning of winter ; not last winter, but the winter
before." "Is that all?" inquired the Hishtanyi Chayan in turn,
It displeased him to hear that Tyope had been eavesdrop
ping in the dark, — the man had no business in the big
house at night.
" I know also," continued Tyope, " that Shotaye gathered
the feathers herself on the kauash toward the south."
" Did you see her?"
*¦ "Yes," boldly asserted Tyope. He lied, for he dared
not tell the truth ; namely, that the young Navajo was his
informant. " Is that all? " queried the Hishtanyi again.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 269
"After we, the Koshare, had prayed and done penance
in our own kaaptsh I at one time went back to the timbers
on which we climb up to the cave. At their foot, below the
rocks, I found this ! "
He drew from beneath his wrap a little bundle, and
handed it to the shaman, who examined it closely and gave
it to his colleagues, who subjected the object to an equally
thorough investigation. Those sitting along the wall bent
forward curiously, until at last the bundle was turned over
to them also. So it went from hand to hand, each one
passing it to the next with sighs and marks of thorough dis
gust. The bundle was composed of owl's feathers tied to a
flake' of black obsidian.
"I found a second one," quietly said Tyope, pulling forth
a similar bunch. Now the council gave demonstrations not
only of amazement but of violent indignation ; the shamans
and Topanashka alone remained calm. Both bunches were
given to the tapop, who placed them on the floor before
him. The Hishtanyi Chayan inquired further, —
"Where did you find the feathers? Say it once more."
" At the foot of the rocks, where we ascend to our estufa
on cross- timbers."
" Did you see who put them there ? "
" No."
" When do you think they were placed there ? "
" While the Koshare were at work in the estufa."
" Do you know more ? "
" Nothing more." Tyope sat down, and the interrogatory
was over.
It was as still as a grave in the dingy, Ul-lighted chamber.
No one dared even to look up, for the matter was in the
hands of the yaya, and they were still thinking over it. The
demands of Shyuamo hanutsh were completely forgotten,

270 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
the owl's feathers had monopolized the attention and the
thoughts of every one in the room.
At last the Hishtanyi Chayan rose. He threw a glance at
his colleagues, who understood it, and rose also. Then the
great medicine-man spoke in a hollow tone, —
"We will go now. We shall speak to our father the
Hotshanyi, that he may help us to consult Those Above.
Four days hence we shall know what the Shiuana think, and
on the night following" — he turned to the tapop — "we
will teU you here what to do. In the meantime," — he ut
tered these words like a solemn warning, — " hush ! let none
of you exchange one word on what we have heard or seen to
night. Let none of you say at home, ' I know of something
evil,' or to a friend, ' bad things are going on in the tribe.'
Be silent, so that no one suspect the least thing, and that the
sentence of the Shiuana be not interfered with. Nasha ! "
he concluded, and went toward the exit. Ere leaving the
room, however, he turned once more, adding, —
"And you go also. Each one for himself and alone.
Let no one of you utter words, but all of you pray and do
penance, keep open your ears, wide awake your eye, and
closed your lips."
With this the shamans filed out, one after the other.
Their muffled steps were heard for a moment as they grated
on the bare rock. One by one the other members of the
council left the chamber in silence, each wending his way
homeward with gloomy thoughts. Dismal anticipations and
dread apprehension filled the hearts of every one.

CHAPTER XII.
At the time when the tribal council of the Queres was
holding the stormy session which we have described in the
preceding chapter, quite a different scene was taking place
at the home of the wife of Tyope. That home, we know,
belonged to Hannay, the woman with whom Tyope had
consorted after his separation from Shotaye ; and it was also
the dwelling in which he resided when other matters did
not keep him away. The tie that bound Tyope to his
second wife was of rather a sensual nature. Hannay was a
very sensual woman, but in addition to this she possessed
qualities that made her valuable to her husband. She was
extremely inquisitive, listened weU, knew how to inquire,
and was an active reporter. On her side there was no real
affection for Tyope j but her admiration for his intellectual
qualities, so far as she was able to appreciate them, knew
no bounds. It amounted almost to awe. Their connec
tion was consequently a partnership rather than anything
else, — a partnership based on physical affinities, on mutual
interest, and on habit. Of the higher sort of sympathy
there was no trace. Neither had room for it among the
many occupations which their mode of life and manner of
intercourse called forth.
If Tyope was shrewd and cunning, and if he made of
his own woman his eye, ear, and mouth, as has been said in
one of the previous chapters, Hannay was not a fool. She
did not of course understand anything of his plans and

272 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
schemes, and he never thought it necessary to inform her ;
but she knew how to manage him whenever anything
aroused her curiosity. She contrived to gratify this some
times in a way that her husband failed to detect, — by draw
ing from his talk inferences that were exceedingly correct
and which he had no thought of furnishing. For Tyope
knew his wife's weakness ; he knew that if her ears and her
eyes were sharp, her tongue was correspondingly swift ; and
he tried to be as guarded as possible toward her on any
topic which he did not wish to become public property.
Nevertheless Hannay succeeded in outwitting her husband
more than once, and in guessing with considerable accu
racy things that he did not regard as belonging within the
field of her knowledge. So, for instance, while he had
carefully avoided stating to her the object of the council,
she nevertheless had put together in her own mind a num
ber of minor points and hints to which he attached no
importance, and had thus framed for herself a probable
purpose of the meeting that fell not much short of the real
truth. The main desire that occupied Hannay's mind for the
present was the union between Okoya and her daughter
Mitsha. Okoya had, unknown to himself, no stronger ally
than the mother of the girl. The motive that actuated her
in this matter was simply the apparent physical fitness of
the match and the momentary advantages that she, con
sidering her own age and the loose nature of Indian mar
riages, might eventually derive from the daily presence of
Okoya at her home. In other words, she desired the good-
looking youth as much for herself as for her child, and saw
nothing wrong in this. From the day when Okoya for the
first time trod the roof of her dwelling in order to protect
Mitsha, she had set her cap for him. But she knew that
there was no love on the part of Tyope for the relatives

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 273
of Okoya, paternal or maternal, and she was too much
afraid of him to venture open consent to a union that
might be against his wishes. In her mind Tyope was the
only stumbling-block in the path of the two young people ;
that is, in the way of her own desires.
She had consequently set to work with a great deal of
tact and prudence in approaching Tyope about the matter.
After a number of preparatory skirmishes, she at last ven
tured to tell him of it. To her astonishment he took it
quite composedly, saying neither yes nor no, and displaying
no feeling at all. He saw not the least objection to having
Okoya visit her house as often as he might please ; in fact,
he treated the matter with great indifference. This was a
decided relief to her, and she anxiously waited for Okoya's
first visit to impress him most favourably regarding not
merely herself but her husband.
Tyope indeed did not attach the slightest importance to
Okoya personally. The youth had no value for him at
present ; he did not dislike him ; he did not notice him at
all. The boy was as unobjectionable to him as any one
else whom he did not need for his purposes. But there
were points connected with the union that affected Tyope's
designs very materially, and these would come out in course
of time, although he foresaw them already. In the first
place, intermarriage between the clans of Tanyi and Tyame
was not favourable to his scheme, which consisted in ex
pelling gradually or violently four clusters, — Tanyi, Tyame,
Huashpa, and Tzitz, from the Rito. The last-named clus
ter he wanted to get rid of on account of Shotaye, whom
he feared as much as he hated ; the other three he
wished to dispossess of their houses, which were the best
secured against decay on the Tyuonyi, in order to lodge
therein his own relatives and their partisans. Had Okoya
aspired to the hand of a daughter of the Turquoise clan,
18

274 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Tyope would have been in favour of his pretensions at
once. On the other hand, Okoya was very young ; he might be
flexible if properly handled ; and in case the boy, whose
father was already a Koshare and completely under Tyope's
influence, could be induced to join the society of the De
light Makers, it would be a gain fully compensating for the
other disadvantages of the situation. One more Koshare in
Tanyi, and one who would dwell with Tyame, besides, after
marriage, was a gain. It would facilitate the realization of
the plan of a disruption of tribal ties by creating disunion
among the clans most powerful, after Shyuamo. Tyope did
not care for the expulsion of certain special clusters as a
whole, provided a certain number and a certain kind of
people were removed. But the matter of making a Koshare
out of Okoya was a delicate undertaking. His wife had
already suggested as much to him, and he had insinuated
to her that she might try, cautioning her at the same time
against undue precipitation. Finally he left the whole mat
ter in her hands without uttering either assent or dissent,
and went about his own more important and much more
intricate affairs.
Hannay awaited Okoya with impatience, but the youth
had not appeared again. He was afraid of Tyope and also
afraid of her. The warnings of his mother and Hayoue he
had treasured deeply, and these warnings kept him away
from the home of Mitsha. Still he longed to go there.
Every evening since the one on which Say encouraged him
to go, he had determined to pay the first regular visit, but as
often as the time came his courage had abandoned him and
he had not gone. And yet he must either go or give up ;
this he realized plainly. There might be a possibility of
some other youth attempting the same, and then he would
be too late, perhaps. There was no thought on his part of

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 275
giving up ; he felt committed ; and yet he was more afraid of
going to call on the maiden than he would have been of en
countering some wild beast. Not on Mitsha's account, oh
no ! He longed to meet her at her own home, but he
feared both her parents.
Say Koitza instinctively noticed her son's trouble, and
she became apprehensive lest out of timidity he might
suffer to escape him what she now more and more re
garded as a golden opportunity. At last, on the evening
when the council was to meet, a fact that was well known to
aU, she said to her son, —
" I hear that sa nashtio maseua is going to the uuityam
to-night ; in that case Tyope will be there also." More she
did not say, but Okoya treasured the hint, and made no re
mark about it, but at once thought that the time had come
to pay a visit to the maiden. After the sun had gone down
he went out and leaned against the northern wall of the big
house, gazing steadily at the dwellings of the Eagle clan.
There were too many people about yet for him to attempt
the call, and futhermore it was so early that the council
could hardly have assembled. By the light of the moon he
saw clearly the movements of the people, although it was
impossible to recognize individuals at any distance. The
boy sat down and waited. From where he rested he could
not fail to notice when the delegates of the clans that
inhabited the big house left for the council, and that would
be the signal for his own starting. His heart beat ; he felt
happy and yet anxious ; hope and doubt both agitated his
mind. One of his comrades stealthily approached Okoya, sat
down on the ground beside him, threw one arm around his
shoulders, and began to sing loudly. Okoya chimed in, and
the two shouted at the top of their untrained voices into the
clear still night. Such is the custom in Indian villages.

276 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
A third one joined them, finally a fourth. The latter lay
down on his stomach, rested his elbows on the ground, his
chin in both hands, and sang in company with the others.
Soon after, two men issued from the gangway and walked
down the valley ; at last another went in the same direc
tion. These were the members of the council, and now it
was time for Okoya. As soon as the song reached a pause,
he stood up, said " sha," and turned to go. One of his com
panions seized him by the ankles, saying, " It is too early
for you to go to see the girls ; " and all together added,
laughing, " Don't go yet, later on we will all go together."
But Okoya stepped firmly on the arm of him who at
tempted to hold him back, so that the boy loosened his
grip ; then he jumped into the passage, where they could
not see him. He disliked to have any one notice that he
went to see Mitsha. Waiting in the dark passage for a
short time, he glided out at last on the side farthest from
where the boys were still sitting and singing, crossed the
ditch into the high corn, and went through the latter upward
until opposite the western end of the building. Crossing
the ditch again, he reached the slope that led to the
buildings occupied by the people of the Eagle. In order
to mislead his comrades, in case they should be on the
lookout, he went higher up along the cliffs till he reached
the caves of Tzina hanutsh. Here he looked back. The
three boys were singing lustily the same monotonous rhyme
at the same place where he had left them.
From the rock dwellings of the Turkey people there was
a gentle declivity to the houses which the clan Tyame had
constructed against the perpendicular wall of the cliffs.
Okoya walked rapidly ; now that he had started, he longed
to reached Mitsha's home. Children still romped before
the houses; on the roofs entire families were gathered,
loudly talking, laughing, or singing. Some of them had

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 277
even built small fires and cooked their evening meal in the
wonderfully cool and invigourating air. The terrace of the
abode whither Okoya directed his steps was deserted, but a
ray of light passed through the opening in the front wall.
Nothing seemed to stir inside when the boy approached.
Had Okoya glanced at that little opening he might have
discerned a woman's face, which looked out of it for a mo
ment and then disappeared within. Had he stepped closer
to the wall he might have heard a woman's voice inside
calling out in a low tone, — " Mitsha, he is coming ! " But
he neither looked nor listened ; he was barely able to think.
His feelings overpowered him completely ; wrapped in
them he stood still, lost in conflicting sentiments, a human
statue flooded by the silvery moonlight.
Somebody coughed within the house, but he did not hear
it. Again the face appeared in the small, round air-hole.
Okoya had his face turned to the east and away from the
wall of the house. At last the spectator within thought
that the boy's musings were of a rather long duration, and
she called out, —
" Sa uishe, opona ! "
He started and looked toward the dwelling, but saw only
two black points peeping through the port-hole. Again the
voice spoke, —
"Why don't you come in, motatza?" Now he became
conscious that Hannay was calling him into her home.
His first Impulse was to run away, but that was only a
passing thought ; and it became clear to him that he had
reached the place whither he was going, and furthermore
that the women were alone. Without a word of reply he
climbed the roof and nimbly down into the apartment.
He was still on the ladder when Hannay repeated the
invitation, —
" Opona, sa uishe."

278 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
His greeting was responded to by a loud and warm
" Raua, raua " from the mother, and a faint, slightly tremu
lous " Raua a " from another voice, which from its softness
could only be that of Mitsha. The room was dark, for the
fire was about to go out; but beside the hearth cowered
a female figure who had placed fresh wood on the em
bers and was fanning them with her breath. It was Mitsha.
At the entrance of the visitor, she quickly stroked back
the hair that streamed over her cheeks and turned her
face half around. But this was for a moment only; as
soon as the wood caught fire and light began to spread
over the room she again blew into the flames with all
her might. It was quite unnecessary, for the fire burned
lustily. Hannay stood in the middle of the floor, wiping her
mouth with the back of her hand. Stepping up to the boy
she said, —
" You have not been here for a long time, motatza." It
sounded like a friendly reproach. He modestly grasped
her fingers, breathed on her hand, and replied, —
" I could not come."
"You did not want to come," said the woman, smiling.
" I could not," he reiterated.
" You could had you wished, I know it ; and I know also
why you did not come." She added, " Well, now you are
here at last, and it is well. Mitsha, give your friend some
thing to eat."
The significant word " friend " fell on fertile soil. It eased
Okoya at once. He sat down closer to the hearth, where
the maiden was very busy in a rather confused manner, her
face turned from him. StiU as often as the strands of hair
pxcidentally parted on the left cheek, she shot quick side-
glances at him. Okoya, balancing himself on his heels,
quietly observed her. It was impossible to devote to her

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 279
his whole attention, for her mother had already taken her
seat close by him and was claiming his ear. She offered
slight attraction to the eye, for her squatting figure was not
beautiful. Okoya grew lively, much more lively than he
had been on his first visit.
"Why should I not have wanted to see you?" he good-
naturedly asked.
" I will tell you," Hannay chuckled ; " because you were
afraid." " Afraid ? " he cried, " afraid ? Of whom ? " But within
himself he thought the woman was right. Hannay smiled.
"Of Mitsha," she said; adding, "she is naughty and
strong." A peal of coarse laughter accompanied this
stroke of wit. The girl was embarrassed ; she hid her face
on her lap. Okoya replied, —
" Mitsha does not bite."
"She certainly will not bite you," the mother answered,
causing the maiden to turn her face away.
" Does she bite others ? " Okoya asked. Again Hannay
laughed aloud, and from the comer whither Mitsha had
retreated there sounded something like a suppressed laugh
also. It amused her to think that she might bite people.
Her mother, however, explained, —
" No, Mitsha does not bite ; but if other boys should come
to see her she might perhaps strike them. But you, sa
aishe," — the woman moved closer to him, — " you, I am
ture, she will not send away. Is it not so, Mitsha? Okoya
may come to see you, may he not?''
The poor girl was terribly embarrassed by this more than
direct question, and Okoya himself hung his head in con
fusion. He pitied the maiden for having such a mother.
As Mitsha gave no answer, Hannay repeated, —
" Speak, sa uishe ; will you send this motatza away as you
do the others?"

28o THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
"No," breathed the poor creature thus sorely pressed.
A thrill went through the frame of Okoya'; he looked up,
and his eyes beamed in the reflex of the fire. The woman
had watched him with the closest attention, and nothing
escaped her notice. Her eyes also sparkled with pleasure,
for she felt sure of him.
"Well, why don't you give the motatza some food?"
she asked her daughter again. " On your account he has
walked the long way from the big house. Is it not so,
Okoya?" " Yes," the boy replied innocently.
Quick as thought Mitsha turned around, and her eyes
beamed on him for an instant. He did not notice it, and
she forthwith stepped up to the hearth. Even though she
lacked evening toilette, Mitsha presented a handsome pic
ture ; and her friend became absorbed in contemplation of
the lithe, graceful form. She lifted the pot from the fire,
placed the customary share of its contents before Okoya,
and retired to a comer, whence she soon returned with a
piece of dried yucca-preserve, regarded as a great treat by
the Indians, because it has a sweet taste. As she was plac
ing the dessert on the floor, the boy extended his hand, and
she laid the sweetmeat in it instead of depositing it where
she had originally intended. Okoya's hand closed, grasp
ing hers and holding it fast. Mitsha tried to extricate
her fingers, but he clutched them in his. Stepping back,
she made a lunge at his upper arm which caused him to let
go her hand at once. Laughing, she then sat down be
tween him and her mother. The ice was broken.
" You are very strong," Okoya assured her, rubbing the
sore limb.
" She is strong, indeed," her mother confirmed ; " she can
work well, too."
"Have you any green paint? " the girl asked.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 28 1
" No, but I know a place where it is found. Do you
want any?"
" I would Uke to have some."
" For what do you use the green stone ? "
" Next year I want to paint and burn bowls and pots."
Mitsha had no thought of the inferences that he would draw
from her simple explanation. He interpreted her words as
very encouraging for him, not only because the girl under
stood the art of making pottery, but he drew the conclusion
that she was thinking of furnishing a household of her own.
Hannay improved the opportunity to still further praise
her child. She said, —
" Mitsha does not only know how to paint ; she can also
shape the uashtanyi, the atash, and the asa." With this
she rose, went to the wall, and began to rummage about in
some recess. Okoya had meanwhile taken one of the girl's
hands in his, playing with her dainty fingers, which she
suffered him to do.
" See here," the woman cried, and turned around. He
dropped the girl's hand, and Hannay handed something to
him. " Mitsha made this." Then she sat down again.
The object which Okoya had received from her was a
little bowl of clay, round, and decorated on its upper rim
with four truncated and graded pyramids that rose like
prongs at nearly equal intervals. The vessel was neatly
finished, smooth, white, and painted with black symbolic
designs. There was nothing artistic in it according to our
ideas, but it was original and quaint. Okoya gazed at the
bowl with genuine admiration, placed it on the floor, and
took it up again, holding it so that the light of the fire
struck the inside also. He shook his head in astonishment
and pleasure. Mitsha moved closer to him. With inno
cent pride she saw his beaming looks, and heard the ad-

282 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
miring exclamations with which he pointed at the various
figures painted on the white surface. Then she began to
explain to him.
" Lightning," said she, indicating with her finger a sinuous
black line that issued from one side of the arches resting on
a heavy black dash.
" Cloud," he added, referring to the arches.
"Rain," concluded the maiden, pointing at several black
streaks which descended from the figure of the clouds.
Both broke out in a hearty laugh. His merriment arose
from sincere admiration, hers from equally sincere joy at
his approbation of her work. The mother laughed also ;
it amused her to see how much Okoya praised her daughter's
skill. She was overjoyed at seeing the two become more
familiar. Okoya returned to his former position, placing the vessel
on the floor with tender care ; and Mitsha resumed her sit
ting posture, only she sat much nearer the boy than before.
He stUl examined the bowl with wonder.
" Who taught you to make such nice things ? " he asked
at last.
"An old woman from Mokatsh. Look," and she took
up the vessel again, pointing to its outside, where near the
base she had painted two horned serpents encircling the
foot of the bowl.
"Tzitz shruy," she laughed merrily. The youth laughed,
so did the women, all three enjoying themselves like big,
happy children.
" For whom did you make this? " Okoya now inquired.
" For my father," Mitsha proudly replied.
"What may Tyope want with it? " asked the boy. "I
have seen uashtanyi like this, but they stood before the
altar and there was meal in them. It was when the Shiuana
appeared on the wall. What may sa nashtio use this for?"

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 283
" I don't know," Mitsha replied, and her eye turned to
her mother timidly askance and with an expression of
doubt. Hannay saw here an excellent pretext to put in a word of
her own which she had wished to say long before.
" I will tell you, sa uishe ; I wiU speak to you as I would
to my own child." The artful flattery had its desired effect.
Okoya became very attentive ; he moved closer apparently
to the mother, — in reality, to the daughter.
" You know Tyope is a Koshare, and I am Koshare too ;
and he is very wise, a great man among those who create
delight. Now it may be that you know also what we have
to do."
"You have to make rain," said the youth; for such was
the common belief among the younger people about the
duties of the society.
Hannay and Mitsha looked at each other smUing, the
simple-mindedness of the boy amused them.
" You are right," the woman informed him. " After we
have prayed, fasted, and done penance, it ought to rain, in
order that yamunyi may grow to koatshit, and koatshit ripen
to yakka." In these words she artfully shrouded the true
objects of the Koshare. It enhanced their importance in
the eyes of the uninitiated listener by making him believe
that the making of rain was also an attribute of theirs.
" See, uak," she proceeded, " on this bowl you see every
thing painted that produces rain." One after the other she
pointed out the various figures. " Here you see the tad
pole, here the frog, here the dragon-fly and the fish ; they,
as they stand here, pray for rain ; for some of them cry for
it, when the time comes others live in the water, which is
fed from the clouds, or they flit above the pools in summer.
Here is the cloud and lightning, and " — she turned the vessel
bottom side up — " here are the Shiuana themselves," point-

284 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
ing at the two homed serpents. "These live everywhere
where Tzitz is running or standing. In this uashtanyi we
keep meal in order to do sacrifice at the time when rain
ought to fall. The pictures of the Shiuana call the Shiuana
themselves ! So you see what the Koshare want with this
thing." Okoya's lips had slowly parted in growing astonishment ;
and Mitsha, to whom the explanation was not altogether
new, watched the expression of his features with genuine
delight. "And when you pray and scatter meal out of this," —
pointing to the bowl, — " does the rain always come?"
"Always."" Why, then, did it not rain last summer? "
"That I cannot tell you," said the woman. " Only the
Shiuana know. Besides, there are bad people who stop the
rain from coming."
" How can they do that ? " cried both Okoya and Mitsha
in surprise, neither of them having heard as yet of such a
thing. " I must not tell you that," said Hannay, with a mysterious
and important air ; " you are too young to know it. TeU me,
Okoya," — her voice changed with the change of the subject,
— " does Shotaye Koitza often come to see your mother? "
This question was highly imprudent. But Hannay was
often imprudent. Smart and sly in a certain way, she was
equally thoughtless in other matters. The query so sudden,
so abrupt, and so uncalled for must, she ought to have
foreseen, look extremely suspicious. And yet Okoya was
on the point of answering, " She was at our home a few
days ago." In time, however, he bethought himself of the
warnings she had received, and replied in an unsteady
tone, —
"I don't know."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 285
Hannay noticed his embarrassed manner, and saw at a
glance that he was forewarned. The "no " of the boy told
her " yes." The discovery, however, that Okoya was on his
guard was rather disagreeable ; it angered her so much that
her first impulse was to send him away. But she soon
changed her mind. The youth was obedient ; and if now
he obeyed the counsels of his people, why might he not
later on become accustomed to submission to his wife's
people also? At all events he was good-natured, and ac
cording to Hannay's conceptions, good-natured folk were
always sUly. That smart but ill-natured persons might also
prove extremely silly on occasions was far from her thoughts,
and yet the very question she had imprudently put to Okoya
was an instance of it.
It did not occur to her that it might yet be problematic
whether Okoya would ever become a traitor to his own peo
ple. She could not conceive how anybody might be differ
ent from her and from Tyope, and of course she had no
doubt concerning his ultimate pliability. And she relied
also upon the influence Mitsha would exert upon her future
husband, taking it for granted that her child had the same
low standards as her parents. That child Hannay regarded
merely as a resource, — as valuable property, marketable
and to be disposed of to the most suitable bidder. In her
eyes Okoya appeared as a very desirable one.
She saw that the courtship, if thus it may be called, was
advancing most favourably ; and thought it proper, now that
the ball was in motion, to allow it to roll alone for a short
time, — in other words, to leave the house under some pre
text, abandoning the young folk to themselves. After her
return she intended to sound Okoya again, though in a
more skUful manner, So she replaced the bowl in its niche
and went toward the ladder. Before ascending it she turned
and said, —

286 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" I will be back soon."
The youth smiled, and she gave him a knowing, signifi
cant wink, climbed on the roof and down to the ground,
and remained standing outside for a while, untU she thought
that the young people had forgotten about her. Then she
glided noiselessly to the air-hole and peeped in. They still
sat by the hearth, examining together some object the na
ture of which she could not discover; and Mitsha was
explaining something to the boy. Evidently the girl was
showing him another piece of her handiwork. She heard
them laugh merrily and innocently. They were like chil
dren at play. Satisfied with the outlook, Hannay crept
off to a neighbour's dwelling where the whole family was
gathered on the house-top. She took her seat by the old
folk and joined in the conversation. That conversation
was nothing more nor less than the merest gossip, — Indian
gossip, as genuine as any that is spoken in modern society ;
with this difference only, that the circle of facts and ideas
accessible to the Indian mind is exceedingly narrow, and
that the gossip applies itself therefore to a much smaller
number of persons and things. But it is as venomous, the
backbiting as severe and merciless among Indians as among
us ; and there is the same disposition to criticise everything
that does not strictly pertain to us and to our favourites, the
same propensity to slander the absent and to be of the
same opinion as those present so long as they are within
hearing distance.
Gossip has a magic power. It fascinates more than any
other kind of conversation. It fascinated Hannay, and
time rolled on without her noticing it. The night was so
beautiful, so still, so placid, and it felt so comfortable out
side on this terrace, whereon the moon shone so brightly,
that Hannay sat and sat, listened and talked, until she had
forgotten the young folk at home.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 287
Suddenly a dark shadow covered the roof ; the change was
so abrupt that everybody looked around. What a moment
ago was plunged in the silvery bath of the moon's rays was
now wrapped in transparent darkness. But the valley be
low and the slope in front were as softly radiant as before.
The moon had disappeared behind one of the cliffs, and the
shadow of the rocks was now cast over the houses of the
Eagle. It reminded the talkers that it was late, and it also
reminded Hannay of her visitor. She clambered hurriedly
off and hastened home. Again she looked through the cir
cular vent. It was dark inside, and still. After listening
a while she distinguished regular breathings. It was easy to
recognize them as those of Mitsha, who was soundly, peace
fully asleep. Hannay, as soon as she reached the floor of
the apartment, called out, —
" Sa uishe ! " No reply.
" Sa uishe ! " No answer.
She groped about in the dark until her hands touched the
sleeping form. She pulled the girl's dress and shook her by
the arm until she sighed and moved, and then asked, —
" Sa uishe, has your father come ? "
" No," murmured the stiU dreaming child.
"Where is Okoya?"
" He has left."
" Will he come again ? "
" Oh, yes, " breathed Mitsha softly ; then she turned over,
sighed, and spoke no more.
Hannay was happy. The boy would return ! That was
all she cared for. She really liked him, for he was so can
did, so good, and so simple-minded. With such a son-
in-law much was possible, she thought. Okoya could
certainly be moulded to become a very useful tool to her
as weU as to Tyope. The woman felt elated over the re
sults of the evening ; she felt sure that notwithstanding one

288 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
egregious mistake, of which of course she would be careful
not to speak, her husband would be pleased with her man
agement of affairs. It was long after midnight when that
husband returned to the roof of his wife, and Hannay was
already fast asleep.
Okoya had gone long before Hannay thought of return
ing. He went home happy, and satisfied that Mitsha
henceforth belonged to him. And yet after all there was a
cloud on his mind, — not a very threatening one, yet a
cloud such as accompanies us everywhere, marring our
perfect happiness whenever we fancy we have attained it.
Mitsha had said to him, while they were alone, —
" If you were only Koshare, the sanaya would give me to
you." Okoya thereupon imagined that without Hannay's con
sent he could never obtain the maiden. On the other
hand, the idea of joining the Delight Makers did not at all
suit him. He feared in that case the opposition of his
mother. After he had returned to the estufa and lain down
among the other boys, who were mostly asleep, he revolved
the matter in his mind for a long time without arriving at
any conclusion whatever. Had he been less sincere and
less attached to his mother, such scruples would hardly have
troubled him ; had he owned more experience he would
have known that his apprehensions were groundless, and
that Hannay could not, if she wished, prevent him from
becoming Mitsha's husband.

CHAPTER XIII.
When, at the close of the eventful meeting of the council at
which the accusation against Shotaye and Say Koitza had
fallen like a thunderbolt upon the minds of all present, the
principal shamans warned the members of that council to
keep strict silence and to fast or pray, that reminder was
not to be understood as imposing on them the obligation of
rigid penitence. Secrecy alone was obligatory ; it remained
optional with each how far he would carry his contrition.
The three caciques, however, and the chief medicine-men
had to retire and begin rigorous penitential ceremonies.
Therefore the Hishtanyi Chayan had said that he was going
to speak to the leading penitents at once.
Some of the fathers of the tribe, however, took the matter
so much to heart that they obeyed the injunction of the
great medicine-men literally, and took to sackcloth and
ashes as soon as they reached home. Their motives were
extremely laudable, but their action was by no means wise.
They lost sight of what the shaman had strongly insisted
upon ; namely, that none of them should, by displaying
particular sadness or by dropping mysterious hints, attract
attention, and thus lead the people to surmise or suspect
something of grave import. The shaman knew the human
heart well, at least the hearts of his tribe ; but with all his
well-intended shrewdness he overlooked the fact that the
very recommendations he gave had fallen on too fertile
ground, and consequently worked more harm than good.
19

290 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
For the majority of the councilmen were so horror-stricken
by the disclosures of Tyope and of the Koshare Naua, that
they went to do penance with a zeal that could not faU
to draw the attention of everybody around them. Thus
Kauaitshe, the delegate of the Water clan, and Tyame, he
of the Eagles, and several others considered it their duty to
fast. Not a word concerning the meeting passed their lips ;
but when on the following morning each one of them retired
to a secluded chamber or sat down in a corner of his room,
his arms folded around his knees, speechless, motionless;
when he refused to partake of the food which his wife or
daughter presented to him, — when he persisted in this at
titude quietly and solemnly, it could not fail to attract atten
tion. The father, brother, or husband fasted ! Whenever
the Indian does penance it is because he has something
heavy on his mind. In the present instance, as it hap
pened immediately after the council, it necessarily led to
the inference that at that council momentous questions must
have been discussed, and also that these questions had not
been solved. Otherwise, why should the councilmen fast?
Penitence, with the Indian, is akin to sacrifice ; the body
is tormented because the soul is beyond human reach.
The fasting is done in order to render the body more
accessible to the influence of the mind. Often, too, one
fasts in order to weaken the body, in order to free the soul
from its thralls and bring it into a closer relation with the
powers regarded as supernatural. At all events, fasting and
purifications were a sure sign that serious affairs were in
process of development, and such proceedings on the part
of some of the nashtio could not fail to produce results the
opposite of what the shaman had intended.
It would have been different had the yaya alone retired
for penitential performances; nobody would have been
struck by that, for everybody was accustomed to see them

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 29 1
at work, as such voluntary sacrifice on their part is usually
caUed ; it was their business. But since the nashtio also, at
least in part, performed similar acts, it could not help pro
ducing, slowly and gradually but surely, a tremendous amount
of gossip and a corresponding number of speculations of a
rather gloomy nature.
That gossip was started in the cave-dwellings of Tzina
hanutsh. The stout representative of the Water clan had
married into that cluster, and lived consequently among
them with his wife. He returned home wildly excited ; he
did not go to rest at all ; and when his family awoke they saw
him sitting in a corner. As soon as he declined to eat, re
maining there in morose silence, they all knew that he was
grieving and chastising himself. Everybody thought, " The
nashtio of Tzitz since his return from the council is doing
penance. What can have happened last night ! "
Owing to the custom which compels a man to marry
outside of his own clan, the abodes of the women of each
clan were frequented by their husbands. They of course be
longed to different clans. Their natural confidants were not
Jheir wives, still less their children, but their clan-brothers
and clan-sisters. During the day that followed the council,
a man whose wife was from the Turkey people, but who
himself belonged to Shyuamo, went down to the caves
of the latter. There he was received with the remark, —
" The nashtio of the Eagles, Tyame, who lives with us, is
-hsting." He replied in surprise, "And Kauaitshe is also doing
penance." A third, whose wife belonged to the Bear clan, was within
hearing ; and he quickly added, " The delegate from Hiit-
shanyi dwells witi Kohaio ; he, too, is fasting ! " It was
strange ! People said nothing, but they shook their heads
and separated.

292 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Similar things occurred in the houses of the Tanyi. There
the representative of the Bear clan was in retirement. In the
big house news circulated faster than anywhere else on the
Tyuonyi, and in a very short time it became known that not
only the nashtio from Kohaio, but especially that the Hish
tanyi Chayan and the Cuirana Naua were secluding them
selves. Step by step the news got abroad and went from
clan to clan, while the people compared notes without ex
pressing opinions. At sunset it was known all over the
Rito that since the council at least six of the clan delegates
were fasting, besides the three shamans. When at last
news came that a woman had gone to see the wife of the
chief penitent, and had heard from her that her husband
was working, things began to look not only strange but
portentous. In an Indian village, gossip about public affairs comes to
a stand-still as soon as the outlook seems very grave. A sul
len quiet sets in ; the hanutsh recede from each other, and
only such as are very intimate venture to interchange opin
ions, and even they only with the utmost caution. For any
event that concerns the welfare of the community is, in the
mind of the aborigine, intimately connected with the doings
of Those Above. And if the Shiuana were to hear an ir
relevant or unpleasant utterance on the part of their chil
dren, things might go wrong. There is, beside, the barrier
between clan and clan, — the mistrust which one connection
feels always more or less strongly toward the others. In
stead of the excitement and display of passion that too often
accompany the preliminaries of great events in civilized
communities, and which too often also unduly precipitate
them, among the Indians there is reticence. They do
not run to headquarters for information; they make no
effort at interviewing the officers ; they simply and sullenly
wait.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. £<&
This patient waiting, however, is only on the surfij :.e. In
strictly intimate circles apprehensions are sometimes uttered
and opinions exchanged. But this is done in the clan, and
rarely in the family.
In the present case it was not reticence alone that pre
vailed. The conviction that great things might be brought
to light soon, caused uneasiness rather than anything else.
Apprehensions were increased by the fact that only a part of
the dignitaries of the tribe were doing penance. The Ko
share Naua was not fasting, neither was Topanashka ; and
Tyope went about with the utmost unconcern. Members
of the clans whose delegates kept secluded became suspi
cious of the fact that their nashtio appealed more particu
larly to the higher powers, and hence that his constituents —
such was their conclusion — were in danger of something as
yet concealed from the people. Suspicion led to envy, and
finally to wrath against such as appeared to be free from the
necessity of intercession. Tyope had thrown a firebrand
among he tribe, and the fire was smouldering yet. But it
was merely a question of time for the flames to burst forth.
It was even easy to guess when it must occur, for no such
fast can last longer than four days. At their expiration, if
not before, all doubts must be dispelled. With this abso
lute certainty the people rested, not content, but submitting
to the inevitable.
Only two men among the Queres knew the whole truth of
the matter, and these were Tyope and the old Koshare Naua.
They watched with apparent calmness, but with the greatest
attention, the approach of the storm which they had pre
pared. Everything went on to their hearts' content. They
did not need to do penance, for their sinister plans were
advancing satisfactorily.
And a third at the Rito, although unknown to them, also
began to see the truth gradually with a distinctness that

294 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
was fearful, that was crushing to him. That man was the
head war-chief, Topanashka Tihua. A series of logical de
ductions brought him to ravel step by step the game that
was being played. He saw now why Tzitz hanutsh had been
made to bear the first assault. It was on account of Sho
taye. But as the demand was put, it involved ultimately
the question of residence, and consequently an expulsion of
the Water people. This could never have been merely on
account of one woman and in order to get rid of her, since it
was so easy to put Shotaye out of the way by the mere accu
sation of witchcraft. That accusation itself appeared to the
old man to be a mere pretext and nothing else. To expel
the small Water clan alone was not their object either.
His daughter, the child of Tanyi, was also implicated, and
with this thought came a flash of light. Not one clan alone,
but several, were to be removed, and as he now saw plainly,
mostly the clans occupying houses which were not exposed
to the dangers which threatened the cave-dwellers from the
crumbling rock. Tzitz had only served as an entering-wedge
for their design that the house-dwellers should make room
for the others. The more Topanashka thought over it, the
more he felt convinced that he was right. And the stronger
his convictions the more he saw that the plans of the two
fiends, Tyope and the Naua, were likely to succeed. They
were bad men, they were dangerous men ; but they certainly
had a pair of very subtle minds.
Was it possible to defeat their object? Other men,
differently constituted from Topanashka, might have come
to the conclusion that it was best to leave the Rito with
their people at once, without any further wrangling, and
make room peaceably. To this he could never consent.
None of his relatives or their friends should be sacrificed
to tne intrigues of the Turquoise people. Rather than
yield he was firmly determined that the Turquoise people

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 295
themselves should go. But only after they had done their
worst. It was true, as Tyope had said, that a division of
the tribe entailed a dangerous weakening of both fragments ;
but then if it must be, what else could be done ? Still he was
in hopes that the Shiuana would not consent to a separa
tion, and in his firm belief in the goodness of Those Above
he resolved, when the time came, to do his utmost for the
preservation of peace and unity. But it was a crushing
weight to him. Not a soul had he with whom to commu
nicate, for his lips were sealed ; not one whom he might
enlighten and prepare for the hour of the crisis. And he
felt unconsciously that he was the pillar on which rested
the safety of his people, — he and the Shiuana ! The feeling
was no source of pride ; it was a terrible load, which he
longed in vain to share with some one else. Topanashka did
not attempt to do penance externally ; he was too shrewd
for that ; but he prayed as much as any one, — prayed for
light from above, for the immense courage to keep silent,
to hope, and to wait.
The news that Kauaitshe, the delegate from Tzitz hanutsh,
was fasting had reached the cave-dwellings of his cluster
late in the afternoon. Zashue had carried it thither, com
municating the intelligence secretly to his mother and
sister. They were speaking of it, the old woman with
apprehensions, and Zashue in his usual frivolous manner,
when Hayoue entered.
" Do you know," said he, " that the nashtio of Tyame is
doing penance?"
" So does ours," remarked Zashue, growing serious. He
began to see matters in a different light.
"What may this aU be about?" wondered the younger
brother. The elder brother shrugged his shoulders, sighed, and
rubbed his eyes ; and all four kept silent.

296 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
"Is it perhaps from the uuityam? " asked Hayoue; and
his mother exclaimed, —
" Surely it is."
"Then something must have occurred," continued Ha
youe ; and with a side-glance at his brother, " I wonder if
Tyope is fasting also?"
Zashue denied it positively, and added, " The Naua is out
of doors."
" In that case it is our people again who have to suffer."
His passion was aroused ; he cried, rather than spoke.
"The Shyuamo never suffer anything. Who knows but
the shuatyam, Tyope, and the old one have again done
something to harm us ! " Ere Zashue could reply to this
sally the young man had left the cave.
When Hayoue stood outside he noticed Shotaye sitting
on her doorstep.
" Guatzena, samam," he called over to her.
"Raua A," the woman answered, extending her hand
toward him as if she wished to give him something.
He went over to her, took the object, and looked at it.
It was the rattle of a snake
" Where did you get this? " he asked.
" I found it above, where a rattlesnake had been eaten.
Do you want it?"
He shook the rattle and inquired, —
" Will you give it to me? "
"Yes."
" It is well ; and now I will tell you something that you
don't know yet. Our father, Kauaitshe, is fasting."
" He is right," Shotaye remarked ; " it will make him
leaner." Both laughed, but Hayoue said with greater earnestness,
" Tyame is doing penance also.
" Then he is with his woman from Shyuamo," flippantly

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 297
observed Shotaye; "it will make Turquoises cheaper."
She turned away with an indifferent air. Her careless
manner struck the young man, and when he saw that she
would not speak, but only gazed at the sky, he went off
with the present he had received. He felt differently ; he
took the matter very seriously. He directed his steps
toward the tall building where it might be possible to
ascertain something else. Hayoue was afraid of the Tur
quoise people and their designs.
Shotaye was far from indifferent to the piece of news
which Hayoue had brought to her. But neither was she
surprised. She expected as much. It was therefore easy
for her to appear perfectly calm and unconcerned. She
was fully convinced that her case had been the subject of
last night's discussion in the council, but the fact that
the delegates were doing penance proved that the matter
was stiU pending, and that no conclusion had been reached.
There was consequently time before her stUl, and the
reprieve amounted to about four days. She had time to
reflect and to prepare her course of action. The sooner
she was alone and left to her own musings the better, and
that was why she turned away so abruptly from the young
man. Hayoue drew from her manner the inference that
the woman busied herself with thoughts entirely foreign to
his own, and did not wish to be disturbed. But as soon as
he turned to go she watched him through one corner of her
eye. When he was far enough away, she rose, and slowly
crept back into her dwelling.
We need not follow the train of thought that occupied
Shotaye. It was in the main the same that had filled her mind
during the last week. One thing was certain, she was not
sUly enough to fast. She would not commit such a blunder.
Neither would she call on Say Koitza. She regarded hei

298 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
companion in danger as sufficiently advised, and felt sure
that the wife of Zashue was prepared for any event. Why
then disturb her? It might only lead her into committing
some disastrous blunder. Without Shotaye's direct knowl
edge Say was sure to do nothing at all, and that was the
best for both. For the present, all that could be done was
to remain absolutely quiet and to wait.
Hayoue, on the other hand, was not so philosophical. As
he strolled down the valley, his mind was deeply agitated.
It seemed clear to him that a grave question had been pro
pounded at the council, and it could only have originated
through some deviltry on the part of the evil spirits of the
Turquoise clan, Tyope and the old Naua. This made him
very angry, and he vowed within himself that when the time
came he would take a very active part in the proceedings.
He would rather have commenced the fray at once by
slaughtering Tyope and his accomplice ; but then, it was not
altogether the thing to do. Neither would it do to go
about and inquire at random. Nothing was left to him
but to have patience and wait.
Waiting, however, did not interfere with his disposition to
talk. With a nature as outspoken as that of Hayoue, it
was impossible to wait without saying something to some
body about it. But to whom? At home he could not
speak, for there was Zashue, and he was never impartial
when any one of the Koshare was concerned. Okoya would
be far preferable, and he determined upon looking him
up. His nephew was not in the big house, and Hayoue went
out to the com-patches. The Indian goes to his field fre
quently, not in order to work, but simply to lounge, to seek
company, or to watch the growing crops. Okoya was in
his father's plot, sitting comfortably among the corn ; but it
was not the plantation that occupied his thoughts, they were
with Mitsha ; and he pondered over what she had told him

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 299
the night before, and how he might succeed in making her
his beyond cavil. Looking up accidentally he discerned
the form of his uncle coming toward him, and his face
brightened. He motioned Hayoue to come, and this time
Hayoue was eager to meet Okoya.
The uncle wore a gloomy face, and the nephew noticed
it at once. But he thought that if his friend intended to
confide in him he would do so spontaneously. He had
not long to wait. Hayoue sat down alongside of him and
began, —
" Do you know where sa umo is, — the maseua? "
" He is at home, I think. At least he was there when I
went away."
" Is he doing penance? "
Okoya stared at Hayoue in astonishment.
" No, he ate with us. Why should he fast? "
" Do you know," Hayoue continued to inquire, " that the
nashtio of Tzitz and the nashtio of Tyame are fasting? "
" I did not, but I know that the Hishtanyi Chayan is at
work." Hayoue extended his neck and pricked up his ears.
"What," said he, "the yaya also?"
" Indeed, the Cuirana Naua also. Did not you know it ?
You are a nice Cuirana."
The uncle shook his head.
"That is bad, very bad indeed," muttered he. Okoya
was perplexed. At last his curiosity overcame all diffidence
and he asked, —
"What is it, satyumishe nashtio? Do you know of
anything evil? "
Hayoue looked at him and said, —
" Okoya, you and I are alike. When your heart is heavy
you come to me and say, ' My heart is sad ; help me to
make it light again ; ' and when I feel sorrow I go to you

300 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
and tell you of it. When you came to me up there " —
he pointed to the west — " it was dark in your heart. To
day it is night in mine."
The speech both astonished and pleased the boy. He
felt pride in the elder's confidence, but was too modest to
express it. So he merely replied, —
" Nashtio, I am very young, and you are much wiser than
I. How can I speak so that your heart may be relieved ?
You know how I must speak, and when you tell me I wUl
try and do it."
He gazed into Hayoue's features with a timid, doubting
look ; he could hardly conceive that his uncle really needed
advice from him.
It was Hayoue's tum to sigh to-day. Slowly he said, —
" Last night the uuityam was together, and to-day the
yaya and the nashtio are fasting."
Okoya innocently asked, —
"Why do they fast?"
' That is just what I want to know," Hayoue impatiently
exclaimed, " but surely it bodes nothing good."
" Why should the wise men want something that is evil? "
said the other, in surprise.
" You are young, motatza, you are like a chUd, else you
would not ask such a question. The wise men are doing
penance, not because they intend harm, but in order to
prevent the people from being harmed. Do you under
stand me now? "
It began to dawn on Okoya's mind ; still he had not fully
grasped his uncle's meaning.
" Who is going to do evil things to us ? Are there
i- Moshome about?"
Hayoue was struck by the remark. He had not thought
of this possibility. It might be that the older men had
learned something of the approach or presence of Navajos.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 301
A few moments of reflection, however, convinced him of
the utter improbability of the suggestion. If there were
danger of this the warriors, to whom he belonged, — that
is, the special group of war magicians, — would have been
the first to be informed of it; and they would all be
now in the estufa preparing themselves for duty, and the
maseua first of all. Instead of it the old man was up and
about as usual. No, it could not be ; and he accordingly
said, —
" It may be that some sneaking wolf is lurking about,
but I do not believe it. See here, satyumishe, I belong to
those who know of war, and I should certainly have heard
if there were any signs of the Dinne. And our father the
maseua would not have remained about the big house. No,
umo, it is not on account of the Moshome that the yaya
and nashtio take no food."
" But if there are no Moshome about, whence could there
come danger to us ? "
" From there ; " and Hayoue pointed to distant cliffs
where some of the cave-dwellings of Shyuamo were visible
at the diminutive openings in the rock.
"Why from there?"
" From Shyuamo hanutsh."
" What can Shyuamo want to do harm for? "
Hayoue grew really impatient.
"You think of nothing else but your girl," he grumbled.
" Have you forgotten already what I told you of Tyope and
of that old sand-viper, the Naua? "
It thundered in the distance ; a shower was falling south
of the Rito, and its thunder sounded like low, subterranean
mutterings. Hayoue called out, —
"Do you hear the Shiuana? They remind you of what
I said." The parts were reversed. It was now the uncle who

302 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
reminded the nephew of the voices from the higher world.
Okoya hung his head.
" Listen to me," continued Hayoue ; " I know that you
do not like it that I speak against Tyope, but I am right
nevertheless. He is a bad man and a base man ; he only
looks at what he desires and to the welfare of his hanutsh.
Toward others he is ill-disposed; and his companion is
worse yet, the old fiend."
"Yes, but what can they gain by doing evil to others? "
Okoya asked.
" I don't know."
"How can I know it, then? I am much younger, much
less wise than you."
Hayoue saw the candour of the boy and it troubled him.
It was trae ; Okoya was too young yet, too inexperienced ;
he could not fully understand what Hayoue was suspecting,
and could not give him any light or advice. It was use
less to press him any further. But one thing Hayoue had
achieved, at all events. He had enjoyed an opportunity to
vent his feelings in full confidence, and that alone afforded
him some relief. After musing a while he spoke again, —
" Let it be what it may, I tell you this much, brother : be
careful, and now especially. Speak to nobody of what I
have told you; and should you go to see Mitsha, keep your
ears open and your mouth shut. I cannot find anybody to
speak to except you and the maseua, but our father I dare
not ask, for when the others are fasting Topanashka's lips
are closed until the time comes to act. Meanwhile, brother,
we must wait. I am going back to the katityam, for it is
not good to ran about and pry. Nobody knows anything
but the yaya and the nashtio, and these do not speak to us."
With these words he rose and left Okoya alone.
Much as the latter was attached to his father's brother,
he was still glad to see him £0- Trie sinister hints which

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 303
Hayoue had dropped were as good as incomprehensible to
him. That the Zaashtesh could be damaged through some
of its own people he could not conceive ; still he believed it,
for Hayoue had said so and it must be true. But it was
equally true that Okoya's thoughts were with his own affairs
exclusively, and his uncle's talk affected him mainly on that
score. It increased his already uneasy feelings. The fear
that Mitsha would be given him only on condition that
he became Koshare was now stronger than ever, and his
prospects appeared still further complicated in the light of
Hayoue's disclosures. Nevertheless, nothing was absolutely
certain so far ; and he could not precipitate matters. In his
case, too, there was nothing left but to wait.
The shower, which was sending floods of moisture into the
valleys farther south, only grazed the Rito, sending a short
and light rain upon its growing crops. It surprised Zashue
upon his return to the big house, and drove him to shelter
at his own, that is, his wife's home. He did not really care
to go there, for since the time when he and Tyope had
searched the rooms, Zashue had kept rather away from his
spouse. He did not suspect her any longer ; but the very convic
tion on his part that she was innocent, and that con
sequently he had wronged her, kept him away from her
presence. The weaker a man is, the less he likes to ac
knowledge guilt. He feels ashamed of himself, but will
not acknowledge it. The Indian in this respect is as tough
as other people, if not tougher. To beg pardon for an
offence committed is to him a very difficult task. He is
a child, and children rarely make atonement unless com-
peUed. They conceal their guilt, and so does the Indian.
If he has wronged any one, the redman persists in acting as
if nothing had happened, or he pouts, or avoids the party
offended. Zashue did not pout, but he avoided his wife's

304 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
dwelling as much as possible, and felt embarrassed when
there, or as had been the case a few days ago, when the
matter of Okoya's wooing was discussed, he avaUed him..
self of the first pretext to take leave. To-day it was dif
ferent; he had to go there for shelter. Say received him
in her usual way, almost without a word, but with a look that
was at once friendly, searching, and unsteady. It was dark
in the inner room, and Zashue failed to notice his wife's
glance. Say also had heard of the fasts and penitence to which
some of the officers of the tribe had submitted ; and she
rightly surmised that the accusation against Shotaye, and
against herself perhaps, had at last been made, and was
the cause of such unusual proceedings. But Shotaye had
judged her well when she decided upon not troubling Say
with a visit. It was unnecessary, for Say took everything
calmly and with perfect composure. The positive assur
ance of Shotaye that she was safe, and still more the words
of her father to the same effect, had completely reassured
the woman. She looked forward to coming events with
anxious curiosity rather than with apprehension. StiU as
her husband unexpectedly entered her dwelling, she could
not resist the temptation to sound him, and to find out,
if possible, what he thought about affairs. While knead
ing the corn-cakes she therefore asked, in a quiet, cool
manner, —
" Hachshtze, do you know that the nashtio are fasting? "
"AU of them?"
" I don't know," she replied, going on with her work,
" and yet I know this much, — that sa nashtio does not fast.
He ate with us and is going about as usual."
"What may it all mean? " he inquired of her.
She shrugged her shoulders, and asked, —
" Does Tyope do penance ? "

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 305
In view of the intimate relations existing between Tyope
and Zashue this was a very natural question, and yet it
stung Zashue. He interpreted it as a covert thrust. But
as he bethought himself of the charges which Hayoue had
uttered against the delegate from Shyuamo, a whole series
of ideas rose within him so suddenly, and so far from
pleasant or comforting to himself, that he forgot the con
versation and inclined his head in thought.
Say Koitza was too much absorbed by her work to
notice the change in her husband's manner at once. After
a few moments of silence she reiterated her question.
Zashue appeared to wake up ; he started, saying, —
" I don't know ; but why do you ask this? "
The woman realized that her inquiry might have been
imprudent, but with great assurance explained, —
" Because he is nashtio, and a great one at that. Shyuamo
is a strong hanutsh, and what it wants wUl be done. It
alone can do more than Tzitz and Tanyi together."
The quick, bold, apparently unpremeditated reply re
lieved Zashue of an undefined feeling of suspicion that
had arisen within him. During his moment of thoughtful-
ness he had been led from the accusations of Hayoue
against Tyope unconsciously to the accusation which Tyope
had launched before against Shotaye and his own wife.
Quick as lightning it flashed upon his mind that that accu
sation had perhaps been formulated again, and this time
officially before the council. And if Say were innocent, as
he still believed, why did she inquire about him who was
the originator of it ? He did not attribute her query to a
guilty conscience, for the Indian has but a very dim notion
about human conscience, if he thinks of it at aU. He
would have gone further and have seen in the utterance of
his wife the evidence of some positive knowledge. Did
Say know anything about the real object of the stormy visit

306 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
which he and Tyope paid to her home during the dance of
the ayash tyucotz? Her ready reply to his mistrustful in
quiry had allayed suspicions as to her guilt for the time
being, but on the other hand he felt strong misgivings that
she had found out something, either of what the Koshare
said or thought concerning her, or about the attempt which
Tyope and he had failed in. One thing, however, grew to
be more and more certain in his judgment ; namely, that a
charge proffered against Shotaye was probably the cause of
the extraordinary fastings going on among the tribal heads.
More he could not surmise, still less find out. But he
determined upon being very guarded toward his wife
hereafter. Say, on her side, had a similar feeling toward
him. The breach which social customs already established
between man and wife was gradually but surely widening.
Still they continued to talk quietly. No one seeing them
together in the dingy kitchen would have suspected a lack
of harmony, or discontent, much less the sinister preoccu
pations lurking in the heart of each. Both felt that it was
useless, that they must abide their time, avoid imprudent
words and queries, conceal from each other their misgiv
ings, and wait

CHAPTER XIV.
More than eight days had elapsed since the one on which
Shotaye had pledged her new friend, the Tehua warrior, to
meet him at the homes of his tribe. She had not redeemed
that pledge. In appearance she was unfaithful to Cayamo,
as her knight was called ; and yet her lack of compliance
with her promise was not intentional. She calculated that
her case would have come up by that time ; and until this
occurred, the energetic woman had no intention of leaving
the Rito, much less of forsaking her friend Say Koitza.
Now that her case had been delayed, the eight days had
grown to nearly ten. The chayani and the caciques were
fasting still, as well as some of the clan delegates.
Twelve days had passed, and it was the last day of official
penance. That evening something was sure to occur to
relieve the situation. So everybody thought at the Tyuonyi ;
so Shotaye thought herself. But she felt more than usually
excited and worn out. It was not fear ; it was the natural
longing of a soul replete with energy and activity to see a
matter ended that kept her in suspense. In regard to Say
Koitza she felt perfectly reassured ; the woman had not
shown herself at her cave, and must feel quiet, cautious,
and careful.
When the sun rose on the fourth day, it found Shotaye
just about to take her morning meal. That was soon over,
for there was no coffee, no hot rolls, no butter. It con
sisted merely of cold corn-cakes. When she had satisfied

308 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
her appetite, she rose, shook the crumbs from her wrap,
and went out. She had made a full toilet ; that is, she
had rubbed her face with her moistened hands and dried it
with a deerskin, whereby a little more dust was added to
her cheeks. She felt pro forma clean.
It was yet so early that hardly any one showed himself
out of doors. The sun peeped up behind the volcanic
heights in the east, casting a glow over the summits and
crests that rise above the Rio Grande in that direction.
The Tetilla stood out boldly, crowning the black ridges with
its slender, graceful cone.
Shotaye strolled down the Rito. A few people were
about ; but regardless of these and what they might think or
say, she wandered along past the dweUings of the Eagle clan.
What if Tyope should see her? "Let him see me," she
thought ; " let him become convinced that I know nothing,
that I rest easy, without any suspicion whatever of the
dreadful fate he has prepared for me. Later on he may
find out that his former wife is more than a match for
him." She went on and on, and passed the big house. A few
men stood on the roofs, gazing motionless in the direction
where the sun rose like a mass of melted ore. Farther she
went, always down stream, quietly and with the greatest
apparent unconcern. A girl from Yakka hanutsh greeted
her in a friendly voice ; she returned the greeting cheerfully.
The cliffs wherein Oshatsh, Shutzuna, and lastly Shyuamo
resided were to her left as she passed the grove where
Okoya and Shyuote had had their first discussion. Here
she turned to the north, in the direction of the spot where
she had met the Tehua Indian. Even on this upward
trail, rocky as it was and overgrown with shrubbery, her
form was plainly distinguishable from below. But Shotaye
scorned to conceal herself, she walked without haste or

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 309
hurry; her errand was perfectly legitimate and everybody
might see her undertake it.
Everybody might indeed witness her doings as far as these
could be seen. She simply took a walk on the mesa of the
Bird, Ziro kauash. She hoped also to gather some useful
plants, — such as the shkoa, a spinach-like vegetable ; as-
clepias ; apotz, a fever- medicine of the genus artemesia, and
many other medicinal herbs known to the Indian and used by
him. For it had sprinkled if not rained every day of late,
and last night's rain was still visible in the drops that cov
ered the leaves. The ground was soft, and her step left
plainly distinguishable tracks. Not only might every one
see her ; she almost invited people to foUow her on her
wanderings. Tyope, the Koshare Naua, the Chayani, might
trail and spy out her movements as much and as long as
they pleased, step by step if they wished ; for the real object
of her stroll they would never be able to guess.
After reaching the top of the plateau, Shotaye sat down
on a protruding rock, from which she might look over the
whole valley beneath. She cared little for this ; her main
object was to rest and to think. What she now undertook
was a step preliminary to the last act. A trail almost indis
tinguishable, so little was it used of late, led from the Rito
to the north, where the Tehuas dwelt in caves in the rock
which they name Puye. This trail was the object of
Shotaye's search. We know of her intention to take refuge
among the northern tribe of village Indians, but she had
meanwhile determined upon something else. She not only
wanted to go but had determined upon returning ! Yes,
she would return, though not alone. With armed men
from the Puye she intended to return in the stillness of
the night. She would hide her companions at the ap
proaches to the Tyuonyi, and lie in wait for Tyope and
the old Delight Maker, for the Chayani also if possible.

3IO THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
The Tehuas would reap many scalps ; she would have had
her revenge ; and the deed could be so performed as to
make those at the Rito believe that the Navajos were the
perpetrators. This was her plan, and she did not feel the
slightest scruple or compunction. For years she had been,
among her own people, the butt of numberless insults and
mortifications. Now it had gone so far that her Ufe even
was in imminent peril. Ere this should be lost, she would
prove to her enemies that she was alive, and terribly alive !
To reconnoitre the ground, to study every detail of it, to
store her memory with everything that might be useful or
valuable in the lay of the land, was what she had come for
now. After she felt thoroughly rested she rose, and con
tinued her walk. Where she had been sitting, the trail was
plain, for there it descended into the gorge. So she only
noticed the place and then went into the shrubbery to seek
for plants. She gathered a few leaves of the dark-green
shiutui, sauntered from juniper-bush to juniper-bush, glanced
from time to time upward into the tops of pines to see
whether they bore edible nuts of the kind now caUed
pihons, or threw stones at the noisy birds that fluttered
about. Again she came upon the trail, and her trained eye could
follow it for some distance until it disappeared in the timber.
So far she felt sure of her impressions for the future and
turned away to the right, penetrating deeper into the forest.
She could find her way even at night, for the moon shone
still. Besides, once acquainted with the spot whence she
had to start, it mattered little whether there was any path
or not. The Indian needs only two points to guide him
self, — the place of departure and the spot where he wants to
arrive. Moreover, for her flight it was better not to follow
the trail at all. She felt sure of meeting some one of the
Tehuas in the vicinity of the Puye.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 311
The topographical details attracted the woman's attention
much more than the path. She studied them carefully, pre
tending to hunt for plants. Unconsciously she went farther
and farther, regardless of time, for it was yet early. The sur
face of the Ziro kauash is slightly undulated, as well as the
mesa to the south of the Tyuonyi ; the timber is relatively
sparse ; the pines are grouped together at intervals ; and
juniper and cedar bushes cover it uniformly like an exten
sive, irregular plantation.
Such is the topography of the mesas west of the Rio
Grande, from the Rito until one is beyond, and opposite to
San Ildefonso. They are traversed and cut by deep ravines
and canons, which run generally from west to east, emptying
their waters after storms into the valley of the river through
narrow gaps, or terminating before reaching the stream
against a towering wall of volcanic rock. Ere Shotaye
noticed it, the shrubbery had begun to grow thinner, until
she noticed in front something like a vacant space, indi
cating a gap; beyond that gap there was timber again.
This told her that she had reached the brink of the first
canon north of the Rito.
In these solitudes game is not by any means so plentiful
as might be supposed. This is particularly the case in the
vicinity of Indian settlements. The mercUess methods of
communal hunting either exterminate or frighten away most
of the larger animals. Roaming tribes send parties of men,
hunters or warriors, long distances away ; and these not only
slaughter but frighten the deer, the mountain sheep, and
the mountain goat, driving them into regions less accessible
to man. The turkey alone, that noble bird, with its dark,
iridescent plumage, remains everywhere ; and Shotaye had
already heard their loud cackling and calling before she
entered the high timber. Several gobblers as well as hens
had run away on her approach ; at last they rose into the

312 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
air one after the other, flapping their wings until they set
tled down on a taU pinon that was visible from where the
woman stood. There were four birds on the tree. With
necks extended and eyelids alternately opening and shutting,
they peered down on her, ready to soar away at the least
suspicious motion. Shotaye could not resist glancing at
them. It seemed as if something was creeping up the tree
very slowly. Like a grayish streak, a long body flattened
itself against the trunk. Shotaye grew attentive, and the
more so as the suspicious object all at once disappeared
below the nethermost branches. The turkeys themselves
were so occupied with the appearance of the woman that
they lost thought of everything else. One of them, a gob
bler, braced himself up, his breast bulged out, his head and
neck drawn in ; then quickly thrusting them forward, sent
out a loud cackle. At this moment the pine-branches were
violently tossed about. With noisy flapping of their wings
the hens rose into the air; their companion flapped his
wings but once or twice, and disappeared in the tree-top.
For a moment the twigs and branches rustled and rattled ;
then all was still. A panther had surprised them and se
cured one for his breakfast. A long distance off might be
heard the cackling of another gobbler ; the forest was full
of turkeys.
Shotaye burst out laughing. The panther had done well.
He had enough to satisfy his appetite, besides, and there
was no danger of her being attacked. The American pan
ther is not dangerous to man ; but he carries a mouthful of
very sharp teeth, and his claws are long ; he is a powerful
animal, agile and large. Nobody can foretell what might
happen in case he should be ill-humoured. The woman
began to scan the landscape around ; it was a clear space,
and she could see the bushes from their tops down to the
ground. The base of one of these bushes attracted her

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 313
attention. Almost level with the soil, something black
appeared beneath its branches. As she examined it more
closely she saw that it was not really black, but of a gray
ish brown, like the colour of the soil. It was neither a
plant nor was it a part of the earth itself, nor a stone. It
might be some animal. The more she looked the more
she became satisfied that it was neither animal's skin nor
fur. The object was hairless. Only the skin of a hu
man being could appear so smooth. Her first impulse
was to hide ; but before she could execute her purpose
the object moved slightly, and something white appeared
above the black. It was disk-like, and on it there was some
object of a red colour. The eyes of Shotaye sparkled ; she
abandoned all thoughts of concealment or of flight, and
fastened her gaze on the strange thing beneath the shrub.
It became clearer and clearer to her that it was a human
form, and that on its back was a white shield decorated
with red. That shield she knew to be Cayamo's.
But what could Cayamo be doing here ? Or was it per
haps not he, but some Navajo who had vanquished the
proud warrior and was carrying home his weapons in tri
umph? The latter appeared rather improbable, and yet
who could tell? At all events the man was alive, for he
had moved. It was equally certain that he had not seen
her. In order to clear up all doubt Shotaye looked around
for shelter, and saw near by a bush that afforded a scanty
hiding-place. She glided to it noiselessly; and changing
her position, got nearer to him, and was even able to see
more of his body and dress. The first glance satisfied her
that he was not a Navajo, but a village Indian, and indeed
her friend Cayamo.
Every trace of fear disappeared. Shotaye left the shelter
of the bush and stepped up toward him rather noisily, at
the same time caUing his name. He did not reply ; and as

3 14 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
she came nearer, the regular breathing and the heaving of
his chest showed the cause of his silence ; the great warrior
from the Puye was fast asleep ! Under different circum
stances she would have left him and quietly retired, but
now she could not; the opportunity was too favourable,
matters too threatening for her. She must be recognized
by him once more, must show to him that she stiU counted
on his pledge, on his friendship, his protection. Yet she
did not wake him, but went close to his prostrate form and
bent over it, even holding her breath for a while.
He slept profoundly. The war-paint on his face was
sorely blurred ; the campaign had not improved his appear
ance, — the face with closed eyes resembled a lump of dirt
rather than a human head, his kilt was tattered, and his
legs covered with scars and scratches. The circular san
dals, much dilapidated, were tied to the belt ; and close
to them was another object, which Shotaye began to ex
amine attentively, while her eyes flashed at the sight of
it. It was a piece of human skin covered with gore and
straight hair partly plaited. Her heart began to pulsate
proudly and in delight, for she saw that Cayamo had se
cured a scalp, the scalp of a Navajo ! Cayamo was a
great warrior ! Shotaye was careful not to touch the tro-
' phy, for no woman is allowed to handle the sacred token
| until after its taking has been duly celebrated in the great
\s dance of the tribe. But lest the hero might wake up pre
maturely and notice her presence in too close proximity to
the repulsive laurels which he had won, Shotaye quietly
withdrew and sat down at some distance from him, where
he could easily see her, and quietly awaited his rising from
the slumbers of fatigue.
In point of fact it was not proper for her to remain so
close to him. The scalp-crowned warrior must keep aloof
from the other sex until he has been purified and has

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 3 15
danced. Shotaye relied upon the extraordinary circum
stances, and upon his interpretation, of her presence as
having run after him, to obtain his forgiveness. Further
more they were alone ; and a few moments spent in the
practice of sign-language could not, she trusted, deprive the
scalp of the magic qualities attributed to it. Had it been a
warrior from the Rito she would have left him long ago.
Cayamo was manifestly tired, for he slept hard. The
sun stood close to the zenith, and still he dozed. The
luminary of day did not only illuminate, but its heat was
scorching ; the shadows under cover of which Cayamo had
retreated were moving gradually, and the unkempt head of
the hero became exposed to the most direct rays. The
heat began to disturb him ; he groaned, stretched himself,
moved uneasily, and attempted to turn over. In this he
bent his shield, and the hard leather struck him in the ribs.
Cayamo woke up ! He opened his eyes and yawned,
closed them again, then opened the lids a second time,
when his look became suddenly a stare of surprise. Light
ning-like he rose to a sitting posture, and grasped the bow
as well as his war- club. In this position he stared at the
woman, who smiled, winking and placing a finger on her lips.
As soon as she whispered " Shotaye," the threatening flash in
his eye vanished ; he dropped both weapons and threw his
features into a repulsive, hideous grin intended for a soft
smile. Then he rose. It was very plain that he felt over
joyed, and that he would fain have expressed his delight to
the woman through some clumsy caress, but he restrained
his feelings and became serious.
Extending his arm to the west, he shook his head in
a warning manner, pointed to himself, made the sign in
dicating the act of men coming, and said, " Uan save ; "
then he waved his hand northward, afterward at the sun;
and finally he pointed at Shotaye, uttering, —

316 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
"Uiye tha, 'two days!'"
She could not fully comprehend. Until better informed
she drew the conclusion that the Navajos were in pursuit of
him, but more she failed to understand. To ascertain his
meaning she pointed at him, then at herself, raised four of
her fingers, and asked, —
"Tehua?"
Cayamo shook his head, counted two on his fingers,
accompanying the gestures with the words, —
"Tema quio Puye," pointing to the north at the same
time. Now her doubts were cleared. Shotaye saw that
two days hence she would be expected among the Tehuas.
She nodded eagerly and rose. If the Navajos, as she rightly
concluded, were on her warrior's trail, it was unsafe for both
of them to remain here long ; but neither could she insinuate
to Cayamo that she would like to go with him at once. To
her surprise the man bent down and with his fingers
drew a line on the ground which ran in the direction where
the cave-dwellings of the Tehuas were situated. The wo
man bent over him with great curiosity.
"Tupoge," said Cayamo, indicating the southern end of
the line and looking askance. Shotaye nodded that she un
derstood, and he slowly moved his fingers along the line to
the north, uttering, —
" Tema quio."
The northern terminus of the streak he designated as
Puye. Finally he made a mark across the middle of the
line, saying very positively, —
" Uiye tha Shotaye Teanyi." These words he accompanied
successively with the signs for the number two, for male
Indian, and for the meeting of two persons.
Nothing could be clearer. Two days hence Shotaye was
to leave the Rito for the Puye ; and as Cayamo himself
would be unable to meet her, owing to the ceremonies which

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 317
he had to perform in honour of the scalp, some male friend
of his, called Teayni, would meet her half-way and conduct
her safely to the abode of his people. With a radiant face
the woman nodded assent, and made other gestures -ex
pressive of delight and agreement. Cayamo took advan
tage of his cowering posture to fasten the war-sandals to
his naked feet, and then rose and took the trail towards the
north, but Shotaye held him back in token of misgivings.
He understood her motive, but pointed to his circular foot
gear and smiled. It was clear that he trusted to the round
tracks left by that contrivance for safety. So he went on
toward the brink of the gorge that lay before them. As
soon as his form had sunk below it, Shotaye also turned,
this time in the direction of the Rito.
Everything was right at last ! She felt safe, completely
safe ; for the road was clear to her, and furthermore Cayamo,
of whose attachment she was now fully convinced, would
provide for a guide during the second half of the journey,
which was utterly unknown to her. Everything was moving
to her fullest satisfaction, provided she could escape from
the Rito.
In regard to that matter she had scarcely any doubt,
unless — and this thought came to her while she was wend
ing her way slowly homeward — some one should have fol
lowed her and witnessed the strange meeting between her
and Cayamo. In that case everything might be lost. But
there were not the slightest marks of human presence about.
Nature, even, seemed to slumber in the heat of the day ; an
occasional lizard rustled through the dried twigs and fallen
pine needles, a crow sat on a dry limb, and high up in
the air an eagle soared below the mares' tails that streamed
over the sky. It would have been very disagreeable, to
say the least, if one or other of the Navajos who were in
pursuit of Cayamo should cross her path ; but of this she

318 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
had little fear. She was already too near the Rito for that.
Soon the gorge opened at her feet, showing a placid, lovely
picture, — the little valley down below, huge pines raising
their dark columns by the side of light-green corn-patches,
and the tall pile of the big houses looming up like an
enormous round tower. But Shotaye was not affected by
scenery. Walking along the brink to the west she at last
reached the upper end, where twelve days ago she had
ascended, and where the brook, swollen by late rains, now
gushed down the ledges in a series of murmuring cascades.
Here she began her descent, and as the sun disappeared be
hind threatening clouds over the western mountains, she en
tered her home again. Shotaye had spent nearly the whole
day on the mesa, had spent it profitably, and was — so she
fancied — in complete security as regarded her ultimate
designs. And yet had the woman, after taking leave of the strange
Indian and after the latter had gone out of sight, peered
into the shadow of the pines on one of which the panther
had so nimbly captured the unsuspecting turkey, she might
have noticed something that would have greatly modified
her ideas on this point. For behind one of them there
stood, all the while she and the Tehua were carrying on
their pantomime, a human figure intently watching them.
Pressed against the trunk of a tree there was, motionless,
quiet, calm, not a common spy, but a cool observer of her
doings, whose presence was accidental, but who not only
watched but at the same time judged and passed sentence
on her actions.
A short time after Shotaye had set out on her walk,
Topanashka Tihua also started in the same direction.
With all the self-control he had maintained, inward agita
tion and sorrow nearly overcame him. The nearer the
hour came when the momentous question that was going

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 3 1 9
to shake the existence of the tribe to its very foundations
would be taken in hand, the more conscious he became that
he was carrying a terrible load, and that upon his action de
pended nearly everything. The feeling of responsibility was
crushing. He had, of course, ascertained nothing new;
neither had he thought of making notes of what met his
gaze. But on this last day he felt the necessity of being
alone ere the dread moment came. Others could not help ;
he was alone with his thoughts, and yet, as he did no fast
ing, not alone in the proper use of the word. On that last
day, therefore, he resolved upon retiring to some solitude.
It would attract no undue attention, and he would have
done according to the spirit of the shaman's instructions.
After leaving the Rito he climbed to the northern mesa,
and instead of resting on its brink as Shotaye had, he
strolled into the timber perfectly at random, hardly con
scious whither he directed his steps, and content to be for
once alone with his dismal thoughts.
However much he speculated and reflected upon the
matter, he drew not the slightest comfort from it. The
main factor he lacked ; namely, a knowledge of the judgment
which Those Above would render. This the chayani alone
knew, and they alone would proclaim it at the council. If
the case of Shotaye only had been before the meeting, his
position would have been very simple. All he had to
do was to kill her if found guilty, and he was ready to do
this at any time. He did not especiaUy hate the woman,
and all he cared for in such an event was to perform his
duty. In regard to his daughter Say he no longer enter
tained any apprehension. Matters, however, had degen
erated into a venomous contention between two clans,
amounting almost to a schism in the tribe. If now the
Chayani in the name of the Shiuana proclaimed that
Shyuamo was right, and the others, his own clan included,

320 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
resisted, what then? He had to obey, he had to execute
what Those Above decreed ; for that purpose was he called
maseua, like him who bears the same name and is the most
active among all the deities on high. What the Shiuana
determined was right always.
The old man sat down under a tree and attempted
to ponder over this little query of " always." But he did it
in vain. It was a problem perhaps not beyond the reach
of his intelligence, if it had been properly cultivated, but
far beyond the limits which training and custom had set
to the working powers of that intelligence. He staggered
from doubt to doubt, and finally gave it up. No other
conclusion could he reach than to wait. But waiting alone
gives no light, does not comfort, gives neither strength
nor wisdom. Strength and wisdom, so the Indian believes,
are gifts from above, and can be obtained by prayer.
Topanashka came to the conclusion that he would pray.
He picked up a stone, and was searching his memory for
one of the many formulas that the Indian has in his rituals,
when a faint pattering sound attracted his attention.
It was as if something glided through brushwood. He
forgot to pray, and listened. Now it sounded again, at a
greater distance from him. Only some animal could have
produced the noise ; a human being would either have come
up to him if a friend, or kept absolutely still if a foe. He
looked and looked, and at last caught a glimpse of the
panther's yellowish fur gliding along the ground. When a
cat glides stealthily she is on the hunt. His curiosity was
fully aroused ; he longed to see what the animal was hunting
and how he would succeed. Furthermore the panther is in
the eyes of the Pueblo Indian the symbol of the greatest
physical power. A feeling overcame the old man as if this
symbol was presenting itself to him at the very time when
he needed the greatest moral strength himself; and the

Looking out from one of the weathered Cave-Rooms of the
Snake-Clan

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 32 1
animal appeared like a living fetich, a hint from Those
Above. He followed the movements of the puma eagerly.
The tree where the turkeys sat stood near ; he had heard
their gobblings long ago without paying any attention to
them. But now they explained the movements of the
gigantic cat ; he was creeping up to the birds. The puma
approached the tree noiselessly ; at its foot he laid down his
head, and raised his tail, sweeping the ground with nervous
force. Now the beast of prey began to climb the trunk of
the pine carefully and noiselessly. He reached the lower
branches and disappeared within their maze. Then fol
lowed his spring ; and the turkeys flew away, all but one.
With a tremendous leap the cat broke through the tree-top
and down on the ground, with the wriggling bird in his
jaws, and trotted off howling.
Topanashka had witnessed the performance with inter
est and with genuine pleasure. He admired the strength
and the swiftness of the animal hunter. Unconsciously his
thought turned back to the intended prayer, and he earn
estly addressed it now to Those Above, that they might give
to his heart the strength which the panther had shown in
his limbs. Placing two sticks on the ground before him
and a stone over them, he rose to go. But another sight
met his eyes, and he stood still as if rooted to the soil, gazed
and gazed. His eyes opened wide, then his expression
became dark and almost fierce.
On the clear space beyond the pines on which the puma
had caught his prey, a woman sat near a cedar-bush ; and in
the shade of the bush a man rested. The first glance con
vinced Topanashka that the man wore paint, and carried
the accoutrements and weapons of a warrior. It was not a
warrior from the Rito ; he was positive it could not be.
Nor was it a Navajo. He undoubtedly belonged to some
foreign tribe of village Indians, in all probability to the

322 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Tehuas. What was he here for ? And what business had
the woman in his company? Indians in war-paint do not
associate with women. Topanashka strained his eyes, and
recognized to his astonishment and dismay the woman
Shotaye. He could not contain himself any longer. Like a shadow
he moved forward and hid behind the trunk of a pine,
whence he could see more and better. From there he wit
nessed the strange pantomime of Shotaye and Cayamo. He
was too far off to hear the words, but the gestures spoke
plainly enough. As they pointed and gesticulated to the west,
north, and south, he thought that they were planning some
murderous surprise for the Queres, — that Shotaye was be
traying her own people and conspiring with an enemy of her
own stock. Fierce wrath filled his heart. Yes, Tyope's
charge was true ; the woman was a witch, and had Topa
nashka been armed he would have sought to kill her on the
spot. But though he had no weapons, his hand clutched a
stone, raised it from the ground, and held it in readiness.
The interview ended, the Tehua disappeared, and Shotaye
went in the direction of the Rito. Topanashka felt tempted
to follow her at once, to overtake her if possible and secure
her person, or even to execute summary justice ; but she
was sure not to escape him. She had evidently not noticed
his presence and had gone back to her den in the cliffs in
complete security. There, on this very evening, he would
seize her, drag her before the uuityam, disclose her shame
less and dangerous plots, and doom her to the horrible
death she deserved to suffer.
Whither was her accomplice, the Tehua, going meanwhile ?
He was probably returning to his people to report, and to lead
back those in whose company he intended to carry out the
projected assault. The old man could not stop him, being
himself unarmed ; but he could follow at a distance, cau-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 323
tiously and without exposing himself to danger. For it
was possible that the hellish plot had developed much fur
ther, and that the warriors from the north were lurking
already near by to pounce upon the Queres at daybreak.
It was not only from the instinct of the old warrior scout,
it was out of a sense of duty as head war-chief that he de
termined at once upon following the Tehua. As soon as
Shotaye, too, was out of sight, he went over to the spot
where the interview had taken place and examined the
soil carefully. The round impression made by a war-sandal
struck his eye ; it proved to him beyond any possibility of
doubt that his inferences were correct. The old man
straightened himself to his full height. His piercing glance
went in the direction whither the Tehua had gone. He
bent forward again and followed the same line toward the
north. The sun had just set over the Rito. It disappeared be
hind dense clouds ; a storm was gathering in the west. Its
wings were spreading like tentacles ; they pushed on to
meet the moon, whose light was just rising in the east as a
dim whitish arch. The orb itself still remained below the
horizon. Gusts of wind whirled up the gorge from the east
at intervals, causing the pines to sigh, the willows and
poplars to rustle. The corn whispered and tinkled. The
usual bustle prevailed about the houses and in front of the
caves. Before the grotto where the council was to meet that
night, men were standing, sitting, or lounging. They were
the delegates who had come to listen at last to the oracle
which was to be revealed to them through the mouth of
the great shaman. Their number was not yet complete ;
the Tapop, Tyope, the Koshare Naua were there, but
neither the Caciques nor the Chayani nor the Maseua had

324 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
put in an appearance. Everybody was silent, hardly a
word was heard from time to time, seldom a whisper.
The men were in part exhausted by long penitence, but
mostly depressed as if some nightmare was still weighing
upon them. The obligation to be sUent imposed by the
medicine-man was yet in force.
One by one those who were lacking came. The medicine
men appeared at last, and only the yaya and the maseua
were missing. The tapop, prompted by a wink of the
Hishtanyi Chayan, went into the cave and prepared the
council-fire. It burned well, but nobody came.
Distant thunder rolled through the clouds ; lightning
flashed from them in fiery red tongues. The wind con
tinued to blow in gusts, but at long intervals only. Be
tween gust and gust it grew dismally, anxiously, stiU. The
singing, shouting, laughing of the people had almost ceased.
Now the wind again whirled up the valley stronger than
before, and as its noise ceased, a plaintive sound, a distant
howling, floated on the air. It waxed in strength and
power till it rose into the night shrill and heart-rending.
The men listened in surprise. Sobs, cries, shrieks, from
time to time a piercing scream, were the dismal sounds
that struck upon their ears. AU came from the large build
ing ; it was a lament by many voices, the sad, soul-rending
lament over the dead !
Breathlessly they listened. Hurried footsteps rushed
toward them, several men came running up the slope.
When the foremost of them reached the group he asked,
panting, —
" Where is the tapop ? "
Hoshkanyi Tihua stepped forward and inquired, —
" What has happened ? What do you want ? "
"Our father the maseua," gasped the man, "is dead!
He was kiUed on the Ziro kauash ! "

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 325
" Who kiUed him ? " demanded the principal chayan,
placing himself in front of the speaker.
The Indian raised his arm on high ; from it depended a
circular object. As the pale light of the rising moon fell on
it, it was plainly distinguishable as a circular war-sandal !

CHAPTER XV.
"Dm you find that? " asked the shaman.
" Yes, I found it. I and Hayash Tihua together."
"Where?""On the kauash, on the trail that leads to the north."
"Who killed sa nashtio?" the chayan further inquired.
He alone carried on the investigation; Hoshkanyi Tihua
had mingled with the rest again, and stood there silent and
speechless over the terrible news. Neither did any of the
others utter a single word, but from time to time one or
the other shook his head and sighed deeply.
"We don't know," replied the Indian, "for we did not
find anything else."
" Have you looked for more? " emphasized the medicine
man. The other hung his head as if he felt the reproach. " No,'
he said in a low tone.
"Why not?"
" Because we were afraid that other Tehuas might be
around." "How do you know that the people from the north have
killed our nashtio?"
"Because the Moshome Dinne never wear such." He
pointed to the sandal, which he had handed to the tapop.
"Did the shoe lie where our father died?"
" No, we found it closer to the Tyuonyi."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 327
A flutter went through the group, — a movement of sur
prise and of terror. Many persons had collected, and the
steps of more were heard coming up. In the valley the
wind sighed. Louder than its plaintive moaning sounded
the howling wail that continued in the great house with
undiminished power. The Hishtanyi continued, —
"How did the shuatyam kill our father?" His voice
trembled as he uttered these words.
"With arrows."
"Have you brought them along?"
"Yes."
" How many?"
" One. "
" Where is the corpse ? "
"At the house of Tanyi hanutsh."
The shaman turned around. " Tyame," he caUed to the
delegate of the Eagle clan, " do your duty. And you, too,
Tapop." The group was about to disperse when the Shikama
Chayan called back the men who had brought the news.
All stood still and listened.
"Is the head entire? " asked the medicine-man.
"The scalp is not on it."
A murmur of indignation arose. The chayan turned
away and walked slowly along the foot of the cliffs toward
his dwelling. Every one set out for the great house, talking
together excitedly, but in low voices. The tapop, Tyame,
md the two men who had found the body took the lead.
The Hishtanyi Chayan and the Shkuy Chayan came last.
The nearer they came to the great building, the louder
and more dismal sounded the lamentations.
The storm was approaching with threatening speed.
One dense mass of inky clouds shrouded the west. From
time to time it seemed to open, and sheets of fire would fiU

328 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
the gap. To this threatening sky the death-wail ascended
tremulously and plaintively, like a timid appeal for redress.
In response the heavens shot angry lightning and thunder
peals. The cliffs on the Tyuonyi trembled, and re-echoed
the voices from above, which seemed to tell feeble humanity
below, " We come ! "
It was long before sunset when the old war-chief of the
Queres, after having thoroughly examined the spot where
the interview between Shotaye and the Tehua Indian took
place, began to follow on the tracks of the latter. He was
undertaking a difficult, an extremely dangerous task. It is
not easy for a man well provided with weapons to pursue
an armed Indian, but to attempt it unarmed is foolhardi-
ness. The Indian is most dangerous when retreating, for
then he enjoys the best opportunities to display his main
tactics in warfare, which are hiding and patient lurking.
He has every opportunity to prepare his favourite ambush,
and woe unto him who runs after an Indian on the retreat,
unless the pursuer is thoroughly prepared and well ac
quainted with the war-tricks of the redman. The annals
of western warfare give sad evidence of the disastrous re
sults. The mountaineers among the Indian tribes are those
who are best skilled in the murderous hide-and-seek game.
Indians of the plains have less occasion to cultivate it.
Topanashka Tihua was aware that if he followed the
Tehua he was risking his own life. But it was not the first
time he had attempted such dangerous undertakings, and so
far he had never failed. With the configuration of the ground
and the landmarks in vegetation and scenery he was far
better acquainted than the Tehua. Furthermore, he en
joyed the material advantage that the latter could not have
noticed him. Everything depended on ascertaining unseen
as much as possible about the enemy's movements.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 329
From some of Shotaye's gesticulations the maseua had
concluded that the Tehua would proceed on the old trail
leading from the Rito to the Puye, or at least keep himself
very near that trail. He was confirmed in it by the direc
tion which the friend of the woman took after leaving her.
Topanashka maintained, therefore, the same course, go
ing slowly and with the greatest caution. He kept on the
alert for the least noise that struck him as suspicious, or
for which he could not at once account.
In consequence of the heat of the day, the forest was
remarkably still. Not a breeze sighed through the tops of
the pines, for the wind that blows toward a coming storm
and heralds its approach rises later in the day. The distant
gobbling of turkeys was a sound that awakened no suspi
cions, the more so as it grew fainter and fainter, receding
in the direction of the higher crests and peaks. Neither
were the numerous crows a source of uneasiness to him.
On every clearing these birds gravely promenaded by half-
dozens together, and his cautious gliding across such ex
posed places did not in the least discommode the dusky
company. As soon as Topanashka came in sight of the
trail again he kept near it, but to its left, gliding from tree
to tree or creeping across clear expanses from shrub to
shrub. He therefore moved more slowly than the Tehua
whom he was pursuing.
In this manner he had advanced for quite a while,
always keeping an eye on the trail to his right, when he
caught sight of a suspicious object lying directly in the
path, where the latter was barely more than a faint streak
across the thin grass that grows sometimes on the plateaus
in bunches. At once the old man stopped, cowered be
hind a juniper, and waited.
A novice on the war-path, or an inexperienced white man,
would have gone to examine the strange object more closely,

330 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
but the old scout takes such unexpected finds in the light
of serious warning. Nothing appears more suspicious to
him than something which seems to have been accidentaUy
dropped on a trail over which hostile Indians are retreating.
He forthwith thinks of a decoy, and is careful not to ap
proach. For Topanashka it was doubly significant, for had
the object purposely been placed there, it led to the dis
agreeable inference that the Tehua was aware of his pursuit.
In that case he was sure to lie in wait for him, and upon
nearer approach he could expect an arrow-shot without
the least doubt. That shot might miss him, but at all
events the lurking enemy would find out that his pursuer
was an unarmed man, and that there was no danger in
attacking him openly. Then the situation would become
desperate. Still, as the old man had always kept to the right of the
trail, it was possible that the enemy had not so far noticed
him. But somewhere in the neighbourhood of the suspi
cious object that enemy must be hidden ; of that he felt
sure. It was a very serious moment, for any awkward
movement or the least noise might bring about his destruc
tion. Under such circumstances many a one sends a short
prayer to Heaven for assistance in his hour of need. Not
so the Indian ; he has only formulas and ritualistic perform
ances, and there was no time to remember the former or
to think of the latter. Topanashka strained his eyes to the
utmost to find out the nature of the suspicious object that
lay not far from his hiding-place, but he could arrive at no
satisfactory result. It appeared to be round, like a flat
disk ; but of what material it was made and for what pur
pose it had been manufactured, he could not discover. At
last it flashed upon him that it might be one of the circular
war-sandals of the Tehua, whose tracks he had noticed from
time to time, which the owner might have taken off and

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 33 1
deposited here. There was no doubt that the enemy must
be close at hand.
Topanashka had no thought of turning back. Flight was
very difficult, since he did not know where the foe lurked.
To wait was the only thing to be done, — wait until night
came, and then improve the darkness to return to the Rito
in safety. But what of the all-important council-meeting, at
which he was compelled to assist? Crouched behind the
juniper-bush, cautiously peering out from behind it now and
then, the old warrior pondered over the situation. At last
he saw what to do.
Slowly extending his feet and legs backward, he little by
little succeeded in laying himself flat on his stomach. He
had noticed that not far behind him there was another and
much taller bush. Toward this bush he crept, but like a
crawfish, feet foremost. Had his enemy stood otherwise
than in a line with the first shelter which Topanashka had
made use of, he would surely have sent an arrow during this
retrograde performance. He continued to crawfish until
the tall bush was between him and the smaUer one. Once
covered by the former, he raised his head and looked
around. A peculiar stillness reigned. Not a breeze stirred, the
sun was blazing hot, notwithstanding the long, trailing clouds
that traversed the sky.
" Kuawk, kuawk, kuawk ! " sounded the cries of sev
eral crows, as they flew from a neighbouring tree. They
went in the very direction where Topanashka suspected the
Tehua to be, and alighted on a piiion in that neighbour
hood. The old man glanced, not at the birds, but at the
trunk above which the crows were sitting. It was not thick
enough to conceal the body of a man, and about it the
ground was bare. If there had been anybody hiding there,
the cunning and mistrustful birds would never have alighted.

332 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
The maseua took this into consideration, and began to
doubt the correctness of his former conclusions. Yet it
was wiser not to attempt a close examination of the sandal ;
such curiosity might stUl lead to fatal results.
Like an old fox, Topanashka determined to circumvent
the dangerous spot, by describing a wide arc around it.
He would thus meet the trail farther north, and be able to
judge from signs there whether or not the Tehua was close
upon the Rito. First he would have to crawl backward
until he was at a sufficient distance to be out of sight
altogether. This movement he began to execute in his usual slow and
deliberate manner, crawfishing until he felt sure that he
could not be seen from the point where the crows had taken
their position. Once during his retreat the birds fluttered
upward, croaking, but alighted again on the same spot.
Something must have disturbed them.
Topanashka arose, straightened himself, and moved ahead
as noiselessly as possible. He maintained a course parallel
to the trail.
The old man considered himself now as being in the
country of the enemy and on hostile ground. For whereas
he was in reality not far from the Rito, still, possibly, he
had an enemy in his rear. It is the custom of' a warrior of
high rank in the esoteric cluster of the war magicians, ere
the trailing of an enemy begins, to pronounce a short
prayer, and Topanashka had neglected it. His indignation
at the discovery of Shotaye's misdeed was the cause of this
neglect. Now it came to his mind.
" Kuawk, kuawk, kuawk ! "
A crow flew overhead. It came from the tree where the
others had been sitting, or at least from that direction.
To the Indian the crow is a bird of UI omen. Its dis
cordant voice is, next to the cry of the owl, regarded as the

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 333
most dismal forewarning. The use of its plumage in magic
is strongly condemned. Was it not strange that those har
bingers of misfortune so persistently followed him, and that
their repulsive croaking always interrupted his thoughts?
Topanashka resolved to make good on the spot what he
had omitted, and ere he moved, to pray.
In place of the formula which the warrior recites when he
is on the track of an enemy, Topanashka selected another
one, spoken upon entering dangerous ground where enemies
may be lurking. It seemed to him that the latter was
better adapted to the occasion, since he was unarmed and
therefore unable to fight in case of necessity. He still
carried with him the same fetich, a rude alabaster figure of
the panther, which we saw dangling from his necklace on
the day he went to visit the tapop. But the necklace he
had left at home this time, and he carried the amulet in a
leather satchel concealed under his wrap. He took out the
wallet and removed the fetich from it. To the back of the
figure was fastened a small arrow-head, on the sides a tur
quoise and a few shells were tied with strings of yucca fibre.
The old man squatted on the ground, took from the
same satchel a pinch of sacred meal, and scattered it to the
six regions. Then he whispered, —
" A-a. Nashtio, Shiuana, Kopishtai ! Make me precious
this day, even if the land be full of enemies. Let not my
life be threatened by them. Protect me from them. Let
none of the Moshome go across this line," he drew a line
in the sand with the arrow-point, " give me protection from
them ! Mokatsh, Tyame, Shiuana, shield my heart from the
enemy." While pronouncing the latter words he drew three more
lines, breathed on the fetich, placed it in the satchel again,
and rose. He felt strengthened, for he had performed his
duty toward the Shiuana, had satisfied Those Above.

334 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Kuawk, kuawk, kuawk ! " The crow soared back over
his head. The ugly, ill-voiced bird ! Topanashka's eyelids
twitched angrily ; he was amazed.
He resumed his walk, or rather his cautious, gliding gait,
his head bent forward, all his faculties strained to see, to
hear, and to detect. Frequently he would stop, hide him
self, and listen. All was quiet around him, for even the
crows kept silent or were heard in the distance only.
The glare of the sunlight was less vivid, the afternoon
was on the wane. The late hour was not alone the cause
of the diminution of light ; the sun was shrouded by heavy
masses of clouds. With the waning daylight it grew cooler,
a faint breeze being wafted over from the Rio Grande.
The old man rightly supposed that he was approaching
the trail again and would soon strike it. The canon near
which he had surprised Shotaye and her aUy lay some dis
tance in his rear and to the right, for the old trail crosses
it at its upper end, and the canon bends to the north.
Topanashka intended to reach this upper terminus. He
expected in case other Tehuas should be about, that they
would be hidden in that vicinity. He wanted to strike the
path first, and survey it, if from a distance only, then keep
on again in a line parallel to its course until it crossed the
ravine. Afterward he would go back to the Tyuonyi, if
possible, with the sandal as corroborative evidence.
He almost chided himself now for not having picked up
the foot-gear. The more he reflected, the more he became
convinced that his suspicions about some ambush having
been prepared by means of the sandal were groundless.
The crows especially seemed to be a sure sign of it.
That bird is very bold, but also very sly ; and had a war
rior or any human being been in concealment, would
never have selected his vicinity for a place of comfortable
rest. Had they not flown away as soon as he approached

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 335
their roosting-place ? And yet he moved very slowly and
noiselessly. But why did the crows so persistently follow him ? What
signified their restlessness, their loud and repeated cries?
It boded nothing good. The black pursuivants either fore
told or intended evil. Were they real crows ?
The Indian is so imbued with the notion of sorcery that
any animal that behaves unusually appears to him either as
a human being changed into an animal, or some spirit
which has assumed the form for a purpose. That purpose is
either good or bad. Owls, crows, and turkey-buzzards, also
the coyote, are regarded as forms assumed by evU spirits, or
by men under the influence of evil charms. The more
Topanashka reflected upon the conduct of the birds, the
more superstitious he became concerning them. They cer
tainly meant harm. Either they sought to allure him into
danger, or they indicated the presence of imminent peril.
Whatever that danger might be and wherever it might
lurk, the man thought of nothing but to do his duty under
all circumstances. He was, after all, glad that he had not
taken up the sandal. It had brought him as far as he was
now, and he considered it his duty to go to the bitter end,
and find out everything if possible. That he exposed him
self more than was really necessary did not enter his mind.
He failed to consider that if he were killed, nobody would
be able to give timely warning at the Rito, and that the
very search for him might expose his people to the danger
which he was striving to avert. Death had little terror for
him ; it was nothing but the end of all pain and trouble.
As soon as Topanashka believed that he had come again
into proximity of the path, he resumed his previous methods
of locomotion ; that is, he began to crawl on hands and feet.
The timber was of greater density here, for it was nearer
the foot of the mountains.

336 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
In proportion as the trees become taUer and as they
stand closer together, the ground below is freer from shrub
bery, and may be scanned from a certain distance with
greater ease. Nevertheless the soil is more rocky, ledges
crop out on the surface, isolated blocks appear, boulders,
and sometimes low, dyke-like protuberances.
When Topanashka felt certain of the proximity of the
trail, he scanned the ground very carefully. It was still flat,
notwithstanding some rocky patches. The shade was deep,
and as far as the eye reached, nothing moved ; nothing sus
picious was seen, nay, nothing that bore life, except the
sombre vegetation. The wind increased in force ; the pines
faintly murmured from time to time ; a blast penetrated
beneath them to the surface of the soil, chasing the dry
needles in fitful whirls or playing with the tall bunch-
grasses that were growing profusely here.
If any man was about he certainly kept outside the range
of vision. So the old man reasoned, and he began to creep
toward a place where the smoothness of the rocks indicated
the wear and tear of human feet. It was the only trace of
the trail, and barely visible. As he approached the place
he knew that he must be seen, but he relied upon the
fact that a man lying flat on the ground is very difficult to
hit. An arrow could scarcely strike him, and in no case
could the wound be other than slight, for the shot must
come from a distance, as there was, he felt certain, no one
near by.
He glided like a snake, or rather like a huge lizard, which
crawls over obstacles, and whose body adapts itself to
depressions instead of crossing or bridging them over. His
cautious progress scarcely caused a leaf to rustle or a stone
to rattle, and these noises were perceptible only in the vicin
ity of where they were produced. So he pushed himself
graduaUy close up to a ledge, which, while of indifferent

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 337
height, still protected his body somewhat. On this ledge
he expected to notice scratches which indicated that the
trail passed over it.
It was as he suspected, — the rock was slightly worn by
human feet ; but of fresh tracks there could of course be no
trace here, for only long and constant wear and tear, and
not an occasional hurried tread, can leave marks behind.
But Topanashka noticed a few fragments of rock and little
bits of stone that lay alongside the old worn-out channel.
Without lifting his head, he extended his arm, grasped some
of the fragments, and began to examine them.
Loose rocks or stones that have been lying on the
ground undisturbed for some time, always have their lower
surface moist, while the upper dries rapidly. When the
yellowish tufa of these regions becomes wet, it changes
colour and grows of a darker hue. Topanashka had no
ticed that some among the stones which he was examining
were darker than the others. The Indian, when he exam
ines anything, looks at it very carefully. One of the frag
ments was darker on the surface ; of this he felt sure, as
when he. removed them he was careful to keep them as they
lay. Below, the piece had its natural colour, that of dry
stone. He assured himself that the darker shade really
proceeded from humidity ; it was stUl moist. The fragment,
therefore, must have been turned over ; and that, too, a very
short time ago. Only a large animal or a man could have
done this. He looked closely to see whether there were
any scratches indicative of the passage of deer-hoofs or
bear-claws, but there were none except those that appeared
so large as to show plainly from a distance. There was
every likelihood, therefore, that some human being had but
very lately moved the stones, and not only since the rain of
last night but since the surface had had time to dry again ;
that is, in the course of the afternoon.
22

338 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
He moved his body forward where he could examine the
soil alongside the ledge. The grass was nowhere bent and
broken, still that was no sufficient indication. There at
last was a plain human track, the impression of a naked
foot with its toe-marks to the north, and the impression
was fresh ! But the Tehua walked on round sandals. Had
he not lost one of them? It was. very uncomfortable
walking on one of the circular disks only. Topanashka
rose on hands and feet and crept farther, regardless of
what might be behind him. His eyes were directed north
ward and he relied upon his ear to warn him of danger
in the rear.
The trail lay before him quite distinct for a short distance.
Close to it some grasses were bent, and on the sandy place
near by there was a print as if from a small hoop, but the
impression was old and partly blurred. In vain did the
old warrior search for other marks ; the rain had obliterated
everything except this faint trace that might originally have
been plainer because deeper. It looked as if the wearer
of the sandal had stepped on the grass-bunch with the fore
part of his foot, slipped back lightly, and thus pressed the
hind part of the hoop deeper into the soil. In that case
some trace of the heel-print might still be found. And in
deed a very slight concavity appeared behind the impres
sion of the sandal. The heel was turned from the north,
consequently the man was going to, not coming from the
Rito. The tracks were surely old ones.
Everything was plain now. The Tehua had lost one of
his sandals and was returning on his bare feet. But why
should he leave it? Why did he not take it along? Even
that Topanashka could easily explain. People from the
Rito frequently roamed over the northern mesa, close to the
Tyuonyi. He might have noticed the presence of some of
them, and have fled in haste, leaving his foot-gear behind.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 339
Most likely the ties or thongs had given way, and he had no
time to mend them. That was an evidence also that the
man was alone, else he would not have fled with such pre
cipitation. Neither was he in this vicinity any longer.
Topanashka felt that his task was done ; he could not gain
anything by proceeding farther.
" Kuawk, kuawk, kuawk ! " sounded overhead. A crow
had been sitting quietly on the tree above him, but now it
flew off again, the unlucky bird ! Its cry startled the old
man, and he raised his head to look after the herald of evil,
following him with his eye. All was still. Then he rose to
his knees.
A sharp humming twang, a hissing sound, and a thud fol
lowed in lightning-like succession. Topanashka bends over,
and at the same time tumbles forward on his face. There
he lies, the left cheek and shoulder on the ground. The
left arm, with which he has sought to support the body, has
slipped; and it now lies fully extended partly below the
head, the prostrate head. The chest is heaving painfully,
as if under extraordinary pressure. Face and neck are
colouring ; the lips part ; the throat makes a convulsive
effort to swallow. The eyes are starting ; they denote
suffocation and terrible pain. The legs twitch ; they
seem struggling to come to the rescue of the body's upper
half. From the back of the old man there protrudes an arrow-
shaft. It has pierced it close to the spine, between it and
the right shoulder-blade, penetrating into the lungs, where
it now stabs and smarts.
From a distant tree-top there sounds the hoarse " kuawk,
kuawk " of the crow. Otherwise all is still.
The wounded man coughs ; with the cough blood comes
to his lips, — light red blood. The thighs begin to struggle
as if formication was going on in the muscles. It is an im-

340 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
potent movement, and yet is done consciously ; for the trunk
of the body, which was beginning more and more to yield,
now begins to turn clumsily backward ; the left hand
clutches the soil ; the arm is trying to heave, to lift. But
the weight is too heavy, the shaft inside too firmly and too
deeply rooted. Nevertheless the hips succeed in rising ; the
trank follows ; then it tumbles over on the back, contracts
with a moan of pain and suffering, and lies there trembling
with spasmodic shivers.
Topanashka has made this superhuman effort for a pur
pose. He feels that his wound is severe, that his strength
is gone ; his senses are darkened and his thoughts confused.
Still there is a spark of life left, and that spark demands
that he should attempt to see whence came the arrow that
so terribly lacerates his breast. But as he has fallen over
heavily, the point of the arrow has been pressed deeper.
Flint — an arrow-head of flint with notched edges — tears ;
the muscles do not close about the intruder. The blood
flows into the chest ; it fills the lungs ; he suffocates. Yet
all consciousness has not vanished, although pain and op
pression overwhelm the physical instruments of conscious
ness, and deprive the will of its connection with its tools.
The will longs to see him who has destroyed its abode,
but it no longer controls the shattered tissues ; the nerves
shiver like the broken springs of clockwork ere they come
to a stand-still forever. The eye still distinguishes light
occasionally, but it cannot see any longer.
Weaker and weaker become the breathings. On both
sides of the mouth a fold begins to form over the blood
that has curdled and dried ; new fillets stream to the lips
from within. The legs still twitch convulsively.
Now a stream of blood gushes from the open mouth;
wave after wave rashes up with such swiftness that bubbles
and froth form between the lips and remain there. AchiU

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 34 1
pervades the whole body ; it is the last nervous tremor ; the
lower jaw hangs down, showing with fearful distinctness the
folds, the ghastly folds, of death.
All is still. Through the tops of the pines comes a
humming sound like a chant, a last lay to the brave and
dutiful man. Still, stark, and stiff he lies in his gore. His
career is ended ; his soul has gone to rest.
And thus all remained quiet for a short time. Then the
grass was waved and shaken in the direction to which the
old man had turned his back in the last hapless moment.
The grass seemed to grow, to suddenly rise ; and a figure
appeared which had been lying flat behind a projecting
rocky ledge. As this figure straightened itself, bunches of
grass dropped from its back to the ground. It was the
figure of a man.
But it is not the Tehua Indian who stands there motion
less, with bow half drawn and an arrow in readiness, who
gazes over to the corpse to see whether it is really a corpse,
or whether it will need a second shaft to despatch it for
ever. The man is of middle height, raw-boned and spare.
Shaggy hair bristles from under the strands that surround
his head like a turban. He wears nothing but a kilt of
deerskin ; from his shoulders hangs a quiver ; a flint knife
depends from the belt. This man is no village Indian, not
withstanding that dark paint on his body. It is one of the
hereditary foes of the sedentary aborigines, — a Navajo !
He is eying the dead body suspiciously. If it is surely
dead the second arrow may be saved. Those glassy eyes ;
that sallow face ; and the fold, the ghastly fold that runs on
both sides of the mouth, of that mouth filled with blood
now clotting, — they show that life is gone.
StUl the savage keeps his bow well in hand, as with head
and neck extended he steals forward slowly, mistrustfully
approaching his victim. When he is close to the body his

342 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
eyes sparkle with delight and pride, and his face gleams
with the triumph of some hellish spirit.
He touches the corpse. It is warm, but surely lifeless.
He grasps at the wrap ; it is of no value to him, al
though made of cotton. Beneath, however, there must be
something that attracts his attention, for he quickly tears
off the scanty dress and fumbles about the chest of the
victim. A horrible grin of delight distorts his features, al
ready hideously begrimed, for he has found the little bag
and takes from it the fetich of the dead man. That fetich
is a prize, for with it the magic power that was subservient
to the victim while alive now becomes the victor's. He
handles the amulet carefully, almost tenderly, breathes on it,
and puts it back into the bag. Then he detaches his
stone knife, grasps it with the right hand, and with the left
clutches the gray hair of the dead man and with a sudden
jerk pulls the head up. Then he begins to cut the scalp
with his shaggy knife-blade of flint.
A faint whistling sound, as of some one hissing near him,
is heard ; and ere he looks up a male voice by his side has
said, —
" That is good, very good ! " The words are spoken in
the Dinne language.
The murderer looks up, staying his work of mutUation.
By his side there stands another Navajo, dressed, painted,
and armed like himself.
A short time after he had risen from his hiding-place and
was stealing over toward the body of his victim, this other
Navajo had appeared in sight. He watched from the dis
tance his companion's proceedings, and as he recognized
that he was busying himself with some dead body, ap
proached rapidly, though without the least noise. He dis
covered the dead, stood still, fastened a piercing glance on
the prostrate form, and heaved a great sigh of relief. Not-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 343
withstanding the paint on his face it was easy to see how
delighted he was at the sight. He again advanced, not un
like a cat which is afraid to go too near another that is play
ing with a mouse, for fear of being scratched or bitten by
her. But when unobserved he had reached the Navajo,
he could not withhold a joyful exclamation that startled and
interrupted the murderer. He asked, —
" Dost thou know who that is? "
The other shrugged his shoulders.
" That is Topanashka, the strong and wise warrior. That
is very, very good ! "
Navajo number two looked closely at the corpse ; then
he grasped the hair again and resumed the cutting.
Number one touched his arm.
" Why do you do this? " he asked.
The other chuckled.
" Dost thou not see it, Nacaytzusle," said he ; " the peo
ple of the houses know that we only take a lock of the hair.
If now they find the body and see that this " — he pointed to
the skin — " is gone, they will think it is one of those up
here " — waving his hand to the north — " that has done
it." Nacaytzusle, for he was indeed the second Navajo,
nodded approvingly and suffered the other to go on.
Cutting, scraping, tearing, and pulling, he at last suc
ceeded in making a deep incision around the skull. Blood
flowed over his fingers and hands. Then he grasped the
gray hair, planted himself with both feet on the neck, and
pulled until the scalp was wrenched off and dangled in his
fist. Over the bare skull numberless fillets of blood began
to trickle, at once changing the face and neck of the dead
into a red mass. Then he turned to the other, nodded, and
said, —
" It is weU."

344 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Nacaytzusle turned his eyes upon the dead, and replied in
a hoarse voice, —
" It is well."
He scanned the surroundings suspiciously.
"Thou hast done well, very well," he said to the mur
derer. "Thou art strong and cunning. This one " — he
touched the body with his toes — "was strong and wise
also, but now he is so no longer. Now," he hissed, "we
can go down into the Tu Atzissi and get what we want."
" What dost thou mean, Nacaytzusle ? " inquired the vic
torious Navajo.
" Go thou back to the hogan," whispered Nacaytzusle to
him, " and tell the men to be there," pointing southwest-
ward, " four days from now. I will be there and will speak
to them."
The other nodded.
"Let us go," said he.
They moved off in silence without casting another glance
at the dead. Their direction was southwest. They care
fully avoided making the least noise ; they spied and peered
cautiously in every direction, shy, suspicious. Thus they
vanished in the forest like wolves sneaking through timber.
Evening had set in. Stronger blew the wind, and the
top of the pines shook occasionally with a solemn rushing
sound that resembled distant thunder. The breeze swayed
the grass, the blades nodded and bowed beside the remains
of the brave man as if they were asking his forgiveness for
the bloody deed of which they had been the innocent wit
nesses. A crow came up, flapping her wings, and alighted
on a tree which stood near the corpse, and peered down
upon the body. Then she croaked hoarsely, jumped to
a lower limb, and peered again. Thus the bird contin
ued to descend from one branch to another, croaking and

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 345
chuckling as it were to herself. At last she fluttered
down to the ground, a few paces from the body, peeped
slyly over to where it lay, and walked toward it with slow,
stately steps and eager nods. But something rattled in the
distance ; the bird's head turned to the east, and as quick
as lightning she rose in the air and flew off with a loud,
angry, " kuawk, kuawk, kuawk ! "
Two men are coming toward the spot. They are In
dians from Tyuonyi who came up in the course of the
afternoon with bows and arrows. They perceive the body,
and the blood on it and around it. Both stand still, terri
fied at the sight. At last one of them exclaims, —
" It is one from the Zaashtesh ! "
They run together to the spot, heedless of the danger
which may yet be lurking about. They bend over the
dead, then look at each other speechless, confused. At last
they find words, and exclaim simultaneously, —
" It is our father, Topanashka Tihua ! "
" It is sa nashtio maseua ! "
Both men are young yet, they Weep. Their sorrow is so
great, in presence of the loss sustained by them and by
all, that they forget all caution. Had the Navajos been
about stiU, two more of the house-dwellers would have
fallen. They attempt to decide what is to be done; their
thoughts become confused, for the terrible discovery dis
tracts them. Little by little they become conscious that it is
impossible to leave the body here, a prey to the wolves and
carrion crows ; that it must be brought home, down into the
valley where he was so beloved, so worshipped almost, by
everybody. Nothing else can be done.
With sighs and sobs, stifled groans and tears, the body
is raised up, one supporting the head, the other the feet.
Thus they drag and carry it along on the old traU to the

346 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Rito. Blood clings to their hands and to their dress.
Never mind. Is it not the blood of a good man, and may
not with that blood some of his good qualities perhaps pass
into them ? Not a word is spoken, not even when they lay
down the corpse to rest themselves a while. In such mo
ments they stand motionless, one by the mutUated head, the
other at the feet. They look neither at each other nor at
it, for if they should attempt it tears would be sure to come
to their eyes. Without a word they lift up the body again,
tenderly as if it were a chUd's, and on they go, slowly,
painfully, and sUently.
It is night now, and the forest is more full of life. The
dread voices of the darkness are heard around them ; coyo
tes howl and whine ; in the distance owls hiss and shriek
and flit from tree to tree, as the panting men approach.
They think not of danger, not even of those who so ruth
lessly slaughtered their great and good maseua; on they
go as fast as the heavy load permits and as their heavy
hearts afford them strength.
Now one of them stumbles and falls, and as he rises he
notices that the object over which he has tripped is still
clinging to his foot. He cannot see what it is, but grasping
it, discovers a round war-sandal, over which he has stumbled,
whose thongs have remained between his toes. This discov
ery he communicates to his companion. With fresh vigour
they resume their dismal march. It is dark, so dark that
nothing more can be seen ; nothing more is heard save dis
tant thunder and the discordant voices of the night in the
forest. Slowly and silently they proceed homeward with
their gory but precious burden.

CHAPTER XVI.
Lamentations over a dead body are everywhere a sad and
sickening performance to witness and to hear. Among the
aborigines of New Mexico — among the sedentary tribes at
least — the official death-wail is carried on for four days.
The number four plays a conspicuous role in the lives of
those people. And it is natural that it should. Four are
the cardinal points, four the seasons, four times five digits
depend from hands and feet. The Queres has not even a
distinct term for finger or for toe. He designates the
former as one above the hand, the latter as one above the
foot. Four days the redman fasts or does penance ; four
days he mourns, for that is the time required by the soul
to travel from the place where it has been liberated from
the thralls of earthly life to the place of eternal felicity. At
the time of which we are speaking, the body was still
cremated, and with it everything that made up the personal
effects of the deceased.1 If a man, his clothes, his weapons,
his loom, in case he had practised the art of weaving, were
burned ; if a woman, the cooking utensils were " killed ; "
1 I borrow these facts from Spanish sources. Both Castaneda and
Mota Padilla mention cremation as being practised in the sixteenth
century by the Pueblos. The latter author even gives * detailed
description. Withal, the fact that the Pueblos also buried the body
is more than abundantly established. Both modes of burial were
resorted to, and contemporaneously even, according to the nature of
the country and soil. There is comparatively little soil at the Rito.
The mourning ceremonies, etc., I have witnessed myself.

348 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
that is, either perforated at the bottom or broken over the
funeral pyre and afterward consumed. In this manner
the deceased was accompanied by his worldly goods, in the
shape of smoke and steam, through that air in which the
soul travelled toward Shipapu, in the far-distant mythical
North. The road must be long to Shipapu, else it would
not require four entire days to reach it ; and there are
neither eating-places nor half-way houses on the way, where
the dead may stop for refreshments. Therefore the sur
vivors placed on the spot where the body had rested for
the last time an effigy of the dead, a wooden carving, and
covered it with a piece of cloth ; while by the side of this
effigy they deposited food and water, in order that neither
cold, hunger, nor thirst might cause the travelling spirit to
suffer. But the road is not only long, it is also dangerous ;
evil spirits lie in wait for the deceased to capture him if
possible, and hamper his ultimate felicity. To protect him
self against them a small war-club is added to the other
necessaries, and to render the journey safe beyond a doubt
a magic circle is drawn, encompassing the statuette with a
circle of cruciform marks, imitating the footprints of the
shashka, or road-runner. As these crosses point in all four
directions, it is supposed that evil spirits will become be
wildered and unable to pursue the soul in its transit. At
the end of the fourth day, with many prayers and ceremo
nies, the circle is obliterated, and the other objects, in
cluding the effigy, are taken away by the shamans to be
disposed of in a manner known to them alone.
During the period of official mourning the loud wail was
carried on incessantly, or at least at frequent intervals;
fasting was practised ; the women wept, sobbed, screamed,
and yelled. Both sexes gathered daily around the place
where the effigy lay, praying loudly for the safe journey and
arrival at Shipapu of the defunct. The women alone shed

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 349
tears on such occasions, the men only stared with a gloomy
face and thoughtful mien. They recalled and remem
bered the dead. What the great master of historical
composition has said of the ancient Germans may be
applied here also : " Feminis lugere honestum est, viris
meminisse." In the humble abode where Topanashka Tihua had dwelt
with his deaf old wife, and where his bloody remains- had
rested previous to being borne to the funeral pyre, his
effigy lay covered by the handsomest piece of cotton cloth
that could be found among the homes of the Rito, and a
quaintly painted and decorated specimen of pottery con
tained the drinking-water for his soul. It was dusky in the
room, for the window as well as the hatchway afforded little
light. Subdued voices sounded from the apartment, monot
onous recitals, which the loud refrain, " Heiti-na, Heiti-na,"
at times interrupted. The poor deaf widow sat with tearful
eyes in a corner ; her lips moved, but no sound came from
them ; only, when the leader of the choir broke out with
appropriate gesticulations, she chimed in loudly. When at
such a signal the other women present began to tear their
hair, she did the same, and shouted at the top of her voice
like the others, " Heiti-na, Heiti-na ! "
Group after group of mourners visited the room, until
both clans, Tanyi and Tyame, had performed their duty.
Hannay, too, had made her appearance; she had shed
tears like a rain-cloud, had howled and whined more than
any one else. Her grief was surely assumed, for when
Tyope asked her in the evening she told him everything in
detail that she had noticed, — how this one had looked,
how such and such a one had yelled, — plainly showing
that the flood of tears had in no manner impeded her
faculties of perception, the sighs and sobs around her in no
manner deafened her attentive ear. Tyope listened with

350 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
apparent indifference, and said nothing. She attended to
the weeping part, he not so much to the duty of pious
recollection as to that of deep thinking over the new phase
which matters had entered upon in consequence of the
bloody event.
For this sudden death of the maseua wa. for his designs
a most fortunate occurrence. The only man who in the
prospective strife between the clans might have taken an
attitude dangerous, perhaps disastrous, to his purposes, was
now dead ; and the office which that man held had become
vacant. There was but one individual left in the tribe who
might yet prove a stumbling-block to him; that was the
Hishtanyi Chayan. But the great medicine-man was not so
much a man of action as a man of words, and the force of
his oracular utterances Tyope hoped to destroy through the
powerful speeches of the Koshare Naua and the strong
medicine of the Shkuy Chayan. The plans of Tyope had
been immensely furthered by the terrible accident ; they had
advanced so much that he felt it indispensable to modify
them to some extent. Terror and dismay were great at
the Rito, and the council had been adjourned sine die.
There could be no thought of a fresh accusation against
Shotaye until the four days of official mourning were past,
and the campaign against the enemy, which the bloody
outrage imperatively called for.
The murder by the Tehuas, as Tyope and the others
believed, of the principal war-chief of the tribe, at a time
when the two tribes were without any communication with
each other, was too great an outrage not to demand imme
diate revenge. The murder could not have been the result
of a misunderstanding or accident, else the scalp would not
have been taken by the murderer. It was premeditated,
an act of deliberate hostility, a declaration of war on the
part of the Tehuas. The dead man's scalp had certainly

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 35 1
wandered over to the caves of the northern tribe ; it was
certainly paraded there in the solemn scalp-dance by which
the Tehuas, beyond all doubt, publicly honoured and re
warded the murderer.
Tyope knew that the Queres were of one mind and that
the official mourning alone kept them from replying to this
act of unjustifiable hostility by an attack upon the Puye,
but he also knew that as soon as the four days were past a
campaign against the Tehuas would be set on foot. The
Hishtanyi Chayan had retired to work, and that meant war !
He and the Shikama Chayan fasted and mourned together ;
their mourning was not only on account of the great loss
suffered by the tribe in the person of the deceased ; they
bewailed a loss of power. That power had gone over into
the enemy's ranks with the scalp of the murdered man.
Although the death of Topanashka was for Tyope an
event of incalculable benefit, he had exhibited tokens of
regret and sorrow. His manner was dignified ; he did not
mourn in any extravagant fashion, but conducted himself
so that nobody could suspect the death of the old man to
be anything else than a source of regret to him. Further
more, he intended by his own example to foster the idea
among his tribal brethren that the outrage was so grave
that it demanded immediate and prompt redress. The
carrying out of this redress was of the greatest importance
to him. The sooner it was executed the better it would
suit his plans.
During the last interview of Tyope with the young Na
vajo, the latter had charged him with having asked the
Dinne to kill the old maseua during an incursion which his
tribe were to make into the valley of the Rito. It was true
that Tyope had suggested it, but he had not told the Na
vajo all that he designed through this act of treachery.
His object was not merely to rid himself of the person of

352 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Topanashka; he sought an opportunity of becoming the
ostensible saviour of his tribe in the hour of need. If the
Dinne had made the premeditated onslaught, he would,
after he had given them time to perform the murder, have
appeared upon the scene, driven off the assailants, and thus
recommended himself to the people for the vacant position
of war-chief. The game was a double one on his part;
first he was to betray his kinsfolk to the Navajos, and sec
ondly to turn against the Navajos in defence of the betrayed
ones. Tyope realized that it was a very dangerous game,
and he had therefore desisted and even gone so far as to
repel the young Navajo at the risk of his own life.
As matters stood, all had gone far better than he ever
hoped for. Without complicity on his part, Topanashka
had been put out of his way; and the office coveted by
Tyope was vacant. An important military enterprise was
to follow at once. Tyope intended to go on this cam
paign at all hazards, in order to distinguish himself as much
as possible. This he was able to do, for he possessed all
the physical qualities necessary for a powerful Indian war
rior, and he was very crafty, cunning, bold and experienced.
He belonged to the society of war magicians, and held in
his possession most of the charms and fetiches used for
securing invincibility. There was no doubt in his mind
that he would return from the war-path crowned with glory
and with scalps, provided he was not killed. Should he
return alive, then the time would come for him to set the
Koshare Naua to work to secure him the desired position.
Once made maseua he would resume his former plans, push
the case against Shotaye to the bitter end, and try to divide
the tribe. For the present the two objects had to be set
aside. The expedition against the Tehuas must take the
lead of everything else.
While Tyope was prompted, by the grief and mourning

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 353
that prevailed, to display fresh activity and resort to new
intrigues; while at the same time his wife improved the
occasion for her customary prying, listening, and gossip, —
their daughter, Mitsha, on the other hand, really mourned
sincerely and grieved bitterly. She mourned for the dead
with the candour of a child and the feeling of a woman.
When she, too, had gone to the house of the dead to pray,
her tears flowed abundantly ; and they were genuine. The
girl did not weep merely on account of the deceased, for
she could not know his real worth and merits ; she grieved
quite as much on Okoya's account. The boy had been to
see her every evening of late. He was there on the night
when the corpse was brought home, and they heard the wail
and rushed out on the roof. At that moment Hannay had
returned, full to the brim with the dismal news. Okoya for
got everything and returned home, and Mitsha went back
to the room and wept. While her mother proceeded in
her account with noisy volubility, Mitsha cried ; for Okoya
had often spoken of his grandfather, telling her how wise,
strong, and good sa umo maseua was. She felt that the
young man looked up to him as to an ideal, and she wept
quite as much because of her feeling for Okoya as for the
murdered main-stay of her people.
While she thus mourned from the bottom of her heart,
the thought came to her how she would feel in case her
father was brought home in the same way. Mitsha was a
good child, and Tyope had always treated her not only
with affection but with kindness. He gave her many pre
cious things, as the Indian calls the bright-coloured peb
bles, shell beads, base turquoises, crystals, etc., with which
he decorates his body. He liked to see his daughter shine
among the daughters of the tribe. With him it was specu
lation, not affection ; but Mitsha knew nothing of this, and
felt that in case her parent should ever be borne back to
23

354 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
this house dead, and placed on the floor before her covered
with gore, she must feel just as Okoya felt now. And yet
the dead man was only his grandparent. No, it was not
possible for him to be as sad as she would be in case
Tyope should meet with such a fate. And then she won
dered whether the whole tribe would regret her father's
death as much as they regretted the loss of Topanashka.
Something within her told that it would not. She had al
ready noticed that Tyope was not liked ; but why, she knew
not. Okoya himself had intimated as much. She knew
that the boy shunned her father; and her attachment to
Okoya had become so deep that his utterances began to
modify her feelings toward her own parents.
If she would sorrow and grieve for her father's loss, if
Okoya was mourning over his grandfather's demise, how
must the chUd of the murdered man, of such a man as To
panashka, feel ? His only child was a woman like herself.
A true woman always feels for her sex and sympathizes with
other women's grief; and besides, that woman was the
mother of the youth who had won her heart. Okoya had
told her a great deal about his mother, — how good she was
and how content she was to see him and her become one.
The girl was anxious to know his mother, but a visit to a pro
spective mother-in-law is by no means an unimportant step.
If it is accompanied by a present it bears the character of
an official acceptance of courtship. That step Mitsha was
afraid as yet to take ; it was too early ; there were too many
contingencies in the way.
Still she longed to go to Say Koitza now. But visits of
condolence are not in vogue among Indians as long as there
is loud mourning, except at the house where the mourning
is going on. How much Mitsha would have given to be
permitted to go to Say, sit down quietly in a comer, and
modestly and without speaking a word, weep in her company.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 355
At the same time she felt another longing. Since the night
of the murder Okoya had of course not been to see her, and
she naturaUy longed to meet him also in this hour of sad
ness and trial. Once when she had gone to the brook for
water, Zashue had crossed her path; but he looked so
dark and frowning that she did not venture even to greet
him. It was the last day of mourning, and nearly everybody at
the Rito who could or ought had paid his respects to the
dead. The Chayani of lesser rank alone returned from
time to time to perform specially strong incantations in aid
of the still travelling soul. Mitsha had gone down to the
brook to get water. It occurred only once a day during these
days, for the people of Tyame fasted, taking but one frugal
meal daily. Everybody was very careful also not to wash,
and Mitsha herself was as unkempt as any one else of her
clan. Bearing the huashtanyi on her head, she was returning,
when as she passed the comer of the big house her eyes dis
covered a man standing with his back turned to her, gazing
at the cliffs. He seemed to face the dwellings of the Eagle
clan. As the girl approached, the noise of her step caused
him to turn, and she recognized Okoya.
The youth stepped up to her ; his eyes were hollow, and
now they became moist. He attempted to control himself,
to restrain the tears that were coming to his eyes at the sight
of her ; but he sobbed convulsively. When she saw it tears
came to her eyes at once. The two children stood there, he
struggling to hide his grief, for it was unmanly to weep, and
yet he was young and could not control his feelings ; she,
as a woman, feeling at liberty to weep. She wept, but
silently and modestly. It grieved her to see him shed
tears. He, too, felt for her ; but it was soothing to his own grief

356 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
that Mitsha mourned. He too was longing to meet her ; the
four days of separation had been very long to him.
" He was so good," Okoya at last succeeded in saying.
Fresh tears came to his eyes.
Mitsha merely nodded and covered her face with a cor
ner of her wrap.
" Have you been to him? " he asked.
She nodded ; Okoya continued, —
" To-morrow I will come again."
Eager nods, mingled with sobs and accompanied by rub
bing of the eyes, were her reply. The nodding proved that
his call would be very, very welcome. She uncovered her
face, her eyes beamed through tears, and she smiled. As
sincerely as she felt her grief, the announcement that he
would return as soon as the mourning-time was over made
her happy, and her features expressed it. She went her
way quietly, Okoya following her with his eyes.
He longed to say to her, " Come with me, and let us go
together to my mother ; she weeps so much." But it could
not be ; it was useless to mention it. About his mother
Okoya felt deeply concerned, for she did not bear her grief
as the others bore theirs. She was not noisy like the rest.
Utterly oblivious of her daily task, she neither cooked nor
baked nor cared for anything. Her husband and children
had to go hungry, while she sat in a comer sobbing and
weeping. It was indeed a blessing for her that she was able
to weep ; otherwise her reason might have given way under
the terrible and crushing blow. With the loss of her father
she felt as if lost forever, as if her only support, her only
hope, had gone. The past came back to her, not like an
ugly dream, but as a fearful reality threatening sure destruc
tion. Between her and the accusation which she felt cer
tain had been fulminated against her before the council,
there stood henceforth no one, and at the end of the mourn-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 357
ing she expected to be dragged before the council at once
and condemned to death ! And what sort of death? Ex
posed to public wrath as a witch, bound and gagged, tied
to a tree, with the rough bark lacerating her breast, and then
beaten, beaten to a jelly, rib broken after rib, limb after
limb, until the soul left the body's wreck under the curses
of bystanders. Oh, if she could only die now a swift, an
honourable death like that of her father !
If she could only have seen Shotaye ! She expected
the cave-woman surely to come down to cheer her up. She
felt a longing for her friend, a desire to see her, to hear her
voice. But day after day ran on, night after night followed,
and Shotaye did not come. It did not surprise her that
Shotaye did not appear on the first day, but on the evening
of the second she began to tremble. When the night of
the third came, her apprehensions became distressing. On
the fourth, Shotaye must surely come ; expectation, and
finally disappointment, almost tortured to death the poor
woman, for Shotaye came not.
Everything seemed to conspire to render her hopelessly
miserable. She lost sight of her surroundings, grew speech
less, and almost devoid of feeling. The others explained her
state as one of profound and very natural grief, and let her
alone. But it was uncomfortable in the house when the
mistress took no notice of anything, and did not even
provide the most necessary things, not even drinking-water.
Therefore Zashue, as well as Okoya, preferred to go out of
doors, there to await the termination of the disagreeable
period of mourning at the end of which they confidently
expected Say to return to her normal condition.
After he had separated from Mitsha, Okoya sauntered,
without really knowing whither, up the gorge and down the
northern side of the cultivated plots. He gradually neared
the cliffs, and found himself beyond the dwellings of the

358 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Water clan, and therefore beyond the uppermost caves
that were inhabited. The gorge, narrow and covered
mostly with underbrush and pines, afforded to his sight but
a single conspicuous object, and toward this he turned at
once. To his right lay some caves that had been long ago for
saken, and whose front wall had partly crumbled. Below
the short slope leading up to them are the traces of an old
round estufa. A plain concavity in the ground indicates its
site to-day. At the time when Okoya strolled about, the
roofing alone was destroyed, and part of the interior was
filled with blocks of stone that had tumbled from the cliffs,
crashing the roof. Okoya, from where he stood, had the
interior of the ruin open before him, and he saw in it,
partly sitting and partly reclining, the figure of his friend
Hayoue. It was a welcome discovery.
He had not met Hayoue since the death of his grand
father, for the brother of Zashue had avoided the great
house and its inmates on purpose. He mourned earnestly
and sincerely, and wished to be alone with his thoughts.
But Okoya was not disposed to let him alone. He knew
that if his uncle spoke to any one he would speak to him,
and that if he felt indisposed to enter into any conversation
he would say so at once. Hayoue was very outspoken.
The boy jumped down from block to block noisily, for
he wanted to attract his uncle's attention beforehand. The
latter looked up. As soon as he saw who the disturber
of his musings was, he waved his hand, beckoning him to
come. Okoya obeyed with alacrity, for he saw that Hayoue
felt disposed to talk. Throwing himself down beside him
he waited patiently until the other saw fit to open the con
versation. They both remained for a while in silence, until
Hayoue heaved a deep sigh and said, —
"Does Zashue, my brother, mourn also?"

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 359
"Not as we do," replied Okoya; "yet he is sad."
"It is well. He is right to feel sad. Sad for himself,
for you, for all of us."
" Sa umo was so good," whispered the boy, and tears
came to him again; but he controlled his feelings and
swallowed his sobs. He did not wish the other to see
him weep.
" Indeed sa umo maseua was good, " Hayoue empha
sized, " better than any of us, truer than any of us ! None
of us at the Tyuonyi is as strong and wise as he was."
" How could the Moshome kill him, if he was such a
great warrior," Okoya naively inquired.
" See, satyumishe, he was struck from behind. In this
way a Moshome may kill a bear, and so yai shruy destroys
the strongest mokatsh. Sa umo had no weapons, neither
bow nor arrow nor club. He did not suppose that there
were any Moshome lurking about as tiatui lies in wait for
the deer. Had sa nashtio gone south or toward the west,
he would have carried what was right, but over there," — he
pointed northward, — " who would have believed the people
over there to be so mean as these shuatyam of Tehuas now
prove to be ? Destruction come upon them ! " He spoke
very excitedly, his eyes flashed, and he gnashed his teeth.
Shaking his clenched fist at the north, he hissed, " And de
struction will come upon them soon ! We shall go to Kapo
and come back with many scalps. We wiU not get one
only, and crawl back, as shutzuna does after he has stolen a
turkey. We shall go soon, very soon ! "
Okoya yielded to the excitement which the latter part of
his friend's speech bespoke. His eyes sparkled also, and
his chest heaved at the mention of blood.
" Satyumishe," he exclaimed, " let us go, I and you
together. Let us go and get what may please our father's
heart ! "

360 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Hayoue looked at him ; it was an earnest and significant
look. "You are right, brother. You are wise and you are
good. You also know how to hit with an arrow, but you
are not uakanyi."
"But I shall be one, if I go with you," boldly uttered the
boy. His uncle shook his head, and smiled.
" Don't you know, sa uishe, that every one cannot go with
the warriors, when they go on the war-path? Every one
cannot say, ' I am going,' and then go as he pleases and
when he pleases. Every one cannot think, ' I am strong
and wise, and I will follow the enemy.' If the Shiuana do
not help him, the strongest is weak, and the wisest is
a child before the foe. See, satyumishe, I am as good a
uakanyi as any one, but I do not know whether, when the
Hishtanyi Chayan says in the uuityam which men shall go.
and take from the Tehuas what is proper, I may go with
them. Perhaps I shall have to stay, and some other one
will go in my stead."
"Must not aU go?" Okoya asked; he was astonished
" Every one must go whom the maseua chooses." With
a sad expression he added, "Our maseua is no more, and
ere the Hotshanyi has spoken to the yaya and nashtio, and
said to them, ' such and such a one shall be maseua,' it is the
Hishtanyi Chayan who decides who shall go and who shall
stay at home."
His nephew comprehended ; he nodded and inquired, —
"Does not the Hishtanyi Chayan fast and do penance
now?" "Our nashtio yaya," Hayoue replied with an important
and mysterious mien, " has much work at present."
"Do you know what he is working?" naively asked
Okoya.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 361
"He is with Those Above."
The reply closed the conversation on that subject. Okoya
changed the topic, asking, —
"Satyumishe, you are not much older than I. How
comes it that you are uakanyi already?"
Hayoue felt quite flattered. He was indeed very young
for a war magician, and he felt not a little pride on account
of it. Assuming a self-satisfied and important air, he turned
lo his nephew with the query, —
"When you go out hunting, what is the first thing you
do?" " I take my bow and arrow and leave the house," readily
answered the boy.
" This is not what I ask for," growled Hayoue. " What
kind of work do you do ere you rise to the kauash? "
The boy understood at last.
" I place the stone, and speak to Those Above."
" If before you go hunting you do not speak to them, are
you lucky?"
"No," Okoya mumbled. He recalled the unlucky tur
key-hunt of some time ago, when he had forgotten to say his
prayers before starting, of which we have spoken in the first
chapter. "Why have you no luck?" Hayoue further asked.
" Because the Shiuana are not satisfied," replied the
other. His uncle nodded.
"Are you a hunter? " he asked.
" Not yet, I am only learning."
" Why do you learn? "
" In order to know."
"When you once know, what can you do then?"
" I can — " Okoya was embarrassed. " I can make the
Shiuana help me."
"That is it!" Hayoue exclaimed. "If the Shiuana do

362 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
not help, you can do nothing ; no matter how swift you run,
how far you see, and how sure your aim is. But of the
Shiuana there are many, as many as grains of sand on the
shore of the great river below here, and when we do not
know them we cannot speak to them and beg for assist
ance. Just as there are Shiuana who assist the hunter, there
are those who help us, that we may strike the enemy and
take away from him what makes him strong, that it may
strengthen us. Look at Tyame, the nashtio of Tzitz ha
nutsh ; he is swift and strong, but he knows not how to caU
to Those Above and around to help him take the scalp of
the Moshome. We must be wise, and listen to what those
speak who know how to address the Shiuana, and what to
give them. We must learn in order to act. I have learned,
and thus I have become uakanyi. And he who wiU soon
be where in time we also shall find rest, — he taught me
many things. He was good and wise, very good, our father
the maseua," he added, sighing deeply.
"Will you help me to learn and become uakanyi?"
Okoya turned to him now with flashing eyes.
" I will, surely I will. You shall become one of us. But
you know, brother, that you must be silent and keep your
tongue tied. You must not say to this or that one, ' I am
learning, I have learned such and such things, for I am
going to become uakanyi.'"
Okoya of course assented. Then he asked, —
" I am not uakanyi, and can the Hishtanyi Chayan tell me
to go along too with the men to strike the Tehuas? "
"Certainly, for there are not many of us, and in the
Zaashtesh all must stand up for each, and each for all. But
when many go on the war-path there are always some of us
with them in order that the Shiuana be in our favour."
" Do the Shiuana help the Tehuas also ? For the Tehuas
are people like ourselves, are they not?"

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 363
" They are indeed Zaashtesh, like the Queres. But I do
not know how the Shiuana feel toward them. Old men
who knew told me that the Moshome Tehua prayed to
Those Above and around us, and that they call them Ohua.
Whether they are the same as ours I cannot tell ; but I
cannot believe them to be ; for the kopishtai who dwell
over there must be good to their people, whereas the
kopishtai here are good to us. Only those who hold in
their hands the paths of our lives help those who do
right and give them what is due, wherever and whoever
they be."
" How soon shall we go against the Tehuas? "
"The Yaya Chayan and the uishtyaka perhaps alone
know that. As soon as the Hishtanyi has done his work
he will call the uuityam, and then those shall go that must.
Perhaps I may go, perhaps not. It may be that both of us
will be sent along. But we will go soon," he fiercely mut
tered, " soon, to take from the Tehuas what is precious to
the heart of our father, who now goes toward Shipapu."
Okoya felt wildly excited and could barely restrain him
self. Thirst for revenge joined the intense wish to become
a warrior. But Hayoue's placed a damper on his enthusi-i
asm, else he might have left that night alone, with bow
and arrow and a stone knife, to hover about the Puye until
some luckless Tehua fell into his hands. He saw, however,
that nothing could be done without the consent and support
of the higher powers, and that he must curb his martial
ardour and abide by the decisions of Those Above. The
present topic of conversation being exhausted, both sat in
silence for a while, each following his own train of thoughts.
Okoya was the first to speak again.
" Does your hanutsh mourn ? "
"The women have gone to weep with the dead," replied
Hayoue. "I too am mourning," he added sorrowfully;

364 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" but I mourn as is becoming to a man. Crying and weep
ing belong only to women."
" I have cried," whispered Okoya timidly, as he looked at
his friend with a doubting glance. He was ashamed of the
confession, and yet could not restrain himself from making
it. Hayoue shrugged his shoulders.
" You are young, satyumishe, and your heart is young. It
is like the heart of a girl. When you have seen many dead
men and many dying, you will do as I do, — you will not cry
any more." He coughed, and his face twitched nervously;
with all his affectation of stoicism he had to straggle
against tears. In order to suppress them completely he
spoke very loudly at once,. —
" Tzitz hanutsh has nothing to do with the dead, and yet
the women lament and its men think over the loss that the
tribe has sustained. I tell you, Okoya, we have lost much ;
we are like children without their mother, like a drove
of turkeys whose gobbler tiatui or mokatsh have kiUed.
Now," — his eyes flashed again and he gnashed his teeth, —
" now Tyope and the old Naua are uppermost. Just wait
untU the men have returned from the war-path, and you will
see. Evil is coming to us. Did you notice, satyumishe,
on the night when they carried sa nashtio maseua back to
the Tyuonyi how angry the Shiuana were ; how the light
ning flamed through the clouds and killed the trees on the
mesa? I tell you, brother, evil is coming to our people, for
a good man has gone from us to Shipapu, but the bad ones
have been spared."
Okoya shuddered involuntarily. He recollected well that
awful night. Never before had a storm raged on the Rito
with such fury. Frightful had been the roar of the thun
der, prolonged like some tremendous subterranean noise.
Incessant lightning had for hours converted night into day,
and many were the lofty pines that had been shattered or

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 365
consumed by the fiery bolts from above. The wind, which
seldom does any damage at such places, had swept through
the gorge and over the mesas with tremendous force, and
lastly the peaceful, lovely brook, swollen by the waters that
gushed from the mountains in torrents, as well as by the
rain falling in sheets, had waxed into a roaring, turbid
stream. It had flooded the fields, destroying crops and
spreading masses of rocky debris over the tillable soil.
Yes, the heavens had come upon the Rito in their full
wrath, as swift and terrible avengers. Both of them re
membered well that awful night, and dropped into moody
sUence at the dismal recollection.
"Are there any other bad men at the Tyuonyi? " Okoya
asked ; but low, as if he were afraid of the answer.
" There may be others," Hayoue muttered, " but those
two are certainly the worst."
Okoya felt disappointed ; Tyope, he saw, must indeed be
a bad creature.
" Do you know whether Tyope is mourning? " asked his
uncle. " I have not seen him," grumbled the other.
" I am sure he will look as if his mother had died,"
scolded Hayoue. " He is a great liar, worse than a Na
vajo. He puts on a good face and keeps the bad one
inside. I would like to know what the Shiuana think of
that bad man."
" Have we any bad women among us? " Okoya said, to
change the conversation.
" Hannay is bad ! " his uncle cried.
A pang went through the heart of the other youth. His
prospective father and mother in-law appeared really a pair
of exquisite scoundrels.
" Are there any others ? "
" I don't know, still I have heard," Hayoue looked

366 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
about as if afraid of some eavesdropper, — " what I tell you
now is only for yourself, — that Shotaye is bad, very bad !
After being Tyope's wife for a while, I should not be sur
prised if — "
"Does she speak to those that can do us harm? " Okoya
interrupted in a timid whisper.
" It may be. There is no doubt but she is a harlot ; I
know it myself, and every man on the Tyuonyi knows it.
Other women are also spoken of, but nobody says it aloud.
It is not right to speak thus of people when we do not
know positively. I have not seen Shotaye since our father
died. She is mourning perhaps, for her cave is shut and
the deerskin hangs over the doorway. She is likely to be
inside in quiet until the trouble is over and the men can
go to her again."
Okoya rose to go.
"Are you coming along?" he asked his uncle.
Hayoue shook his head ; he still wished to remain alone.
"It may be," he said, "that we shall have to leave in
two days against the Tehuas, and I shall remain so that I
may be ready when the tapop calls upon us. You rely
upon it, satyumishe, we shall go soon, and when it so
happens that we both must go you shall come with me that
I may teach you how the scalp is taken."
Thus dismissed, Okoya sauntered back down the valley.
When opposite the caves of the Water clan he furtively
glanced over to the one inhabited by Shotaye. The deer
skin, as Hayoue had stated, hung over the opening, and no
smoke issued from the hole that served as vent and smoke-
escape. The woman must be mourning very deeply, or
else she was gone. She did not often enter his thoughts,
and yet he wished Shotaye might come now and see his
mother. He was convinced, without knowing why, that his
mother would have been glad to see her.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 367
At all events the dismal period of mourning was drawing
rapidly to a close, and with it official sadness would vanish.
He could hardly await the morrow. On that day he hoped
that the question would be decided when the great work of
revenge should commence and whether he would be per
mitted to take part in it. The words of his uncle had
opened an entirely new perspective to Okoya. To become
uakanyi was now his aim, his intense ambition. As war
rior, and as successful warrior, he confidently expected that
no one would dare refuse him Mitsha. This hope over
came the grief he had harboured during the days that
elapsed, for that grief belonged to the past ; and as the past
now appeared to him, it seemed only a stepping-stone to a
proud and happy future.

CHAPTER XVII.
Okoya had been correct in his surmise that Shotaye was
gone. In vain Say Koitza pined ; her friend had left never
to return.
When the news of Topanashka's death reached her, which
it did on the very night of the occurrence, she saw at a
glance that henceforth her presence among the Queres was
an impossibility, for she knew that the deceased was the
only one who could interpose himself between Say Koitza
and her enemies, and thus wield an influence indirectly fa
vourable to herself. She recognized that henceforth Tyope
was free to act as he pleased in the matter, for the medicine
men would be on his side. And she saw that the days of
mourning that were sure to follow afforded her a capital
opportunity for leaving the Rito unobserved, and executing
her flight to the Tehuas of the Puye.
Shotaye could not believe that Cayamo was the slayer of
Topanashka. Her warrior from the north was in too great
a hurry to get out of the way of pursuing Navajos. He
was too anxious to save the scalp he had taken. Even in
case Topanashka had overtaken him, which seemed impos
sible, the Tehua would have avoided rather than attacked
the unarmed old man. And if the maseua surprised their
interview and followed her knight, the latter had too much
vantage-ground to be ever overtaken by his aged and un
armed pursuer. The fact that the sandal had been found,
Shotaye interpreted as evidence of Cayamo's precipitate

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. $6g
flight. From her stand-point she reached the very correct
conclusion that the Navajos who followed in Cayamo's
tracks, and not the Tehua, must have killed the father of
her friend Say.
But she saw that her people would fall into error as to
the manner of Topanashka's death. She saw that they
could not have reached a different conclusion, and also
that the error must call forth extraordinary measures of
revenge. She heard enough and saw enough, during the
commotion prevailing at the Rito when the dead body was
brought in, to become convinced that as soon as the
mourning ceremonies were over the Queres would take
the war-path against the supposed murderers of their war-
chief. She took care not to disabuse the minds of any of
her tribal brethren, and said nothing, but felt glad at the
opportunity which the proposed campaign would give her
for revenge.
Flight to the Tehuas was not only very easy, it could be
executed under circumstances that would give her among
the other tribe a position of considerable importance. It
was almost needless to avail herself of the understanding
with Cayamo ; she had far more important things to com
municate. By informing the Tehuas of the movement on
foot against them, she appeared as a deserter from the
enemy, as a timely friend. If afterward, as she confidently
believed, Tyope should come up with the warriors against
the Tehuas, he would find everything prepared for a disas
trous reception. Matters looked exceedingly promising for
her plans.
For all that, she did not forget Say Koitza ; but she had
been to some extent forewarned, and as soon as Say heard
of Shotaye's absence she must suspect the truth. After all,
Say was in no real danger. Until the campaign was over,
there was no time to think of her case, and during that
24

370 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
campaign Shotaye would provide for the Queres such a
rough handling that no thoughts of witchcraft trials would
trouble them for some time to come. For there should be
mourning, sadness, grief, howling, and gnashing of teeth on
the Rito on a very large scale.
Still she did not lose sight of the possibility that her
absence might be noticed at an early day, and might arouse
suspicion. It was possible, though not at all likely. As
long as people mourned, nobody would care for her.
After the official mourning was over the council would be
convened and the campaign announced. Thereupon all
the men who had to take part would have to retire for the
customary fasts and purifications, and the Yaya and the
Chayani would have to work heavily. Her home was not
likely to be visited by any one for a number of days, and
when the warriors of the Queres were on the march nobody
would call them back because she had disappeared from
the Rito.
Perfectly at rest in regard to her own future, reassured as
to the fate of Say Koitza, Shotaye had, on the night of the
second day after the murder of Topanashka, left her home
and climbed to the northern mesa without meeting any
obstacle. When the sun rose, she found herself quite near
the place which Cayamo, as far as she understood, had
designated as the spot where his friend Teanyi would wait
for her. Unacquainted with the real distance that separates
the Rito from the cave-dwellings above Santa Clara, she
had underrated it ; and it was only at noon, after she had
spent hours walking through the pine timber and in fruitless
waiting, that a man stepped up to her from behind a tree
and called out, —
"Teanyi!" Then he added, "Cayamo," and inquired,
"Shotaye?" He was the looked-for and longed-for delegate; and

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 371
when the sun stood at its height, the two were travelling
toward the Puye together.
Shotaye attempted to convey the idea to her companion
that the Queres were upon the point of moving upon the
Tehuas in force. Her excited gesticulations and broken
sentences only succeeded in making him believe that she was
herself the object of lively pursuit by a considerable number
of men. Therefore when the pair reached the isolated,
castle-like rock called Puye, which dominates the country
far around, and along the base of which the dwellings of
the Tehuas were excavated in friable white pumice-stone, in
the same manner as are those of the Rito, Teanyi left her
standing before the entrance to his own cave-home, went
in, and called his wife to take care of the new-comer while
he ran to the tuyo, as the governor is called among the
Tehuas. The wife of Teanyi had not been informed of the
nature of Shotaye's call, and as she took her into her quar
ters she eyed her curiously and suspiciously, for it was
probably the first time she had seen a human being that
spoke a language different from her own. She gave her no
food, but waited her husband's return. Shotaye, on her
side, cast the quick glance of her lively eyes at everything.
From time to time she attempted a word of conversation ;
she smiled and gesticulated, but the only response was a
shaking of the head and facial expressions that denoted
suspicion rather than friendship.
Teanyi had informed the tuyo that he had met a woman
from the Rito de los Frijoles and had taken her to his home,
or rather to that of his wife ; that the woman was gesticulating
in an unintelligible manner ; and that all he could surmise
was that there might be Queres approaching the Puye with
hostile intentions. He said nothing about Cayamo and his
relations toward Shotaye, for Cayamo had enjoined absolute
secrecy,

372 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
The governor of the Tehuas was a different man from the
pompous little tapop of the Queres. The latter would at
once have called the council and done everything to sur
round the event and his own person with as much noise as
possible. Not so the tuyo of the Puye. He only said,
" I wiU go with you," and went to the room of Teanyi's
wife to see Shotaye and investigate for himself.
The gesticulations began again, and the woman used every
effort to make herself understood. The governor did his
best to understand her, but no progress was made toward
comprehension. She even followed Cayamo's precedent in
drawing a line on the floor from north to south, designating
the southern end as Tupoge, the northern end as Puye, for
thus much she had kept in memory. Then she pointed out
on that line the spot where Topanashka had been killed, and
said, " Uan save," and made the gesture-sign for kUling.
Lastly she tried to convey the idea that the Queres were in
arms against the Tehuas.
The governor displayed much coolness, and paid close
attention during this strange and almost comic interview.
He thought he understood that a man from the Rito, prob
ably called Topanashka, had been murdered by the Dinnes
on the trail leading to the Puye from the south. He also
thought that the Queres were on the war-path to avenge the
murder. In what manner this was connected with the ex
cited state of the woman he could not clearly see, unless
she was perhaps the widow of the murdered man. In that
event she might have become insane from fright and
despair ! Her violent gesticulations and the expression of
passion and agitation on her features confirmed his suspi
cion that Shotaye was distracted.
A growing coldness in his manner at last showed the
woman what sort of an impression she had been creating,
and she felt very uneasy. Not that her life became en-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 373
dangered thereby ; on the contrary, the Indian is very con
siderate and charitable toward such unfortunates. But from
the moment that the Tehuas were convinced of her insanity
they would attach no longer any importance to her warn
ings, and a precious lapse of time that should be improved
for immediate preparations for defence was irretrievably
lost. The Queres might be allowed to approach, and their
onslaught would find the Tehuas utterly unprepared. If
only Cayamo had been present ! But he dared not ap
proach a woman now, for he was at work purifying himself
and fasting, in anticipation of the great day when the scalp
Which he had taken would be feasted over, danced over,
prayed at, and sung to. Shotaye found herself in a most
painful situation. She noticed how complacently the tuyo
smiled, the more she attempted to insist. At last he turned
to Teanyi and said a few words to the latter. Teanyi shook
his head, and Shotaye followed the discussion that ensued
between the two men with eager eyes and ears.
It soon became clear to her that they were of different
opinions, and that each one persisted in his own. Finally
Teanyi spoke alone, and for quite a while in a low voice ;
and the governor listened attentively and with growing
interest. Though Teanyi's voice was muffled, Shotaye
still overheard the word Cayamo several times. Straining
her sense of hearing, she caught the words tupoge, tema
quio, finally Shotaye also. The tuyo listened, smiled, winked
slyly, and at last laughed aloud. At the same time he turned
his face to her and nodded most pleasantly ; thereupon he
said a few words to Teanyi aloud, and the latter turned to
his family, which had little by little congregated in the
room, and repeated, as appeared to Shotaye, his statements.
At the close of his talk all broke out in a joyful laugh. The
housewife, who until then had rather frowned at the visitor,
now smiled and nodded too, repeating the words, —

374 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Not Queres ; Tehua woman, wife of Cayamo."
All laughed, and the governor exclaimed, —
"It is well."
The case was clear to all. Cayamo, on his expedition
to secure scalps, had picked up a sweetheart. Food was
placed before Shotaye, and the woman caressed her, inviting
her to eat.
In the mean time, one of the boys had left the room.
Shotaye was still eating when he returned in company with
an elderly man of low stature, whose greeting was answered
with the usual reply.
This man cowered down among the rest, and listened
with the closest attention to a long speech of the governor.
At the close of it he sat for a while scrutinizing the wo
man's appearance, but when she looked up at him he
addressed her in her own dialect, and with the words, —
"Where do you come from? "
A heavy load fell from Shotaye's heart. The ice was
broken ; henceforth she could explain herself in her own
tongue, and inform the Tehuas of everything that was so
important to them, so momentous to her. But her first
impression, on hearing her tongue spoken by one who
was certainly not of her stock, was almost one of fright.
People who spoke more than one language were exces
sively rare at those times; and those who happened to
learn the speech of another tribe kept it secret, as Tyope,
for instance, concealed his knowledge of the Navajo lan
guage from the people of the Rito. The knowledge of
more than one tongue was a -suspicious and therefore
a dangerous gift. The man who now conversed with
Shotaye in the Queres dialect was not a native of the
Puye. He belonged to the linguistic group of the Tehuas,
but to the southern branch, the Tanos, who inhabited sev
eral villages west of the Rio Grande and in the country

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 375
where the city of Santa F6 now stands. Between the
Tanos and the Queres there was limited commercial inter
course, for the Tanos claimed the veins of turquoise that
abound on the heights near some of their villages, and the
Queres went thither at rare intervals to trade for the
gems which they were unable to obtain by force.
Through this rare and limited traffic the Tano had
become acquainted with some of the men of the Rito,
and many years ago had even accompanied them to their
home in the mountain gorge. Such visits were literally
great affairs at the time, and they lasted long. Exten
sive formalities were required to ascertain first how far
the Shiuana appeared favourable to the new-comer, and
how he should make himself understood to them. The
medicine-men had to make strenuous efforts in behalf of
the visitor. Equally long formalities preceded his depart
ure, and our Tano had in this manner, between reception,
residence, and leave-taking, spent more than a year at
the Rito de los Frijoles. During that time he had ac
quired a knowledge of the Queres language, and spoke
it therefore not fluently, but still intelligibly.
As Shotaye had appeared excited and agitated as long
as she felt helpless in matters of speech, so now she
became free, easy, and above all, calm and clear in her
utterances, when she could make herself understood. The
Tano began to question her in a methodical, and even in
an argumentative manner. He spoke slowly and brokenly ;
but she understood him, and he comprehended fully her
replies, for they were given in the same categoric way.
Each of her sentences he translated into Tehua, turning
to the tuyo at the end of every one of her answers.
Shotaye told him everything, with the exception of the
matter of the owl's feathers, for these would have been
as dangerous among the Tehuas as among the Queres.

376 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
She explained the misunderstanding that lay at the bot
tom of the hostility displayed by the Queres, and finally
she insisted that there was no time to clear up that mis
understanding ; and since the Queres were already on the
march, she urged speedy preparation to repel the assault.
She strained the truth on the latter point, but the tuyo
forgave her this manifest exaggeration. He knew that
there must be at least five days' delay before the pro
spective campaign. The further the woman proceeded
in her exposition of facts, the more she observed, through
her quick and scrutinizing glance, that her listeners be
came deeply interested, and that thoroughly startled, they
at last displayed marks of indignation. That indignation,
it was plain, was against the Queres ; and Shotaye felt
that she had gained her point. The breach between the
tribes was now widened to such an extent that it could
never be healed. At the close of the interrogatory, which
had frequently been interrupted by exclamations of sur
prise and anger, the mistress of the house caressed Sho
taye, calling her sister. The tuyo, however, merely nodded
to her kindly, uttered in a commanding tone a few words
to those present, and went out to attend to his duties
of convening the council. But the Tano Indian remained
with Shotaye until late in the night. He pretended to
keep her company, and to contribute toward dispelling
the feeling of loneliness that might overcome her in the
midst of people with whom she could not converse. But
in reality he remained as a spy, to cross-examine in a
covert way. Shotaye was wary, and not one contradic
tion, not one misstatement, could he detect during their
talk. Then he went where the council had gathered,
reporting that according to his conviction the woman
was not only sincere, but exceedingly well-informed.
It would be superfluous to enter into details concerning

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. S77
the proceedings of the council. Its composition and the
formalities were in the main similar to those of the coun
cil of the Queres. One point was earnestly discussed, —
the propriety of sending a messenger to the Queres to
clear up, if possible, the misunderstanding. But the thought
was finally discarded, on the ground that it was not the
Tehuas who should make overtures of peace, — because
they were absolutely innocent, — but the Queres, for it was
they who, ere proceeding to hostile demonstrations, should
have called on the Tehuas for explanation. Had the two
tribes been on friendly terms, it might have been different ;
but there existed a breach between them already, and if
the Queres chose to stiU further widen it, the Tehuas felt
ready for any emergency. It was resolved to prepare for
war at once, to call to arms the entire male population,
send ahead the necessary spies, and thus prepared, to wait.
With this the matter went into the hands of the great medi
cine-man and the head war-chief. The former was almost
an equivalent to the Hishtanyi Chayan among the Queres,
the latter the exact equivalent of the maseua.
The castle-like rock of the Puye, along whose base
the numerous cave-dwellings are burrowed out of a very
friable and almost snow-white tufa, is situated about ten
miles west of the Rio Grande, and not two miles south
of the picturesque canon of Santa Clara. The cliff is
over one half mile long, and it dominates the mesa on
which it stands. For many miles there are groves of
timber surrounding the foot of the high and rugged slope
that leads up to the cave-dwellings. While the Queres
at the Rito dwelt at the bottom of a secluded gorge, the
Tehuas occupied a picturesque citadel rising from a high
and level plateau. Northeast of the Puye, and separated
from it by the canon of Santa Clara, there rises a similar
rock, equally bold and striking, and higher still, but not

378 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
as extensive. This is called by the Tehuas, Shu Finne.
Its lower rim is also perforated by cave-dweUings, and
these were inhabited by a portion of the Same tribe.
During the night runners were sent to the Shu Finne,
calling upon its people for assistance ; and videttes were
placed on the mountains and on the little mesa capping
the cliff. The Tehuas were more numerous than the
Queres of the Rito, and might well wait calmly and with
dignity until the latter either sought to negotiate or broke
out in unjustifiable warfare.
The five days which, as the tuyo had correctly inferred,
would be spent by the people of the Tyuonyi in mourning
and in warlike preparations, passed ; and no messenger of
peace came to the Tehuas. The Queres remained in
perfect confidence that those whom they intended to sur
prise were in absolute ignorance of any evil intentions
on their part. But when the night of the fifth day had
shrouded the landscape in purple darkness, Tehua war
riors began to stream down the slopes from the cliff and
its cave-dwellings. The deepest silence was observed,
instructions having been given beforehand, and the bands
of armed men moved noiselessly forward. The plan was
not to await the attack at home, but to advance into the
more timbered country south of the barren mesa where
the cliff rises, and to surprise the enemy on their ap
proach. From reports of spies it was known that no
Queres were as yet scouring the heights north of the
Rito; and the Tehuas, moving swiftly, were able to place
themselves in ambush in the rocky wilderness where, later
on, their descendants built and inhabited the now ruined
village of the Pueblo of the Bird. One half day's journey
would bring the Queres easily to that point, where they
certainly would not expect to be met by armed foes. There
is water in the vicinity, and the ground is broken with pine

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 379
groves. It could be foretold with reasonable certainty that
the enemy would move in the direction of this place, for it
is the straightest course, though not the easiest, from the
Rito northward. In this region the Tehua hosts spread
out, scouts preceding even as far as the Ziro kauash.
The Queres might come, for everything was as ready as
Shotaye's fondest hopes could have wished.
During these warlike preparations Shotaye found ample
time and opportunity to become initiated into the life of
her new home. The old interpreter proved a very useful
guide, and she improved his willingness to talk and to ad
vise. He informed her that Cayamo was free, and that as
soon as the story of their meeting had become known among
the people of the Puye, everybody began to look upon her
as his future wife. Shortly before the beginning of the cam
paign, the time of his retirement expired ; the ceremonies on
the scalp matter had to be postponed on account of the all-
important measures of war, and Cayamo was able to pre
sent himself to his future spouse in the natural colour of
his skin and in his usual costume. Their meeting was
not in the least sentimental. Both laughed aloud and
joyfuUy ; they exchanged gestures and signs plainly indicat
ing their future duties and probable results. Those pres
ent laughed in token of approval and applause. At a hint
from Teanyi's wife, Shotaye placed some corn-cakes before
Cayamo. He ate a few morsels, the courtship formalities
were fulfilled, and the bridegroom returned to his duty as
a warrior. The Tano had informed the woman that Cayamo belonged
to the clan of the Sun. In return she communicated that
the Water people were her kindred. What the Queres called
Tzitz hanutsh the Tehuas named P'ho doa, and the members
of the clan P'ho were therefore officially requested to take
their new sister in charge. Some of the old men of the

380 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
cluster came over to the dweUings of the Turquoise clan,
where the wife of Teanyi lived. In their company came sev
eral women, who escorted Shotaye to her new quarters. On
the way to the caves of P'ho doa one of the women lightly
touched Shotaye's breast, then her own, and whispered, —
" Oyike P'ho."
It was her name, and Shotaye communicated her own in
reply. The woman shook her head, whispering, —
" Nyo Shotaye, nyo Tema, ' not Shotaye, not Queres.'
Tehua quio." Then she grasped her hand and breathed
into Shotaye's ear, —
" Aua P'ho Quio."
Shotaye easily understood the meaning of this confiden
tial communication. With her change of abode her name
was to change also. Henceforth she was to be a Tehua
woman, and Aua P'ho Quio was to be her name.
The Tano continued his visits as heretofore. He plied
the woman with questions, sometimes of the most complex
nature. His conduct in this respect was characteristic of the
suspicious nature of the Indian generally. The leaders of
the Tehuas mistrusted Shotaye still, notwithstanding her
clear and positive talk ; and they had instructed the Tano to
keep her company and to probe her sincerity and veracity
still further. But she was more than a match for all of them.
She saw through the maze of the very confused and bewil
dering interrogatory, and her replies were such as to ab
solutely confirm the Tehuas in the good opinion they had
conceived of her. Whatever the interpreter reported to
the tuyo that was of any value to the military operations
impending, was immediately communicated to the war-chief
through a special runner, for that functionary was in the
field already with his men.
Shotaye made use of her conversations with the Tano
Indian to direct the attention of the Tehuas toward Tyope.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 38 1
She described him as the leading warrior and the most in
fluential man on the Rito, as the pivot around which every
thing revolved and on whose life much would depend. But
she was artful enough not to depict Tyope as a bad man,
lest the Tehuas might infer her real purpose. She spoke of
him as a man dangerous through his good qualities, and as
a formidable adversary. In short her words produced such
an effect that the governor himself came to interrogate her
on the subject, and even caused the war-chief to return from
the field on the fourth day, and had him visit Shotaye in
company with the interpreter and secure a detailed and ac
curate description of this dangerous individual. Then they
went to the medicine-man and consulted him about the
propriety of taking Shotaye along into the field, that she
might point out the great warrior who, so they had become
convinced, must be killed at all hazards in order to insure
success. On the evening of the sixth day, therefore, Shotaye
wandered over to Tzirege in company with the commander
himself. Shortly after their arrival among the group of warriors
where the war-chief had taken his position, runners came
from the south with news that they had detected several
Queres in full war-paint creeping northward from the brink
of the Rito. These runners were at once ordered back, with
strict injunctions to the scouts not to impede the enemy's
movements, but to suffer them to advance. The Tehuas
were quite scattered, particularly in the front, as is usually
the case with bodies of Indians on the war-path. The main
bodies concealed themselves between the Tzirege and a
deep and broad ravine farther south, called to-day Canada
Ancha. They kept in the woods toward the mountains, ex
pecting their foes to approach on a line closer to the river.
The plan was to allow the Queres to come up undisturbed
as far as the north side of the Canada. As the men from

382 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
the Rito advanced, the Tehua scouts were to close in from
the rear and follow them cautiously, until the enemies were
all gathered on the desired spot, with the woods to their
left and rugged, barren cliffs and peaks to their right. Then
the trap would be sprung ; and if the Queres took to those
bleak fastnesses for defence it would be easy to surround
them, cut them off from water, and thus exterminate them
completely. Night had fallen when another message came, to the
effect that the numbers of the enemy were increasing, and
beginning to spread over the timber in small groups. The
war-chief sent a messenger to the Puye, and after midnight
the great medicine-man of war appeared in person. The
shaman was, like all the others, painted black ; a tall plume
taken from an eagle rose behind each ear ; the left hand car
ried a rattle ; and a little drum was suspended from his shoul
der. As soon as he arrived, one of the warriors retired to a
spot which was almost hedged in by several bushy cedar-
trees. There he built a fire, and as soon as it burned he
covered it in such a manner that only a thin film of smoke
arose from it. To this smouldering heap the shaman pro
ceeded alone and sat down. There he spent the night,
muttering incantations and prayers, shaking his rattle, and
striking the drum softly from time to time.
The sounds that proceeded from his discordant music
were so faint that they could be heard only in close prox
imity. They were besides the only human sound in this
wilderness. Animal voices occasionally disturbed the quiet
ness of the night. Nobody would have supposed that
between the Rito and the mesas opposite San Ildefonso
of to-day several hundred Indian warriors were hidden,
patiently waiting or slowly moving forward. It was a quiet,
still night, cool, as the nights mostly are in the rainy sea
son, and dark. The sky was partly overcast ; but the clouds

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 383
did not drift, they formed and dissolved overhead ; and the
stars appeared and disappeared alternately as the nebulous
fleeces disclosed or shrouded them. Behind the mountain,
thunder-clouds rested, and occasional flashes of lightning
illuminated the crests, and faint thunder muttered in the
distance. It had no threatening sound, and the lightning did
not seem like prophetic writing on the sombre clouds. It
was a pleasant night and an excellent one for Indian
warfare. The scouts of the Tehuas had reported in the last
instance that the bulk of the war-party from the Rito must
now be on the move, for no fresh additions were coming up
from the gorge. So careless and unconcerned were the
Queres, so absolutely sure of the enemy's ignorance of their
designs, that they never thought of sending scouts to the
upper end of the northern mesa. From there a few Tehuas
had comfortably observed everything that happened in the
gorge during the day, and as evening came they could re
port even the numbers of the warriors who took part in the
campaign. As soon as these warriors were all on the Ziro
kauash, the Tehua spies, after warning those behind them,
crept cautiously into the rear of the advancing foe.
All the able-bodied men from the Tyuonyi had not been
permitted to join the expedition. Hayoue was not among
them, neither was Okoya. It was a sad disappointment to
the boy, and yet was he not staying at home in defence of
his mother and of Mitsha? Say Koitza had ceased to weep,
but the persistent neglect which she thought she suffered
from Shotaye grieved her. At last she asked Okoya
whether he had seen anything of the cave-woman. His
reply, that he thought she had gone, explained everything.
She recollected the confident words that Shotaye had
spoken to her, and concluded that the woman had carried
out her plan of taking refuge with the Tehuas. That

384 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
quelled her apprehensions and allayed her fears. Shotaye
knew what she was and had to do ; and Shotaye — of this
Say felt convinced — was trae to her. In order to be quite
sure of the fact, however, she strolled up to the cave in the
course of an afternoon. The rooms were empty, and Say
turned back. One of Shotaye's neighbours stopped her to
ask where the medicine-woman might be. Say carelessly
replied that she was probably on the heights above, gather
ing herbs. The wily fugitive had left her household as if
she were about to return soon. With the exception of the
mother of Okoya nobody noticed her absence. She was
known to disappear occasionally for several days ; and fur
thermore, the excitement and bustle incident upon the pro
spective expedition against the Tehuas engaged everybody's
attention. Say Koitza could not help wondering whether Shotaye
would inform the Tehuas of the impending attack. Per
haps she might, perhaps not. At all events she felt relieved
upon hearing that neither her son nor her husband nor
even Hayoue were to go with the warriors. The enterprise
aroused within her vague apprehensions ; why, she could not
teU. But it pleased her to learn that Tyope was going, —
going as the leader, the war-captain of the party.
Tyope had worked incessantly and with brilliant results.
The Shkuy Chayan and the Koshare Naua had succeeded
in so inveigling the principal shaman that he ordered that
all the men from the Water clan, and those from Shyuamo
with few exceptions, should stay at home for the protection
of the women and children. That included Hayoue, of
whose abilities and popularity Tyope was afraid, and saved
the Turquoise people from the casualties of war. Tyope
went so far as to praise Hayoue in the council, suggesting
that the young man should be intrusted with authority as
war-chief ad interim. The suggestion was carried out at

Rito de los Frijoles
Looking out from the Ceremonial Cave

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 385
once, and afterward the Hishtanyi Chayan appointed Tyope
as commander-in-chief of the forces marching out. He
himself accompanied the body of warriors as adviser and
spiritual guide to the captain. Nothing could suit Tyope
better. The man was old and not very strong, and people
are often killed in war.
After sunset the medicine-man made his appearance on
the northern mesa and performed his incantations. Tyope
and most of the others breathed on their war-fetiches, and
then group after group stealthily moved onward. The plan,
which had been communicated to every one in its main
points, consisted in reaching before sunrise the very ground
which the Tehuas had selected for their operations ; pass
ing the following day in the woods of that vicinity in con
cealment, and creeping up to the Puye the following night ;
then, after sunrise, when the Tehuas would begin to scat
ter, unarmed and unsuspecting, pouncing upon them and
making a general slaughter. Tyope had under his direc
tion more than two hundred men, and they extended over
a wide front. About twenty experienced warriors, mostly
uakanyi, glided in advance as scouts. Behind them came
at a suitable distance either single warriors or small bands.
The main body came last. It was divided into several
groups. Near the centre were Tyope and the shaman.
Every one knew that his duty for the present consisted in
searching for traces of the enemy without exposing himself
to discovery. Should a single Tehua be observed, and it
became possible for a scout to overpower and kill him with
out noise, he might do it. In case a number of foes were
noticed, the spy was to give quiet warning to the man near
est to him, that one to those in his rear ; and they were to
send a runner to inform Tyope. In the mean time all were
to halt until orders came to move in a new direction. For
Tyope, although he did not in the least suspect that the
25

386 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Tehuas were forewarned, and still less on the alert so close
by the Rito, used every possible precaution in order that
the surprise might be complete and the blow as crushing as
possible. It was dark in the timber, and the main body of the
Queres approached the brink of the first canon north of
the Rito while the advance were cautiously descending
into the bottom and the scouts were already farther on.
Tyope and the medicine-man were standing a short dis
tance from the descent of the south side and listening to
the news which a runner had just brought in from the front.
"Are you sure you have noticed a man?" the Chayan
asked in a whisper.
" I am sure of it. He crouched at the foot of a juniper-
bush," replied the messenger, positively.
"Has he seen you?" demanded Tyope.
" I believe not."
"When you left was he there still?"
" I could not see any more of him."
" How far is it from here ? Where stands the tree ? " the
Chayan asked.
" It is on the other side of the ravine, near the border to
the left."
Tyope pondered a while ; then he said to the shaman, —
" Nashtio yaya, I think we should go more toward the
east. What do you say?"
" It is well," muttered the medicine-man.
"Satyumishe," Tyope said to the runner, "go and tell
the men to go along the ravine toward the Rio Grande
until the trees become smaller. Thence they may go to the
north again, but slowly and carefully. Ziua," he called to
one of the bystanders, " go and tell those toward the left to
come where I stand. Ohotika," calling another, " run to the
right and command those there to wait until we join them."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 387
The runners left in the directions indicated.
The information which had just been conveyed to Tyope
was most disagreeable. The presence of one human being
at the time and place indicated looked very suspicious. If
the man had seen his warriors he would certainly ran home
and give the alarm. All Tyope could do now was to keep
as close as possible to the Rio Grande, push up parallel
with the river as cautiously as possible, and thus sneak
beyond the enemy, in case, as he still could not believe,
the latter were in anything like a considerable force. He
would thus eventually place himself between them and their
village. After a while the warriors from the left came on hastily,
stumbling through the darkness. All together now went
down in an easterly direction, where the right wing, if this
term can be used, was halting. Thence Tyope despatched
runners ahead to inquire whether everything was quiet in
front, to repeat the order of slow marching, and to direct
them to halt on the northern brink of the Canada Ancha.
When the runners left, the march was resumed in the
usual scattering manner, as if all were skirmishers. Tyope
and the shaman remained together. Neither uttered a word.
The commander looked up to the stars from time to time.
They were peeping out more and more, for the clouds
were dispersing. Only from the southwest distant thunder
sounded and lightning flashed occasionally. A shower was
falling in that direction.
It was past midnight when the main body came up with
the advance guard after crossing the Canada Ancha. Tyope
found everything in order, and he directed a farther advance.
Tyope was angry. The circuit which he had felt obliged to
make made a serious delay, and there was danger that with
the early sunrise of the summer months he might be behind
to such an extent as to be unable to reach the cover of the

388 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
woods in time. If the Tehuas were informed of his approach
they would either prepare for his coming at the Puye — and
the result of an open attack would be to say the least ex
tremely doubtful, — or they would come out in force, and
desultory fighting would ensue. In this those who were
nearest water and supplies always had the advantage. His
idea of striking a sudden blow appeared very much endan
gered by the presence of Tehuas in the forest. He thought
and thought without arriving at any satisfactory conclusion.
Return to the Rito he could not, for such a retreat was worse
than disaster. Neither could he decide alone ; the Hishtanyi
Chayan was by his side and he had to consult him. So he
stood still and turned to the shaman, saying, —
" Nashtio yaya, the night will soon be over, and the sun
may come out from behind the mountain in the east."
" Ko," grunted the medicine-man.
" It is far yet to the houses of the Moshome Tehua."
" The Chayan stood stUl.
"Sa uishe nashtio," said he, "the Shiuana direct us to go
on a different road. I saw an owl fly toward the moon.
Let us go away from the river into the kote to rest and to
hide until the sun goes down again and we may go farther
toward the katityam of the enemy."
This was just as Tyope wanted. He disliked the idea of
passing a day concealed under cliffs and crags where a torrid
sun shone, and where there was water only in the river be
neath and at a great depth. But he wanted to be sure of
what Those Above intended, so he asked again, —
"Yaya Chayan, do the Shiuana" — he emphasized the
term — " say that we should go to the west ? "
" The spirits say that we should go where there is shade
and water ! Let us go to the mountains ; there we shall
find both."
"They are right !" Tyopa exclaimed. "I beUeve it is

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 389
better to stay there -until the sun has risen. I will send
word to the men to turn to the left, and we will sleep in the
shade of the trees until the time comes to advance."
" You are right, brother," the Chayan assented ; " do as
you have said."
The two men had lagged behind the others during this
conversation. Tyope imitated the cry of an owl. Soon
several warriors came up to him. He directed them to go
to the front, to the right, and to the left, and give orders
that aU should move to the westward a short distance, far
enough to reach high timber. Then all should halt and
prepare to pass the night. He himself moved a short dis
tance only in that direction, in company with the shaman,
and selected a spot where the mesa was covered with the
usual underbrush and where taller trees already began to
appear. Here he lay down to rest with eyes wide open,
ready for any emergency. Not far away the medicine-man
found a secluded spot where he sat down without fire, oc
casionally touching the drum and reciting his prayers and
incantations. They were the same as those which the
shaman of the Tehuas was directing to Those Above, at
the same time and not far from him, but in a different
tongue, for the success of his people and the destruction
of those for whom the Hishtanyi Chayan was praying.
The decision of Tyope to penetrate into the forest to the
west brought the Queres into the very position which the
Tehuas desired. The scouts of the latter had obeyed punc-
tuaUy and diligently the orders which they had received, fol
lowing step by step the advancing foe and reporting to
headquarters any notable move. They possessed the im
mense advantage of knowing every movement the Queres
made from the very beginning, and were thus able to ob
serve them unseen. As soon as Tyope had concentrated his
forces on the northern brink of the Canada Ancha, the main

390 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
body of the Tehuas receded slightly to the west. As soon
as the Queres began to ascend in that direction, the retro
grade movement of the others continued in the centre;
whereas the left wing spread out, and the right slightly ad
vanced to the east along the brink of the ravine. The
scouts were called in with all haste and reinforced, espe
cially the body that faced the Queres in the north. At the
time Tyope lay down to rest, his forces were surrounded
everywhere except on the east. Everything was ready for the
Tehuas to begin their attack upon the unsuspecting foe at
daybreak.

CHAPTER XVIII.
Thk change from night to daylight in New Mexico is by no
means sudden. Darkness yields slowly to the illumination
streaming from the east ; and when the moon is shining, one
remains in doubt for quite a while whether the growing
brightness is due to the mistress of night or to the lord of
day. Nowhere is this more perceptible than on high plateaus
covered by sparse timber. Suddenly awaking, one is in
doubt at first whether it is sunrise or the full moon that il
luminates the landscape. The shadows are weakened, but
objects are not much more distinct ; a glow pervades the air
rather than a positive light.
When the Indian is on the war-path he sleeps but little,
and never long. He prefers the day to the night for rest,
as he can conceal his movements better in the darkness.
Tyope had halted his little army just before daybreak be
cause he felt afraid of going any farther, and because he had
arrived close to the place where he desired to remain dur
ing the day without exposing his forces to the chance of dis
covery. None of his men slept ; none of them dozed, even.
They had all been warned of the possible presence of foes,
and although there seemed not the slightest evidence of
those foes being aware of their coming, yet the mere appre
hension caused uneasiness. There was therefore increased
watchfulness on their part.
Every one among the Queres was looking forward with
anxiety to the hour when there would be sufficient light to

392 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
investigate the situation more closely. The sky had cleared ;
the air became cooler, and the morning star shone brightly, in
spite of the luminous crescent of a waning moon. The Hish
tanyi Chayan was sitting at the same place where he had re
tired a few hours before, but he no longer prayed ; he stared
motionless. Tyope lay on his back behind a juniper-bush.
He was watching the sky and the approach of dawn. A
number of warriors had lain down in the vicinity, awaiting
the signal to move.
One of these had placed himself in such a position that
he could glance at the forest, which loomed up before him
like a mass of dense shadows with rays of moonlight be
tween. He peered into that maze of darkness and light for
hours. But nothing appeared in it worthy of note. So the
Queres warrior turned around on his back in order to
change position. He saw the moon rise to the zenith and
the corona borealis disappear below the western horizon.
He noticed also how the stars grew dimmer and dimmer,
how the shadows commenced to wane. Finally he fixed his
gaze on the east.
Owing to the shrubbery it was not possible to see dis
tinctly, yet anything lying on the ground could be discerned.
From the place where he lay, the Queres Indian looked
through a lane bordered on both sides by bushes of cedar
and juniper. At the end of that lane he discovered a dark
spot. That spot disappeared while he was still gazing at it.
He strained his eyes to find the spot again, but it had really
vanished. The man from the Rito became suspicious. Again he
looked, but the spot or object, whatever it might be, had
gone out of sight altogether. He crawled over to the man
nearest him, told him what had occurred, and returned to
his post. The dark speck or thing had not reappeared ; but
on the right side of the gallery formed by the trees it seemed

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 393
as if, somewhat nearer to his own position, something black
became apparent and disappeared in an instant. The scout
strained both ear and eye. Nothing could be heard, and
nothing else of a suspicious character met his gaze.
Meanwhile his companion had crept over to where Tyope
was lying, and had reported to the commander the strange
apparition. Tyope turned over so as to face the east and
said, —
" It is well."
He also began to scan the network of shadows and illu
minated patches extending in that direction. The Indian
who had spoken to him went back to his post, but very
soon returned, whispering, —
" Somebody has crossed over from one tree to another."
" Where ? " Tyope asked in a subdued voice.
" There," replied the scout, pointing with his hand toward
a group of bushes.
" It is well," said the leader ; " go back and keep your
eyes open."
The Indian crawled off. Tyope rose to his knees, seized
two branches of the tree behind which he had been reclin
ing, and bent them asunder. In this manner he was able
to overlook the ground to the east at a greater height than
before. The light had increased, but it would have been
impossible to discern any object at a distance.
Daylight was growing on the waning night. Had Tyope
stood up and looked toward the east, he would have seen
the dark, sinuous line which the mountains east of Santa Fe"
trace along that part of the horizon. Their uppermost
snow-fields were beginning to glisten in the light streaming
up from beyond.
On Tyope's left a rustling sound was heard ; he turned
around. One of his men was cautiously approaching.
"There are Moshome in front of us."

394 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" I know it," replied the commander. " How many have
you seen? "
"Two.""And you saw them clearly? "
"Yes, but they sneaked pff."
"Did they seem to come toward us? "
" They crept behind a juniper, and after that I could see
nothing more."
" Do the others know it? "
" Not yet. Shall I tell them ? "
" Go tell them. Afterward return here to me."
Tyope felt embarrassed. It was clear to him that several
Tehuas were lurking in the direction whence he had come,
and that they were moving toward him. It indicated that
their numbers were strong enough to engage him. That
looked very, very ominous ! If he only knew how matters
stood elsewhere, and whether the enemy had shown himself
at other points ! Tyope grew very uneasy.
Tactics in Indian warfare reduce themselves to a game of
hide-and-seek. He who must show himself first is sure of
suffering the greater loss. Tyope knew that in case the
Tehuas had actually surrounded him they had the greater
advantage at their disposal. They might wait much longer
than he and his men. They might even wait for days,
keeping the Queres penned up in uncertainty, and then
break out as soon as the latter were sufficiently exhausted.
The same scout approached again. He crawled like a
mole. "Nashtio," he whispered, "there are Moshome to the
left of us."
" Many? " Tyope inquired hastily.
" Six of them have been noticed."
That was exceedingly alarming. He directed the man
to stay on the spot, while he glided through the bushes to

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 395
where the Hishtanyi Chayan had spent the night. The
medicine-man was awake, and looked at the captain in
astonishment. Tyope placed a finger on his lips and shook
his head. The shaman asked, —
"Sa uishe, what is it? "
"Tzatze raua! Tzatze raua!" Tyope exclaimed in a
low tone. "The Tehuas are sneaking about us like
shutzuna. There are many of them, and they come up
from the east. What shall we do, yaya? Speak."
"Tzatze raua," the shaman repeated, shaking his head.
" As you say, the Moshome come up behind us ? "
" I thought," Tyope suggested, " of sending word to the
men in front to come back, and as soon as we could see
anything, striking the enemies in our rear. What do you
think of it, sa nashtio?"
"Many will go to Shipapu to-day," the Chayan muttered.
"What shall I do? Speak !" Tyope insisted. The last
words of the shaman frightened him.
The Chayan gave no immediate reply, but sat musing in a
manner indicating that his thoughts were with Those Above.
At last he raised his head and replied, —
" We must wait until the sun stands in the sky."
Tyope suppressed a sigh. However much he attributed
this answer of the shaman to inspiration from those on high,
it appeared to him dangerous. Tyope felt very uneasy, but
he was no coward. In case the worst had really happened,
if the Tehuas had anticipated and surrounded him, he still
inclined to the conviction that concentration of his forces
and a rapid onslaught on the foes in his rear would not
only save him, but secure a reasonable number of coveted
trophies. If this could be speedily effected, the less impor
tant would be his loss in attaining it ; for as long as the light
was faint and dim, the enemy's missiles could not be dis
charged with certain aim. He had hoped that the Chayas

396 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
would assent to this suggestion. Now on the contrary,
the oracle spoke in a manner that plainly indicated
that the Shiuana ordered him to wait until daylight. It
was sure destruction, he felt it; but the Shiuana spoke
through the medium of the old man, and the Shiuana
were of course right. He could not complain or even
grumble. But he might at least prepare everything in advance,
so that as soon as the medicine-man gave the signal, his
favourite move might be executed with a promptness and
alacrity that would surprise the enemy. So Tyope crept
back to the juniper-bush in whose neighbourhood his men
were grouped.
Dawn was coming on, and the shadows were beginning
to assume definite shapes and directions. Tyope sighed
when he noticed the approach of sunlight ; precious time
was being irretrievably lost.
He relieved the warrior whom he had left at his post.
The latter whispered to him that nothing suspicious had
turned up. Suddenly Tyope started and pressed his ear to
the ground ; then he darted up, rising to his knees, and
listened, straining every nerve, his head turned to the
southwest. In that direction arose loud yells. They were followed
by piercing cries. Soon the sounds mingled, so as to create
a noise like that which a struggle between men and wolves
might produce. These sounds told Tyope that a severe
engagement had commenced in that direction. At the
same time it struck him that the main body of the Tehuas
were probably south and east of his forces, and that con-
\ sequently by moving swiftly westward he could interpose
himself between the Tehuas and their homes, cut off their
warriors from their village, and secure complete triumph.
But before he could order such a change of tactics he ought

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 397
to know something definite from the quarter where the
fight had begun. To send a runner seemed unadvisable,
for he thought it unsafe to lessen the forces around him, if
only by a man. Several of his companions had approached,
startled by the sudden noise. He motioned them to return
' to their posts.
The noise of the battle diminished; then it broke out
anew and sounded nearer. It seemed to extend to the
east. In the west and north everything remained quiet ;
the enemy appeared to be entirely southwest and east of
the little army which Tyope commanded. He felt relieved,
and a grim satisfaction crept over his mind. He thought,
surely the Tehuas have committed a grave mistake.
If only his people would report to him ! Now at last !
The bushes rattled, and a man stepped up. In a tone of
intense agitation he said, —
" Where is the war-chief ? "
" I am here," replied Tyope in a muffled voice, motion
ing the warrior to lie down. The latter either failed to
notice the gesture or misunderstood it, and walked on up
right. Something whizzed through the branches of the
shrubs ; the messenger bent as if suddenly folded up ; he
grasped at his stomach with his hand, and tumbled to the
ground. Tyope stood by his side in the twinkling of an
eye. The shaft of an arrow was sticking in his body,
and in vain did the wounded man try to pluck it out.
Regardless of the horrible pain the unfortunate one was
suffering, bent upon catching the drift of his message be
fore the soul could escape the tortured body, Tyope almost
lay down on the groaning man.
"What news do you bring? Speak ! " he hissed into his
ear. The wounded warrior moaned, moaned again. Tyope
grew wild.

398 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Speak ! " he growled, and shook him by the shoulder so
rudely that the other screamed.
"The Moshome," he gasped, "they — they — have come
on to us." A chill went through his body; he lay there
gasping, incapable of speech.
Tyope was frenzied; he again shook the dying man
ruthlessly. "Where have they attacked?" he roared.
" West."
" Have they killed any of our people ? "
"I — don't — know," breathed the poor fellow. His
head was swaying ; it rolled back and forth on the ground.
Tyope could not obtain any further reply. So he crawled
back and left him to die. The Moor had done his duty ;
the Moor might go to Shipapu.
Tyope had been so eager to secure from the dying man
any information the latter might still be able to impart, that
he paid no immediate attention to the noise and uproar
which had arisen in his own vicinity. Almost at the very
moment when the Queres warrior was mortally wounded,
one of Tyope's companions despatched one of his arrows
at a Tehua whom he had distinctly seen in front. This
shot he accompanied by a loud yell. The foe replied to
the challenge in the same manner; arrows whizzed and
hissed through the air, crossing each other and tearing
through the shrubbery or penetrating the trunks of trees
with dull thuds. The fight had begun here too, but little
if any damage was done as yet by either side. Most of
the arrows were shot at random, and both parties whooped
and yelled. Their purpose was manifestly to frighten the
adversary by creating an exaggerated impression of their
own numbers and strength.
AU this did not make an unfavourable impression upon
Tyope. On the contrary, as soon as he saw that the en-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 399
gagement had broken out in his rear also, he felt a thrill of
pleasure and changed his plans at once. He believed now,
in presence of the attacks made by the Tehuas, that the
latter had indeed placed all their men between him and the
Rito, and that consequently the road to the Puye lay open,
and he could rush up, capture the women and children, and
hold them for ransom. But he must move swiftly and
energetically, leaving the fight to go on as best it might.
By advancing with a part of his forces, first to the west and
then straight to the north, Tyope might execute his plan of
leaving enough men behind to make a desperate stand
against the Tehuas here. Without the consent of the
Hishtanyi Chayan, however, he felt unauthorized to adopt
decisive measures. So he again crept over to the shaman
and communicated his plans to him. To his delight the
old man rose and said, —
" It is well. Let us go."
It was daylight now, and everything could be plainly
seen. The extended skirmishing went on with less ardour
than before, neither party pressing the other very closely.
Tyope glided back to one of his men. An arrow well
directed struck the ground very near. Whispering into his
ear the change of programme, Tyope took off his shield,
turned it toward the enemy, and rose on his right knee.
Fastened to the left arm and resting on the ground with its
lower rim, the shield covered the kneeling man almost com
pletely. The left hand held the bow, and the weapon
slightly protruded from behind the protecting target. Ty
ope then pushed his body forward from behind the bush
where he had been crouching.
Hardly was the shield visible when its owner felt a sud
den blow against it, and the point of an arrow came through
the hide. The shot must have come from a short distance,
or it would not have pierced the shield. Ere Tyope dis-

400 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
covered whence it came, his companion had discharged his
bow, and with a loud whoop hurled himself forward, where
he fell headlong behind a little tree. Wild yells sounded
from the Tehuas, and several of their warriors rushed up to
the spot; branches rattled and bushes shook as the men
brushed past them. Tyope had an arrow ready, and he
despatched it at one of his foes. He pulled another from
the quiver without looking to see whether the first had strack
a mark or not, darted up, and with a shout bounded ahead
to encounter the enemy. A shot grazed his right hand,
scratching the wrist and causing him to drop his arrow.
For a time the arm was numb, but Tyope heeded it not.
Where the man who had stood beside him had fallen, a
number of warriors from both sides were wrangling. A
Queres lay dead on the dead body of a Tehua whose scalp
he had intended to secure. Two of his brethren were defend
ing his corpse against half a dozen Tehuas. Tyope's right
wrist had been paralyzed by the arrow-shot, but he raised
his arm and flung the war-club that dangled from it against
the head of the nearest foe. The blow was too feeble,
and Tyope grabbed the man's hair. Arrows whizzed and
shrieked past the fighting group ; shrill yells and wUd howl
ing sounded from every quarter. The contending parties
exchanged insulting cries and abusive words in both
languages. The Tehua whom Tyope had grabbed by the hair made
desperate lunges at him from below with a sharply pointed
arrow. He succeeded in slightly wounding him in several
places. Tyope kicked him in the abdomen, causing him to
double up at once. Regardless of the pain in the right
hand Tyope succeeded in grasping the war-club at last.
With it he directed several blows at the head of the enemy,
but they were so weak that only at the third stroke did the
Tehua fall. At this juncture an arrow grazed Tyope's tern-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 4OI
pie. He looked up, and saw that he had been very impru
dent in yielding so far to ardour and excitement as to mingle
with his men in a strife for the possession of a single scalp,
and thus expose unduly his own person. He began to
think of withdrawal into the neighbourhood of the Hish
tanyi Chayan, but it was not easy to extricate himself.
Warding off a blow aimed at his skull, with his shield he
pushed it into the face of the new assailant with sufficient
force to cause the man to stagger. Then he shouted a few
words to his own men, turned around, and rushed back to
his tree, where he fell down at full length, exhausted and
bleeding. The other Queres, two in number, followed his
example, and the Tehuas did not pursue. The result was
so far favourable to the Queres that they lost but one man
and the Tehuas two ; but the scalp of the dead man from
the Rito remained with the enemy.
When Tyope had recovered his breath, he sneaked back
to where he had left the shaman. As he approached the
spot he heard the medicine-man singing and beating his
dram. It was a very good sign to see the shaman at work
with such enthusiasm; still Tyope must disturb him.
"Sa nashtio," he cried, "we must go."
" Heiti-na ! Heiti-na ! " shouted the praying shaman,
dramming incessantly. He was in ecstasies. His uplifted
eyes sparkled ; he paid no attention to what was around
him. " Sa nashtio yaya," Tyope anxiously insisted.
" Do not disturb me, let me alone ! Heiti-na ! Heiti-na ! "
cried the Hishtanyi Chayan aloud.
Tyope was in despair. Arrow after arrow was flying past
him, rending twigs and shattering branches. The Tehuas
shot faster than the Queres. They must have a large sup
ply of missiles. Every shot was accompanied by trium
phant yells ; the enemy was growing bolder.
26

402 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Again the leader tried to rouse the medicine-man to de
cisive action, but the latter only shook his head in an irri
tated manner and proceeded with his song louder and
louder. At last he dropped his drum, jumped to his feet,
and began to dance and to stamp, shaking his rattle and
wildly yelling, —
" Raua, raua ! Ho-a-a, Heiti-na ! Ho-a-a, Heiti-na ! "
Then he stood still, and looked around as if aroused from
a dream. At the sight of Tyope he remembered, and
spoke, panting still, —
" It is well. They are good, Those Above ! We wUl do
as you said ! " Heedless of missiles he walked on into the
forest. Tyope heaved a great sigh of relief.
A small whistle made of bone depended from Tyope's
neck. He raised it to his lips and blew a shriU, piercing
blast. The warriors in his neighbourhood turned their
faces toward him. He beckoned to one of them to ap
proach. To this man he gave directions in a low tone.
They were to the effect that they should offer the most
determined resistance to the enemy, while at the same time
they were to retire gradually but slowly from the actual
position, as if yielding to pressure. Their sturdy resistance
was to cover the movements of the main body.
Tyope now stealthily crept away from the line of the
fight. Soon he met a group of his people who, outside oJ
the range of missiles, were waiting to be called into action.
He sent the majority of them to the front to reinforce
the others. Two runners were despatched to the south
and southwest with orders. With the remainder he set
out slowly, penetrating deeper into the timber. He thus
collected, one after another, the various groups into a
fairly compact body, always sending a few men back to
reinforce the fighting portions. Over one hundred men
were now^ engaged with the Tehuas. The remainder

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 403
moved, as Tyope confidently hoped, upon the cave-dwell
ings of the unprotected Puye by a detour which would
enable the Queres to avoid the rather exposed site of
Tzirege. A tremendous noise from the south indicated that a hand-
to-hand encounter was going on there. The noise lasted
but a short time, then it subsided. Shortly afterward a
warrior rushed panting up to Tyope.
" Nashtio," he said, " the Moshome have taken five
scalps." " Where ? " Tyope snorted.
" There ; " he pointed southward.
"And we?"
"Three."
"Have the people gone back?"
" A little." '
" It is well. Tell the men to come still farther this way,
but very slowly."
He ordered five of his own men to go back with the run
ner to replace the five whom the Tehuas had killed. With
the rest he pushed forward. He kept beside the Hishtanyi
Chayan, and both walked almost at the head of their little
troupe. Only a few scouts preceded them, so completely
safe did Tyope feel about the west and northwest.
The action in the rear seemed to lag. A wild uproar
broke out in the southwest but no messenger came with evil
tidings. The Queres maintained themselves. All was well.
The engagement had lasted two hours already, and it
might continue in this way for hours more without coming
to a crisis in the mean time. Tyope would creep up to the
women and children of the Tehuas. In case the rear-guard
should be ultimately destroyed by the enemy it mattered
little, for by capturing the non-combatants the Queres still
remained masters of the situation. Tyope was explaining

404 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
all this to the Hishtanyi Chayan ; and the two, in conse
quence of their conversation, had remained behind the fore
most skirmish-line. The shaman was listening, and from
time to time grunting assent to Tyope's explanations.
Suddenly the shrubbery in front rattled, and moved vio
lently, as though deer were endeavouring to tear through
it at full speed. At the same time there arose in that
very west which had been so still, and close upon the two
men, a fearful war-whoop uttered by many voices. Like
wildfire this threatening howl spread to the west ; it seemed
to run along an arc of a circle from the northwest to the
south. The warriors in front came running back in dismay.
Many of them were already wounded. One reached the
spot where the commander and the shaman were standing
spell-bound. There he fell to the ground headlong, blood
flowing from his mouth. His body had been shot through
and through.
However great his surprise at that completely unexpected
attack, and however disastrous it must be to all his plans,
Tyope not only did not lose his head, but rather seemed to
grow cool and self-possessed, and an expression of sinister
quiet settled on his features. Yet he was internally far from
being at ease or hopeful. He blew his whistle. Without
regard to his office the old shaman crouched behind a shrub,
where, placing his shield before him, he listened and spied.
The medicine-man had imitated Tyope's example ; the magi
cian was now turned into a warrior !
The signal given by the war-chief was heard by very few
only, for the yells of the Tehuas drowned every other noise.
The enemy this time rushed up without any preliminary skir
mishing, and the surprise was so sudden that the Queres were
running back in every direction with their foes in close pur
suit. They had no time to gather or to hide. Ere Tyope
knew it, his men were far away in his rear, as well as a num-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 405
ber of his enemies also. To his left he noticed one of his
tribe lying on the ground dead, and a Tehua standing with
both feet on his back, cutting and jerking at the scalp of
the dead man. Tyope was alone, for the medicine-man
had fled. The Tehua was so intent upon securing the tro
phy that he had not seen Tyope, and he could easily have
killed him. But hurried footsteps, many voices, and the
shaking of bushes in front showed plainly that quite a nu
merous body of Tehuas was rapidly coming toward him.
His own life was too precious in this hour of terrible need
to permit exposure for the sake of killing one enemy, so he
turned about softly on his knees. The Tehua still did not
pay any attention to him, and now the temptation was too
great ; he quickly placed an arrow on the string and sent
the shaft, thanks to the short distance, between the ribs of
the unsuspecting foe. Then with a yell of triumph and de
fiance he darted off in the direction whither his men had
scattered. He had been noticed by some of the Tehuas who were
coming up from the west, and without delay they followed
in pursuit. But it was not easy to overtake a man like
Tyope when fleeing for life. The powerful onslaught of the
Tehuas had scattered the Queres in such a manner that
friend and foe were intermingled in the forest, and it was
not safe for the pursuers to shoot at the fugitives, who were
only occasionally visible between tree-trunks and bushes, for
the arrow might have struck a friend.
Tyope ran so fast that he soon left his pursuers far behind
him. When he noticed that their shouting sounded more
distant, he stopped, crouched under a bush that grew near
the foot of a large tree, and listened and peered again. He
was breathless from the rapid flight, and his heart throbbed
so violently at first that he could not clearly "distinguish
sound from sound. At last he grew quiet, and now heard

406 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
the din that seemed to fill the entire forest in every direc
tion except the north. It was nearest toward the east and
south, and there the fight seemed to concentrate. Above
the shouting, yelling, whooping, sounded the piercing war-
whistle. There could be no thought of still winning any
thing like success, for the day was irretrievably, disastrously
lost. To save as many of the survivors as possible was aU
that could be done. Tyope would have raved, had it been
of any avail. This terrible faUure, he saw clearly, ruined his
prospects forever. He wished to die, and despair began
for the first time in his life to fill his heart.
The noise of the battle was now approaching rapidly from
the east and south. The Tehuas were forcing his men into
a confused mass ; it was no longer an action, it was becom
ing a slaughter, a butchery of the vanquished. Tyope felt
as if chills and fever were alternately running through him ;
his people were without head, for the Hishtanyi Chayan was
useless as a leader. He must try to get through, and as it
was impossible to force a passage, he determined to steal
through at all hazards.
A number of Tehuas had passed without seeing him, in
their eagerness to reach the slaughter-pen into which the
timbered plateau above the Canada Ancha was converted.
Tyope improved the opportunity to slip from one tree to
another, toward where the greatest uproar was heard. Voices
sounded quite near, and he cowered down between two
cedars. The voices came nearer, and the more he listened
the more he became convinced that his own tongue was
spoken. He was on the point of rising and going up to
the parties who spoke Queres, for they must be friends.
He distinctly heard his name. He looked, and looked
anxiously, for he preferred to find out who they were ere
addressing them. As they came closer he thought he
recognized a woman's voice.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 407
Nearer and nearer came the voices, and at last a group of
men stood out between the trees. They were warriors of
the Tehuas, and in their midst was a woman. She was
speaking to one of them in the language of the Rito, and
all around her seemed to be attentively listening. He stared
at her, — stared, his eye-balls starting from their sockets,
his face colouring and then becoming almost black. Had
anyone seen Tyope at that moment he must have taken
him for some baffled and terrified demon from the nether
world. He felt neither indignation nor passion. His heart stood
still ; so wonderful was the discovery he was making that
he was benumbed, body and soul ! For that woman who
so confidently stood in the midst of the enemies of her
tribe, and who spoke to them with an air of assurance bor
dering upon authority, uttering his own name time and
again, was Shotaye !
Once more his passion came back, and delirious with
rage and frenzied with fury he lifted the bow with the ready
arrow. But so monstrous was the sight to his eyes that his
hand dropped paralyzed, and he was unable to speed the
shaft. He stood disarmed, and stared, gaping like a fiend
in despair who does not venture to oppose his master. He
understood now the connection of events, the unexpected
ambush. He saw that it could not have happened other
wise. He saw it clearly, to his shame ! The woman whom
he had persecuted for years, and whom he was certain that
he should destroy utterly at the end of this campaign, had
outwitted him and destroyed his plans and hopes forever.
Then let her suffer for it ! He raised his bow, dropped it
again and stared. It was not pity that fettered his other
wise ruthless hand ; it was superstitious fear. That Shot
aye could have divined all his secret moves and could have
saved herself at the right moment filled him with aston-

408 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
ishment and gradually with invincible dread. She was no
common witch ! Such wonderful insight, such clear per
ception of the means to save herself and at the same time
destroy him, were not human. Rage and passion disap
peared ; a chill went through his frame and his lower jaw
hung down like that of a corpse, as he stared motionless,
powerless to act and unable to move.
A change came over Tyope, — a change so sudden and so
complete that he was henceforth another man. Hope, am
bition, revenge, vanished from his thoughts, and with them
all energy left him. The appearance of that woman crashed
him utterly. Shotaye appeared to him by the side of the
great war shaman of his enemies like some fiend, to be sure,
but a fiend of so much higher rank than his own that it was
futile to cope with her. The Indian believes in evil spirits,
but even they are subjected to the power of deities of a
higher order beneficial to mankind. As such a shuatyam
the woman appeared to Tyope, — as one whom the Shiuaua
had directed to accompUsh his rain. Those Above, not
Shotaye, not the Tehuas, had vanquished him ; and against
them it was useless to strive.
With a ghastly look of terror on his countenance, his eyes
staring in uncontrollable fright, Tyope slowly receded.
Mentally crushed, shivering and shuddering, he at last
turned about and fled.
The conviction that he was henceforth utterly powerless
had seized upon him. Like an utter coward, unmindful of
his rank and duties, and bent only upon saving his life,
Tyope ran and ran until he found himself in the midst of
the slaughter. He had mechanically warded off some ar
rows which the enemy had shot at his rapidly approaching
figure ; but he passed in among friends and foes, heedless of
both, until his mad career was stayed by the brink of the
Canada Ancha. In the course of the massacre the Queres

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 409
had succeeded in breaking partly through the enemy, and
gathering on the south, thus securing a line of retreat, or at
least escape from the bloody trap. Tyope had reached
that point without knowing well whither he was fleeing.
The sight of the ravine at his feet stopped him ; he looked
around absent-mindedly at first, then little by little self-
control returned.
A man came up to him. He was covered with blood.
A drum was suspended from his shoulder. It was the
Hishtanyi Chayan.
" How is everything? " Tyope gasped.
"Where have you been?" the shaman asked in a tone
of stern reproach.
" I was cut off and had to hide," Tyope flared up ; the
manner of the questioner irritated him, and with his anger
a portion of his former energy seemed to return.
" Do you not know that the war-chief should carry the
life of his men upon his own heart, and care for them
more than for himself ? That he should not hunt for scalps
in the rear of the enemy, as shutzuna follows a herd of buf
faloes to eat a faUen calf ? " the Chayan hissed. --_.
" And you," Tyope roared, " do you not know that you
should speak the truth to the people ? Not say that the
Shiuana are good, that they say it is well, while the kopish
tai and the shuatyam go over to the enemy together to help
him ! You are a liar ! You lie like a Dinne ; you are fool
ish like a prairie dog when shutzuna plays before him ! "
It was Tyope's last effort at passion. He nearly cried from
rage as he brandished his war-club in the face of the shaman.
The latter remained calm and spoke not a word, merely
fastening on the maddened, raving man a cold, stern glance.
Heedless of his threats and insults he commanded, —
" Hush, Tyope, hush ! If the evil ones are about us it is
because they have followed along from the Tyuonyi ! Hush,

410 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
I say, do your duty at last. At the Tyuonyi, if we ever get
there, we shall see further."
At this moment several Queres burst from the timber.
One of them cried to Tyope, —
" Nashtio, the Moshome are too strong, they are coming
to kill you and all of us. We must away into the karitya ! "
And with this he leaped from the brink. He had selected
a spot where the rim was precipitous for a short distance.
Over he went ! A cry of anguish and of helpless despair
was heard ; then followed a series of thuds, as though a heavy
body were falling from step to step. From the depths be
low a faint moaning arose. Then all was still. The din
and noise of the battle was drawing nearer and nearer ; soon
more of the Queres rushed out and would in their precipi
tate flight have followed the example of their comrade had
not others coming up behind them held them back Re
gardless of the danger, they clustered together on the brink,
and gazed at the shattered, mangled, gory mass beneath,
which was once the body of one of their companions. The
words of the shaman fell upon Tyope like another blow from
above. They cowed him. To avoid the gaze which the
old man fastened upon him still, he turned to fly, no longer
a warrior, no longer the commander. He was partly im
becile and absolutely cowed. He trembled, but the shaman
seized his arm and restrained him. Pointing to the men
he said, —
" Save these if you can. "
Tyope obeyed, for he had no longer a will of his own.
He cast a vacant glance about, but arrows whistled from
the timber; the Tehuas were coming. Panic-stricken, the
Queres ran along the brink to look for a descent. There
was no stopping them, no possibility of restoring order;
every one looked out for himself. Tyope cast a pleading
glance at the old man by his side, and the Chayan felt that

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 411
he must henceforth do what was yet to be done. Seeing
the Queres clambering down into the gorge in wild haste,
and that others were still rushing out of the thickets, he
caught Tyope by the shoulder and drew him along, saying
in a mUder tone, —
" Follow me, sa uishe." He pitied the crest-fallen man.
Henceforth it was the medicine-man who assumed the
lead, Tyope gathering energy enough to act as his lieutenant.
The shaman was but a mediocre warrior ; still in this dismal
hour he was the only salvation of the remaining Queres.
Not one half of their number succeeded in reaching the
bottom of the Canada Ancha and taking shelter in the
groves of tall pines that dot the vale. It was an anxious
time for those who had already found safety behind trees,
when they saw the stragglers rush down the rugged slope
and tear through the thickets, followed by the Tehuas, who
crowded along the brink in greatly superior numbers, yell
ing, shooting arrows, and waving triumphantly the many,
many scalps they had taken. A few of their skirmishers
descended some distance, but the main pursuit was stayed
by strict orders from the Tehua war-chief. As soon as the
first group of fugitives, among them Hishtanyi and Tyope,
had reached the bottom of the Canada, the shaman arrested
their farther flight, prevailing upon them to make a stand.
Their position was temporarily a good one. No approach
was possible without exposing the assailant to arrow- shots,
whereas the defenders were thoroughly protected.
As their numbers increased by accessions from those who
had also been able to extricate themselves, their courage
returned, and they willingly remained until the time came
when the shaman, and Tyope by his command, should di
rect farther retreat. The leaders of the Tehuas saw this
and desisted from an attempt at complete extermination.
It would have cost them dearly, and would only have in-

412 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
creased the number of their trophies. So the Tehuas
remained above the gorge, displaying a threatening front,
while in reality the majority of them returned home, and
with them Shotaye.
Great was the exultation of the woman when she saw the
triumph of her new friends over her own people. She was
proud of this result of her craftiness and her skUl. When,
the engagement over, she scanned the field, looking at the
dead and searching for Tyope among them in vain, her
disappointment was fearful. Corpse after corpse she
scrutinized, turning over the ghastly bodies, peering into
the lifeless features, raising the mutUated heads to see more
closely, more distinctly. In vain ; Tyope was not among
them, Tyope had escaped. Her revenge was sterile ; it had
fallen on the least guilty. She, too, felt that a higher hand
must have interfered and made her triumph next to worth
less. As she scanned the bloody, distorted features of the
men of her tribe, in the expectation of gloating over those
of him against whom she had schemed, she recognized
more than one of whose company she had agreeable recol
lections, more than one whom in her cold-blooded, calcu
lating way, she had made her tool for a time. Something
like regret arose within her, — regret at her treason. She
went back to the Puye with a sting in her heart forever.
Outwardly she led a contented life as the consort of Ca
yamo, and the Tehuas looked upon her as a useful accession,
if not as one who had at one time become the saviour of
their tribe ; but she could never think of the Rito nor hear
it mentioned without feeling a pang. It was remorse, but
she did not know it. Never again was she seen by any
of her former people.
The position in which the Queres had taken refuge was
tenable only for a short time, because the Canada Ancha

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 413
has no permanent water-supply. There were a few pools,
however, containing remnants of the rain that had lately
fallen. But that was not enough. To abandon the groves,
in which they felt comparatively safe in presence of the foe,
would have been reckless; so the Queres remained during
the whole day, whUe the Tehuas kept guard over them,
observing their movements from the cover of the timber on
the mesa. As night set in, the Hishtanyi Chayan ordered
a slow, noiseless retreat down the Canada toward the Rio
Grande. Tyope passively did what the shaman told him ;
he had no longer a will of his own. He who had al
ways judged others from the stand-point of their usefulness
to him as his tools, was now reduced mentally to be a blind
instrument of the man of whom he expected to rid himself
on this very campaign. All of Tyope's authority was gone ;
the men did not reproach him, did not scorn ; they simply
ignored him, except when he spoke in the name and by
direction of the Hishtanyi Chayan. The latter saw more
and more the mental downfall of the war-chief, and took
pity on him, making him his lieutenant When morning
dawned, the little troop halted on the Ziro kauash. They
had made a long detour, and now were in dread lest the
Tehuas had prepared an ambush near home. Tyope him
self was still further concerned. He who had boldly
attempted to carry out the most daring schemes, was afraid
of returning to his people, now that these schemes had
faUed. He feared, like a child, reproach and punishment.
The spirit of the man was utterly crushed.
• When a war-party returns, it never enters the viUage di
rectly, but halts at some distance and sends a messenger to
inform the people of its approach. The Queres halted on
the Ziro kauash, and some of them scoured the woods, but
no trace of the enemy appeared. The dreaded ambush
had not been laid ; the Tehuas had certainly returned con-

414 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
tent with victory and their trophies. A runner was sent to
the Rito, and the men waited and waited. Even the Hish
tanyi Chayan became startled at the long delay. Tyope
squatted at the foot of a tree ; he was thinking of the
reception that might be in reserve for him. Everything
manly and strong had left his heart ; nothing of it remained
but a languidly putrid core, whose former fermentation had
produced the effervescence that took the shape of energy,
shrewdness, and daring.
At last toward evening a man approached the silent
group. He came, accompanied by the runner, and every
one recognized the features of Kauaitshe, the delegate from
the Water clan. He went straight to Tyope ; and the latter
looked at him timidly, almost tremblingly. Kauaitshe's
face looked sad and mournful, but not wrathful. He grasped
the hand of Tyope, breathed on it, lifted it upward with
both his hands, and said in a tone of intense sorrow, —
" Satyumishe, Those Above are not kind to us."
A terrible pang flashed through Tyope's heart, for he had
experienced how little the Shiuana liked him.
Kauaitshe continued in a low voice, — artless, but the
more impressive for its natural sadness, —
" While you went to strike the Tehuas with our men, the
Moshome Dinne came upon us."
A shriek of dismay, of terror, issued from every one pres
ent, Tyope excepted. He only groaned, and sinking shriv
elled, pressed down his chest against his knees, as if suffering
intense physical pain. He recalled his intrigues with the
young Navajo. This last blow to the tribe was his work
also. In a monotonous voice the messenger of evil tidings
proceeded, —
" My hanutsh is no more. Tanyi hanutsh is dispersed,
scattered, fleeing through the timber. Of Mokatsh hanutsh

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 415
only one girl has remained alive. Of Tyame a few women,
but your wife, satyumishe, is dead ; your child Mitsha the
Moshome have carried away, or else she hides in the timber
and starves. The great house is empty, and fire comes out
from its roof. Your people can have the field of Tzitz
hanutsh," he added with trembling voice; "we need it
no longer. But your clan has land enough now, for many
of the men of Shyuamo have gone over to Shipapu ! " He
dropped Tyope's hand, wiped away the tears that were
forcing themselves to his eyes, and stood in silence. Not
one of the by-standers moved ; the Hishtanyi Chayan lifted
his eyes to the sky, Tyope stared vacantly. He seemed to
stagger. The delegate from the Water clan grasped his
hand again, and said, —
"Come and see how the Shiuana have visited the
Tyuonyi."

CHAPTER XIX.
It is contrary to the custom of the Indians for a war-party
to enter their vUlage at once upon returning. For at least
one day the warriors must wait at some distance from the
pueblo. They are provided with the necessaries of Ufe, and
afterward are conducted to the village in triumph. In the
present case all these formalities were neglected, but not
through spite or disapproval ; the terrible visitation which
the Rito had suffered changed everything ; the survivors of
the Queres were anxious to have their numbers increased
by the returning warriors.
Mechanically Tyope accompanied his guide. The war
riors followed in sullen silence, the Hishtanyi Chayan alone
holding his head erect. The visitation from above affected
him least of all. No one asked about the details of the
Navajos' attack, but all feared the moment when their valley
homes should come in sight. As they neared the brink of
the gorge many lagged behind.
Tyope was filled with thoughts of the most dismal nature.
He felt wretched, crushed, almost distracted ! The news
brought by Kauaitshe weighed him down in a manner that
allowed neither hope or quietude. His plans had become
realized, but how? The loss of his wife he hardly felt, so
much the more did he regret Mitsha's disappearance. But
far above all this loomed up the terrible consequences, less
of the defeat than of the blow which the Navajos, following
the instructions he had once given Nacaytzusle, had struck
during his absence. He had done most toward bringing

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 417
about the expedition to the Puye ; therefore he had led the
flower of the tribe into perdition. During his absence and
that of the majority of its defenders the Navajos had exe
cuted the fatal surprise. He had often been reproached
with his intimacy with the young Dinne, and while the
savage remained at the Rito everybody knew that the boy
was a favourite of his. What else could the caciques, the
leading shamans, infer but that the savage had been able to
select his time, and that he, Tyope, had betrayed the tribe
to the Dinne ? And the worst of it was, it was true ! He
had at one time suggested the plan and had abandoned it
afterward as too dangerous. He had suggested it with the
view of furthering his personal ends. Now its execution
took place when he least expected it, and when the very
event which he had prepared for his benefit struck the most
crushing blow he could ever have imagined possible for him
to have suffered.
Had Tyope returned from the campaign victorious, it
might have been different ; but now the Shiuana bore down
upon him with crushing power; there was no hope nor
thought of his ever rising again. The best he could ex
pect was to be set aside forever as a broken, useless
unfortunate. But the Koshare still remained, and they would not for
sake him in the hour of need. The Naua, if alive, would
certainly not permit his utter ruin. The two conspirators
had prevailed upon the Hishtanyi so that only a few of the
Delight Makers accompanied the war-party. Of these, two
or three had escaped. How had the majority fared, — that
majority which remained at the Rito for prudence's sake ?
Tyope dared not ask questions ; he went along mutely as if
in a dream.
The Hishtanyi Chayan stopped Kauaitshe, and asked
him, — 37

418 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Have any of my brethren the yaya suffered ? "
Tyope's heart throbbed, and he turned his face away,
so fearful was he of the reply.
" The Shkuy Chayan," replied Kauaitshe, in his simple
manner, " is dead. An arrow entered his eye."
Tyope shivered; misfortune crowded upon misfortune.
He could no longer resist inquiring. Panting, he asked, —
" Is our father the Naua still alive? "
" He lives and mourns. After you were gone with the
people, he retired to the place in the cliffs with the
Koshare ; and when the Moshome came, nearly all the
men were up there."
Tyope's head was swimming. Everything he had pre
pared for the destruction of others and the security of
his own tools had come about as he had schemed, but
the results had been fatal to him and his. The Shiuana
allowed him to apparently succeed in everything, but they
reserved for themselves the final results. It was terrible ;
all was lost ; he was forever undone.
Still if the Koshare had been at their estufa, they were
out of harm's way.
"Satyumishe," he asked, faltering, "have many of my
brethren perished?"
"Nearly all," was the plain answer. "When the Dinne
came upon us, the Koshare rushed out after bows and
arrows; but the Moshome met them before they could
reach the houses, and killed many before they could get
into the cave."
The poor man had to cling to a tree for support ; then
he slipped down along its trunk to the ground.
" I am very tired," he murmured. It was not fatigue,
however ; it was the ghastly tidings which were poured on
his head, so slowly, so surely, with such deadly effect.
Kauaitshe looked at him with genuine pity. The Hish-

' THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 419
tanyi said nothing ; he was in his thoughts with Those
Above, and hardly listened to the conversation. Kauaitshe
extended his hand to Tyope.
"We are not far from the brink," said he, kindly;
"come, satyumishe, a few steps only, and you may rest,
and I will tell you all, — how the attack came, and how
Hayoue saved the Zaashtesh from being all driven into
the woods. Hayoue is a mighty warrior ; he is wise and
very strong. As soon as our mourning is over, the Hot
shanyi will make him maseua in place of our father To
panashka. The Shiuana have left us Hayoue ; had he
gone with you not one of us would be alive."
Even that ! Hayoue ! Hayoue, whom Tyope had left
behind in order to deprive him of all opportunity to dis
tinguish himself ! Hayoue had reaped laurels, whereas he
had harvested only shame, disgrace, destruction. Hayoue
was a great warrior. He had averted a part at least of
the disaster which Tyope had secretly prepared for the
tribe. The hand of Those Above weighed heavily upon
him; all he cared for henceforth, all he could hope for,
was not to suffer the rightful doom which he had intended
for Shotaye.
That Kauaitshe, the poor simple man whom he so dis-
dainfuUy rebuked at the council, had been selected to
communicate to Tyope all this crushing news, the latter
did not interpret as an intentional cruelty. The Indian
is not malicious. He will insult and exult over the van
quished foe in the heat of passion; but he will take the
scalp and keep it very carefully, respect it, and to a
certain extent the memory of the slain. But to sneer at
and taunt a fallen adversary in the hour of sadness, and
in the condition in which Tyope was, is not the Indian's
way. That was not what made Tyope suffer. What over
powered his faculties, darkened his mind, and deprived

420 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
him of energy for all time to come, were the results that
crowded upon him so wonderfully, so completely at vari
ance with his own intentions. And yet they were strictly
the consequences of what he had schemed and done.
Everything he had thought of and planned had taken
place, but the results did not coincide with his expecta
tions. Those Above alone could have directed the course
of events ; they were against his doings ; he was a doomed
man. The reader will forgive a digression. We will leave
Tyope and his companions on the brink of the Rito,
and abandon them for a while to their sombre thoughts;
nay, we will leave the Rito even, and transport ourselves
to our own day. I desire to relate a story, an Indian
folk-lore tale of modern origin, which is authentic in so
far that it was told me by an Indian friend years ago at
the village of Cochiti, where the descendants of those
who once upon a time inhabited the caves on the Rito
de los Frijoles now live. My object in rehearsing this
tale is to explain something I have neglected; namely,
the real conception underlying the custom of taking the
scalp of an enemy.
The Indian friend of whom I am speaking, and whose
home I inhabited for quite a while, came over to the
little dingy room I was occupying one winter evening.
The fire was burning in a chimney not much better than
the one Shotaye possessed at the Tyuonyi. He squatted
down on his folded blanket, rolled a cigarette, and looked
at me wistfully. I felt that he was disposed for a long
talk, and returned his glance with one of eager expecta
tion. Casting his eyes to the ground, he asked me, —
" You know that the Navajos have done us much harm? "
" Yes, you and your brother Shtiranyi have told me so."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 42 1
He curled his lip at the reference to his brother's
knowledge, and said sneeringly, —
" Shtiranyi is young ; he does not know much."
" StiU he told me a great deal about the wars you had
with the Moshome Dinne."
" Did he ever tell you of the hard times the people of
Cochiti suffered three generations ago?"
" Never."
" He knows nothing of them. He is too young. I," —
he assumed an air of solemn importance, — pi will tell
you something; something true, something that you can
believe; for the old men, those from a long time ago,
tell it, and what they say is so^ The Mexicans never
hear of it, and to the Americans we don't teU such
things, for they think they are too smart, and laugh at
what we say."
"Is the story really true?" I inquired, for I saw that
something interesting was coming.
" As true as if I had seen it myself. But I was not born
when it happened. Cochiti was larger then, a big village,
twice as big as it is to-day. But/lthe Navajos were very
powerful. They attacked us in the daytime in the fields.
They killed the men who went to gather firewood, and they
stole our cattle. At night they would come to the Zaashtesh
and carry off the women and the girls. There lived at the
time a young koitza who had recently married, and she liked
her husband. One evening after dark this woman went to the
corral. There the Moshome seized her, closed her mouth
with their hands, dragged her from the village, tied and
gagged her, and placed her on a horse ; then they rode off
as fast as they could, far, far away to the northwest and the
hogans of their people. The young woman cried bitterly,
but it availed her nothing ; she had to live with one of the
Navajos, had to cook for him and work his corn-patch like

422 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
other women. Soon the koitza saw that it was useless to
weep, so she put on a contented look in the daytime, while
at night she was thinking and scheming how she might es
cape from the enemy. Women are sometimes wiser than
we are ourselves. ", Is it not so, sa ukinyi?"
"Certainly." *' It was springtime when she was captured. She suffered
summer to pass, worked well, and appeared satisfied. The
Moshome began to trust and even to like her. It began to
turn cool ; the time came when the pinons are ready for
gathering, and the captive thought of flight. One morning
she said to a young woman of the Navajos, ' Let us go and
gather pinon ! ' Both women went to work and prepared
food for several days, then they went out into the timber
far away until they came to a place where there were many
pinon-trees. There they gathered nuts, and placed them
on the blankets ; and as noontime came on, and it became
warm, the young Navajo woman grew sleepy. So the koitza
from Cochiti said, ' Sister, lay your head on my lap, I wiU
cleanse your hair.' As the other was lying thus and the
Queres woman cleansed her head, she fell asleep. There
upon the captive took a large stone, crushed her skull with
it, and killed her.j Was not that very wise? "
" Indeed," I uttered, but thought to myself that the ac
tion was not very praiseworthy from our point of view.
" Then our koitza took a knife, scalped the dead, and
concealed the scalp under her skirt. It was now toward
evening. AU at once the woman heard a voice calling to
her, ' Sister ! ' She was frightened, and looked about, but
saw nobody. She lay down. Again a voice spoke close to
her, ' Sister, stay here no longer, they are uneasy ! ' Noth
ing was to be seen, and the woman began to feel afraid. For
the third time the same voice said, ' Do not fear, sister ; it is
I, the ahtzeta, which speaks to thee. Go now, for the men

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 423
are saddling their horses to look for us.' The captive gath
ered hastily as much food as she could carry with ease ; and
as the sun went down the scalp spoke again, ' It is time to
go, for my people are on their way hither, and it is far to
Cochiti.' So she ran and ran all the night long, and al
ways straight toward our pueblo. Toward morning she felt
tired, and the scalp spoke, ' Lie down to rest, it is far yet to
your people.' She slept, but soon woke again feeling fresh
and bright. Then the ahtzeta said to her, ' Let us go now,
for soon the Dinne will be where you took me and where I
became yours.' On she ran, eating piiions as she went.
At noon the scalp was heard to say, ' My men have found
the place, and are searching for your tracks. You must go
faster.' When the sun set the ahtzeta spoke again, ' Run,
sister, they have found the trail and follow it on horseback.'
Thus she went all night long, and the nearer she came to
Cochiti the more the scalp urged her to quicken her speed,
for the Navajos were coming nearer and nearer. You
know," asked he, "where the sand-hills are, a little this
side of Cuapa? "
I assented ; that whole track is nothing but sand and
drift, but which particular hills he meant I could not of
course imagine. Still, the Indian knows every foot of the
country, and he supposed that I, having been over the trail
two or three times, recoUected every detail of it as well as
he did himself.
" You know also that there are junipers right there."
Such was indeed the case. Not only there, but all over
the country.
" Well, there, about two leagues from Cochiti, the scalp
spoke, 'Sister, they are quite near; hide yourself.' The
woman looked around, but she saw no other hiding-place
except the junipers. You know them, they are to the left
of the trail."

424 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
I nodded of course. There are a great many to the left
of the trail.
" Then the scalp told her, ' Crawl into a rabbit-hole under
the tree.' You know the hole, don't you? "
I said yes to this query also. Around Cochiti there are
perhaps hundreds of rabbit- burrows ; and it might have been
one of those, although after a full century a rabbit's hole is
not supposed to be apparent. The narrator was satisfied, '
nevertheless, for I had assented.
" It is well ; but as the woman looked at that hole she
wasfrightened and replied, ' It is too small.' ' Creep into
it,' ordered the scalp. ' I cannot even get my head into it,'
objected the koitza from Cochiti. ' Creep in quick, they
come ! ' the scalp cried. The woman tried, and the open
ing became larger and larger. First she found room for
her head, afterward for her shoulders ; lastly her whole body
was inside. As soon as she was within, the hole closed
again and appeared as small as before. Was not that
wonderful ? "
I thought it was strange indeed, exceedingly wonderful.
I could not refrain from asking my friend, —
" But was it really so ? "
" So the old men are telling, those from many years ago.
It must be true. Therefore don't disturb me in my speech,
and listen. iThe Navajos came on. They saw that the
tracks stopped. They jumped from their horses, and the
woman heard them go about searching, complaining, howl
ing, scolding. At last they mounted their horses again and
rode off. When all was quiet the scalp spoke, ' Sister, they
have gone ; get out now and let us return to your people.'
With this the hole opened ; the woman crept out and ran
and ran as fast as she could. When she reached the Canada
de la Peralta, the scalp spoke for the last time, saying to her,
' Sister, now you are safe ; henceforth I shall speak no more.'

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 425
And so it was. On the other side of the ravine stood her
own husband. He recognized her at once. They went to
gether to the houses, where she lived for many years." ,
He paused and looked at me, scanning my face to see
the impression made by his tale. Then he continued, —
" You see now, sa uishe, how the scalp saved her to whom
it belonged. Therefore we take ahtzeta, for as long as the
spirit is not at Shipapu it follows him who has taken the
scalp, and serves and helps him. And the strength, wisdom,
and knowledge of him whose scalp has been taken, here
after belong to the man who took it ; they increase his
power and make the tribe more powerful."
The appearance of the Rito from above presented at first
sight nothing startling. From the tall building thin films of
smoke arose, but no flames were visible. The house of the
Com clan seemed inhabited, for people stood on its roof.
As the returning warriors grouped themselves on the brink
to look down into the valley, those below stood still, gaz
ing at them. Then they broke out into a plaintive wail ;
the women tore their hair, shrieked, screamed, and wept.
The men above gazed and listened in silence. Very few
men were seen in the vale. The tribe of the Queres
seemed divided into two parties, the women lamenting
below, the men, like dark, blood-stained statues, standing
high above them, posted on yellowish rocks among the
shrubbery. Kauaitshe told Tyope to rest, and he willingly complied.
His figure appeared less conspicuous when he sat down.
Around the two the others gathered, except the Hishtanyi,
who was slowly descending the slope alone, eager to hear
the story of the people's misfortunes. Kauaitshe began, —
" It was yesterday, and the sun had not yet come up." He
heaved a deep sigh. " All the Koshare were in the estufa

426 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
over there," he pointed at the cliffs to his right; "the
makatza and our koitza were grinding corn ; many also had
gone to the brook to wash away sadness and grief. Most
of them, mainly those of Tanyi, Huashpa, and our women,
bathed higher up beyond the fields; some farther down.
Shotaye was not among them; nobody knows what has
become of her."
Tyope twitched nervously. He knew where the woman
had gone.
"Hayoue," the man from Tzitz proceeded, "was the
only one who carried weapons. He had gone out very
early with Okoya, the youth from Tanyi who is his brother's
child. They had started while it was yet night, following
the tshinaya up to the top of the rocks. As soon as it
became light they noticed tracks and heard sounds that
told them that there were Moshome about. They went
around by the south, and as it began to dawn they stood
there ; " he pointed to a spot on the southern mesa directly
opposite the big house and facing the latter. " That saved
us," he cried ; " if Hayoue had not stood there to watch, we
should all have died ! "
Tyope could not help contrasting the watchfulness of
Hayoue with his own supercilious negligence. Yes indeed,
it was all over with him ; he was good for nothing any
more. " I was in the katityam," Kauaitshe went on, " when I
heard the yells of the savages in the corn below. They had
concealed themselves there over night, and as soon as the
people came forth from their homes unarmed, not thinking
of any danger, they rushed upon them and into the big
house. I grasped uishtyak and the club, and ran for the
stream. There everybody was screaming ; some were run
ning this way, others fled that way, but none could get back
to the cliffs, none into the houses, for the Moshome stood

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 427
between them and their homes. They fled toward the
south into the kote as a mountain sheep runs from the
panther. But as tyame shoots down upon a hind, so
the enemies flew after them, scattering them in every direc
tion. AU this happened so quickly, brother, that I was not
half way down when it was over, and a few of the Dinne
rushed up to kUl me. They were going to the caves to
slaughter the people. I ran back and hid myself, and as
they came up I shot at one of them so that he died. The
Cuirana Naua killed another; the others ran away. We
took their ahtzeta and kept guard over the caves, but for
what? There was nobody left of Tzitz hanutsh except a
few old women and Ciay Tihua, the little boy. Go down
we could not, for below was such a noise, — such fighting,
straggling, shouting, and wailing ! The Moshome tore the
firebrands from the hearths, set fire to the beams, dragged
the cloth and the hides into the court-yard and burned
them there. Fire came out of the big house, and great was
the smoke and black ! In the smoke we could see how
the shuatyam were dancing on the roofs, and how they
threw the dead down upon the ground so that their bodies
rattled and the blood spurted and spattered everywhere.
Satyumishe, it was sad, very sad ; but I could not help, nor
could the Naua, for we were alone. Still I have one scalp,"
he added with simple satisfaction. "Hayoue has many,
many! How many have you brought home?"
Tyope cast his eyes to the ground.
" None," he breathed ; he could not conceal his contri
tion and shame. Kauaitshe made no remark. He was not
malicious. "From the great house they ran into that of Tyame
hanutsh. There they killed your wife."
"And Mitsha, my daughter? " Tyope asked at last.
" Mitsha was at the brook, and fled with the others. Na-

428 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
caytzusle, the fiend, was after her to catch her, but he caught
her not. Hayoue told us afterward that Okoya Tihua killed
the savage just as he had overtaken the girl. Okoya is strong
and good ; he will become a great warrior, hke sa umo the
maseua. That is, if he stUl live."
At last a ray of light seemed to penetrate the darkness
that shrouded Tyope's heart. Nacaytzusle was dead ! The
dangerous accomplice, the only one who might have told
about Tyope's attempted conspiracy with the Navajos, was
forever silenced. He felt relieved also to think that Mitsha
had not become a prey to the savage, and it pleased him to
hear Okoya praised. If the youth had still been at the Rito
he might have become a support for him.
"Where is Okoya?" he anxiously inquired.
"In the mountains or dead," was the reply. "When the
women fled up to the mesa, Hayoue and Okoya ran to meet
them. But the Moshome were too many, and the two be
came separated. Okoya kUled the shuatyam, the Navajo
boy. He went close to him and struck him with his club
till he died. So Hayoue says. Hayoue remained behind ;
he kept back the Dinne and then came down through the
enemy — how I do not know — and protected the kati
tyam, helping the Koshare. All the Moshome who entered
the house of the Eagles — twelve of them — were killed in
side ; their scalps are with us. And when the others saw it
they ran out of the big house ; but Hayoue and the men fol
lowed and killed nine ere they could hide on the Kauash."
" So you have taken many ahtzeta? " one of the bystanders
asked. Kauaitshe began to count, "Eleven — two — twelve —
nine ; thirty-four," he concluded, adding, " without those
that Okoya may have if he be alive."
An exclamation of admiration and a grunt of satisfaction
sounded from the lips of those present. But they became

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 429
silent and sad again at once, for they, the warriors, had only
eight or nine all told.
Kauaitshe's pride and exultation could not last long. He
bethought himself of the losses, and continued in a tone of
sadness, —
" But we have lost many, many. Nearly one hundred of
our people have gone over to Shipapu, and twice as many
are now in the woods, hungry and forlorn, or the Moshome
have taken them with them. Luckily, they are mostly
women. Hardly more than twenty of the men can have
died, for it may be that Okoya is still alive. Of these,
sixteen were Koshare; and the Shkuy Chayan is no
more." He cast a glance of sincere pity at Tyope. The
latter said nothing, and all the others stared in mournful
silence. The lamentations below had gone on uninterruptedly.
Corpses might be seen lying on the roofs, others partly
hanging down over the walls. Two men were carrying a
dead body toward the caves of the Turquoise people. In
the distance a group was seen dragging another corpse up
the gorge. Below the house of Yakka hanutsh there stood
a group of men, their faces turned toward the brink of the
mesa. The nashtio of the Water clan rose, and pointed at the
group. "There stand Hayoue, the Shikama Chayan, the three
Yaya, the Hotshanyi, Shaykatze, and Uishtyaka ; and see, the
Hishtanyi Chayan is down on the Tyuonyi already, and goes
up to them. Let us go now, and " — he turned to Tyope —
" you, brother, tell us what you have achieved and how you
all have fared. We cannot receive you as it behooves us ;
there is too much mourning on the Tyuonyi. The Shiuana
have punished us so that we cannot be merry and glad.
Therefore I have been sent to receive you, for the men are

430 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
few in the vale and " — he looked around as if counting the
bystanders — " of those that went out to avenge the death
of our father not many have come back either."
In dreary silence they began to move downward. Not a
shout, not a whoop, heralded their coming ; not a scalp was
waved on high in triumph. In dead silence those below
watched the sombre forms as they descended slowly, clam
bering over rocks, rustling through bushes, and coming
nearer and nearer. From the caves issued plaintive wails ;
from the big house moans and subdued crying ascended, —
the lament over the dead on the Rito.
More than a week has elapsed since the return of the dis
comfited war-party to their desolate and ravished homes.
It is August, and the rains have fallen abundantly. What
little was left of the growing crops, what the torrent has not
destroyed and the Navajos did not lay waste, looks promis
ing. But this remainder is slight, and there is anxiety lest
the surviving inhabitants may starve in the dreary winter.
The formalities of mourning have therefore been performed
hastily and superficially. The remaining Koshare have
retired into the round grotto, there to fast and to pray for
the safe maturity of the scanty crops. But Tyope is not
among them. His accomplice, the Naua, has forsaken him.
He, too, has become convinced that everything is lost for
them, and he has thrown away Tyope like a blunt and use
less tool. Hereafter the Naua attends strictly to his official
duties, and to nothing beyond his duties. For the Shkuy
Chayan is dead, the Shikama Chayan has no love for him,
and the old Hishtanyi, who has seen more of the real nature
of events than any on the Rito, went over to the cave of the
old sinner and spake to him a few words. The " old sinner "
comprehended ; he has gone back to his duties and attends
to them exclusively.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 43 1
Afterward the Chayan called upon the chief penitent, or
Hotshanyi, and spoke to him long and earnestly ; after him
to the shaykatze and the uishtyaka; lastly with all three
yaya together. Then the yaya went into retirement, all three
in the same place. They are fasting, doing penance, merci
lessly mortifying themselves, in order that Those Above may
forgive the tribe and suffer it to prosper again.
All this has taken place in silence and secret, and noth
ing has come to the surface. The only thing that has be
come public is a general council, not merely of the delegates
of clans with the yaya, but of the tribe. Hayoue assisted,
with Zashue his brother. Tyope was present also, but he
said nothing, and nobody requested him to speak. He was
not outlawed ; no punishment was dealt to him ; he was
simply suffered to remain on that lower level to which he
had naturaUy dropped.
The principal question agitating the councU was the nomi
nation of a maseua, or head war-chief. The caciques inti
mated that Hayoue would be their choice, and all concurred
in the selection. But Hayoue positively declined, insisting
that his clan had virtually ceased to exist on the Rito, and
that it was his duty to follow his people in their distress.
Zashue also spoke to the same effect. His wife Say Koitza
and his children had disappeared, even to the little girl,
whose brains were still clinging to the walls of the big house,
against which the enemy had dashed her head. However
much the people insisted, Hayoue remained firm in his re
solve to go after the fugitives and to save them if possible.
Most of the people thought them lost, dead, or captives ;
but both young men were of the opinion that there were
too many of them, and that at least some must have es
caped. It was consequently the duty of the two youngest
survivors to trace them if possible.
The Hishtanyi Chayan was the first to accede to Hayoue's

432 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
demands, but conditionally. He insisted that when their
duties were fulfilled Hayoue and his brother should return
to the Rito with the rescued. But Hayoue refused to con
sent even to this. The grounds given by him were obvious,
though hard to listen to. In case they found a few, he
promised to return ; but should there be many yet alive he
was determined upon founding a new settlement. He re
proached the council bitterly for having allowed the lack
of arable soil to have been taken as a pretext for de
priving his own small clan of its allotment in order to give
it to a larger one. That small clan should not come back
and again be in the way of the others. " Tzitz hanutsh,"
said he in closing, alluding to his own performances, " has
saved the tribe ; it has done its duty. Now we will go and
see whether our brethren and sisters are still alive ; and in
case wef find them, seek for another spot where there wiU be
sufficient room for all."
Every one present did not understand these words ; but
the members of the council knew to what the young man
was alluding, and they bowed their heads in shame. Even
the Hishtanyi Chayan felt the reproach, for he knew that it
was partly his fault, since had he followed the hint dropped
by Topanashka, and his own first impressions, all might have
taken a different turn. He did not therefore insist any
longer, and did not even think it advisable to invoke the
will of Those Above in aid of his personal desire. His si
lence determined the people of the Rito, for they took it
for granted that the higher powers approved of Hayoue's
resolution to leave.
It may seem strange that the Chayan did not insist upon
consulting the Shiuana first, for Hayoue would have been
compelled to abide by their final decision. Here the ques
tion arises how far the Indian shaman is sincere in his
oracular utterances, — how much of his decisions is hon-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 433
est error, and how much of his official acts may be decep
tion or mere jugglery.
In most cases of importance the shaman is honest. He
really believes that what he says is the echo from a higher
world. This firm belief is the fruit of training; and the
voices he hears, the sights he sees when alone with Those
Above are the products of honest hallucination. His train
ing and the long and painful discipline he undergoes in ris
ing from degree of knowledge to degree of knowledge, the
constant privations and bodily and mental tortures, prepare
him for a dreamy state in which he becomes thoroughly con
vinced that he really is a medium. As such he speaks in
council, and he is most thoroughly satisfied that what he
says is the truth. Of course there are among them some
who are rogues, who profit by the credulity of others, and
who even invent tricks in order to fasten their authority
upon the people in an illegitimate manner. These tricks
themselves are not performed in the majority of cases as
conscious sleight of hand. They may have been such at their
inception, but their origin has been forgotten by subsequent
generations, and nothing has remained but the bare won
derful, inexplicable fact of their performance. Thus they
have become in course of time hallowed ; and the shaman
who causes lightning to flash through a dark room, or com
to grow and matme in the course of one day, honestly be
lieves in the supernatural origin of the trick. Such men are
often very punctilious, and while they will go to the direst
extremity in what they regard as their duties and privileges,
will with equal scruple avoid going a single step beyond.
Imbued with an idea that they are the mouth-pieces 01
Those Above, they listen anxiously to everything that is
striking and strange, and attribute to inspiration forcible
arguments as well as their own speeches and actions. So
it was with the Hishtanyi Chayan. The refusal of Hayoue
28

434 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
to accept an honourable charge struck him as being an ex
pression of the will of the Shiuana, against which it was his
duty not to protest. When the young man brought forward
such strong arguments he was still further confirmed in his
belief, and bowed to the inevitable in respectful silence.
At the close of the council the Koshare retired to the
estufa, the caciques followed their example, and the Cha
yan came next. But before he withdrew into privacy,
the great medicine-man had a long talk with Hayoue,
his object being to strengthen the tie which united the
young man with the people of the Rito, and to engage him
not to forsake altogether the abode of the spirits of his
tribe. Hayoue made no definite promise beyond what he
had already pledged himself to at the general meeting.
Hayoue and Zashue had taken leave of the invisible
ones as well as of the inhabitants of the Tyuonyi, and
ascended to the brink of the southern mesa above the
Rito. Here they turned around to look back upon the
home to which neither of them was any longer strongly
attached. The sun was setting, and they wished to im
prove the night, for fear that Navajos might still be prowl
ing about on the mesas. At the bottom of the gorge
there was little life, compared with the bustle that pre
vailed in former days. On the plateau the evening breeze
fanned the trees ; in the east, distant lightning played about
sombre clouds.
" The corn-plant is good," Zashue remarked to his
brother; "the Zaashtesh will not starve this winter. We
have called loudly to Those Above."
" It is well," said the other in a tone of authority, which
since his achievements he was wont to assume toward his
elder brother ; " when the Koshare perform their duty
they are precious to the people."
"Without the Cuirana," the elder replied, "the sprout-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 435
ing corn cannot grow." Zashue had conceived a very
high opinion of Hayoue, and his weaker mind gladly
leaned upon the strong will of the youth. Hayoue started ;
it was as if a sudden thought struck him. "Look, see
how good the Shiuana are ! We are leaving the Tyuonyi ;
and behold, if we find our people there can be no lack
of food wherever we dwell. I am Cuirana, you are Ko
share. I pray and fast for the growing corn, you do the
same for the ripening of the grain. It will be well."
" If Shyuote is alive he will help me." Zashue uttered
these words timidly.
" Okoya will help me;" Hayoue spoke with great
assurance. " In that case we shall be four already. How
often have I told you, satyumishe, that Okoya is good.
He is a man; I saw it when he struck Nacaytzusle, the
young Moshome."
The elder brother said nothing. He acknowledged the
wrong he had done his eldest child. In case Say Koitza,
in case Shyuote were still alive, it would be owing to that
elder son of his. And his wife, Say Koitza, he longed
for now as never before. For her sake he had left every
thing, — his home, his field. Willingly he abandoned his
whole past in order to find her. He regretted all that
he had done in that past, — his suspicions, his neglect, his
carelessness to her. The fearful visitations of the latter
days had changed him completely.
All these thoughts he gathered in one exclamation, —
" If we only find them ! "
"Let us go and search," said Hayoue, turning to go.
His brother followed him into the woods.
Henceforth we shall have to follow the two adventurers,
for a while at least. Therefore we also must take leave
of the Rito de los Frijoles. Of its inhabitants nothing
striking can hereafter be told. They lived and died in

436 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
the seclusion of their valley gorge, and neither the Tehuas
nor the Navajos molested them in the years foUowing.
Tyope continued to vegetate, anxiously taking care to
give no occasion for recalling his former conduct. The
Naua soon died. The subsequent fate of the tribe is
faintly delineated by dim historical traditions, stating that
they gradually emigrated from the Rito in various bands,
which little by little, in course of time, built the viUages
inhabited by the Queres Indians of to-day. Long before
the advent of the Spaniards, in the sixteenth century of
our era, the Rito was deserted and forgotten. The big
house, the houses of the Eagles and of the Corn clan,
are now reduced to mere heaps of rubbish, overgrown
by cactus and bunches of low grass. Most of the cave-
dwellings have crumbled also. But the Rito always re
mains a beautiful spot, lovely in its solitude, picturesque
and grand. About its ruins there hovers a charm which
binds man to the place where untold centuries ago man
lived, loved, suffered, and died as present generations live,
suffer, and die in the course of human history.

CHAPTER XX.
Sunshine and showers ! A dingy blue sky is traversed by
white, fleecy, clouds, long mares' tails, on whose border
giant thunder-clouds loom up, sometimes drifting majes
tically along the horizon, or crowding upward to spread,
dissolve, and disappear in the zenith.
It is the rainy season in New Mexico, with its sporadic
showers, its peculiar sunlight, moments of scorching heat,
and blasts of cool winds, with thunder overhead. To
the right and left rain falls in streaks, but without sultri
ness, and with no danger from violent wind-storms or
cyclones. We are in the beginning of the month of
September. It is warm, but not oppressive, and the spot
from which we view the scenery around is high, open,
and commands a wide extent of country.
We stand on a barren plateau. Lava-blocks are scat
tered about in confusion, while tall arborescent cacti rise
between them like skeletons, and bunches of grass point
upward here and there. North of us the mesa expands
in monotonous risings and swellings to the foot of a tall,
exceedingly graceful cone, whose slopes are dotted with
bushes of cedar and juniper. Beyond it are dark humps,
denoting by their shape that they are extinct craters.
In the distance, west of that beautiful cone, which to-day
is called, and very appropriately, the TetiUa, the sinuous
profile of a mountain-chain just peeps over the bleak
line formed by the mesa and its various corrugations.
Nestling within its bosom rests the Rito de los Frijoles.

438 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
In the south, dense thunder-clouds overhang massive
peaks. Only the base of the Sierra de Sandia, of the
Old Placeres, and the numerous ranges beyond, is visible,
for a heavy shower falls in that direction. In the east
a plain sweeps into view, dotted by black specks looming
up from a reddish soil. This plain rises gently to the
eastward, and abuts against a tall mountain-range whose
summits also are shrouded in massive clouds.
We stand on the bleak and wide mesa that interposes
itself between the town of Santa Fe and the valley of the
Rio Grande. Not a living object, with the exception of
wasps and beetles, can be seen; everything appears duU
and dead. The thunder roars in the distance.
And yet there is life of a higher order. Two ravens
stalk about in an earnest, dignified manner. The birds
look exceedingly and comically serious. Their plumage
glistens in the subdued light of the sun. They look out
for themselves, and care nothing for the remainder of
creation. So deeply are they imbued with a sentiment
of their own exceptional position in the realm of nature,
that they pay no attention to another phase of life that
shows itself near by, though not conspicuously.
Over the surface of the mesa are seen here and there
almost imperceptible elevations destitute of vegetation.
In these slight swellings, apertures are visible. Out of
the latter the head of a small animal occasionally pro
trudes, disappears again, or rises displaying a pair of
shovel-like front teeth. Then a worm-like body pushes
up from below, and a yellowish figure, half squirrel, half
marmot, stands erect on the hillock, and utters a sharp,
squealing bark. This barking is answered from a neigh
bouring protuberance. From each hillock one of these
little animals crawls down ; and meeting one another half
way, they stand up facing each other, scratch and bite

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 439
for a moment, then separate and return to their re
spective cave-dwellings. Other similar creatures wriggle
about in the vicinity; the shrill barking sounds far and
near. A colony of so-called prairie dogs dwells in the
neighbourhood. To this exhibition of animal life the ravens pay no
attention whatever. It is beneath their notice ; their aims
are of a higher order than those of beings who live upon
roots and who burrow for their abode. They live on
prey that is far above the simple products of animal
industry. Carrion is what they aspire to. Therefore they
aspire with a lofty mien, prying and peering in every
direction for something fallen. They are not far from
the eastern brink of the mesa, where the volcanic flow
breaks off suddenly in short, abrupt palisades. Who knows
what their keen eyes may have espied along that brink?
Another actor appears upon the scene, a prairie wolf,
or coyote; consequently a rival, a competitor of the
ravens ; for he is in the same business. But he belongs
to a higher order ; for while the ravens are scavengers,
the coyote is a hunter as well. He would even prey
upon the birds themselves. As he approaches, with tail
drooping and ears erect, and stops to sniff the air and
glance about slyly, the ravens hop off sidewise away from
the dangerous neighbour. Still they are loath to go, for
the wolf may discover something the leavings of which
they may perhaps enjoy. But the coyote lies down,
with his head between his forepaws, and in this attitude
pushes his body forward, almost imperceptibly. Such
motions are very suspicious; the scavengers flap their
wings, rise into the air, and soar away to some more
secure spot.
T^e coyote, however, seems in no wise disappointed at
the *' &rture of the ravens. He pays no attention to

440 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
their flight, but moves on toward the lava-blocks that
indicate the rim of the plateau. There he has noticed
something; an object that lies motionless like a corpse.
It may be a corpse, and therefore something to prey
upon. Nearer the coyote glides. The object is long
or elongated. Its colour is lighter than that of the lava-
blocks surrounding it, but its farther end is dark. Now
that end moves, and the head of an Indian, a village
Indian of New Mexico, looms up above the boulders.
The coyote has seen enough, for the man is alive, and
not carrion. Away the beast trots, with drooping tail
and ears.
The Indian, who has been lying there with his face
turned to the east, rises to his knees and faces about.
His features are those of a man on the threshold of
mature age. We know this man ! We have seen him
before ! And yet it cannot be, for how thin, how wan,
how hollow the cheeks, how sunken the eyes ! The face,
notwithstanding the red paint, appears sallow. Still it
is an old acquaintance, although since we saw him last
he has sadly changed. Now he turns his face to the
south, and we catch a glimpse of his profile. It is Zashue
Tihua, the Indian from the Rito de los Frijoles, husband
of Say Koitza, and father to Okoya and Shyuote.
What is he doing here? It is now more than three
weeks since he and his brother Hayoue took leave of the
Tyuonyi in order to search for their lost people. They
went forth into that limited, yet for the Indian immensely
vast, world to-day called central New Mexico. In a month
a travelling Indian may easily be hundreds of miles away if
unimpeded in his march. But we find him here, barely a
day's journey from the Rito. A strong man cannot have
spent all this time in going such a little distance. He must
have wandered far, strayed back and forth, up and down,

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 441
perhaps into the western mountains, where the Navajos
lurk, — the bad men who frightened his wife and children
away from their homes, or who perhaps captured or killed
them. Or he may have gone to the south, where the black
cloud is hanging, and where it thunders, and the rain-streaks
hang like long black veils of mourning. He has perchance
tramped down the Rio Grande valley, through sand, by
groves of poplar-trees, and where the sand-storms howl and
wail. Now he comes back, unrequited for all his labour
and sufferings, for those whom he sought are not with
him !
His gaze was not directed to the north when the wolf
espied him, but to the east. He may be on the homeward
stretch, but he has not given up all hope. His eyes look
for those whom he has lost; he is loath to give up the
search, loath to return alone to the home which the enemy
has soiled with the lifeblood of his youngest child. He is
changed in appearance, lean, and with hollow burning eyes
he gazes at the clouds as if there he might find his missing
wife and children.
As he kneels and gazes, another Indian rises from amidst
the shaggy blocks of lava a short distance off, stands up, and
then sits down upon a rock. He turns his head to the
east. He too is gaunt and thin, his features are pale, and
his eyes lie deep in their sockets. On his back hangs a
shield ; but it is soiled, beaten, and perforated. To his arm
is fastened a war-club, and the quiver on his back is half-
filled with newly made arrows. As this Indian turns his
face to the north we recognize him also. It is Hayoue,
Hayoue as emaciated and careworn as his brother Zashue.
They are alone. Neither has found anything yet.
Zashue rises to go where his brother is sitting. As the
latter perceives him he points with his arm to the east.
There at the farthest end of the plain, at the foot of the

442 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
high cloud-veiled mountains, a long row of foot-hills recedes
in an angle. To this angle Hayoue is pointing. An un
trained eye would have seen nothing but cedar-clad hUls
and the lower end of slopes dark and frowning, above which
seething clouds occasionally disclose higher folds of moun
tains whose tops are shrouded in mist. But Zashue has no
untrained eye ; he gazes and gazes ; at last he turns around
to his brother with an approving nod and says, —
" Fire."
" Puyatye Zaashtesh," Hayoue replies ; and each looks at
the other inquiringly.
Where we might have seen but the usual dim haze veU-
ing distant objects, they have discovered a bluish tint cap
ping the hills like a pale streak. It denotes the presence
of smoke, therefore fire. Not a burning forest, for there is
no high timber on that range of foot-hills, but smoke arising
from a place where people are dwelling. The roaming
mountain Indians, the Apaches or Navajos, settle nowhere
permanently. The smoke has not been produced by their
straggling camp-fires ; it indicates the location of a perma
nent village. Those village Indians that dwell east of the
Rio Grande are Tanos, and the Queres call them Puyatye.
There must be a Tano village in that corner far away where
the bluish film hovers. Hayoue is right, a Puyatye Zaashtesh
stands where to-day lies the capital of New Mexico, — the
old Spanish settlement of Santa Fe.
The brothers cast their eyes to the ground ; both seem
to be in doubt, Zashue is the first to speak.
"Do you suppose that our people might be at that
Zaashtesh?" Hayoue shrugged his shoulders.
" It may be, I don't know."
" Will it be safe for us to go to the Puyatye ? " the other
inquired doubtfully.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 443
The younger sighs and answers, —
" They have never done wrong to us."
" Still they speak the tongue of the people of Karo."
" It is true, but they live nearer to us."
" But they are Tehuas too, like the people of the north,
and—" Hayoue interrupts him, saying, —
" Our folk have gone to them as often as they wished
buffalo-hides, and the Puyatye have received them well, giv
ing them what was right. Why should they now be hard
toward us?"
" StUl if the Tehuas have gone to see them, saying, ' The
Queres from the Tyuonyi came to strike us like Moshome
over night; look and see that they do not hurt you also,'
and now we come with shield, bow, and arrow, what can the
Puyatye think other than that we are Moshome Queres?"
Hayoue feels the weight of this observation ; he casts his
eye to the ground and remains silent. Zashue continues, —
" It is true that the Moshome Dinne cannot have killed
all our people. This we found out on the Ratye," point
ing to the Sierra de San Miguel ; " ere I killed the old man
to take ahtzeta from him, he lifted all of his fingers four
times and pointed over here. Do you not think, satyu
mishe, that he meant to tell me thereby that forty of our
people escaped and fled to Hanyi?"
" I do ; and that is the reason why I believe we shall find
them in Hashyuko," — the eastern corner, the Queres name
for the place where Santa Fe stands, — replied the other, very
positively. " Behold, satyumishe, we have searched every
where we could, have followed every trail we could follow.
Nearly all the tracks were those of our people, of that I am
sure, and how far have we not gone after them ? Ten days
at least we were in the mountains on the tracks of the
Moshome Dinne. We fought them and took ahtzeta. At

444 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
last we learned that many of our women and children had
been taken by those shuatyam and that we never any more
could obtain them, also that Okoya was probably not still
alive. Then we went south and saw tracks, — small tracks
of children, larger ones of women, and a few that were those
of men. We went toward Cuame until we could not see
the tracks because it had rained, and the rain had washed
them away. To go farther was useless, for whither should
we go ? "
" There are other Zaashtesh farther down the Rio Grande,
so the Naua told me," replied Zashue ; " but these dwell far,
far away," — he waved his hand to the south, — "where it
is very warm and where there are a great many Moshome."
"Those are too far off," Hayoue said, shaking his head;
" our people did not go so far without resting. We must
have overtaken them, for we rested not."
The elder brother nodded ; he was fully conscious that
they had never rested on the journey. He felt it now.
"Therefore, brother," Hayoue went on, "I believe that
those whom we look for are there," pointing to the east.
" In the Sierra del Valle are only those whom the Moshome
have captured ; the others must have turned back along the
river, crossing it to go to the Puyatye ; for there are no
Moshome over here, and if the Puyatye speak like the Te
huas, their hearts are different and more like ours. I think
we should go to the Zaashtesh yonder, at the foot of the big
kote where the snow is hanging. If we do not find them
there, then I think we should go farther, as far as where the
buffaloes are feeding. There are villages there, too, I have
been told, and there our people will be. If we once know
which of them are alive and free, we shall also know those
who are among the Moshome, and can see what to do for
them." " It strikes me," Zashue still objected, " that if the koitza

THE DELIGHT MAKERS.

445

and the little ones were on this side of the river we must
have seen their tracks."
" But it rains, brother," Hayoue replied, looking up at
the sky. " The Shiuana send us rain every night and often
during the day, and it washes away the footprints. Besides,
we have merely followed the river thus far, and our people
may have turned inland. There is so much sand on the
banks that the rain destroys all foot-marks."
Zashue looked up ; a thought had struck him like a flash.
" Have you seen the ravine below here ? " He pointed to
the south. " How would it do for us to look there ? The
ravine comes from the river."
"You are right," Hayoue assented, rising and moving
slowly on. The strong young man was tired, almost ex
hausted from endless roaming, searching, spying, and from
hunger and thirst combined. Zashue took a more south
easterly direction, so that both struck the brink of the ravine
at some distance apart.
From the brink they looked down into a deep cleft, at the
bottom of which the little Rio de Santa Fe winds its course
toward the Rio Grande. This cleft is the gorge which to
day is called Canon de las Bocas. South of it the plateaus
continue with barren undulations and whitish hills. They
rise gradually to the base of a sombre mountain cluster, the
bulk of which was wrapped in clouds, as well as the huge
mass of the Sandia chain to its right. Still farther to the
right the Rio Grande valley opened. Sand-whirls chased
along that valley to meet a shower which was sending rain-
streaks into it. A cloud had meanwhile gathered over the
heads of the wanderers, thunder reverberated, and the rain
drops began to fall. The men paid no attention; they
gazed down at the little torrent beneath, at the groups of
poplar-trees on its banks, and at the scattered patches of
open ground along its course. Their desire was to descend

446 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
into the gorge to search for traces of those whom they
longed for.
The descent was impracticable from where they had
stopped. A rim of vertical cliffs of lava and trap
formed the upper border of the cleft. Suddenly Hay
oue exclaimed, —
" Umo, they are not down here, or we should see them
from above. Let us go farther, where there are no rocks,
and where the stream enters the gorge. If our people have
come through here we must find their tracks at the outlet."
" It is well," replied Zashue.
The shower drizzled out ; its main force was spent on the
southern plateaus, and cool gusts of wind blew across to
the north side. When the brothers had clambered down
the rugged slope covered with scattered lava-blocks to the
sandy nook where now stands the hamlet of the " Ciene"-
quilla," clouds had again lifted over Hashyuko, and on the
slope of the high Sierra the bluish cloudlet swam clear and
distinct. Much water ran in the bed of the river at the mouth of
the Bocas, and there was no hope of finding any tracks
there. The men staggered up and down, and at last Zashue stood
still, bent over, and appeared to examine something. Then
he called aloud, —
" Come over here ! " With this he raised something from
the ground. Hayoue went over to him, and both looked at
the object carefully. It was a piece of cloth made of cotton
dyed black, of the size of a hand, torn off but recently, and
soiled by mud and moisture. Hayoue nodded; the find
pleased him.
" That is from our women," said he.
"The women frcm the Puyatye," Zashue said doubt
ingly, "wear skirts like our koitza."

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 447
" It is so, but the women from Hashyuko do not go so
far from their homes now. Nothing is ripe, — neither cactus,
figs, nor yucca fruit. What should they come out here for?
When do our women ever go so far from the Zaashtesh? "
" Shotaye used to go farther," objected the elder.
"Shotaye," Hayoue muttered, "Shotaye was — you know
what she was ! There is none like her in the world.. What
she may be doing in case she is alive, nobody can tell."
" I wish I knew her to be with Say Koitza now," Zashue
sighed. "Shotaye is dead," his brother asserted. "But I believe
that this rag is from our people, and you were right in com
ing hither. Look ! " pointing to the entrance of the Bocas,
"they came through there and from the west. Even if
we find no trace of them I still believe that they went to
Hashyuko and that we shall find them there. Let us go
ere it is too late ! "
The last words were uttered in such a positive tone that
Zashue yielded, and followed his brother, who since their
discovery again moved with vigorous strides. Since the
last evening neither of them had eaten anything, and their
meal then had been scanty enough. The discovery had
infused new strength into their exhausted bodies, and the
brothers walked on, side by side, as if they were well fed
and thoroughly rested. Zashue still remained in doubt ; he
would rather have made further researches. He knew from
the talk of old men that the Tanos inhabited villages farther
south, and it was possible that the fugitives, afraid of the
dispositions of the Puyatye that lived closer to the Tehuas,
had avoided them in order to take refuge at a greater dis
tance from the people of the Puye. But above all, Zashue
felt strong misgivings in regard to the reception which he
and his brother, both armed as they were, might find at
Hashyuko.

44^ THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
Under different circumstances he would have gone to the
Tanos without any fear, and would have entered the vUlage
as a guest. Now, since the Queres of the Rito and the
Tehuas had] come to blows, it was possible that the latter
had informed their relatives in the southeast of what occured,
and thus made them suspicious of the Queres. He and his
brother carried the implements of war, but they were not
in war-paint. That looked very suspicious, and they might
be taken for spies ; and as soon as they should be noticed
some of the Tanos might lie in wait for them with evU in
tentions. If on the other hand Hayoue was right, then all
would be right. But he could not agree with his brother on
that point. A certain instinct told him that the fugitives
had wandered south instead of east. Nevertheless he
yielded willingly to the superior energy and determination
of Hayoue. Zashue was a weak man, and glad to lean upon
a stronger arm, a more determined will.
Hayoue on his part was fully convinced of the correct
ness of his views. He had no thought of danger. He re
flected, and Zashue had overlooked this important point,
that, in case the Tehuas notified the Tanos of recent occur
rences, they would not faU to boast of their signal triumph,
and to represent the defeat of the Queres as akin to com
plete destruction. Therefore in what light could he and
his brother appear to the people of Hashyuko than as fugi
tives from a tribe well nigh exterminated ? Fugitives of that
class are always, even by savages, received and treated as
guests. Finally, should it come to blows, Hayoue was
ready for them also, to give as well as take.
The distance which separated the two men from their
place of destination was about twelve English miles. The
plain between the upper, or eastern mouth of the Canon of
the Bocas and the foot of the Santa Fe mountain-range
riies gradually, and in even but extensive undulations. It

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 449
is closed to the north by a broad, sandy ridge, which skirts
the northern bank of the little Santa Fe stream. That ridge
extends from the east, where Santa Fe stands, to the volcanic
mesa through which the cleft of the Bocas meanders in the
west ; and the plain lies south of it, dipping in that direction
as well as to the west also. Several ravines with sloping
borders ran through it from east to west ; the nearest one
south of the Santa F6 river is called Arroyo Hondo. These
gorges or channels are dry except in the rainy season, when
torrents of water gush down them for a few hours after some
exceedingly violent shower in the mountains. The vegeta
tion of the plain consists mainly of bunch-grass, juniper, and
tall, arborescent cacti.
Hayoue took the direction to the northeast, keeping be
tween the Santa Fe" Creek on their left and the Arroyo
Hondo on the right. As often happens during the after-
,noon, the sky had begun to clear; and as evening ap
proached, the tall Santa Fe Sierra shone out majestically,
free from clouds, the top of " Baldy " covered with snow.
The high timber on the lower ridges appeared distinct,
and the folds of the mountain-sides clothed in vivid green
alternated with black yet luminous shadows. A cool wind
blew from the south in gusts, and the wanderers hastened
their steps lest night should overtake them ere they could
reach the village, now distinguishable below the blue cloud
of smoke as a reddish protuberance on a bleak hUl.
Zashue stood still, and beckoned his brother to do the
same and listen. From the direction they were going came
faint cries ; the brothers looked at each other.
"There are Puyatye over there," said Hayoue.
" Ko ! " assented Zashue, then as if making a discovery
he added, " They are hunting rabbits and hares."
"You are right, surely they hunt rabbits," said Hayoue,
his eyes brightening at the suggestion. 29

450 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" What shall we do? " Zashue asked.
"We will go to them at once," said the other. "That is
very good, very good for us indeed, for if they hunt rabbite
all their yaya and nashtio will be there too."
One of the broad swellings which traverse the Santa Fe
plain lay between the young men and the place whence the
sounds came ; it concealed the hunters from their gaze, but
the manner in which the cries seemed to shift proved that
they were swiftly moving to and fro. Zashue felt greatly
relieved, for his explanation that the Tanos might be on a
general hunt for rabbits was probably true, and it was a very
good sign. The rabbit-hunt is usually a prelude to solemn
dances, therefore it was not likely that the Tanos suspected
danger or had any knowledge of events at the Puye.
The great rabbit-hunt, still practised by all the Pueblos
several times during each year, is a communal undertaking,
a religious ceremony, in which not only the men take part,
but the women and children also. The object is to ob
tain the skins which the chief penitents use for some sacra
mental purpose. It is also a feast and a day of rejoicing
and merriment for the whole viUage. The hunt is under
the direction of the principal war captain, and the leading
dignitaries share the sport. Long prayers around a fire
which is started outside of the pueblo opens the perform
ance. The game is hunted and killed with clubs, and a
lively and sometimes amusing rivalry is displayed by both
sexes in securing the rabbits, which often gives rise to very
ludicrous scenes. Sometimes the hunt is continued for
several days in succession.
When the brothers reached the crest of the undulation,
they witnessed sights that to a stranger would have been
nearly incomprehensible. Men, women, and children were
running back and forth in every direction, no longer chas
ing game, but playing, laughing, romping, with loud and

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 45 1
boisterous talk. Small groups were already going home
loaded with game, others with empty hands, to the great
amusement and merciless jeering of the successful hunters.
Among the former were men dressed in the costume of
women, while with the lucky ones women in male attire
paraded proudly. It was an animated picture spread over
a wide expanse, but it was moving back to the village in
the east ; and when the Indians from the Rito stood still to
observe, there remained in their immediate vicinity only
a few men in female garb. Beyond them stood a group of
five or six persons, laughing and jesting.
Over the broad plain there rested a mild, subdued glow
of pleasant twilight; the highest summits of the Sierra
glistened in fiery hues.
Hayoue stepped up boldly, his brother keeping alongside
watchfully. He was ready, not to flee, but to hide, and use
the bow in case of necessity. They were noticed by those
standing nearest. The men in women's garb were busy
breaking twigs and branches, or cutting them off with stone
implements. At the sight of strangers, they suspended
work and stared. Hayoue laid aside his bow and quiver,
and extended his right hand, calling out, —
" Queres Tyuonyi ! "
No answer came. Zashue could not control his mirth at
the sight of the men in such guise ; he broke out in a ring
ing laugh, pointed at them, and shouted, " Puyatye ! "
then to himself with the exclamation, " Koshare ! "
The salutations called forth no reply. The Tanos con
tinued to stare. It was not merely astonishment which
caused them to remain motionless ; there was quite as much
embarrassment on their part. For these men in women's
wraps had had to assume the costumes as a punishment,
because they had aUowed women to outwit or out-hunt
them in the joint pursuit of the same animal. Whenever a

452 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
man and a woman, during one of these ceremonial hunts,
chase the same rabbit, and the woman succeeds in slaying it,
then her male competitor must exchange his dress for that
of the successful woman, who in turn proudly, amidst ap
plause and jeerings, assumes the garb of the male. The
man thereafter has to go on hunting untU he kills a rabbit
himself, and can by offering it to the woman reclaim his
clothing. All are not lucky enough to succeed, and it hap
pens sometimes that the hunt is over before their efforts
are successful. Such unfortunates are required to gather
a load of firewood as big as they can carry, and bring it to
the house of the woman holding their clothes in pledge.
Thereupon the dresses are exchanged, and the night passes
in the usual chUdish amusements for the many, in religious
rites for the religious functionaries.
The men first seen by the brothers betrayed by then-
dress and occupation that they belonged to the unlucky
ones. They saw at a glance that the new-comers were vil
lage Indians ; they also recognized from their behaviour that
they came with friendly intentions. This increased their
embarrassment, for they knew, or at least supposed, that the
strangers would see at once the cause of their strange ap
pearance. So great was their uneasiness, that one of them
crouched behind a bush to hide.
Meanwhile all the Tehuas, who had been standing some
distance off, came running up, with the exception of one,
who was seen going toward the pueblo at full speed. The
others held their wooden clubs ready, in case of trouble.
Hayoue advanced toward them in his usual unconcerned
way, and saluted them with —
" Guatzena, Puyatye ! "
Zashue had remained behind, keeping an eye on the
weapons which both of them had laid on the ground.
The Tanos whispered and whispered. They evidently

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 453
guessed at the meaning of Hayoue's words, for one of
them stepped up, and replied with the usual compliment
in Tehua, —
" Senggerehu."
Each grasped the other's hand. Hayoue uttered " Que
res," and pointing to the west, " Tyuonyi."
To this speech the other replied by pointing at himself
and at his comrades with the word " Tano ; " then at
the village, which was still dimly visible in the twilight,
" Oga P' Hoge." * Thereupon he made the gesture-sign
for sleep, and breathed on Hayoue's hand. The latter
responded to the compliment and gave Zashue a signal to
come nearer. When Zashue rejoined the group they all
greeted the Queres in the same manner, and the one who
was stUl holding Hayoue's hand began to pull him along,
urging him to go to the village with them. The adventur
ers from the Rito felt that they might be welcome. Zashue
even made an eccentric, clownish jump, exclaiming, —
" Koshare raua ! Raua Koshare ! "
Boisterous laughter broke out. One of the Tanos threw
his arm around Zashue's neck, shouting at the top of his
voice, —
" Hiuonde tema kosare ! " He pressed him to his breast,
whispering, —
" Oga P' Hoge Pare ! "
No mistake was possible ; the Tano was a brother, a
Koshare like Zashue, and delighted to meet another from
the far-distant west. More and more lively the men became
on both sides ; clumsy attempts at explanation were made ;
1 " Oga P' Hoge " is the name given to Santa F_ by the Tehuas
of Santa Clara. The Tehuas of San Juan call it " Cua P' Hoge," the
place or village of the shell beads, or of the shells ( Olivilla ) from
which they make the beads which they so highly prize. In the six
teenth century that pueblo was already deserted.

454 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
words, signs, gestures passed between them, while walking
briskly on ; and all were merry and in good spirits.
It was night. Behind the gigantic wall of mountains in
the east a whitish glare arose, the light of the rising moon.
The group had reached the banks of the Rio de Santa Fe, near
where now stands the church of Nuestra Senora de Guada
lupe. Before them lay a dusky wilderness, abutting against
steep hills. On the highest of those, which overlooks the
present town in the north, a terraced mound could be dis
tinguished, and from its sides luminous points twinkled in
ruddy light. The thumping of drums, shrill flutes, and an
undefined noise rhythmic in its character, in which human
voices and numerous rattles were confusedly mingled, issued
from a quarter above which a glow arose like that of a fire
burning within. That irregular pile was the pueblo of Oga
P' Hoge ; it stood where Fort Marcy was subsequently
erected by the United States troops.
The moon had risen and rested on the higher crests of
the mountains. Its light penetrated the basin in which
now the town of Santa Fe extends, on both banks of the
little stream and south of it. When to-day the moon thus
stands over the heights, and looks down the turrets and
cupolas of the capitol, hospitals and seminaries glisten in
phosphorescent light, and the towers of the cathedral loom
up solemnly, casting on the ground before it jet-black
shadows. Over elegant dwellings, over modest flat roofs
of adobe houses, over military buildings, institutes for the
education of those of all races and creeds, the moonlight
rest peacefully. BrUliant music sounds in the plaza from the
heights ; in the northwest a spark rushes down in serpentine
windings nearer and nearer, — the approaching railway train !
From the south a shrill whistle is heard, — another iron
horse sweeping up with people and news from the outside
world. Shade-trees rustle in the evening breeze, and their

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 455
leaves dance, alternately plunged in silvery brightness and
transparent night.
To-day the heights of Fort Marcy are deserted, bleak by
daylight, pale and yet frowning when shines the moon.
Since the seventeenth century life has sprung up at its base.
At the time when Hayoue and Zashue lived, life was above,
and looked down upon a wilderness beneath. To-day the
hills are wild. Formerly juniper-bushes, cedar, and cactus
alone peopled the banks of the river, growing along the
rills and on the drift-heaps formed by the torrent.
The group of men, with Hayoue and Zashue in their
midst, halted on the south bank. This did not suit Zashue ;
it struck him as rather unfriendly or at least as suspicious.
Their companions were evidently waiting for orders, ere
they crossed the river.
A man came splashing through the water and called out
something, which the Queres of course did not understand.
At once all conversation ceased, and the Tanos became si
lent and grave. The new-comer spoke first ; he spoke rap
idly and in a low voice, then grasped Hayoue's hand to
breathe on it, and held it fast. Zashue's hands as well had
been seized by two Tanos. His bow and quiver had been
removed from him under some friendly pretext. They were
disarmed. Then all moved on, forded the stream, and took
a trail that led directly to the foot of the hill where stood
the pueblo. All sounds of merriment above were hushed,
nothing moved but the men and the night wind rustling
through the shrubbery. At the foot of the high hill other
Indians came up ; these were armed, and they followed the
group. All this looked ominous. They were no longer treated
as guests ; they were prisoners ! Zashue was not so much
surprised as Hayoue, for he had always mistrusted. Hayoue
inwardly raved. He reproached himself for not having Us-

456 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
tened to his brother's warnings, for having allowed his rash
ness, his conceit, his over-confidence, to prevail to such an
extent as to fall into a trap which he felt sure the Tanos
had artfully laid and cunningly sprung upon them. Still all
his indignation and rage were of no avail. Even if he were
able to free himself from the grasp of his guards, and to es
cape the arrow-shots that would be aimed at the fugitive, he
saw no chance for him in the relentless chase that would
follow. All advantages would be on the side of the Tanos,
who knew the country, whereas he was a total stranger.
Nothing was left him but to resign himself to his fate and
to await the course of events. It was hard for the proud,
self-glorious young warrior ; it was not only hard but if he
took into consideration his overbearing manner toward
Zashue, a punishment justly merited. Hayoue hung his
head, crestfallen and in bitter wrath.
At last some one came down the steep hiU, muttered a
few words, and the ascent began. Nobody turned back to
glance at the moonlit expanse that was unfolding itself more
and more beneath. A dismal yelping sounded from below,
the voice of a coyote from the banks of the stream. The
wolf had foUowed the returning hunters. He licked the
blood trickling from the dead game and called his com
rades. Other voices answered in the neighbourhood ; from
various parts of the basin the barking died away in a mourn
ful, dismal wail mingled with shrieks, sobs, and fiendish
laughter. It rose from the depths, filling the air, re-echoing
from the hills, and changing its modulations, a horrible
chorus of moans and groans alternating with exclamations
of heUish triumph. A shiver passed through both the pris
oners ; their entrance into Oga P' Hoge took place with
dismal prognostications.
The pueblo was built in the shape of a rectangle. The
north and east sides of it formed a continuous structure ;

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 457
narrow aUeys separated them from the south and the west
sides, and between the two there was also an alley of en
trance and exit. Through the latter therefore, on the
southwest comer, the Tanos entered an open space like a
large court-yard, surrounded by the terraced buildings com
posing the village.
At the approach of the group, human forms had appeared
on the flat roofs and peered down upon the prisoners with
curious eyes. As soon as the captives entered the square,
the number of spectators increased ; they came out from
the interior, from lower stories, down from the upper tier,
men, women, and chUdren. They descended into the square,
and the whole population of the village, about four hun
dred souls, gathered around the strangers and their guard.
All the able-bodied men were not among them. A dozen
videttes were distributed on the flat roofs, and nearly fifty
warriors, hastily armed and equipped, had scattered at some
distance from the buildings along the hills throughout the
basin, to intercept a possible flight, as well as to guard ap
proaches in case the two prisoners should be merely advance
scouts of a larger body of enemies. Of all this Hayoue and
Zashue knew nothing, of course ; but they noticed that the
throng about them was not friendly, that an ominous silence
prevailed. Hardly a whisper was heard ; a few women only
gesticulated wUdly.
The Tanos dropped the hands of their captives, but they
remained around them still. For a long while they were
left to stand ; nobody brought them food, nobody offered
them water to allay their thirst. The whispering grew
louder ; it sounded like murmured threats.
At last the hands of the strangers were again seized and
they were led across the square to the northeastern corner.
The throng opened in front of them as they advanced, clos
ing in behind, and all following like children after a proces-

458 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
sion. Some ran along the walls, eager to be near 'and on
hand when the strangers came up. Their curiosity was soon
gratified, for the square was small. At the foot of one of
the notched beams another halt was made. Two of the
guards climbed up and exchanged a few words with an In
dian sitting on the roof. Then Hayoue was signalled to fol
low. A Tano came behind him; after him Zashue, and
then two armed men. The crowd had meanwhile closed up
against the wall, pressing eye and ear against the air-holes,
out of which the firelight shone. Nobody attempted to
climb the roof, but all remained below, a moving, wrangling
crowd of people illuminated by the placid light of the
moon. Another delay occurred on the roof. The wanderers
heard loud talking beneath their feet, and concluded that
the council sat in a room below, and that they would be
led before that august body. There was some consolation
in this fact, for it showed at least that they would not be
slaughtered at once. But how should they defend them
selves ? Nobody understood their language, any more thar>
they understood that of the Tanos ! The situation seemed
desperate. Hayoue, as well as Zashue, felt helpless; but
they had to submit to the inevitable. After all, death would
put an end to everything; it is beautiful at Shipapu, —
there is constant dancing and singing ; the girls are always
young and the women never too old.
Hayoue's hand was again grasped by one of the guards,
and he was motioned to descend into the apartment below.
Zashue had to follow. They found themselves in a long
room, whose whitewashed waUs reflected the light of a
small fire burning on a rude hearth. Close to the hearth
sat a man whom the prisoners at once supposed to be the
puyo, or governor. By his side sat another, a small figure,
somewhat wrinkled. He wore nothing but a breech-clout

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 459
of buckskin, for it was summer. Several aged men were
gathered in the neighbourhood of the fire. Although none
of them wore either ornaments or badges, it was easy to
surmise that they were the principal shamans. Along the
wall sat, lounged, or squatted the clan delegates, so that all
in all there were present about eighteen persons, including
the prisoners. Outside, the faces and eyes of listeners
appeared from time to time through the air-holes.
The man whom the two Queres rightly took to be the
civU chief, motioned them, adding, "Sit down."
They obeyed, and remained sitting with downcast looks.
The councilmen glanced at them furtively from time to
time. None of them spoke. At last a whisper was
heard, and now a voice said in the Queres dialect, —
"Whither are you going?"
Hayoue started, and stared about in the room, looking
for the man who in this foreign country spoke his own
language. When he finally discovered that it was the
small old man sitting by the side of the governor, he
gaped at him with lips parted, and an expression akin
to fright. He had acquired a dim knowledge of the
fact that it might be possible for one man to know more
than one language, but he had never met such a prodigy
as yet. After the first surprise was over, he still stared at
the speaker with inquisitive glances, eager to see whether
it was possible to speak two dialects with one and the
same tongue. Zashue was less startled. He knew that
there were people who had learned a speech different
from the one to which they were born. Therefore he
replied to the query, —
"We are searching for our women, our daughters, and
our children."
"Why do you look for them here? We have them
not," said the old man.

460 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Because we have hunted for them everywhere else
and have not found them."
"Are you alone?" continued his interlocutor.
" I and my brother are alone," Zashue asserted.
" Why did your koitza and makatza leave you? "
" The Moshome drove them off."
" The Moshome? " The inquisitor criticised his words.
Hayoue had recovered from his surprise. He inter
jected in a loud, blunt voice, —
" WhUe the men went out to strike the Tehuas, the
Moshome Dinne came upon us. We were only a few,
and the shuatyam laid waste our corn, and kUled many
women. Many more, however, fled; we do not know
whither. These we have gone out to find; we are look
ing for them this day here among you, but you have
taken us captives. You have treated us, not as it is
customary between the Zaashtesh, but as the Moshome
are wont to do when strangers come to their hogans."
He looked down again, angry. Zashue endeavoured to
give him a warning sign, but Hayoue saw it not.
The old man smUed. Afterward he translated to the
Tanos what had been said. His communication excited
considerable attention. At the close of his speech, one of
the medicine-men replied in a few words. The interpreter
turned again to the Queres, asking, —
"Why did the people of the Tyuonyi come upon our
brethren in the north by night, like shutzuna? The
men from the Puye had done them no harm."
" No harm ? " Hayoue broke out. " Did they not
murder the best, the bravest, the wisest man, our father
L the maseua? Was it not enough? If you do not call
that a bad, a base deed, then you and all of you are as
bad and as base as the Tehuas."
The old man's features remained placid. He replied in
a quiet tone, but his manner was cool and measured, —

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 46 1
"I know that you believe that the Tehuas killed your
maseua. I know it well ; for Shotaye, who now is called
Aua P'ho Quio, and who lives with Cayamo in the homes
at the Puye, came to warn the Tehuas that the Queres
were coming over against them. But it is not true. It
was not our brethren from the north, it was the Moshome
Dinne." He uttered the name with marked emphasis.
"They killed the maseua of your tribe."
We recognize in the interpreter the same old man who
served the Tehuas in their first interviews with Shotaye.
The Tehuas had despatched him to the Tanos, in order
to inform the latter of their signal triumph, and to put
them on their guard against the Queres. It was a lucky
hour for Hayoue and Zashue, especially for the former,
when the old man reached the Tanos.
The two adventurers were thunderstruck. Speechless,
with heads bowed, they sat in utter amazement at what
they were being told. Everything was so completely new
to them, and yet it explained so much, that they were
unable to collect their minds at once. The Tanos saw
their confusion. What the interpreter told them of the
replies of the prisoners had already created much interest,
and now their embarrassed state attracted still greater
attention. The interpreter, therefore, was prompted to
further question them.
"When the Queres moved against the Tehuas, were
you along?"
" No," Zashue replied sullenly.
"Have many of your people returned from the north?"
" Enough to hold their own against all who speak your
language," Hayoue retorted.
The old man blinked ; he had put an imprudent ques
tion. After a short pause, he asked again, —
" Why did you alone go out to seek for your people ? "

462 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Because," Hayoue indignantly retorted, " the others
had to remain at home to protect the weak ones, in case
the Moshome Tehua came for the leavings of the Moshome
Dinne." He accompanied these already insulting words
with looks of defiance, glancing around with eyes flashing,
and lips scornfully curled. His wrath was raised to the
highest pitch; he could not control himself.
Fortunately for him t,he Tanos did not understand his
words, and the interpreter was shrewd enough to see that
the young man thought himself justly angry, and withheld
his insulting speech from his listeners. He comprehended
the position of the strangers, and understood what their
feelings must be. He had no doubt in regard to their
sincerity and truthfulness. An important point which he
realized was the present weakened condition of the Queres
tribe. He turned to the meeting and spoke long and
earnestly. His speech was followed with the closest atten
tion, and Zashue, who felt more composed than his younger
brother, noticed that the words fell on ready ears. A short
discussion followed, in which every one participated in turn ;
at last all seemed unanimous, and the interpreter, avoiding
Hayoue, who sat with eyes gleaming like a loaded electric
battery ready to send off flying and burning sparks, turned
to Zashue with the query, —
" Have you any trace of your people ? "
Zashue related everything in a simple and truthful man
ner, — how they came to the determination to visit the vil
lage, with the intention in case there should be none of the
fugitives here to turn southward and continue their search
among the southern pueblos. Every word he said was after
ward translated to the council ; the tuyo delivered a short
address ; and the interpreter spoke to the two young men
in a solemn, dignified manner, as follows : —
" It is weU ! My brethren say that you are welcome.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 463
They also say that you should forgive them for having sus
pected you. The people on the Tyuonyi wronged those
at the Puye, and that was not good ! But now, since the
hand of Those Above has stricken the Queres, we will no
longer be Moshome, but brethren, and will forget what
has come between us. Are we not aU one, we who wear
the hair in sidelocks, — one from the beginning ; and
have we not aU come forth at the same place? You are
welcome ! "
The speaker paused, glancing at the governor. The latter
rose, went over to Zashue, took his hand, breathed on it,
and lifted it upward. He did the same to Hayoue ; then
he returned to his seat and gave a sign to the interpreter,
who went on, —
" Those whom you long for are not here. But it may be
that as you say, brother," — he directed these words to
Zashue — "they went to our people farther south. In a
few days I wiU have to go thither, and will be your guide.
Meanwhile eat the food and drink the water offered you
by those who speak a tongue different from yours, but
whose hearts are like your heart, and who like you pray
to Those Above. He who dwells up there is our father
and your father; she who has her home on high is our
mother and your mother. Therefore the mothers and
fathers of the Tanos say to you through me that it is well
that you should stay here. Be welcome ! "
Involuntarily Zashue uttered a deeply felt " Hoa " of re
lief. Hayoue nodded, and sighed as if breathing freer again.
The great medicine-man arose, scattered sacred meal, and
uttered a prayer to which all the others listened in deep
sUence. Then he went to greet the strangers in the cus
tomary manner. One by one the others followed, — the
second medicine-man, the other chief officials, finally the
delegates of the clans. Every one grasped their hands and

464 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
went through the same ceremonies. The council was
ended, and to every one's satisfaction.
Last came the old interpreter, and greeted them, say
ing, —
"I am Chang Doa, what you call Mokatsh hanutsh,
'panther clan.' Where do you belong? "
" Tzitz hanutsh," Zashue quickly responded.
The old man turned to one of the delegates.
"Father," he called to him in his language, "our sons
belong to your people. Will you take them with you, or
shall they go to the summer cacique? "
f. The other reflected a short while, then he replied, —
" The summer cacique is busy ; let the brethren come with
me. I will lead them to the homes of P'ho Doa."
News of the happy result of the council had aheady
spread outside. When the prisoners of a few hours ago,
now transformed into honoured guests, stepped down into
the square, every one looked at them pleasantly. The
throng dispersed, but many followed them into the houses
of the Water clan, where they were treated to the primitive
food of those times. Soon they retired to rest on simple
couches, there to forget the hardships and dangers they had
suffered during the day.
Outside, the deepest silence reigned. The pueblo on the
steep hill and the desert plain below shone in the rays of
the moon, peacefully, as though they too would slumber.
From the thickets along the little stream arose a faint twit
ter ; louder and louder it sounded, and rose heavenward in
full, melodious strains, soaring on high through the stillness
of the night; it was the mocking-birds' greeting to the
hour of rest.

CHAPTER XXI.
Autumn in New Mexico, as well as in many other parts of
the world, is the most beautiful time of the year. The rains
are over, and vegetation is refreshed and has developed.
Yellow flowers cover the slopes of the higher ranges ; the
summits are crowned with glistening snow again ; the days
are pleasant and the nights calm, clear, and wonderfully
cool. Nature in autumn seems to display its greatest
charms to allure mankind into placid submission to the
approach of rigid winter.
Autumn has come, and the two adventurers of whose
reception we have spoken in the last chapter are still guests,
kindly treated and waiting for the guide to give the signal
of departure for the south. A few days the old man had
said, — in a few days he would himself go to the southern
pueblos of his tribe. But upon the rabbit-hunts there fol
lowed ceremonial dances which lasted for days, and Hayoue
and Zashue could not leave until they were over. Then it
required several days to rest and to perform certain rites,
and Zashue and Hayoue could not leave on that account.
Furthermore, Zashue being Koshare, the Kosare of the
Tanos held him back for certain performances of their own,
and Hayoue could not or would not start alone. Afterward,
Hayoue being Cuirana, the Cuirana held something in store
for him, and Zashue did not care to start without his
brother. And when all that was finished the old man was
not ready; and so they are siting and waiting, and autumn

466 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
is here in all its beauty, and Hayoue and Zashue, Zashue as
well as Hayoue, begin to chafe ; but it is of no avaU ; they
must wait.
While they are thus waiting until it pleases their friend to
start, we shaU precede them to that south which is their
objective point, in order to anticipate if possible the crav
ings of the two adventurous young men. They may over
take us there, perhaps when we least expect it.
About thirty miles south of Santa F6, the southern rim of
the so-called Basin of Galisteo is bounded by a low and
shaggy ridge running from east to west, whose crest is
formed of trap-dyke sharply though irregularly dentated.
In Spanish this ridge and another similar one which trav
erses the plain several miles north of it, running parallel to
the former, is called very appropriately El Creston, for if
seen from a distance and edgewise it strikingly resembles
the crest of an antique helmet. The plain of Galisteo ex
pands between crestones, and on the edges of it stand sev
eral villages of the Tanos. Of the Galisteo Basin a Spanish
report from the sixteenth century says : " There they have
no stream ; neither are there any running brooks nor any
springs which the people could use."
The mountain clusters of the Real de Dolores and Sierra
de San Francisco, and beyond these the high Sandia chain,
divide the Galisteo country from the valley of the Rio
Grande in the west. To the south there extends a dreary
plain as far as the salt marshes of the Manzano ; eastward
spread the wooded slopes of the plateau ; above the Pecos
border upon the basin. To the north the plain rises grad
ually, traversed only by the northern creston, until it merges
into the plain of Santa F6.
On the southwestern comer of the Galisteo Basin a broad
channel discharges its waters into it, passing between the

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 467
San Francisco range and the mountains of Dolores. The
channel is arid. Mountain torrents rush through it only in
the season of thunder-storms, and they have burrowed and
ploughed through its surface, scarring it with deep furrows
and shifting waterfalls. Near the mouth of the pass and
at no great distance from the plain, one of these arroyos
has cut through an ancient village, exposing on both banks
the lower walls and rooms of its buildings, visible on the
surface only as irregular lines and quadrangles of rubbish.
The village must have been quite large for an Indian set
tlement, since seven rectangles with wing-like additions can
stUl be traced. This village in ruins is called to-day the
Pueblo Largo, and the name is not inappropriate.
At the time of which we speak, the Pueblo Largo was
inhabited, and in as high a state of prosperity as Indian
pueblos ever attain unto. It contained, as the ruins attest,
nearly fifteen hundred people of the Tanos tribe. Its name
was Hishi. The name is well known to-day to the remnants
of the Tanos, for they have piously preserved the recollec
tions of their former abodes.
Hishi is not on a beautiful site. It lies in a wide ditch
rather than in a valley. No view opens from it, and sombre
mountains loom up in close proximity both to the north and
west. In the rear of the village, the soil rises gradually to a
low series of ridges, from the top of which, at some distance
from Hishi, the eye ranges far off toward the plains and the
basin of the salt lakes. These ridges are convenient posts
of observation. Scouts placed there can descry the ap
proach of hostUe Apaches. The latter roam up and down
the plains, following the immense herds of buffalo, and
prey upon the village Indians whenever the latter present
any opportunity for a successful surprise.
The buffalo himself not infrequently comes to graze
within a short distance of Hishi. South of the present

468 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
ruins lies the buffalo spring. When the dark masses of this
greatest of American quadrupeds are descried from the
heights above the village, the Tanos go out with bow and
arrow; and woe to the straggling steer or calf that lags
behind. Like the wolf, the Indian rarely attacked any but
isolated animals. Only when a communal hunt was organ
ized, and a whole vUlage sallied forth to make war upon the
mighty king of the prairies, — only then, previous to the
introduction of fire-arms, could the redman venture to as
sault even a small herd or the rear-guard of a numer
ous column.
September is drawing to a close, and the autumnal sky is
as cloudless and as pure over Hishi as it is over most of the
other portions of New Mexico. But in the hollow where
the village is situated the sun is scorching, as Hishi lies
much lower than the " corner in the east " and lower than
the Rito. The chaparro flowers, in dense masses of deep
yellow, carpet the earth; and the dark pine forests on
the mountain-slopes stare, while yeUow streaks sweep up
among the dusky timber. In the distance we catch a
glimpse of the eastern slope of the Sandia range glistening
in the bright yeUow hue of the flowers that cover miles of
its slanting surface.
On the ridges south of Hishi human figures stand. They
are scattered, watching and spying attentively. They are
videttes, — outposts, placed to scan the plains and the
slopes of the mountains, lest some enemy sneak up and
pounce upon the defenceless village. For at the time of
which we are speaking the Tanos, or Hishi, are not only
defenceless, but singularly unsuspecting and heedless of
danger. They wpuld be at the mercy of an enemy, were it
not for these guards and scouts, who watch and pry, strain
ing every organ of perception that their people at home may
be without care while singing, praying, and making merry.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 469
Is not the dance now going on at the village danced, prayed,
and sung for their benefit also ?
Whenever these outposts turn toward their pueblo they
see clouds of dust rising from it, hear loud rhythmic shout
ing, whoops and yells, beating of drums, and the shrill
sounds of flutes. A haze seems to cover the tall and long
terraced buildings quite distinct from the vertical columns
of sand-whirls that drift over the plain of Galisteo, in calm
weather rising above the horizon like thin films of smoke.
It is a great day at Hishi. A dance is performed, songs
are sung, and prayers and sacrifices are offered that shall be
powerful with Those Above. The people make merry over
the fruits of the soil that have now matured. They are
grateful, and they wish to be precious to the higher powers
in years to come. The great harvest dance is performed
to-day. A long procession perambulates the long village.
The Koshare trot ahead. They are the same black and
white goblins with whom we are already acquainted, but
their bodies are decorated now with ripe fruit, with small
squashes and ears of corn, all strung to cords of fibre or
buckskin, and hung over their shoulders like wreaths. Wild
sunflowers adorn their heads. They are followed by the
Cuirana, whose bodies are daubed over with bluish clay.
Then the general public tramp along. The procession is
divided into four sections, the faces of all being painted ad
libitum. The first detachment is led by an old man whose
snow-white hair supports a wreath of yellow blossoms. He
is the so-called summer cacique.
The winter cacique leads on the second group. Behind
each ear he wears a tall plume from the wings of the eagle,
and around his neck are strung rows upon rows of sacred
shell beads, turquoises, and gaudy pebbles. The third is
preceded by the great shaman of the hunt. His dress is
a tight-fitting suit of buckskin ; long fringes depend from

47° THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
his sleeves, and the front and shoulders of his jacket are
profusely embroidered with porcupine-quills. A small
plumelet of eagle-down dances over his head. The last
section is led by the highest shaman. His head is also
decorated with yellow flowers, and a green and a yellow
plume stand erect behind each ear. The war shaman is
not to be seen; the spirits of strife have nothing to do
with the feast of peace. The war captain and his assistants
accompany the procession to keep order and clear the way.
This long, long pageant winds on, meandering through the
pueblo to the sound of drums, of flutes, and of monotonous
chants ; the white satyrs go ahead, then follow the blue ones,
then come in single file the men, vigorously stamping, and
behind each a woman, tripping lightly.
Every man is loaded with fruit of some kind, and carries
corn and squashes also in each hand. Every woman or
girl bears on her head a basket of willows or yucca filled
with corn-cakes, yucca preserve, and other delicacies, prod
ucts of the vegetable kingdom. It is a procession of baskets
filing through Hishi, solemn and sober, and in the main ex
tremely monotonous. At intervals the Koshare break ranks
to cut a few capers, but to-day the Delight Makers of the
Tehuas are remarkably decent, for they are those, par excel
lence, who say grace. Since their labours have been re
warded, and the crops are now ripe, and the people have
sufficient food, they are merry in the prospects of an easy
winter, and there is no need of any artificial delight- making.
The procession has passed through the entire viUage and
returned to one of its main squares. The end of the pageant
is still on the march when the Koshare break ranks again
and cluster in the centre of the square. From every side
bystanders come up with fruits, scattering them over the
ground where the Delight Makers are waiting; and when
the soU is well covered with squash, com, and other veg-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 471
etables, the white satyrs begin to dance with the most
serious faces, singing and lifting their hands to the skies.
GraduaUy the whole of the offering is crushed, and at
last pounded into the earth by the feet of the dancing
clowns. The earth has brought forth the necessaries of
life to man; now man, in token of gratitude, returns a
tribute to the earth.
As soon as this part of the ceremony is over, there arises
a great shout from all sides. Ears of corn, gourds, cakes of
corn meal, pieces of dried preserve, ripe fruits of the yucca,
are thrown up into the air ; the baskets are emptied, and
bystanders run home to replenish them. Whoever can
catch anything proceeds to devour it at once. The whole
tribe displays its gratitude by throwing heavenward the food
which heaven has enabled it to raise. Man intercepts and
enjoys it after the will and the deed have satisfied the
invisible powers on high.
The usual mass of spectators are gathered on the roofs
and along the walls of the houses. When the noisy dis
tribution of offerings begins, many run to get their share.
But it is not those who are most eager that are most con
sidered ; it seems that the bulk of the food thrown into the
air is showering down upon a row of houses on whose ter
races stands a group of men, women, and children who
seem no part of the inhabitants of Hishi, manifesting this
not so much in dress as from their distant and timid deport
ment. All of them are very poorly clad, the chUdren
mostly naked ; and yet here and there a girl among them
wears a new hide, and some old woman a new white cotton
wrap. Their pieces of clothing appear like new mendings on
old rags, or like a substantial shawl thrown over scanty vest
ments. The older members of this peculiar group look down
upon the merry spectacle below with grave and melancholy
eyes; the younger would fain be merry also, but sadness

472 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
lurks in their smUes. The children alone yield fully to the
excitement and happiness of the hour. As the gifts fall
down from above the older ones do not attempt to seize
them ; the girls and younger women gather what they can
and place them carefully in a heap. What the children do
not succeed in devouring at once is taken away from them
and placed with the rest. They are improving the oppor
tunity to lay in stores, and the Tanos lend them a willing
hand. Spectators below turn over to them what has fallen
to their share, others place what they have secured with the
little hoard the strangers are accumulating. For these peo
ple, so poorly clad and looking so needy, must be strangers
in the village of Hishi. Strangers, yes ; but strangers in
need ; and could there be any sacrifice, any offering, more
agreeable to those on high than the feeding of people whom
they allow to live by thrusting them on the charity of fellow-
beings? These strangers are after all but children of the
same spiritual parents from the upper world, and as such
they are brothers, sisters, and relatives.
That the strangers are village Indians can easily be seen.
It is proved by the cut of the hair, and by the rags which
still protect their bodies from absolute nakedness. But the
tongue they speak is different from that spoken by the peo
ple of Hishi. To us, however, it is not new. We have
heard that dialect before. It is the Queres language, the
language of the Rito. The strangers are the lost ones whom
Hayoue and Zashue have sought so anxiously and with so
much suffering, and for the sake of whom they have ex
posed their lives a hundred times perhaps, in vain. Zashue
was right, the fugitives had turned south from the Bocas ;
and had Hayoue been less self-sufficient they would have
found them ere now.
Still we miss among that little band of Queres fugitives
those with whom we have become more closely acquainted.

**¦

Ruins of an Ancient Pueblo

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 473
In vain we look for Say Koitza, for Mitsha, for Okoya. Can
it be true, as Hayoue surmised, that his bosom friend,
Zashue's eldest son, is dead?
The throwing about of fruit has ceased ; the dance is re
sumed, and new figures may appear. Everybody hushes, and
fastens his gaze on the performance.
The dancers have formed a wide ring. Men and women
hold each other by the hands, and dance in a circle around
the place which has been covered with objects of sacrifice.
One after the other, the Koshare, the Cuirana, after them
each one of the four sections, step within the circle, stamp
ing down the fruits spread out there. Two or three of the
Delight Makers improve the occasion to cut some of their
usual capers, and the spectators laugh to their heart's con
tent. Laughter is contagious, it captures even the melan
choly group of Queres ; the old among them smUe, the
young chuckle, the children shout and yell from sheer de
light. One boy in particular is very conspicuous from the
intense interest he takes in everything the Koshare are
doing. He is about ten years of age. A dirty breech-
clout constitutes his only vestment, but a necklace of multi
coloured pebbles adorns his neck ; and as often as a Koshare
grimaces, or makes an extraordinary gesture, or displays his
tongue to the public, this boy jumps up, screams and shouts,
and screeches in delirious joy. His whole heart is with the
Koshare ; he imitates their movements, improves on their
gestures to such a degree that those around him smile, ex
changing winks of approval as if saying, " He will be a good
one." The head of a girl slowly rises through a hatchway ; and as
her face turns toward us, we recognize the soft, beaming eyes
of Mitsha Koitza. The maiden looks thinner, her features
sharper. She remains standing on the notched beam serv
ing as a ladder, and calls out, —

474 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
" Shyuote ! "
No reply is made to the call. The din and noise of the
dance drown her voice, and all are so occupied by the sights
that none pay any attention to her. The youngster who has
been devoting all his time to the pranks of the Delight
Makers jumps forward in his enthusiasm, and would have
tumbled sheer over the low parapet encircling the roof had
not one of the men standing near grasped his hair and
puUed him back. It saved the boy's life, but the urchin is
highly displeased at the informal manner in which he is re
strained. He screams and struggles to free himself. Again
the voice of the maiden is heard ; this time it is louder and
the tone commanding.
" Shyuote ! "
" She is calling you, uak," the man says who has saved the
brat. " I won't go," retorts our old friend Shyuote, for he it is
who attempts to play at Koshare here.
" Shyuote, come to sanaya ! " again calls the maiden.
The mention of his mother creates a stir among the by
standers. They forget the dance and turn toward Mitsha.
Shyuote still refuses to obey, but the others push him for
cibly to the hatchway. Several of the women approach
Mitsha, and one inquires of her in a subdued voice, —
" How goes it below? "
The girl's eyes fill with tears. At last she whispers, —
" It goes — to Shipapu." She turns around and disap
pears beneath, sobbing. Shyuote is sent after her.
The people stand and shake their heads. The news
wanders from lip to lip, " She is dying." All the pleasure,
every interest in the performance, has vanished. Indiffer
ent to the celebration, the Queres hang their heads in sad
ness ; yet no complaint is heard, not a tear glistens in those
mournful eyes. She is only dying, not dead.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 475
But who is dying? The query cannot be answered up
here. Let us go down and follow Mitsha.
In the dingy room of an Indian home, where light and
air penetrate through a single diminutive air-hole, sit and
crouch half a dozen people. They surround at some dis
tance a human being whose head rests on a bundle of skins,
the body on a buffalo-robe. The knees are drawn up, and
cotton mantles cover the lower extremities. The chest,
scantily covered with a ragged, dark-coloured wrap, heaves
at long intervals ; the extremities begin to stretch ; the face
is devoid of expression ; the eyes are wide open, staring,
glassy ; the lips parted ; and on each side of the mouth-
comers ominous wrinkles begin to form. The sufferer is a
woman, and as we look closer we recognize her as Say
Koitza, the wife of Zashue. He must hasten his steps if he
wishes to find her upon earth, for she is dying !
It is very still in the room. The prayers which the
medicine-man of the Tanos has been reciting are hushed,
the little idols of lava with red-painted faces and eyes made
of turquoises by means of which he hoped to conjure the
sickness, lean against the wall useless. Those whose duty
it is cower about the dying woman, and look on speechless.
How faint the breathings grow, how the chest rises and falls
at longer intervals, weaker every time ! They listen as the
rattling in her throat becomes harder and slower. They
dare not weep, for all is not over.
Say Koitza is dying ! Not the sudden death she once
prayed for when Topanashka her father went over to
Shipapu ; but still she dies a painless death, — she dies from
exhaustion. What is going on in her mind while the fetters which tied
her soul to the body are being dissolved? That body is
henceforth powerless ; it has no wants, no cravings. The
soul becomes free. Can it already glance beyond? Not

476 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
yet, for as long as earthly matter clings to him man cannot
perceive the other world. Flashes of light gleam through
the mist in which he is plunged, through both physical
weakness and the efforts of the soul to become free. The
body struggles for preservation, the spirit for freedom from
its henceforth useless shell.
Are mind and body merely one ? Does not death pu.
an end to everything that we ever were and can be ? Does
there remain after death anything beyond the memory of
our former existence, preserved in the hearts of our fellow-
beings? Nobody has ever returned from beyond the grave
to tell us how he felt, what he thought, while dying. But
a dying person always casts rays of light over his surround
ings, and the surroundings of dying Say Koitza are not
without their lesson for us.
What do we see? A man sits near the dying woman.
He lifts up his hands and stares ; it is the medicine-man,
and he has done his utmost ; he is powerless, his art useless.
What he did was done in the conviction that spiritual in
fluences, however grossly conceived and coarsely applied,
could compel the soul to master the body's ailment, could
prop up the sinking machinery and strengthen the motive
power without regard to its decaying tools. To-day, pro
vided the body is helped along with physical means, the
soul would remain against its will, or against the will of what
stands in closer relation to it originally than the form which
it has animated here beneath. If mind and body were one,
either method could be successful. Neither is, when death
steps in to proclaim their separation.
By the side of the shaman a young man leans against the
wall. He is well-built and lithe. His head is bent so low
in grief that the dark hair streams over his face, concealing
his features. The youth is mourning, mourning deeply.
Over what? Over the body or its sufferings? No, he

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 477
mourns because of an impending separation. From what?
From the form of her whom he will miss? No, for that
form will not leave this earth in substance. He mourns
for something that goes beyond his grasp, and remains
beyond it so long as he himself moves upon this earth.
Mitsha also is here. She has properly no right to be
for she does not belong to the same clan as Say ; but she
has remained, and nobody has objected to her presence.
She has not craved permission, it has come by tacit consent.
Mitsha has felt that Say was approaching the point when
the soul breaks loose and flits to another realm, and she
wishes to remain with her to the last. If that soul should
drop like a shrivelled fruit, to decay and perish forever,
nobody would bend to gaze fondly at it. But if it flutter
upward, we follow it with our eyes as long as we can, un
consciously thinking, " How happy you are, free now ; and
how much I wish to be with you." The very grief caused
by the separation, the longing, the clinging to him or to her
whom we know to be leaving us, are signs that there is
something beyond, something which we are loath to lose
but sure to find again elsewhere. Mitsha has known Okoya's
mother but little, but the fearful distress of the past two
months has brought them together at last. Now the girl
weeps, but not loudly, at the thought of separation. If
death be annihilation, tears are of no avail. But if death
be a promise of life in another condition, then, child, well
may you shed tears, for your grief is a token of hope.
Shyuote stands at the foot of the beam, gaping. His
mother lies so still, she breathes so loudly. How well she
must be sleeping ! Why did they call him down at all ?
It would have been much nicer upstairs where there are
Koshare to be seen. He knows well enough that sanaya is
sick, but as long as she has such good rest she ought to feel
well. A child is not afraid of a dying mother, and when

478 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
she has breathed her last is convinced that she must be
happy. To be well is compatible in the minds of children
only with life. Death therefore appears to them as a step
into a better and more beautiful existence. Children and
fools tell the truth. The gleam of light which from dying
Say is cast on her unruly son is but the rosy hue of a hopeful
twilight. The remaining occupants of the room stand with sad
looks; they are all women but one, a middle-aged man.
They do not feel the occasion except so far as there is
a certain solemnity connected with it. SUent and grave,
they watch a process going on whose real nature they
cannot understand except as a momentous and appalling
change. Change is only transformation, not annihilation.
Say Koitza has been lying thus for several days. The
end is near at hand, and yet hours may elapse ere she dies.
So still it is in the apartment that nobody dares even move.
Rising and falling come the song and the noise of the dance
from the outside, but they seem to halt at the little open
ing, as if an invisible medium would interpose itself, saying,
" Stay out, for within there ripens a fruit for another and a
better world."
Mitsha glides over to the young man with the dark, stream
ing hair and touches his arm lightly. He looks up and
at her. It is Okoya, — Okoya, whom we believed to be
dead, but who stands here by the side of his dying mother.
He also looks emaciated and wan. After all the dangers
and misery of a protracted flight this hour has come upon
him. The eyes of the two meet ; their looks express neither
tenderness nor passion, but a perfect understanding that
betokens a union which even death cannot destroy. It is
that simple, natural attachment which forms the basis of
Indian wedlock when the parties are congenial to each
other.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 479
That the two are one can be plainly seen. As yet no
outward sanction has been given to their union ; but they are
tacitly regarded as belonging to each other, and no opposi
tion is offered to an intimacy which lacks but the bond of
marriage. Passion has little to do with that intimacy ; the
severe trials of the past have riveted them together on a
higher plane.
Mitsha has made a sign to the young man. Both steal
from the chamber noiselessly and climb to the roof. He
goes first and she follows, as is customary among Indians.
Once up there the dance attracts Okoya's attention for a
moment. He has not seen anything of it as yet, for all
day he has remained by his mother's side.
Shyuote improves the opportunity to slip out also. As
he sees his brother and future sister-in-law go out, he follows.
Why should he stay down any longer ? His mother is well.
She sleeps soundly and breathes so loud ! She certainly is
improving, and up there he can see Koshare. But he is
careful not to let Mitsha see him; her positive ways are
distasteful, so he creeps in among the spectators where her
eyes cannot follow and soon has lost sight of everything in
contemplation of the Koshare.
The appearance of Okoya and Mitsha on the roof attracts
no attention. As long as the death-wail is not sounded,
none but those of her clan have a right to be with the dying.
Still one or other of the women casts an inquisitive glance
at Mitsha ; a slight shake of her head is sufficient answer to
them. The young pair go to one side ; he sits down on the
parapet of the roof and she beside him. Their eyes follow
the dance, but their thoughts are elsewhere. Okoya whispers
at last, " Sanaya is dying."
Mitsha nods, and tears come to her eyes. Here she is
not afraid to weep. Okoya continues, —
" I knew it would happen. Yonder " — he points at the

480 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
mountains — "I heard the owl, and I knew it meant what is
now coming upon us."
The girl shudders. She weeps no longer ; dread scenes
of the past are looming up before her mind.
"In the kote," says she, "it was very bad. Do you re
member over on the other side of the great river on the
mesa, from which one can see so very far, almost over
where we are now?"
"Not as far as that," replied Okoya, in a quiet tone,
" but far enough. You are right, makatza ; on the mesa we
suffered much ; there the Moshome did us a great deal of
harm. If it had not been for you we should not be here."
" For me? " Mitsha asked in surprise.
" Yes, you. You saved me, saved the yaya, saved Shyuote
from the fierce shuatyam ! Yes, surely," he continued as
the girl shook her head incredulously. " Do you remember,
sa uishe, when one Moshome was holding my hands while
another struck at me with his club? You took a big stone
and hit him so that he fell and I could kill the other. After
ward you took the bow away from the dead Moshome, and
you did as much with it as I did with mine. Yes, indeed,
you are strong, but you are wise too, and good." He fast
ened his eyes on her with a deep, earnest look, and the girl
turned away her face. She felt embarrassed.
" We shall be happy when you have built your house and
you dwell in it as my koitza," Okoya whispered.
Mitsha cast her eyes to the ground, and a faint glow ap
peared on her bronzed cheeks. The young man was not
misled by her manner, he knew well enough that she liked
him to speak in this way.
" Sanaya goes to Shipapu," said he, moving closer to her,
" and I must have a koitza. You said you would be mine
and I should be your husband. It was the night of the
council on the Tyuonyi. Do you remember?"

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 48 1
" I do, and so it will be," she said, raising her head. Her
large eyes beamed upon him with an expression of softness
and deep joy. " But whither shall we go ? Here we are
strangers ; and the Puyatye, although they are very good to
us, speak a tongue we do not understand. Shall we return
to the Tyuonyi and live with my mother and the hanutsh ? "
" Are you sure that your mother is still alive ? Are you
sure that there is a single one of our people alive?" Okoya
objected. Again the eyes of Mitsha grew moist; she turned her
head away and Okoya heard her sobs. Well did he under
stand her grief; it was stirred for the fate of her parents.
Had he, had she, known all that had happened on the Rito !
A tremendous shout arose from the dancing crowd below.
The distribution of gifts was beginning anew. Again the
majority of the missiles were directed toward the Queres ;
a perfect shower of provisions, cooked and raw, pattered
down upon the strangers. A large ear of corn tumbled into
Mitsha's lap, and she handed it to Okoya, whispering, —
" The Shiuana are good."
" They are. They are good also to the yaya, for they take
her away to Shipapu, where there is no hunger as on the
shore of the great stream."
He sighed, and gazed to the west, where the San Francisco
mountains stood. Beyond them, along the northern base
of the Sierra de Sandia, in the sandy bottom of the Rio
Grande, uninhabited at this time, they had suffered from
hunger and heat. There misery had reached its climax. It
is terrible even in our days to be compelled to flee from
house and home in time of war into the cold, strange world.
And yet nowadays one can flee to one's kind ; and where
there are human beings there are hearts. But in the days
of old, and for Indians, it was not only distressing, it was
ghastly to be obliged to fly. Nature alone stared them in
31

482 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
the face, and Nature has no heart, although it is said that
we are one with her. The Navajos had driven away the
fugitives, had tracked and tormented them fearfully, and yet
once relieved from the enemy's clutches and thrust upon
Nature alone, the wretched band regretted the days when
the ruthless enemy swarmed about them. The Moshome
at least fed those whom they captured, and those whom
they killed were happy forever. Nature knows but law and
force, and whoever depends upon her at a time when her
laws will not tolerate the existence of man, falls a victim to
the power of her forces.
Now all this was past. It rained gifts about them, and
with a sad smile Mitsha gathered them into a little pile.
Okoya looked on ; he thought the girl was making pro
vision for their future household.
The distribution stopped, for the dancers were resting.
They began to sit down along the walls of the houses to
rest and to enjoy the needed recess. Mitsha took som«
of the fruit on her arm, and said to Okoya, —
" Come, let us go down again."
"What do you want to do with that?" asked he, des%
nating her little burden.
" I give it to the Chayan for what the Shiuana ar«!
doing for our mother."
Even in the state of most abject poverty, the Indian
shows gratitude to Those Above.
The head of a man rises above the hatchway and sig
nals the two young people gravely, sadly. They descend
hastily ; Okoya remains standing in the middle of the room,
and Mitsha goes over to him as soon as she has deposited
her burden. As nobody notices her she grasps his hand,
and he presses it softly with his own. Say Koitza remains
in the same position as before, but she lies more extended,
and her chest heaves no longer. The by-standers are mo-

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 483
tionless like statues, expectant. A last rattle sounds from
the throat of the woman; a deep heavy effort, and all is
over. Light froth issues from her lips. Say Koitza has
breathed her last.
It has become very quiet outside, as if men there had
guessed at what was going on within. In the little apart
ment it is as still as the grave, — a stUlness which speaks
louder to the heart than the mightiest sound, and which is
appropriately designated by the popular saying, "There
is an angel flitting through the room."
This stillness might have lasted long ; but now the noise
and uproar arise again outside, and with full power the
sounds of delight and mirth break into the dingy cell like
mighty waves. With the departure of life from the body,
it is as if a barrier that forbade entrance to noise from
the outer world had been drawn away, permitting the
sounds of joy to come in triumphantly, now that the soul
is free. They find an echo inside, a dismal echo of lamen
tations and tears. Mitsha cannot weep boisterously like
the rest, neither can Okoya. The two lean toward each
other sobbing; the girl has grasped his arm with both
hands, her head rests on his shoulder, and she weeps.
The lament below has been heard on the roof; it is a sig
nal to rush down and join in it. Soon the room is crowded
with people ; the women grasp their hair and pull it over
their faces. Dismal wailing fills the cell. Among the others
stands Shyuote, who has been told that his mother is dead.
He plants himself squarely with the rest, and howls at the
top of his voice. In front of the house the dance con
tinues, and the monotonous chant and the dull drumming
ascend to the sky ; alongside of it the death-wail.
Tanos also crowd into the room ; the throng is so great
that the last comers must stand on the beam. Suddenly
they are pushed aside ; a tall young man rushes down and

484 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
makes room, regardless of the weeping and howling crowd.
Up to Okoya he forces his way ; throws his left arm around
him and Mitsha; his right hand seizes the hand of the
youth and presses it against his breast. It is Hayoue, who
has come from the north at last, — his heart guiding him
to that friend whom he has so bravely, so unwearyingly
sought. Another Indian rashes down after Hayoue, his motions
not less anxious, not less rapid and determined. He makes
his way to the body and falls down upon his knees, staring
with heaving chest but tearless eyes into the placid, ema
ciated face. It is Zashue Tihua. With a tension akin to
despair he searches for lingering life in , the features of
that wife whom he formerly neglected and afterward sus
pected, whom he at last anxiously sought, and now finds
asleep in death.

CONCLUSION.
After twenty-one long and it may be tedious chapters, no
apology is required for a short one in conclusion. I cannot
take leave of the reader, however, without having made in
his company a brief excursion through a portion of New
Mexico in the direction of the Rito de los Frijoles, though
not quite so far.
We start from Santa Fe, that " corner in the east " above
which the Tano viUage stood many centuries ago. We
proceed to the Rio Grande valley, to the little settlement
called Pena Blanca, and to the Queres village, or Pueblo of
Cochiti. There you will hear the language that was once
spoken on the Rito ; you will see the Indians with charac
teristic sidelocks, with collars of turquoises and shell beads,
but in modern coats and trousers, in moccasins and in New
England boots and shoes. StiU they are at heart nearly
the same Indians we found them in this story. I could
introduce you to Hayoue, to Zashue, to Okoya, and the
rest. If we strike the time well, you may witness the Ko
share at their pranks, and in their full, very unprepossess
ing ceremonial toggery. At Cochiti we take a guide,
possibly Hayoue, and proceed northward in the direction
of the Rito.
For a number of hours we have to follow the base of the
huge potreros, crossing narrow ravines, ascending steep
but not long slopes, until at about noon we stand on the

486 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
brink of a gorge so deep that it may be termed a chasm.
We look down to a narrow bottom and groves of cotton-
wood trees. To the north, the chasm is walled in by
towering rocks ; the Rio Grande flows through one corner ;
and on its opposite bank arise cliffs of trap lava and basalt,
black and threatening, while the rocks on the west side are
bright red, yellow, and white. The trail to the Rito goes
down into this abyss and climbs up on the other side
through clefts and along steep slopes. But we are not
going to follow this trail. We turn to the left, and with the
dizzy chasm of Canon del Alamo to our right, proceed
westward on one of the narrow tongues which, as the
reader may remember, descend toward the Rio Grande
from the high western mountains, and which are called in
New Mexico potreros. The one on which we are travel
ling, or rather the plateau, or mesa, that constitutes its
surface, is called Potrero de las Vacas.
For about two hours we wander through a thin forest,
From time to time the trail approaches the brink of the
rocky chasm of the Canon del Alamo, near enough to have
its echo return to us every word we may shout down into
its depths. Suddenly the timber grows sparse and we be
hold an open space on a gentle rise before us. It is a bare,
bleak spot, perhaps a quarter of a mile long, and occupying
the entire width of the mesa, which here is not much broader.
Beyond, the timber begins again, and in the centre of the
opening we see the fairly preserved ruins of an abandoned
Indian pueblo.
There are still in places three stories visible. The walls
are of evenly broken parallelopipeds of very friable pumice-
stone, and the village forms the usual quadrangles. In the
centre is a large square ; and no fewer than six, depressions
indicate that the Pueblos had at one time as many as six
circular subterranean estufas. In the ruins of the dwellings

^^4-3^

A Modern Pueblo

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 487
over four hundred cells are still well defined, so that the
population of this communal village must formerly have
reached as high as one thousand souls. Over and through
the ruins are scattered the usual vestiges of primitive arts
and industry, — pottery fragments and arrow-heads. Sel
dom do we meet with a stone hammer, whereas grinding-
slabs and grinders are frequent, though for the most part
scattered and broken.
The spot is well selected for an abode of sedentary In
dians. An extensive view opens toward the east, north, and
south. We see in the east the mountains above Santa Fe",
in the south the ranges at whose foot lie the ruins of Hishi.
In the north the high plateaus above the Rito shut out a
glimpse of the Puye, but a whitish streak in that direction
indicates the top line of the northern cliffs that overhang the
Rito de los Frijoles. Right and left of the village, not more
than a hundred yards from each side, begin the rugged de
clivities of the sides of the potrero. If we want to go far
ther we can proceed to the west only, and there we soon get
into timber again.
A few steps within that timber, and we have before us a
strange sight. A wall of rudely piled stone slabs planted
upright, flags laid upon them crosswise, and smaller frag
ments piled against and between them, form a pentagonal
enclosure which at first sight reminds us of a diminutive
Stonehenge. There is an entrance to it from the south
east, — an open corridor flanked by similar parapets. The
enclosing wall is not more than three feet high, and we
easily peep into the interior.
Inside there are two statues carved out of the living rock
Although much disfigured to-day they still show a plain re
semblance to the figures of two crouching panthers or pumas.
They are life size ; and the animals seem to lie there with
their heads to the east, their tails extended along the ground.

488 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
As we stand and gaze, our Indian goes up to the statues and
furtively anoints their heads with red ochre, muttering a
prayer between his teeth.
What may be the signification of this statuary? Do you
remember the great dance at the Rito, and the painting on
the wall of the estufa where the Koshare Naua sat and held
communication with Those Above ? Do you recollect that
among these paintings there was one of a panther and another
of a bear ? The relation of the bear and panther of the estufa
to the picture of the sun-father is here that of the two stone
panthers to the sun himself. Their faces are turned to the
east, whence rises the sun, in which dwells the father of all
mankind, and the moon, which their mother inhabits. As
in the estufa on the Rito, so in the outside world, the pic
tures of stone express a prayer to the higher powers, and
here daily the people of the village were wont to make offer
ings and say their prayers.
We are therefore on sacred ground in this crumbling en
closure. But who knows that we are not on magic ground
also? We might make an experiment; and though our
Indian guide is not one of the great shamans, he might
help us in an attempt at innocent jugglery.
Let us suffer ourselves to be blindfolded, and then turn
around three times from left to right while our friend
recites some cabalistic formula, incomprehensible of course
to us.
One, two, three ! The bandage is removed. What can
we see?
Nothing strange at first. Surrounding nature is the same
as before. The same extensive view, the same snow-clad
ranges in the far east, the same silent, frowning rocks, the
same dark pines around us. But in the north, over the yel
lowish band that denotes the cliffs of the Rito, we notice a
slight bluish haze.

THE DELIGHT MAKERS. 489
A change has taken place in our immediate vicinity. The
stone panthers and the stone enclosure have vanished, and
the ground is bare, like all the ground in the neighbourhood.
Looking beyond we see that a transformation has also taken
place on the spot where stood the ruin. The crumbling
walls and heaps of rubbish are gone, and in their place
newly built foundations are emerging from the ground;
heaps of stone, partly broken, are scattered about; and
where a moment ago we were the only living souls, now
Indians — village Indians like our guide, only somewhat
more primitive — move to and fro, busily engaged.
Some of them are breaking the stones into convenient
sizes, for the friable pumice breaks in parallelopipeds with
out effort. The women are laying these in mortar made of
the soil from the mesa, common adobe. We are witness
ing the beginning of the construction of a small village.
Farther down, on the edge of the timber, smoke arises;
there the builders of this new pueblo dwell in huts while
their house of stone is growing to completion. It is the
month of May, and only the nights are cool.
These builders we easily recognize. They are the fugi
tives from the Rito, the little band whom the Tanos of
Hishi have kindly received and charitably supported until
a few months since, when they allowed them to go and
build a new home. They came hither led on by Hayoue,
who is now their maseua ; for each tribe, however small,
must have one. Okoya is with him, and Mitsha, now
Okoya's wife, comes up from the bottom with the water-
urn on her head, as on the day when we first saw her on the
Rito de los Frijoles.
And now we have, though in a trance, seen the further fate
of those whose sad career has filled the pages of this story.
We may be blindfolded again, turned about right to left ; and
when the bandage is taken from our eyes the landscape is

490 THE DELIGHT MAKERS.
as before, silent and grand. The ruins are in position again )
the panthers of stone with their mutilated heads lie within
the enclosure ; an eagle soars on high ; and our Indian points
to it, smiles, and whispers, —
" Look 1 see ! the Shiuana are good ! "

THE END.

YALE UNIVERSITY

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