slowly.
Shotaye kept aloof after the conjuration, 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 wrongdoers. 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 only be effected by
means of the owl's feathers. By burying these feathers near the place
where the Delight Makers used to assemble, Shotaye asserted that not
only would the disease be eliminated 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 objection
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 prepare 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 consecutive
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
fr