lief 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 become an invaluable
assistant. He observed the boy's ways, and became intimately acquainted
with all his traits, bad and good.

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

Nacaytzusle was a successful hunter; he was very nimble, quick, and
exceedingly persevering, in everything he undertook. But he was also a
natural lounger and idler, whenever 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 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, entering into the path traced by the
customs of sedentary Indians. 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 accosted 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 rat