. 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 impulses 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 began 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.

[Illustration: Rito de los Frijoles

A cliff estufa of the Snake-Clan]

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 Moshome, 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
misfortune; 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 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
so