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 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? Nothing! 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 Koshare 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 whispered 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 thr