y located from the abodes and the
lands of the Turquoise that he could see no just reason for a claim. It
was equally impossible for him to imagine the nature of the claim.
Quarrels between clans are always most dangerous for the existence of a
tribe, for disruption and consequent weakening is likely to result from
them. The old man felt the gravest apprehensions; 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 battering-rams hated him, that he was a thorn in their flesh, a
stone in their crooked paths. If the revelations of Hoshkanyi created
deep apprehensions in him, it was out of no 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 impending 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 evil
hour in the annals of his people.

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 beautif