r even surprised at it. But everybody, on the other hand,
noticed the reply given by the aged Hotshanyi, felt it like some dread
warning,--the foreboding of some momentous question of danger to the
people. An uneasy feeling crept over many of the assistants who were
not, like Tyope and the Koshare Naua, in the secrets of the case. After
the departure of the caciques, therefore, the same dead silence
prevailed as before.

The tapop broke the silence by turning officially to the principal
shaman and asking him,--

"Sa umo yaya, what do you hold concerning the demand of our children
from Shyuamo?"

The Chayan raised his face, his eyes sparkled. He gave his reply in a
positive tone,--

"I hold it is well, provided Tzitz hanutsh is satisfied." He bent his
head again in token that he had said as much as he cared to say for the
present.

Hoshkanyi Tihua then interrogated the Shkuy Chayan, who very pointedly
answered,--

"It is good."

His colleague, the Shikama Chayan, remained non-committal, saying,--

"It may be good, it may not be good; I do not know. My hanutsh is
Shutzuna,"--he cast a rapid glance to where the delegate of the
Prairie-wolf people was sitting,--"and we have enough land for
ourselves."

The governor now addressed the same question successively to the Koshare
Naua and to the leader of the Cuirana. The dim eyes of the former began
to gleam; his shrivelled features assumed a hideous, wolfish expression
as he spoke in a voice trembling yet clear,--

"It is well. Our brethren deserve what they demand. If the crops ripen,
my children from Shyuamo are those who pray and fast most of all. My
hanutsh alone counts more Koshare than all the others together. If they
get more land they will fast and pray so much the more, and this they do
not for themselves only, but for the benefit of all who dwell on the
Tyuonyi."

The Cuirana Naua, on the other hand, gave a confused and unsatisfactory
reply. In his opinion it would be well if both clans could agree.

It was next the turn of the clan delegates to be called up. They were
those most directly interested, but until now they had, out of deference
for their religious leaders, maintained an absolutely passive attitude.
After the Cuirana Naua had spoken, however, many raised their faces,
changed their positions; some looked at the tapop with an air of
expectancy, others glanced around, still others seemed to denote by
their demeanour that they were anxious and