CHAPTER XVII.
Okoya had been correct in his surmise that Shotaye was gone. In vain SayKoitza pined; her friend had left never to return.
When the news of Topanashka's death reached her, which it did on thevery night of the occurrence, she saw at a glance that henceforth herpresence among the Queres was an impossibility, for she knew that thedeceased was the only one who could interpose himself between Say Koitzaand her enemies, and thus wield an influence indirectly favourable toherself. She recognized that henceforth Tyope was free to act as hepleased in the matter, for the medicine-men would be on his side. Andshe saw that the days of mourning that were sure to follow afforded hera capital opportunity for leaving the Rito unobserved, and executing herflight to the Tehuas of the Puye.
Shotaye could not believe that Cayamo was the slayer of Topanashka. Herwarrior from the north was in too great a hurry to get out of the way ofpursuing Navajos. He was too anxious to save the scalp he had taken.Even in case Topanashka had overtaken him, which seemed impossible, theTehua would have avoided rather than attacked the unarmed old man. Andif the maseua surprised their interview and followed her knight, thelatter had too much vantage-ground to be ever overtaken by his aged andunarmed pursuer. The fact that the sandal had been found, Shotayeinterpreted as evidence of Cayamo's precipitate flight. From herstandpoint she reached the very correct conclusion that the Navajos whofollowed in Cayamo's tracks, and not the Tehua, must have killed thefather of her friend Say.
But she saw that her people would fall into error as to the manner ofTopanashka's death. She saw that they could not have reached a differentconclusion, and also that the error must call forth extraordinarymeasures of revenge. She heard enough and saw enough, during thecommotion prevailing at the Rito when the dead body was brought in, tobecome convinced that as soon as the mourning ceremonies were over theQueres would take the war-path against the supposed murderers of theirwar-chief. She took care not to disabuse the minds of any of her tribalbrethren, and said nothing, but felt glad at the opportunity which theproposed campaign would give her for revenge.
Flight to the Tehuas was not only very easy, it could be executed undercircumstances that would give her among the other tribe a position ofconsiderable importance. It was almost needless to avail herself of theunderstanding with Cayamo; she had far more important things tocommunicate. By informing the Tehuas of the movement on foot againstthem, she appeared as a deserter from the enemy, as a timely friend. Ifafterward, as she confidently believed, Tyope should come up with thewarriors against the Tehuas, he would find everything prepared for adisastrous reception. Matters looked exceedingly promising for herplans.
For all that, she did not forget Say Koitza; but she had been to someextent forewarned, and as soon as Say heard of Shotaye's absence shemust suspect the truth. After all, Say was in no real danger. Until thecampaign was over, there was no time to think of her case, and duringthat campaign Shotaye would provide for the Queres such a roughhandling that no thoughts of witchcraft trials would trouble them forsome time to come. For there should be mourning, sadness, grief,howling, and gnashing of teeth on the Rito on a very large scale.
Still she did not lose sight of the possibility that her absence mightbe noticed at an early day, and might arouse suspicion. It was possible,though not at all likely. As long as people mourned, nobody would carefor her. After the official mourning was over the council would beconvened and the campaign announced. Thereupon all the men who had totake part would have to retire for the customary fasts andpurifications, and the Yaya and the Chayani would have to work heavily.Her home was not likely to be visited by any one for a number of days,and when the warriors of the Queres were on the march nobody would callthem back because she had disappeared from the Rito.
Perfectly at rest in regard to her own future, reassured as to the fateof Say Koitza, Shotaye had, on the night of the second day after themurder of Topanashka, left her home and climbed to the northern mesawithout meeting any obstacle. When the sun rose, she found herself quitenear the place which Cayamo, as far as she understood, had designated asthe spot where his friend Teanyi would wait for her. Unacquainted withthe real distance that separates the Rito from the cave-dwellings aboveSanta Clara, she had underrated it; and it was only at noon, after shehad spent hours walking through the pine timber and in fruitlesswaiting, that a man stepped up to her from behind a tree and calledout,--
"Teanyi!" Then he added, "Cayamo," and inquired, "Shotaye?"
He was the looked-for and longed-for delegate; and when the sun stoodat its height, the two were travelling toward the Puye together.
Shotaye attempted to convey the idea to her companion that the Quereswere upon the point of moving upon the Tehuas in force. Her excitedgesticulations and broken sentences only succeeded in making him believethat she was herself the object of lively pursuit by a considerablenumber of men. Therefore when the pair reached the isolated, castle-likerock called Puye, which dominates the country far around, and along thebase of which the dwellings of the Tehuas were excavated in friablewhite pumice-stone, in the same manner as are those of the Rito, Teanyileft her standing before the entrance to his own cave-home, went in, andcalled his wife to take care of the new-comer while he ran to the tuyo,as the governor is called among the Tehuas. The wife of Teanyi had notbeen informed of the nature of Shotaye's call, and as she took her intoher quarters she eyed her curiously and suspiciously, for it wasprobably the first time she had seen a human being that spoke a languagedifferent from her own. She gave her no food, but waited her husband'sreturn. Shotaye, on her side, cast the quick glance of her lively eyesat everything. From time to time she attempted a word of conversation;she smiled and gesticulated, but the only response was a shaking of thehead and facial expressions that denoted suspicion rather thanfriendship.
Teanyi had informed the tuyo that he had met a woman from the Rito delos Frijoles and had taken her to his home, or rather to that of hiswife; that the woman was gesticulating in an unintelligible manner; andthat all he could surmise was that there might be Queres approaching thePuye with hostile intentions. He said nothing about Cayamo and hisrelations toward Shotaye, for Cayamo had enjoined absolute secrecy.
The governor of the Tehuas was a different man from the pompous littletapop of the Queres. The latter would at once have called the counciland done everything to surround the event and his own person with asmuch noise as possible. Not so the tuyo of the Puye. He only said, "Iwill go with you," and went to the room of Teanyi's wife to see Shotayeand investigate for himself.
The gesticulations began again, and the woman used every effort to makeherself understood. The governor did his best to understand her, but noprogress was made toward comprehension. She even followed Cayamo'sprecedent in drawing a line on the floor from north to south,designating the southern end as Tupoge, the northern end as Puye, forthus much she had kept in memory. Then she pointed out on that line thespot where Topanashka had been killed, and said, "Uan save," and madethe gesture-sign for killing. Lastly she tried to convey the idea thatthe Queres were in arms against the Tehuas.
The governor displayed much coolness, and paid close attention duringthis strange and almost comic interview. He thought he understood that aman from the Rito, probably called Topanashka, had been murdered by theDinnes on the trail leading to the Puye from the south. He also thoughtthat the Queres were on the war-path to avenge the murder. In whatmanner this was connected with the excited state of the woman he couldnot clearly see, unless she was perhaps the widow of the murdered man.In that event she might have become insane from fright and despair! Herviolent gesticulations and the expression of passion and agitation onher features confirmed his suspicion that Shotaye was distracted.
A growing coldness in his manner at last showed the woman what sort ofan impression she had been creating, and she felt very uneasy. Not thather life became endangered thereby; on the contrary, the Indian is veryconsiderate and charitable toward such unfortunates. But from the momentthat the
Tehuas were convinced of her insanity they would attach nolonger any importance to her warnings, and a precious lapse of time thatshould be improved for immediate preparations for defence wasirretrievably lost. The Queres might be allowed to approach, and theironslaught would find the Tehuas utterly unprepared. If only Cayamo hadbeen present! But he dared not approach a woman now, for he was at workpurifying himself and fasting, in anticipation of the great day when thescalp which he had taken would be feasted over, danced over, prayed at,and sung to. Shotaye found herself in a most painful situation. Shenoticed how complacently the tuyo smiled, the more she attempted toinsist. At last he turned to Teanyi and said a few words to the latter.Teanyi shook his head, and Shotaye followed the discussion that ensuedbetween the two men with eager eyes and ears.
It soon became clear to her that they were of different opinions, andthat each one persisted in his own. Finally Teanyi spoke alone, and forquite a while in a low voice; and the governor listened attentively andwith growing interest. Though Teanyi's voice was muffled, Shotaye stilloverheard the word Cayamo several times. Straining her sense of hearing,she caught the words tupoge, tema quio, finally Shotaye also. The tuyolistened, smiled, winked slyly, and at last laughed aloud. At the sametime he turned his face to her and nodded most pleasantly; thereupon hesaid a few words to Teanyi aloud, and the latter turned to his family,which had little by little congregated in the room, and repeated, asappeared to Shotaye, his statements. At the close of his talk all brokeout in a joyful laugh. The housewife, who until then had rather frownedat the visitor, now smiled and nodded too, repeating the words,--
"Not Queres; Tehua woman, wife of Cayamo."
All laughed, and the governor exclaimed,--
"It is well."
The case was clear to all. Cayamo, on his expedition to secure scalps,had picked up a sweetheart. Food was placed before Shotaye, and thewoman caressed her, inviting her to eat.
In the mean time, one of the boys had left the room. Shotaye was stilleating when he returned in company with an elderly man of low stature,whose greeting was answered with the usual reply.
This man cowered down among the rest, and listened with the closestattention to a long speech of the governor. At the close of it he satfor a while scrutinizing the woman's appearance, but when she looked upat him he addressed her in her own dialect, and with the words,--
"Where do you come from?"
A heavy load fell from Shotaye's heart. The ice was broken; henceforthshe could explain herself in her own tongue, and inform the Tehuas ofeverything that was so important to them, so momentous to her. But herfirst impression, on hearing her tongue spoken by one who was certainlynot of her stock, was almost one of fright. People who spoke more thanone language were excessively rare at those times; and those whohappened to learn the speech of another tribe kept it secret, as Tyope,for instance, concealed his knowledge of the Navajo language from thepeople of the Rito. The knowledge of more than one tongue was asuspicious and therefore a dangerous gift. The man who now conversedwith Shotaye in the Queres dialect was not a native of the Puye. Hebelonged to the linguistic group of the Tehuas, but to the southernbranch, the Tanos, who inhabited several villages west of the Rio Grandeand in the country where the city of Santa Fe now stands. Between theTanos and the Queres there was limited commercial intercourse, for theTanos claimed the veins of turquoise that abound on the heights nearsome of their villages, and the Queres went thither at rare intervals totrade for the gems which they were unable to obtain by force.
Through this rare and limited traffic the Tano had become acquaintedwith some of the men of the Rito, and many years ago had evenaccompanied them to their home in the mountain gorge. Such visits wereliterally great affairs at the time, and they lasted long. Extensiveformalities were required to ascertain first how far the Shiuanaappeared favourable to the new-comer, and how he should make himselfunderstood to them. The medicine-men had to make strenuous efforts inbehalf of the visitor. Equally long formalities preceded his departure,and our Tano had in this manner, between reception, residence, andleave-taking, spent more than a year at the Rito de los Frijoles. Duringthat time he had acquired a knowledge of the Queres language, and spokeit therefore not fluently, but still intelligibly.
As Shotaye had appeared excited and agitated as long as she felthelpless in matters of speech, so now she became free, easy, and aboveall, calm and clear in her utterances, when she could make herselfunderstood. The Tano began to question her in a methodical, and even inan argumentative manner. He spoke slowly and brokenly; but sheunderstood him, and he comprehended fully her replies, for they weregiven to the same categoric way. Each of her sentences he translatedinto Tehua, turning to the tuyo at the end of every one of her answers.Shotaye told him everything, with the exception of the matter of theowl's feathers, for these would have been as dangerous among the Tehuasas among the Queres. She explained the misunderstanding that lay at thebottom of the hostility displayed by the Queres, and finally sheinsisted that there was no time to clear up that misunderstanding; andsince the Queres were already on the march, she urged speedy preparationto repel the assault. She strained the truth on the latter point, butthe tuyo forgave her this manifest exaggeration. He knew that there mustbe at least five days' delay before the prospective campaign. Thefurther the woman proceeded in her exposition of facts, the more sheobserved, through her quick and scrutinizing glance, that her listenersbecame deeply interested, and that thoroughly startled, they at lastdisplayed marks of indignation. That indignation, it was plain, wasagainst the Queres; and Shotaye felt that she had gained her point. Thebreach between the tribes was now widened to such an extent that itcould never be healed. At the close of the interrogatory, which hadfrequently been interrupted by exclamations of surprise and anger, themistress of the house caressed Shotaye, calling her sister. The tuyo,however, merely nodded to her kindly, uttered in a commanding tone a fewwords to those present, and went out to attend to his duties ofconvening the council. But the Tano Indian remained with Shotaye untillate in the night. He pretended to keep her company, and to contributetoward dispelling the feeling of loneliness that might overcome her inthe midst of people with whom she could not converse. But in reality heremained as a spy, to cross-examine in a covert way. Shotaye was wary,and not one contradiction, not one misstatement, could he detect duringtheir talk. Then he went where the council had gathered, reporting thataccording to his conviction the woman was not only sincere, butexceedingly well-informed.
It would be superfluous to enter into details concerning theproceedings of the council. Its composition and the formalities were inthe main similar to those of the council of the Queres. One point wasearnestly discussed,--the propriety of sending a messenger to the Queresto clear up, if possible, the misunderstanding. But the thought wasfinally discarded, on the ground that it was not the Tehuas who shouldmake overtures of peace,--because they were absolutely innocent,--butthe Queres, for it was they who, ere proceeding to hostiledemonstrations, should have called on the Tehuas for explanation. Hadthe two tribes been on friendly terms, it might have been different; butthere existed a breach between them already, and if the Queres chose tostill further widen it, the Tehuas felt ready for any emergency. It wasresolved to prepare for war at once, to call to arms the entire malepopulation, send ahead the necessary spies, and thus prepared, to wait.With this the matter went into the hands of the great medicine-man andthe head war-chief. The former was almost an equivalent to the HishtanyiChayan among the Queres, the latter the exact equivalent of the maseua.
The castle-like rock of the Puye, along whose base the numerouscave-dwellings are burrowed out of a very friable and almost snow-whitetufa, is situated about ten miles west of the Rio Grande, and not twomiles south of the picturesque canon of Santa Clara. The cliff is overone half mile long, and it dominates the mesa on which it stands. Formany miles there are groves of timber surrounding the foot of the highand rugged slope that leads up to the cave-dwellings. While the Queresat the Rito dwelt at the b
ottom of a secluded gorge, the Tehuas occupieda picturesque citadel rising from a high and level plateau. Northeast ofthe Puye, and separated from it by the canon of Santa Clara, there risesa similar rock, equally bold and striking, and higher still, but not asextensive. This is called by the Tehuas, Shu Finne. Its lower rim isalso perforated by cave-dwellings, and these were inhabited by a portionof the same tribe. During the night runners were sent to the Shu Finne,calling upon its people for assistance; and videttes were placed on themountains and on the little mesa capping the cliff. The Tehuas were morenumerous than the Queres of the Rito, and might well wait calmly andwith dignity until the latter either sought to negotiate or broke out inunjustifiable warfare.
The five days which, as the tuyo had correctly inferred, would be spentby the people of the Tyuonyi in mourning and in warlike preparations,passed; and no messenger of peace came to the Tehuas. The Queresremained in perfect confidence that those whom they intended to surprisewere in absolute ignorance of any evil intentions on their part. Butwhen the night of the fifth day had shrouded the landscape in purpledarkness, Tehua warriors began to stream down the slopes from the cliffand its cave-dwellings. The deepest silence was observed, instructionshaving been given beforehand, and the bands of armed men movednoiselessly forward. The plan was not to await the attack at home, butto advance into the more timbered country south of the barren mesa wherethe cliff rises, and to surprise the enemy on their approach. Fromreports of spies it was known that no Queres were as yet scouring theheights north of the Rito; and the Tehuas, moving swiftly, were able toplace themselves in ambush in the rocky wilderness where, later on,their descendants built and inhabited the now ruined village of thePueblo of the Bird. One half day's journey would bring the Queres easilyto that point, where they certainly would not expect to be met by armedfoes. There is water in the vicinity, and the ground is broken withpine groves. It could be foretold with reasonable certainty that theenemy would move in the direction of this place, for it is thestraightest course, though not the easiest, from the Rito northward. Inthis region the Tehua hosts spread out, scouts preceding even as far asthe Ziro kauash. The Queres might come, for everything was as ready asShotaye's fondest hopes could have wished.
During these warlike preparations Shotaye found ample time andopportunity to become initiated into the life of her new home. The oldinterpreter proved a very useful guide, and she improved his willingnessto talk and to advise. He informed her that Cayamo was free, and that assoon as the story of their meeting had become known among the people ofthe Puye, everybody began to look upon her as his future wife. Shortlybefore the beginning of the campaign, the time of his retirementexpired; the ceremonies on the scalp matter had to be postponed onaccount of the all-important measures of war, and Cayamo was able topresent himself to his future spouse in the natural colour of his skinand in his usual costume. Their meeting was not in the leastsentimental. Both laughed aloud and joyfully; they exchanged gesturesand signs plainly indicating their future duties and probable results.Those present laughed in token of approval and applause. At a hint fromTeanyi's wife, Shotaye placed some corn-cakes before Cayamo. He ate afew morsels, the courtship formalities were fulfilled, and thebridegroom returned to his duty as a warrior.
The Tano had informed the woman that Cayamo belonged to the clan of theSun. In return she communicated that the Water people were her kindred.What the Queres called Tzitz hanutsh the Tehuas named P'ho doa, and themembers of the clan P'ho were therefore officially requested to taketheir new sister in charge. Some of the old men of the cluster cameover to the dwellings of the Turquoise clan, where the wife of Teanyilived. In their company came several women, who escorted Shotaye to hernew quarters. On the way to the caves of P'ho doa one of the womenlightly touched Shotaye's breast, then her own, and whispered,--
"Oyike P'ho."
It was her name, and Shotaye communicated her own in reply. The womanshook her head, whispering,--
"Nyo Shotaye, nyo Tema, 'not Shotaye, not Queres.' Tehua quio." Then shegrasped her hand and breathed into Shotaye's ear,--
"Aua P'ho Quio."
Shotaye easily understood the meaning of this confidentialcommunication. With her change of abode her name was to change also.Henceforth she was to be a Tehua woman, and Aua P'ho Quio was to be hername.
The Tano continued his visits as heretofore. He plied the woman withquestions, sometimes of the most complex nature. His conduct in thisrespect was characteristic of the suspicious nature of the Indiangenerally. The leaders of the Tehuas mistrusted Shotaye still,notwithstanding her clear and positive talk; and they had instructed theTano to keep her company and to probe her sincerity and veracity stillfurther. But she was more than a match for all of them. She saw throughthe maze of the very confused and bewildering interrogatory, and herreplies were such as to absolutely confirm the Tehuas in the goodopinion they had conceived of her. Whatever the interpreter reported tothe tuyo that was of any value to the military operations impending, wasimmediately communicated to the war-chief through a special runner, forthat functionary was in the field already with his men.
Shotaye made use of her conversations with the Tano Indian to direct theattention of the Tehuas toward Tyope. She described him as the leadingwarrior and the most influential man on the Rito, as the pivot aroundwhich everything revolved and on whose life much would depend. But shewas artful enough not to depict Tyope as a bad man, lest the Tehuasmight infer her real purpose. She spoke of him as a man dangerousthrough his good qualities, and as a formidable adversary. In short herwords produced such an effect that the governor himself came tointerrogate her on the subject, and even caused the war-chief to returnfrom the field on the fourth day, and had him visit Shotaye in companywith the interpreter and secure a detailed and accurate description ofthis dangerous individual. Then they went to the medicine-man andconsulted him about the propriety of taking Shotaye along into thefield, that she might point out the great warrior who, so they hadbecome convinced, must be killed at all hazards in order to insuresuccess. On the evening of the sixth day, therefore, Shotaye wanderedover to Tzirege in company with the commander himself.
Shortly after their arrival among the group of warriors where thewar-chief had taken his position, runners came from the south with newsthat they had detected several Queres in full war-paint creepingnorthward from the brink of the Rito. These runners were at once orderedback, with strict injunctions to the scouts not to impede the enemy'smovements, but to suffer them to advance. The Tehuas were quitescattered, particularly in the front, as is usually the case with bodiesof Indians on the war-path. The main bodies concealed themselves betweenthe Tzirege and a deep and broad ravine farther south, called to-dayCanada Ancha. They kept in the woods toward the mountains, expectingtheir foes to approach on a line closer to the river. The plan was toallow the Queres to come up undisturbed as far as the north side of theCanada. As the men from the Rito advanced, the Tehua scouts were toclose in from the rear and follow them cautiously, until the enemieswere all gathered on the desired spot, with the woods to their left andrugged, barren cliffs and peaks to their right. Then the trap would besprung; and if the Queres took to those bleak fastnesses for defence itwould be easy to surround them, cut them off from water, and thusexterminate them completely.
Night had fallen when another message came, to the effect that thenumbers of the enemy were increasing, and beginning to spread over thetimber in small groups. The war-chief sent a messenger to the Puye, andafter midnight the great medicine-man of war appeared in person. Theshaman was, like all the others, painted black; a tall plume taken froman eagle rose behind each ear; the left hand carried a rattle; and alittle drum was suspended from his shoulder. As soon as he arrived, oneof the warriors retired to a spot which was almost hedged in by severalbushy cedar-trees. There he built a fire, and as soon as it burned hecovered it in such a manner that only a thin film of smoke arose fromit. To this smouldering heap the shaman proceeded alone and sat down.There he spent the night, muttering incant
ations and prayers, shakinghis rattle, and striking the drum softly from time to time.
The sounds that proceeded from his discordant music were so faint thatthey could be heard only in close proximity. They were besides the onlyhuman sound in this wilderness. Animal voices occasionally disturbed thequietness of the night. Nobody would have supposed that between the Ritoand the mesas opposite San Ildefonso of to-day several hundred Indianwarriors were hidden, patiently waiting or slowly moving forward. It wasa quiet, still night, cool, as the nights mostly are in the rainyseason, and dark. The sky was partly overcast; but the clouds did notdrift, they formed and dissolved overhead; and the stars appeared anddisappeared alternately as the nebulous fleeces disclosed or shroudedthem. Behind the mountain, thunderclouds rested, and occasional flashesof lightning illuminated the crests, and faint thunder muttered in thedistance. It had no threatening sound, and the lightning did not seemlike prophetic writing on the sombre clouds. It was a pleasant night andan excellent one for Indian warfare.
The scouts of the Tehuas had reported in the last instance that the bulkof the war-party from the Rito must now be on the move, for no freshadditions were coming up from the gorge. So careless and unconcernedwere the Queres, so absolutely sure of the enemy's ignorance of theirdesigns, that they never thought of sending scouts to the upper end ofthe northern mesa. From there a few Tehuas had comfortably observedeverything that happened in the gorge during the day, and as eveningcame they could report even the numbers of the warriors who took part inthe campaign. As soon as these warriors were all on the Ziro kauash, theTehua spies, after warning those behind them, crept cautiously into therear of the advancing foe.
All the able-bodied men from the Tyuonyi had not been permitted to jointhe expedition. Hayoue was not among them, neither was Okoya. It was asad disappointment to the boy, and yet was he not staying at home indefence of his mother and of Mitsha? Say Koitza had ceased to weep, butthe persistent neglect which she thought she suffered from Shotayegrieved her. At last she asked Okoya whether he had seen anything of thecave-woman. His reply, that he thought she had gone, explainedeverything. She recollected the confident words that Shotaye had spokento her, and concluded that the woman had carried out her plan of takingrefuge with the Tehuas. That quelled her apprehensions and allayed herfears. Shotaye knew what she was and had to do; and Shotaye--of this Sayfelt convinced--was true to her. In order to be quite sure of the fact,however, she strolled up to the cave in the course of an afternoon. Therooms were empty, and Say turned back. One of Shotaye's neighboursstopped her to ask where the medicine-woman might be. Say carelesslyreplied that she was probably on the heights above, gathering herbs. Thewily fugitive had left her household as if she were about to returnsoon. With the exception of the mother of Okoya nobody noticed herabsence. She was known to disappear occasionally for several days; andfurthermore, the excitement and bustle incident upon the prospectiveexpedition against the Tehuas engaged everybody's attention.
Say Koitza could not help wondering whether Shotaye would inform theTehuas of the impending attack. Perhaps she might, perhaps not. At allevents she felt relieved upon hearing that neither her son nor herhusband nor even Hayoue were to go with the warriors. The enterprisearoused within her vague apprehensions; why, she could not tell. But itpleased her to learn that Tyope was going,--going as the leader, thewar-captain of the party.
Rito de los Frijoles
Looking out from the Ceremonial Cave]
Tyope had worked incessantly and with brilliant results. The ShkuyChayan and the Koshare Naua had succeeded in so inveigling the principalshaman that he ordered that all the men from the Water clan, and thosefrom Shyuamo with few exceptions, should stay at home for the protectionof the women and children. That included Hayoue, of whose abilities andpopularity Tyope was afraid, and saved the Turquoise people from thecasualties of war. Tyope went so far as to praise Hayoue in the council,suggesting that the young man should be intrusted with authority aswar-chief _ad interim_. The suggestion was carried out at once, andafterward the Hishtanyi Chayan appointed Tyope as commander-in-chief ofthe forces marching out. He himself accompanied the body of warriors asadviser and spiritual guide to the captain. Nothing could suit Tyopebetter. The man was old and not very strong, and people are often killedin war.
After sunset the medicine-man made his appearance on the northern mesaand performed his incantations. Tyope and most of the others breathed ontheir war-fetiches, and then group after group stealthily moved onward.The plan, which had been communicated to every one in its main points,consisted in reaching before sunrise the very ground which the Tehuashad selected for their operations; passing the following day in thewoods of that vicinity in concealment, and creeping up to the Puye thefollowing night; then, after sunrise, when the Tehuas would begin toscatter, unarmed and unsuspecting, pouncing upon them and making ageneral slaughter. Tyope had under his direction more than two hundredmen, and they extended over a wide front. About twenty experiencedwarriors, mostly uakanyi, glided in advance as scouts. Behind them cameat a suitable distance either single warriors or small bands. The mainbody came last. It was divided into several groups. Near the centre wereTyope and the shaman.
Every one knew that his duty for the present consisted in searching fortraces of the enemy without exposing himself to discovery. Should asingle Tehua be observed, and it became possible for a scout tooverpower and kill him without noise, he might do it. In case a numberof foes were noticed, the spy was to give quiet warning to the mannearest to him, that one to those in his rear; and they were to send arunner to inform Tyope. In the mean time all were to halt until orderscame to move in a new direction. For Tyope, although he did not in theleast suspect that the Tehuas were forewarned, and still less on thealert so close by the Rito, used every possible precaution in order thatthe surprise might be complete and the blow as crushing as possible.
It was dark in the timber, and the main body of the Queres approachedthe brink of the first canon north of the Rito while the advance werecautiously descending into the bottom and the scouts were alreadyfarther on. Tyope and the medicine-man were standing a short distancefrom the descent of the south side and listening to the news which arunner had just brought in from the front.
"Are you sure you have noticed a man?" the Chayan asked in a whisper.
"I am sure of it. He crouched at the foot of a juniper-bush," repliedthe messenger, positively.
"Has he seen you?" demanded Tyope.
"I believe not."
"When you left was he there still?"
"I could not see any more of him."
"How far is it from here? Where stands the tree?" the Chayan asked.
"It is on the other side of the ravine, near the border to the left."
Tyope pondered a while; then he said to the shaman,--
"Nashtio yaya, I think we should go more toward the east. What do yousay?"
"It is well," muttered the medicine-man.
"Satyumishe," Tyope said to the runner, "go and tell the men to go alongthe ravine toward the Rio Grande until the trees become smaller. Thencethey may go to the north again, but slowly and carefully. Ziua," hecalled to one of the bystanders, "go and tell those toward the left tocome where I stand. Ohotika," calling another, "run to the right andcommand those there to wait until we join them."
The runners left in the directions indicated.
The information which had just been conveyed to Tyope was mostdisagreeable. The presence of one human being at the time and placeindicated looked very suspicious. If the man had seen his warriors hewould certainly run home and give the alarm. All Tyope could do now wasto keep as close as possible to the Rio Grande, push up parallel withthe river as cautiously as possible, and thus sneak beyond the enemy, incase, as he still could not believe, the latter were in anything like aconsiderable force. He would thus eventually place himself between themand their village.
After a while the warriors from the left came on hastily, stumblingthrough the darkness. All toge
ther now went down in an easterlydirection, where the right wing, if this term can be used, was halting.Thence Tyope despatched runners ahead to inquire whether everything wasquiet in front, to repeat the order of slow marching, and to direct themto halt on the northern brink of the Canada Ancha.
When the runners left, the march was resumed in the usual scatteringmanner, as if all were skirmishers. Tyope and the shaman remainedtogether. Neither uttered a word. The commander looked up to the starsfrom time to time. They were peeping out more and more, for the cloudswere dispersing. Only from the southwest distant thunder sounded andlightning flashed occasionally. A shower was falling in that direction.
It was past midnight when the main body came up with the advance guardafter crossing the Canada Ancha. Tyope found everything in order, and hedirected a farther advance. Tyope was angry. The circuit which he hadfelt obliged to make made a serious delay, and there was danger thatwith the early sunrise of the summer months he might be behind to suchan extent as to be unable to reach the cover of the woods in time. Ifthe Tehuas were informed of his approach they would either prepare forhis coming at the Puye--and the result of an open attack would be to saythe least extremely doubtful,--or they would come out in force, anddesultory fighting would ensue. In this those who were nearest water andsupplies always had the advantage. His idea of striking a sudden blowappeared very much endangered by the presence of Tehuas in the forest.He thought and thought without arriving at any satisfactory conclusion.Return to the Rito he could not, for such a retreat was worse thandisaster. Neither could he decide alone; the Hishtanyi Chayan was by hisside and he had to consult him. So he stood still and turned to theshaman, saying,--
"Nashtio yaya, the night will soon be over, and the sun may come outfrom behind the mountain in the east."
"Ko," grunted the medicine-man.
"It is far yet to the houses of the Moshome Tehua."
The Chayan stood still.
"Sa uishe nashtio," said he, "the Shiuana direct us to go on a differentroad. I saw an owl fly toward the moon. Let us go away from the riverinto the kote to rest and to hide until the sun goes down again and wemay go farther toward the katityam of the enemy."
This was just as Tyope wanted. He disliked the idea of passing a dayconcealed under cliffs and crags where a torrid sun shone, and wherethere was water only in the river beneath and at a great depth. But hewanted to be sure of what Those Above intended, so he asked again,--
"Yaya Chayan, do the Shiuana"--he emphasized the term--"say that weshould go to the west?"
"The spirits say that we should go where there is shade and water! Letus go to the mountains; there we shall find both."
"They are right!" Tyope exclaimed. "I believe it is better to staythere until the sun has risen. I will send word to the men to turn tothe left, and we will sleep in the shade of the trees until the timecomes to advance."
"You are right, brother," the Chayan assented; "do as you have said."
The two men had lagged behind the others during this conversation. Tyopeimitated the cry of an owl. Soon several warriors came up to him. Hedirected them to go to the front, to the right, and to the left, andgive orders that all should move to the westward a short distance, farenough to reach high timber. Then all should halt and prepare to passthe night. He himself moved a short distance only in that direction, incompany with the shaman, and selected a spot where the mesa was coveredwith the usual underbrush and where taller trees already began toappear. Here he lay down to rest with eyes wide open, ready for anyemergency. Not far away the medicine-man found a secluded spot where hesat down without fire, occasionally touching the drum and reciting hisprayers and incantations. They were the same as those which the shamanof the Tehuas was directing to Those Above at the same time and not farfrom him, but in a different tongue, for the success of his people andthe destruction of those for whom the Hishtanyi Chayan was praying.
The decision of Tyope to penetrate into the forest to the west broughtthe Queres into the very position which the Tehuas desired. The scoutsof the latter had obeyed punctually and diligently the orders which theyhad received, following step by step the advancing foe and reporting toheadquarters any notable move. They possessed the immense advantage ofknowing every movement the Queres made from the very beginning, and werethus able to observe them unseen. As soon as Tyope had concentrated hisforces on the northern brink of the Canada Ancha, the main body of theTehuas receded slightly to the west. As soon as the Queres began toascend in that direction, the retrograde movement of the otherscontinued in the centre; whereas the left wing spread out, and the rightslightly advanced to the east along the brink of the ravine. The scoutswere called in with all haste and reinforced, especially the body thatfaced the Queres in the north. At the time Tyope lay down to rest, hisforces were surrounded everywhere except on the east. Everything wasready for the Tehuas to begin their attack upon the unsuspecting foe atdaybreak.