“Afterward he came and said, ’Sanaya, I am going with that makatza; does she please you?’ I believe that was right also?”

“It was right.”

The woman omitted the incident of her quarrel with Okoya as well as her interview with Shotaye, and said,—­

“He also went to Hayoue and told him to speak to me for him.  Was that right, sa nashtio?”

The old man remained thoughtful for a while, and then declared,—­

“It was right.”

“Should he not have said to his father, ’sa nashtio, do you speak to the yaya for me’?”

The reply was very positive,—­

“No.”

“Why not, sa umo?” Hayoue interjected.

“I will explain this to you later on,” Topanashka answered.  Turning to his daughter again he inquired,—­

“Who is the makatza, and to which hanutsh does she belong?”

“She belongs to your people.”

“To Tyame?  Who is her mother, and what is the name of the girl?”

“She is called Mitsha Koitza; Tyope Tihua is her father, and her mother you know too.  Is all that good also?”

The maseua pressed his lips together firmly, energetically, lowered his eyelids, and gazed before him in silence.  The others exchanged a rapid glance, and then both looked at the ground, remaining thus in expectation of the old man’s reply.  He kept silent for a long while.  At last he inquired of the woman,—­

“Do you know the child?”

“I have seen her, but have never spoken to her.”

“Do you know her?” He turned to Hayoue.

“Why not?” replied Hayoue, with a smile.  “I know everybody who wears a petticoat.”

“Have you been to see her?”

“No.”

“Never?” Topanashka looked at him suspiciously.

“No!”

“How can you know her, then?”

“As I know all the others,—­by meeting them out of doors, talking, and playing with them.  I know them all,—­all!” And the beau of the Rito yawned complacently, and stretched himself.

“Is she a good girl?” continued Topanashka.

“She is,” the youth replied emphatically.

“Does she talk much?”

“No.”

“Is she easily angered?”

“That I don’t know.  I have never teased her.”

“Is she a good worker?”

“So they say.”

“Good-looking?”

“Raua, raua!” Hayoue exclaimed.

“Tall?”

“Yes.”

“Strong?”

“I believe so.”

Topanashka became silent again, and both Say and Hayoue observed the proper decorum by fastening their glances on the floor in silence.  Then the old man raised his head, and spoke slowly and in solemn tones,—­

“It is well; all you have said to me is well, my children.  The daughter of my hanutsh is a good girl, she is a handsome girl, she is a strong girl.  Therefore she is as a woman ought to be.  Okoya is like her; they belong to each other; and it is wise for a son of Tanyi to wed a daughter of Tyame.  The body must be as the heart; each must suit the heart and the body of the other, and since the two go with each other it is a sign that they are fitted to live together.  But the hearts of men must abide by what Those Above”—­he pointed upward—­“command, and before we decide we should ascertain how the Shiuana are disposed.”