Tyope and the old Naua had found each other, in accordance with the proverb about birds of a feather.  Their understanding was perfect, although it had been brought about gradually and without the formality of a conspiracy.  Each worked in his own line and with his own means, and neither had any thought of going beyond what the tribal organization could give them.  There was no idea of revolutionizing or even reforming the organization.  Had one of them entertained such a thought the other would have become his bitterest enemy, for both were deeply imbued with the principles on which rested the existence of the society in which they had been born.  All they aspired to was to eliminate a certain number of men or people, in order to secure with greater ease certain advantages.  It was the survival of the fittest, as primitive society understands it and as refined society attempts to enact, though with more refined means.

The stumbling-blocks in the path of these intriguers were the chief penitents,—­the cacique, or as their titles run, the Hotshanyi, or principal cacique, and his two assistants, the uishtyaka and the shaykatze.  These men, selected for the purpose of doing penance for all and thus obtaining readier access to the ear of the immortal ones, were the official keepers of peace among the tribe.  For the Indian feels that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and that the maintenance of harmony through a constant appeal to the higher powers is the most important feature in the life of his tribe.  To discredit in an underhand way the caciques was the special aim of the Koshare Naua, and to direct the eyes of the people to his own achievements in religious magic,—­in one word to place the power of the Koshare and their specific medicine on a higher plane than all that the official penitents might achieve.  To do this was a very slow piece of work, and it had to be brought about in such a manner that nobody could suspect his object.  But both Tyope and the aged scoundrel were working their plans with the utmost caution, and the religious heads of the tribe had not the slightest suspicion of what was going on against them.

The Tyuonyi, therefore, was quiet on the surface, but there were occasional ripples of that placid brook which earnest and thoughtful observers could not fail to notice.  Hayoue, although very young, was one of these observers; but none saw more and penetrated deeper into the real state of affairs than Topanashka.  He and the Hishtanyi Chayan, who to some extent was his trusty friend, felt that a tempest was coming.  Both saw that the disturbing powers were rooted in the society of the Koshare, that Tyope and the Naua must be the leading spirits.  But how and to what ultimate end the machinations were intended escaped their penetration.  For the same reason they could not come actively to the relief of the situation, as no overt action had as yet been committed which would justify an official movement against the conspirators.