Say Koitza instinctively noticed her son’s trouble, and she became apprehensive lest out of timidity he might suffer to escape him what she now more and more regarded as a golden opportunity.  At last, on the evening when the council was to meet, a fact that was well known to all, she said to her son,—­

“I hear that sa nashtio maseua is going to the uuityam to-night; in that case Tyope will be there also.”  More she did not say, but Okoya treasured the hint, and made no remark about it, but at once thought that the time had come to pay a visit to the maiden.  After the sun had gone down he went out and leaned against the northern wall of the big house, gazing steadily at the dwellings of the Eagle clan.  There were too many people about yet for him to attempt the call, and furthermore it was so early that the council could hardly have assembled.  By the light of the moon he saw clearly the movements of the people, although it was impossible to recognize individuals at any distance.  The boy sat down and waited.  From where he rested he could not fail to notice when the delegates of the clans that inhabited the big house left for the council, and that would be the signal for his own starting.  His heart beat; he felt happy and yet anxious; hope and doubt both agitated his mind.

One of his comrades stealthily approached Okoya, sat down on the ground beside him, threw one arm around his shoulders, and began to sing loudly.  Okoya chimed in, and the two shouted at the top of their untrained voices into the clear still night.  Such is the custom in Indian villages.  A third one joined them, finally a fourth.  The latter lay down on his stomach, rested his elbows on the ground, his chin in both hands, and sang in company with the others.  Soon after, two men issued from the gangway and walked down the valley; at last another went in the same direction.  These were the members of the council, and now it was time for Okoya.  As soon as the song reached a pause, he stood up, said “sha,” and turned to go.  One of his companions seized him by the ankles, saying, “It is too early for you to go to see the girls;” and all together added, laughing, “Don’t go yet, later on we will all go together.”

But Okoya stepped firmly on the arm of him who attempted to hold him back, so that the boy loosened his grip; then he jumped into the passage, where they could not see him.  He disliked to have any one notice that he went to see Mitsha.  Waiting in the dark passage for a short time, he glided out at last on the side farthest from where the boys were still sitting and singing, crossed the ditch into the high corn, and went through the latter upward until opposite the western end of the building.  Crossing the ditch again, he reached the slope that led to the buildings occupied by the people of the Eagle.  In order to mislead his comrades, in case they should be on the lookout, he went higher up along the cliffs till he reached the caves of Tzina hanutsh.  Here he looked back.  The three boys were singing lustily the same monotonous rhyme at the same place where he had left them.