As Shotaye had appeared excited and agitated as long as she felt helpless in matters of speech, so now she became free, easy, and above all, calm and clear in her utterances, when she could make herself understood.  The Tano began to question her in a methodical, and even in an argumentative manner.  He spoke slowly and brokenly; but she understood him, and he comprehended fully her replies, for they were given to the same categoric way.  Each of her sentences he translated into 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 the owl’s feathers, for these would have been as dangerous among the Tehuas as among the Queres.  She explained the misunderstanding that lay at the bottom of the hostility displayed by the Queres, and finally she insisted that there was no time to clear up that misunderstanding; and since the Queres were already on the march, she urged speedy preparation to repel the assault.  She strained the truth on the latter point, but the tuyo forgave her this manifest exaggeration.  He knew that there must be at least five days’ delay before the prospective campaign.  The further the woman proceeded in her exposition of facts, the more she observed, through her quick and scrutinizing glance, that her listeners became deeply interested, and that thoroughly startled, they at last displayed marks of indignation.  That indignation, it was plain, was against the Queres; and Shotaye felt that she had gained her point.  The breach between the tribes was now widened to such an extent that it could never be healed.  At the close of the interrogatory, which had frequently been interrupted by exclamations of surprise and anger, the mistress of the house caressed Shotaye, calling her sister.  The tuyo, however, merely nodded to her kindly, uttered in a commanding tone a few words to those present, and went out to attend to his duties of convening the council.  But the Tano Indian remained with Shotaye until late in the night.  He pretended to keep her company, and to contribute toward dispelling the feeling of loneliness that might overcome her in the midst of people with whom she could not converse.  But in reality he remained as a spy, to cross-examine in a covert way.  Shotaye was wary, and not one contradiction, not one misstatement, could he detect during their talk.  Then he went where the council had gathered, reporting that according to his conviction the woman was not only sincere, but exceedingly well-informed.

It would be superfluous to enter into details concerning the proceedings of the council.  Its composition and the formalities were in the main similar to those of the council of the Queres.  One point was earnestly discussed,—­the propriety of sending a messenger to the Queres to clear up, if possible, the misunderstanding.  But the thought was finally discarded, on the ground that it was not the Tehuas who should make overtures of peace,—­because they were absolutely innocent,—­but