The old man smiled.  Afterward he translated to the Tanos what had been said.  His communication excited considerable attention.  At the close of his speech, one of the medicine-men replied in a few words.  The interpreter turned again to the Queres, asking,—­

“Why did the people of the Tyuonyi come upon our brethren in the north by night, like shutzuna?  The men from the Puye had done them no harm.”

“No harm?” Hayoue broke out.  “Did they not murder the best, the bravest, the wisest man, our father the maseua?  Was it not enough?  If you do not call that a bad, a base deed, then you and all of you are as bad and as base as the Tehuas.”

The old man’s features remained placid.  He replied in a quiet tone, but his manner was cool and measured,—­

“I know that you believe that the Tehuas killed your maseua.  I know it well; for Shotaye, who now is called Aua P’ho Quio, and who lives with Cayamo in the homes at the Puye, came to warn the Tehuas that the Queres were coming over against them.  But it is not true.  It was not our brethren from the north, it was the Moshome Dinne.”  He uttered the name with marked emphasis.  “They killed the maseua of your tribe.”

We recognize in the interpreter the same old man who served the Tehuas in their first interviews with Shotaye.  The Tehuas had despatched him to the Tanos, in order to inform the latter of their signal triumph, and to put them on their guard against the Queres.  It was a lucky hour for Hayoue and Zashue, especially for the former, when the old man reached the Tanos.

The two adventurers were thunderstruck.  Speechless, with heads bowed, they sat in utter amazement at what they were being told.  Everything was so completely new to them, and yet it explained so much, that they were unable to collect their minds at once.  The Tanos saw their confusion.  What the interpreter told them of the replies of the prisoners had already created much interest, and now their embarrassed state attracted still greater attention.  The interpreter, therefore, was prompted to further question them.

“When the Queres moved against the Tehuas, were you along?”

“No,” Zashue replied sullenly.

“Have many of your people returned from the north?”

“Enough to hold their own against all who speak your language,” Hayoue retorted.

The old man blinked; he had put an imprudent question.  After a short pause, he asked again,—­

“Why did you alone go out to seek for your people?”

“Because,” Hayoue indignantly retorted, “the others had to remain at home to protect the weak ones, in case the Moshome Tehua came for the leavings of the Moshome Dinne.”  He accompanied these already insulting words with looks of defiance, glancing around with eyes flashing, and lips scornfully curled.  His wrath was raised to the highest pitch; he could not control himself.