Shotaye was in the habit of strolling alone all around the Rito, over the timbered mesa as well as through the gorges which descend from the mountains.  On such excursions the woman observed the most minute precautions, for there was danger,—­danger from roaming Indians of the Navajo or Dinne tribe, and danger from spies of her own tribe.  Frequently people had followed stealthily in the hope of surprising her at some illicit practice, but she had been lucky enough to notice them in time.  Of what is called to-day the mesa del Rito, the high table-land bordering the Tyuonyi on the south, Shotaye knew every inch of ground, every tree and shrub.

On a clear, cool November day she strolled again in that direction, climbing the heights and penetrating into the scrubby timber, interspersed with tall pines, which covers the plateau for miles.  To her delight she discovered the remains of an owl at no great distance from the declivity of the Rito beneath a rotten pine.  Instead of picking up the carcass she kicked it aside disdainfully, but took good care to notice whither so as to remember the place.  It landed on a juniper-bush and remained suspended from its branches.  Shotaye went onward carelessly.  She looked for herbs and plants, picking up a handful here, pulling out a root there, until she had made a long circuit, which however brought her back to the place where the dead owl was.  Here she stopped, listening, all the while looking out for plants.  As if by accident she neared the bush on which the carcass was still hanging, and after assuring herself that the body had not been disturbed, she brushed past so as to cause it to drop to the ground.  She hastily plucked a few feathers, put them with the herbs and roots already gathered, and turned homeward.  Everything was quiet and still around her, only at a short distance two crows flew up croaking.

Say Koitza was not strong enough to walk up to the cliffs; therefore Shotaye, when she came to announce to her friend that the necessary material was at last secured, suggested that the incantation be performed at the home of the invalid.  A certain evening when Zashue was sure to be absent, owing to a gathering of the Koshare, was appointed for the purpose.  On that evening the two women sat alone in the kitchen.  Okoya was away in the estufa of Tanyi hanutsh.  The two younger children were fast asleep in the outer room.  It was a cold night, but the fire on the hearth had almost completely subsided, only a few embers remaining.  Through the loophole in the wall an occasional draught of chilly air entered.  Say Koitza clung to her friend’s shoulder, shivering and trembling from fear as well as from cold.

In the centre of the dark room Shotaye had placed a few ears of black corn, and on them two bundles of owl’s feathers, each tied to a chip of obsidian.  She had also brought along some bark of the red willow; this she pulverized in the hand, and made into two cigarettes with corn husks.  At that time tobacco was unknown to the Pueblos, and red willow-bark was the only thing used for smoking, while smoking itself was not a relish but exclusively a sacrifice.