night of their fast a delegate from the hishtanyi chayani appeared in their midst, and performed the customary incantations.  He painted their bodies with the black lustrous powder of iron and manganese ore which is believed to strike terror into the hearts of enemies.  He selected their leader, invested him with the office, and blessed the war-fetiches.  To the leader he gave a little bag of buckskin filled with the powder of the yerba del manso, which still further produces dismay among the foe.  That leader was Topanashka Tihua, then in the full vigour of manhood.

On the following morning Topanashka left before daybreak with five picked men in the hideous garb of Indian braves.  They penetrated cautiously the mountain labyrinth west of the Rito, concealing themselves during the day and travelling at night.  On the morning of the fifth day they discovered a few huts of the Navajo.  Whether or no their inmates had participated in the murder of the old woman they did not stop to inquire, but pounced upon the people who were still asleep.  The results of the surprise were nine scalps and one captive.  This captive was a little boy, and that boy was Nacaytzusle.

Although barely three years old, he was dragged to the Rito and had to take part in the solemn dance, during which the scalps of his parents were triumphantly waved by those who had killed them.  Afterward he was adopted into the Turquoise clan, for the people of the Eagle clan refused to receive him, the privilege of so doing being theirs.  Topanashka disliked the appearance of the child, and his counsels weighed heavily.  Thus Nacaytzusle became an adopted son of the Queres, but it did not change his nature.  His physique at once indicated foreign origin; he grew up to be taller, more raw-boned, than the youth of the House people, and his dark, wolfish look and the angular cut of his features betrayed his Dinne blood.

Like all the other youth, he received the rude education which was imparted at the estufas.  He showed considerable aptitude for mastering songs and prayers, after once acquiring the language of his captors.  He also watched the wizards as often as opportunity was afforded, and learned many a trick of jugglery.  Tyope was struck by the youth’s aptitude for such arts and practices.  It revealed natural tendencies, and confirmed Tyope in the belief that the Navajos were born wizards, that their juggleries and performances, some of which are indeed startling, revealed the possession of higher powers.  The Pueblos hold the Navajos in quite superstitious respect.  Tyope therefore looked upon the young fellow as one who in course of time might become an invaluable assistant.  He observed the boy’s ways, and became intimately acquainted with all his traits, bad and good.

[Illustration:  A westerly cliff of the habitations of the Tyuonyi, showing second and third story caves, and some high lookout caves]