He rose and walked on.  The valley opened before him; the dim light of a waning moon shone into it, allowing a practised eye to discern grotto after grotto in the cliffs.  As Tyope proceeded down the gorge, following the brook’s course, he glanced at the caves.  They were those of the Water clan.  He frowned and clenched his fist in anger.  There lived his enemy, Shotaye, his former spouse.  There was her den, the abode of the hated witch.  How often had she crossed his path, how often warned those whom he had planned to injure!  Yes, she was a sorceress, for she knew too much about his ways.  But now his time would come, for he too knew something concerning her that must ruin her forever.  He had known it for some time, but only now was it possible to accuse her.  He shook his fist at the cliffs in silent rage; the thought of taking revenge filled his heart with sinister joy, and made him forget the fatigue and disappointment of the past hours.

He soon stood in front of the place where the cliffs form a perpendicular wall, and where instead of excavating dwellings the people of the Eagle clan had built their quarters outside, using the smooth surface of the rock as a rear wall.  A row of terraced houses, some three, some two stories high, others with a ground-floor only, extended along the base of the rocks, looking like a shapeless ruin in the faint glow of the moon.  Toward this edifice Tyope walked.  All was silent, for nobody had as yet risen from sleep.  He climbed on the roof of a one-story house and stooped over the hatchway to listen.  It was dark inside, and only the sound of regular breathings could be heard.  Tyope descended into the room.  Two persons lay on the floor fast asleep.  They were his wife and daughter.  Concealing his weapons and war-accoutrements, he stretched himself at full length beside the others.  The rushing of the brook was but faintly heard; a cold blast entered through the loophole in the wall.  Tyope heaved a deep sigh of relief and closed his weary eyes.  The night was nearly over, but he had reached home before the dawn of day.

FOOTNOTES: 

[Footnote 6:  This custom of taking the disguise of a wolf is or has been used by the Navajos frequently in order to surprise herds of cattle and horses.]

CHAPTER IV.

A bright morning followed the night on which Tyope underwent his adventures.  He slept long, but it attracted no undue attention and called forth no remarks on the part of his wife and daughter.  They were wont to see him come and go at any hour of the night.  It was very near noon when he awoke at last, and after disposing of his late breakfast, a la mode du pays, sauntered off to parts unknown to the others.  The day was one of remarkable beauty.  No dim foggy city sun cast a sullen glance at the landscape.  The sun stood in the zenith of a sky of the deepest azure, like a flaming, sparkling, dazzling meteor.  Still its heat was not oppressive.