“But the Koshare!” Say anxiously exclaimed.

“Leave them to me,” the other answered; and so powerful was her influence on the timid mind of her visitor, so unbounded the confidence which the latter had in her abilities and her faithfulness, that Say rose without a word, and like an obedient child, covering her head with one corner of her wrap, went out and meekly strolled home.  It was night, and nobody noticed her.  Okoya was already at the estufa; Shyuote and the little girl were asleep.  Say lay down beside her sleeping children and soon sank into a heavy slumber.  Her body, weak from over-strain, compelled a rest which the mind might have denied to her.

In her dark chamber in the rock, Shotaye sat alone before the fire on the hearth.  It began to flame lustily, for the woman fed it well.  She wanted the glow, first in order to cook her food, next in order to brighten the room; for with the dark and tangled subject on her mind, she felt the need of light and warmth as her companions in musing.  When the flames rustled and crackled, Shotaye squatted down in front of them, folded her arms around her knees, and began to think.

She felt far from being as reassured about the outlook as she had pretended to be when she sent Say Koitza home with soothing and comforting words.  But the preservation of her friend’s mental powers was an imperative necessity.  Had Say been permitted to fall a prey to her momentary excitement, everything would have been lost for Shotaye.  Had Say’s mind given way permanently, the cause of that calamity would have been attributed to her, and she would have been charged with her friend’s insanity in addition to the charge of witchcraft already being formulated.

These thoughts, however, came to her now in the stillness of the night and by the fireside.  So long as her poor friend was with her she had acted almost instinctively, with the quick grasp of an active intellect and under the good impulses of compassion and attachment.  Now that she was alone the time had come to ponder, and Shotaye weighed in her mind the liabilities and assets of her situation.  She began to calculate the probabilities for and against.

It was not difficult for her to escape; but this was only possible when attempted alone.  With Say Koitza flight was next to impossible.  Beside, it appeared very unlikely to her that the woman would flee from her children.

[Illustration:  Rito de los Frijoles

A cliff estufa of the Snake-Clan]

As for Shotaye, the case was different; she might leave her cave and her scanty effects at any time, provided she knew where to go.  This was not so easy to determine.  The Navajos, or Dinne, haunted the country around the Tyuonyi; and in case she fell in with one or more of their number, it became a matter of life or death.  The Moshome, or enemies of her tribe, might take a fancy to the woman and spare her; but they might feel wicked and kill her.  Death