CHAPTER XIII.

When, at the close of the eventful meeting of the council at which the

accusation against Shotaye and Say Koitza had fallen like a thunderbolt

upon the minds of all present, the principal shamans warned the members

of that council to keep strict silence and to fast or pray, that

reminder was not to be understood as imposing on them the obligation of

rigid penitence. Secrecy alone was obligatory; it remained optional with

each how far he would carry his contrition. The three caciques, however,

and the chief medicine-men had to retire and begin rigorous penitential

ceremonies. Therefore the Hishtanyi Chayan had said that he was going to

speak to the leading penitents at once.

Some of the fathers of the tribe, however, took the matter so much to

heart that they obeyed the injunction of the great medicine-men

literally, and took to sackcloth and ashes as soon as they reached home.

Their motives were extremely laudable, but their action was by no means

wise. They lost sight of what the shaman had strongly insisted upon;

namely, that none of them should, by displaying particular sadness or by

dropping mysterious hints, attract attention, and thus lead the people

to surmise or suspect something of grave import. The shaman knew the

human heart well, at least the hearts of his tribe; but with all his

well-intended shrewdness he overlooked the fact that the very

recommendations he gave had fallen on too fertile ground, and

consequently worked more harm than good. For the majority of the

councilmen were so horror-stricken by the disclosures of Tyope and of

the Koshare Naua, that they went to do penance with a zeal that could

not fail to draw the attention of everybody around them. Thus Kauaitshe,

the delegate of the Water clan, and Tyame, he of the Eagles, and several

others considered it their duty to fast. Not a word concerning the

meeting passed their lips; but when on the following morning each one of

them retired to a secluded chamber or sat down in a corner of his room,

his arms folded around his knees, speechless, motionless; when he

refused to partake of the food which his wife or daughter presented to

him,--when he persisted in this attitude quietly and solemnly, it could

not fail to attract attention. The father, brother, or husband fasted!

Whenever the Indian does penance it is because he has something heavy on

his mind. In the present instance, as it happened immediately after the

council, it necessarily led to the inference that at that council

momentous questions must have been discussed, and also that these

questions had not been solved. Otherwise, why should the councilmen

fast?

Penitence, with the Indian, is akin to sacrifice; the body is tormented

because the soul is beyond human reach. The fasting is done in order to

render the body more accessible to the influence of the mind. Often,

too, one fasts in order to weaken the body, in order to free the soul

from its thralls and bring it into a closer relation with the powers

regarded as supernatural. At all events, fasting and purifications were

a sure sign that serious affairs were in process of development, and

such proceedings on the part of some of the nashtio could not fail to

produce results the opposite of what the shaman had intended.

It would have been different had the yaya alone retired for penitential

performances; nobody would have been struck by that, for everybody was

accustomed to see them at work, as such voluntary sacrifice on their

part is usually called; it was their business. But since the nashtio

also, at least in part, performed similar acts, it could not help

producing, slowly and gradually but surely, a tremendous amount of

gossip and a corresponding number of speculations of a rather gloomy

nature.

That gossip was started in the cave-dwellings of Tzina hanutsh. The

stout representative of the Water clan had married into that cluster,

and lived consequently among them with his wife. He returned home wildly

excited; he did not go to rest at all; and when his family awoke they

saw him sitting in a corner. As soon as he declined to eat, remaining

there in morose silence, they all knew that he was grieving and

chastising himself. Everybody thought, "The nashtio of Tzitz since his

return from the council is doing penance. What can have happened last

night!"

Owing to the custom which compels a man to marry outside of his own

clan, the abodes of the women of each clan were frequented by their

husbands. They of course belonged to different clans. Their natural

confidants were not their wives, still less their children, but their

clan-brothers and clan-sisters. During the day that followed the

council, a man whose wife was from the Turkey people, but who himself

belonged to Shyuamo, went down to the caves of the latter. There he was

received with the remark,--

"The nashtio of the Eagles, Tyame, who lives with us, is fasting."

He replied in surprise, "And Kauaitshe is also doing penance."

A third, whose wife belonged to the Bear clan, was within hearing; and

he quickly added, "The delegate from Hiit-shanyi dwells with Kohaio; he,

too, is fasting!" It was strange! People said nothing, but they shook

their heads and separated.

Similar things occurred in the houses of the Tanyi. There the

representative of the Bear clan was in retirement. In the big house news

circulated faster than anywhere else on the Tyuonyi, and in a very short

time it became known that not only the nashtio from Kohaio, but

especially that the Hishtanyi Chayan and the Cuirana Naua were secluding

themselves. Step by step the news got abroad and went from clan to clan,

while the people compared notes without expressing opinions. At sunset

it was known all over the Rito that since the council at least six of

the clan delegates were fasting, besides the three shamans. When at last

news came that a woman had gone to see the wife of the chief penitent,

and had heard from her that her husband was working, things began to

look not only strange but portentous.

In an Indian village, gossip about public affairs comes to a stand-still

as soon as the outlook seems very grave. A sullen quiet sets in; the

hanutsh recede from each other, and only such as are very intimate

venture to interchange opinions, and even they only with the utmost

caution. For any event that concerns the welfare of the community is, in

the mind of the aborigine, intimately connected with the doings of Those

Above. And if the Shiuana were to hear an irrelevant or unpleasant

utterance on the part of their children, things might go wrong. There

is, beside, the barrier between clan and clan,--the mistrust which one

connection feels always more or less strongly toward the others. Instead

of the excitement and display of passion that too often accompany the

preliminaries of great events in civilized communities, and which too

often also unduly precipitate them, among the Indians there is

reticence. They do not run to headquarters for information; they make no

effort at interviewing the officers; they simply and sullenly wait.

This patient waiting, however, is only on the surface. In strictly

intimate circles apprehensions are sometimes uttered and opinions

exchanged. But this is done in the clan, and rarely in the family.

In the present case it was not reticence alone that prevailed. The

conviction that great things might be brought to light soon, caused

uneasiness rather than anything else. Apprehensions were increased by

the fact that only a part of the dignitaries of the tribe were doing

penance. The Koshare Naua was not fasting, neither was Topanashka; and

Tyope went about with the utmost unconcern. Members of the clans whose

delegates kept secluded became suspicious of the fact that their nashtio

appealed more particularly to the higher powers, and hence that his

constituents--such was their conclusion--were in danger of something as

yet concealed from the people. Suspicion led to envy, and finally to

wrath against such as appeared to be free from the necessity of

intercession. Tyope had thrown a firebrand among the tribe, and the fire

was smouldering yet. But it was merely a question of time for the flames

to burst forth. It was even easy to guess when it must occur, for no

such fast can last longer than four days. At their expiration, if not

before, all doubts must be dispelled. With this absolute certainty the

people rested, not content, but submitting to the inevitable.

Only two men among the Queres knew the whole truth of the matter, and

these were Tyope and the old Koshare Naua. They watched with apparent

calmness, but with the greatest attention, the approach of the storm

which they had prepared. Everything went on to their hearts' content.

They did not need to do penance, for their sinister plans were advancing

satisfactorily.

And a third at the Rito, although unknown to them, also began to see the

truth gradually with a distinctness that was fearful, that was crushing

to him. That man was the head war-chief, Topanashka Tihua. A series of

logical deductions brought him to ravel step by step the game that was

being played. He saw now why Tzitz hanutsh had been made to bear the

first assault. It was on account of Shotaye. But as the demand was put,

it involved ultimately the question of residence, and consequently an

expulsion of the Water people. This could never have been merely on

account of one woman and in order to get rid of her, since it was so

easy to put Shotaye out of the way by the mere accusation of witchcraft.

That accusation itself appeared to the old man to be a mere pretext and

nothing else. To expel the small Water clan alone was not their object

either. His daughter, the child of Tanyi, was also implicated, and with

this thought came a flash of light. Not one clan alone, but several,

were to be removed, and as he now saw plainly, mostly the clans

occupying houses which were not exposed to the dangers which threatened

the cave-dwellers from the crumbling rock. Tzitz had only served as an

entering-wedge for their design that the house-dwellers should make room

for the others. The more Topanashka thought over it, the more he felt

convinced that he was right. And the stronger his convictions the more

he saw that the plans of the two fiends, Tyope and the Naua, were likely

to succeed. They were bad men, they were dangerous men; but they

certainly had a pair of very subtle minds.

Was it possible to defeat their object? Other men, differently

constituted from Topanashka, might have come to the conclusion that it

was best to leave the Rito with their people at once, without any

further wrangling, and make room peaceably. To this he could never

consent. None of his relatives or their friends should be sacrificed to

the intrigues of the Turquoise people. Rather than yield he was firmly

determined that the Turquoise people themselves should go. But only

after they had done their worst. It was true, as Tyope had said, that a

division of the tribe entailed a dangerous weakening of both fragments;

but then if it must be, what else could be done? Still he was in hopes

that the Shiuana would not consent to a separation, and in his firm

belief in the goodness of Those Above he resolved, when the time came,

to do his utmost for the preservation of peace and unity. But it was a

crushing weight to him. Not a soul had he with whom to communicate, for

his lips were sealed; not one whom he might enlighten and prepare for

the hour of the crisis. And he felt unconsciously that he was the pillar

on which rested the safety of his people,--he and the Shiuana! The

feeling was no source of pride; it was a terrible load, which he longed

in vain to share with some one else. Topanashka did not attempt to do

penance externally; he was too shrewd for that; but he prayed as much as

any one,--prayed for light from above, for the immense courage to keep

silent, to hope, and to wait.

The news that Kauaitshe, the delegate from Tzitz hanutsh, was fasting

had reached the cave-dwellings of his cluster late in the afternoon.

Zashue had carried it thither, communicating the intelligence secretly

to his mother and sister. They were speaking of it, the old woman with

apprehensions, and Zashue in his usual frivolous manner, when Hayoue

entered.

"Do you know," said he, "that the nashtio of Tyame is doing penance?"

"So does ours," remarked Zashue, growing serious. He began to see

matters in a different light.

"What may this all be about?" wondered the younger brother.

The elder brother shrugged his shoulders, sighed, and rubbed his eyes;

and all four kept silent.

"Is it perhaps from the uuityam?" asked Hayoue; and his mother

exclaimed,--

"Surely it is."

"Then something must have occurred," continued Hayoue; and with a

side-glance at his brother, "I wonder if Tyope is fasting also?"

Zashue denied it positively, and added, "The Naua is out of doors."

"In that case it is our people again who have to suffer." His passion

was aroused; he cried, rather than spoke "The Shyuamo never suffer

anything. Who knows but the shuatyam, Tyope, and the old one have again

done something to harm us!" Ere Zashue could reply to this sally the

young man had left the cave.

When Hayoue stood outside he noticed Shotaye sitting on her doorstep.

"Guatzena, sam[=a]m," he called over to her.

"Raua A," the woman answered, extending her hand toward him as if she

wished to give him something.

He went over to her, took the object, and looked at it. It was the

rattle of a snake.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"I found it above, where a rattlesnake had been eaten. Do you want it?"

He shook the rattle and inquired,--

"Will you give it to me?"

"Yes."

"It is well; and now I will tell you something that you don't know yet.

Our father, Kauaitshe, is fasting."

"He is right," Shotaye remarked; "it will make him leaner."

Both laughed, but Hayoue said with greater earnestness,

"Tyame is doing penance also."

"Then he is with his woman from Shyuamo," flippantly observed Shotaye;

"it will make Turquoises cheaper." She turned away with an indifferent

air. Her careless manner struck the young man, and when he saw that she

would not speak, but only gazed at the sky, he went off with the present

he had received. He felt differently; he took the matter very seriously.

He directed his steps toward the tall building where it might be

possible to ascertain something else. Hayoue was afraid of the Turquoise

people and their designs.

Shotaye was far from indifferent to the piece of news which Hayoue had

brought to her. But neither was she surprised. She expected as much. It

was therefore easy for her to appear perfectly calm and unconcerned. She

was fully convinced that her case had been the subject of last night's

discussion in the council, but the fact that the delegates were doing

penance proved that the matter was still pending, and that no conclusion

had been reached. There was consequently time before her still, and the

reprieve amounted to about four days. She had time to reflect and to

prepare her course of action. The sooner she was alone and left to her

own musings the better, and that was why she turned away so abruptly

from the young man. Hayoue drew from her manner the inference that the

woman busied herself with thoughts entirely foreign to his own, and did

not wish to be disturbed. But as soon as he turned to go she watched him

through one corner of her eye. When he was far enough away, she rose,

and slowly crept back into her dwelling.

We need not follow the train of thought that occupied Shotaye.

It was in the main the same that had filled her mind during the last

week. One thing was certain, she was not silly enough to fast. She would

not commit such a blunder. Neither would she call on Say Koitza. She

regarded her companion in danger as sufficiently advised, and felt sure

that the wife of Zashue was prepared for any event. Why then disturb

her? It might only lead her into committing some disastrous blunder.

Without Shotaye's direct knowledge Say was sure to do nothing at all,

and that was the best for both. For the present, all that could be done

was to remain absolutely quiet and to wait.

Hayoue, on the other hand, was not so philosophical. As he strolled down

the valley, his mind was deeply agitated. It seemed clear to him that a

grave question had been propounded at the council, and it could only

have originated through some deviltry on the part of the evil spirits of

the Turquoise clan, Tyope and the old Naua. This made him very angry,

and he vowed within himself that when the time came he would take a very

active part in the proceedings.

He would rather have commenced the fray at once by slaughtering Tyope

and his accomplice; but then, it was not altogether the thing to do.

Neither would it do to go about and inquire at random. Nothing was left

to him but to have patience and wait.

Waiting, however, did not interfere with his disposition to talk. With a

nature as outspoken as that of Hayoue, it was impossible to wait without

saying something to somebody about it. But to whom? At home he could not

speak, for there was Zashue, and he was never impartial when any one of

the Koshare was concerned. Okoya would be far preferable, and he

determined upon looking him up. His nephew was not in the big house, and

Hayoue went out to the corn-patches. The Indian goes to his field

frequently, not in order to work, but simply to lounge, to seek company,

or to watch the growing crops. Okoya was in his father's plot, sitting

comfortably among the corn; but it was not the plantation that occupied

his thoughts, they were with Mitsha; and he pondered over what she had

told him the night before, and how he might succeed in making her his

beyond cavil. Looking up accidentally he discerned the form of his uncle

coming toward him, and his face brightened. He motioned Hayoue to come,

and this time Hayoue was eager to meet Okoya.

The uncle wore a gloomy face, and the nephew noticed it at once. But he

thought that if his friend intended to confide in him he would do so

spontaneously. He had not long to wait. Hayoue sat down alongside of him

and began,--

"Do you know where sa umo is,--the maseua?"

"He is at home, I think. At least he was there when I went away."

"Is he doing penance?"

Okoya stared at Hayoue in astonishment.

"No, he ate with us. Why should he fast?"

"Do you know," Hayoue continued to inquire, "that the nashtio of Tzitz

and the nashtio of Tyame are fasting?"

"I did not, but I know that the Hishtanyi Chayan is at work."

Hayoue extended his neck and pricked up his ears. "What," said he, "the

yaya also?"

"Indeed, the Cuirana Naua also. Did not you know it? You are a nice

Cuirana."

The uncle shook his head.

"That is bad, very bad indeed," muttered he. Okoya was perplexed. At

last his curiosity overcame all diffidence and he asked,--

"What is it, satyumishe nashtio? Do you know of anything evil?"

Hayoue looked at him and said,--

"Okoya, you and I are alike. When your heart is heavy you come to me and

say, 'My heart is sad; help me to make it light again;' and when I feel

sorrow I go to you and tell you of it. When you came to me up

there"--he pointed to the west--"it was dark in your heart. To-day it is

night in mine."

The speech both astonished and pleased the boy. He felt pride in the

elder's confidence, but was too modest to express it. So he merely

replied,--

"Nashtio, I am very young, and you are much wiser than I. How can I

speak so that your heart may be relieved? You know how I must speak, and

when you tell me I will try and do it."

He gazed into Hayoue's features with a timid, doubting look; he could

hardly conceive that his uncle really needed advice from him.

It was Hayoue's turn to sigh to-day. Slowly he said,--

"Last night the uuityam was together, and to-day the yaya and the

nashtio are fasting."

Okoya innocently asked,--

"Why do they fast?"

"That is just what I want to know," Hayoue impatiently exclaimed, "but

surely it bodes nothing good."

"Why should the wise men want something that is evil?" said the other,

in surprise.

"You are young, mot[=a]tza, you are like a child, else you would not ask

such a question. The wise men are doing penance, not because they intend

harm, but in order to prevent the people from being harmed. Do you

understand me now?"

It began to dawn on Okoya's mind; still he had not fully grasped his

uncle's meaning.

"Who is going to do evil things to us? Are there Moshome about?"

Hayoue was struck by the remark. He had not thought of this possibility.

It might be that the older men had learned something of the approach or

presence of Navajos. A few moments of reflection, however, convinced

him of the utter improbability of the suggestion. If there were danger

of this the warriors, to whom he belonged,--that is, the special group

of war magicians,--would have been the first to be informed of it; and

they would all be now in the estufa preparing themselves for duty, and

the maseua first of all. Instead of it the old man was up and about as

usual. No, it could not be; and he accordingly said,--

"It may be that some sneaking wolf is lurking about, but I do not

believe it. See here, satyumishe, I belong to those who know of war, and

I should certainly have heard if there were any signs of the Dinne. And

our father the maseua would not have remained about the big house. No,

umo, it is not on account of the Moshome that the yaya and nashtio take

no food."

"But if there are no Moshome about, whence could there come danger to

us?"

"From there;" and Hayoue pointed to distant cliffs where some of the

cave-dwellings of Shyuamo were visible at the diminutive openings in the

rock.

"Why from there?"

"From Shyuamo hanutsh."

"What can Shyuamo want to do harm for?"

Hayoue grew really impatient.

"You think of nothing else but your girl," he grumbled. "Have you

forgotten already what I told you of Tyope and of that old sand-viper,

the Naua?"

It thundered in the distance; a shower was falling south of the Rito,

and its thunder sounded like low, subterranean mutterings. Hayoue called

out,--

"Do you hear the Shiuana? They remind you of what I said."

The parts were reversed. It was now the uncle who reminded the nephew

of the voices from the higher world. Okoya hung his head.

"Listen to me," continued Hayoue; "I know that you do not like it that I

speak against Tyope, but I am right nevertheless. He is a bad man and a

base man; he only looks at what he desires and to the welfare of his

hanutsh. Toward others he is ill-disposed; and his companion is worse

yet, the old fiend."

"Yes, but what can they gain by doing evil to others?" Okoya asked.

"I don't know."

"How can I know it, then? I am much younger, much less wise than you."

Hayoue saw the candour of the boy and it troubled him. It was true;

Okoya was too young yet, too inexperienced; he could not fully

understand what Hayoue was suspecting, and could not give him any light

or advice. It was useless to press him any further. But one thing Hayoue

had achieved, at all events. He had enjoyed an opportunity to vent his

feelings in full confidence, and that alone afforded him some relief.

After musing a while he spoke again,--

"Let it be what it may, I tell you this much, brother: be careful, and

now especially. Speak to nobody of what I have told you; and should you

go to see Mitsha, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. I cannot find

anybody to speak to except you and the maseua, but our father I dare not

ask, for when the others are fasting Topanashka's lips are closed until

the time comes to act. Meanwhile, brother, we must wait. I am going back

to the katityam, for it is not good to run about and pry. Nobody knows

anything but the yaya and the nashtio, and these do not speak to us."

With these words he rose and left Okoya alone.

Much as the latter was attached to his father's brother, he was still

glad to see him go. The sinister hints which Hayoue had dropped were as

good as incomprehensible to him. That the Zaashtesh could be damaged

through some of its own people he could not conceive; still he believed

it, for Hayoue had said so and it must be true. But it was equally true

that Okoya's thoughts were with his own affairs exclusively, and his

uncle's talk affected him mainly on that score. It increased his already

uneasy feelings. The fear that Mitsha would be given him only on

condition that he became Koshare was now stronger than ever, and his

prospects appeared still further complicated in the light of Hayoue's

disclosures. Nevertheless, nothing was absolutely certain so far; and he

could not precipitate matters. In his case, too, there was nothing left

but to wait.

The shower, which was sending floods of moisture into the valleys

farther south, only grazed the Rito, sending a short and light rain upon

its growing crops. It surprised Zashue upon his return to the big house,

and drove him to shelter at his own, that is, his wife's home. He did

not really care to go there, for since the time when he and Tyope had

searched the rooms, Zashue had kept rather away from his spouse.

He did not suspect her any longer; but the very conviction on his part

that she was innocent, and that consequently he had wronged her, kept

him away from her presence. The weaker a man is, the less he likes to

acknowledge guilt. He feels ashamed of himself, but will not acknowledge

it. The Indian in this respect is as tough as other people, if not

tougher. To beg pardon for an offence committed is to him a very

difficult task. He is a child, and children rarely make atonement unless

compelled. They conceal their guilt, and so does the Indian. If he has

wronged any one, the redman persists in acting as if nothing had

happened, or he pouts, or avoids the party offended. Zashue did not

pout, but he avoided his wife's dwelling as much as possible, and felt

embarrassed when there, or as had been the case a few days ago, when the

matter of Okoya's wooing was discussed, he availed himself of the first

pretext to take leave. To-day it was different; he had to go there for

shelter. Say received him in her usual way, almost without a word, but

with a look that was at once friendly, searching, and unsteady. It was

dark in the inner room, and Zashue failed to notice his wife's glance.

Say also had heard of the fasts and penitence to which some of the

officers of the tribe had submitted; and she rightly surmised that the

accusation against Shotaye, and against herself perhaps, had at last

been made, and was the cause of such unusual proceedings. But Shotaye

had judged her well when she decided upon not troubling Say with a

visit. It was unnecessary, for Say took everything calmly and with

perfect composure. The positive assurance of Shotaye that she was safe,

and still more the words of her father to the same effect, had

completely reassured the woman. She looked forward to coming events with

anxious curiosity rather than with apprehension. Still as her husband

unexpectedly entered her dwelling, she could not resist the temptation

to sound him, and to find out, if possible, what he thought about

affairs. While kneading the corn-cakes she therefore asked, in a quiet,

cool manner,--

"Hachshtze, do you know that the nashtio are fasting?"

"All of them?"

"I don't know," she replied, going on with her work, "and yet I know

this much,--that sa nashtio does not fast. He ate with us and is going

about as usual."

"What may it all mean?" he inquired of her.

She shrugged her shoulders, and asked,--

"Does Tyope do penance?"

In view of the intimate relations existing between Tyope and Zashue this

was a very natural question, and yet it stung Zashue. He interpreted it

as a covert thrust. But as he bethought himself of the charges which

Hayoue had uttered against the delegate from Shyuamo, a whole series of

ideas rose within him so suddenly, and so far from pleasant or

comforting to himself, that he forgot the conversation and inclined his

head in thought.

Say Koitza was too much absorbed by her work to notice the change in her

husband's manner at once. After a few moments of silence she reiterated

her question. Zashue appeared to wake up; he started, saying,--

"I don't know; but why do you ask this?"

The woman realized that her inquiry might have been imprudent, but with

great assurance explained,--

"Because he is nashtio, and a great one at that. Shyuamo is a strong

hanutsh, and what it wants will be done. It alone can do more than Tzitz

and Tanyi together."

The quick, bold, apparently unpremeditated reply relieved Zashue of an

undefined feeling of suspicion that had arisen within him. During his

moment of thoughtfulness he had been led from the accusations of Hayoue

against Tyope unconsciously to the accusation which Tyope had launched

before against Shotaye and his own wife. Quick as lightning it flashed

upon his mind that that accusation had perhaps been formulated again,

and this time officially before the council. And if Say were innocent,

as he still believed, why did she inquire about him who was the

originator of it? He did not attribute her query to a guilty conscience,

for the Indian has but a very dim notion about human conscience, if he

thinks of it at all. He would have gone further and have seen in the

utterance of his wife the evidence of some positive knowledge. Did Say

know anything about the real object of the stormy visit which he and

Tyope paid to her home during the dance of the ayash tyucotz? Her ready

reply to his mistrustful inquiry had allayed suspicions as to her guilt

for the time being, but on the other hand he felt strong misgivings that

she had found out something, either of what the Koshare said or thought

concerning her, or about the attempt which Tyope and he had failed in.

One thing, however, grew to be more and more certain in his judgment;

namely, that a charge proffered against Shotaye was probably the cause

of the extraordinary fastings going on among the tribal heads. More he

could not surmise, still less find out. But he determined upon being

very guarded toward his wife hereafter. Say, on her side, had a similar

feeling toward him. The breach which social customs already established

between man and wife was gradually but surely widening.

Still they continued to talk quietly. No one seeing them together in the

dingy kitchen would have suspected a lack of harmony, or discontent,

much less the sinister preoccupations lurking in the heart of each. Both

felt that it was useless, that they must abide their time, avoid

imprudent words and queries, conceal from each other their misgivings,

and wait.

The Delight Makers · 第 13 / 21 章