eached
the large house almost to his own surprise.

It was noon, and the full blaze of the sun flooded the valley with
light. Not a breeze fanned the air, nothing stirred. No vibrations
troubled the picture which the cliffs, the caves, the buildings,
presented in the dazzling glare. The cliffs had lost their yellowish hue
and appeared white, with every protuberance, every indentation, or
cavity, marked by intense shadows. The houses inhabited by the Eagle
clan along the foot of the rocks were like a row of irregularly piled
cubes and prisms; each beam leaning against them cast a jet-black streak
of shadow on the ground. Below the projecting beams of the roofs a short
black line descended along the wall, and the towering rocks jutted in
and out from dark recesses like monsters. So strong were the contrasts
between shadow and light that even Shyuote was struck by it. He stood
still and stared.

Something indefinite, a vague feeling of awe, crept over him. For the
real grandeur of the scenery he had no sense of appreciation, and yet it
seemed to him as if everything about were new and strange. Thousands of
times had he gazed at the cliffs of his valley home, but never had they
appeared to him as they did now. So strong was this impression, and so
sudden, too, that he shrank from the sight in amazement; then he turned
his eyes away and walked rapidly toward home. He was afraid to look at
the colossal pillars and walls; they appeared to him like giants
threatening to move. All his plans for revenge, every thought of wrath
and indignation, had vanished.

Suddenly his left knee was struck by a stone hurled with such force that
Shyuote bounded and screamed. At the same time six or seven boys, some
apparently of his age while others were taller and older, rushed from
the bushes skirting the ditch. Two of them ran directly in front of him.
They were armed with sticks and short clubs, and the largest, who seemed
to be of the same age as Okoya, shouted,--

"You have injured Sayap, and caused her blood to flow. You rotten
squash, you shall suffer for it."

Shyuote took in the situation at a glance. He saw that only desperate
running would save him from being roughly handled. He darted off like an
arrow toward the cave-dwellings in front of him. Unfortunately these
were the quarters of the Corn people who had not yet moved into their
new homes. To them belonged Sayap and the boys that were assailing
Shyuote; and as the fugitive