ound with impatience, he
did not scratch his head or stamp, he did not even think of
swearing,--he simply waited. And his patient waiting proved of comfort
to him, for he gradually cooled off, and freed from the effects of his
violent impressions, began to think what he could do. Nothing,
absolutely nothing, at least until he had seen Hayoue. To wait for the
latter was a necessity, if it took him the whole day. But to wait in the
same posture for hours was rather tiresome, so he rolled over on his
back, and folding his arms under his head began to gaze on the skies.

Bright and cloudless as they had appeared at sunrise, a change had come
over them since which attracted even Okoya's attention. Instead of the
usual deep azure, the heavens had assumed a dingy hue, and long white
streamers traversed them like arches. Had the boy looked in the west he
would have seen shredded clouds looming up behind the mountains, a sure
sign of approaching rain. But he had become fascinated by what was
directly above him, and so he watched with increasing interest the white
arches overhead. Slowly, imperceptibly, they pushed up, crossing the
zenith and approaching the eastern horizon, toward which the boy's face
was turned. And while they shifted they grew in width and density.
Delicate filaments appeared between and connected bow with bow,
gradually thickening, until the zenith was but one vault of pale gray.
The boy watched this process with increased eagerness; it caused him to
forget his troubles. He saw that rain--one of the great blessings for
which he and his people had so fervently prayed, chanted, and danced
yesterday--was coming on, and his heart became glad. The spirits--the
Shiuana--he thought, were kindly disposed toward his people; and this
caused him to wonder what the Shiuana might really be, and why they
acted so and so, and not otherwise. The Shiuana, he had been taught,
dwelt in the clouds, and they were good; why, then, was it that from one
and the same cloud the beneficial rain descended, which caused the food
of mankind to grow, and also the destructive hail and the deadly
thunderbolt?[9]

A faint, muttering sound, deep and prolonged, struck his ear. He
started, for it was distant thunder. The Shiuana, he believed, had read
his thoughts, and they reminded him that their doings were beyond the
reach of his mind. Turning away from the sights above, he looked again
down the valley. There, at last, came the long-expected