ourse of the afternoon.

He moved his body forward where he could examine the soil alongside the
ledge. The grass was nowhere bent and broken, still that was no
sufficient indication. There at last was a plain human track, the
impression of a naked foot with its toe-marks to the north, and the
impression was fresh! But the Tehua walked on round sandals. Had he not
lost one of them? It was very uncomfortable walking on one of the
circular disks only. Topanashka rose on hands and feet and crept
farther, regardless of what might be behind him. His eyes were directed
northward and he relied upon his ear to warn him of danger in the rear.

The trail lay before him quite distinct for a short distance. Close to
it some grasses were bent, and on the sandy place near by there was a
print as if from a small hoop, but the impression was old and partly
blurred. In vain did the old warrior search for other marks; the rain
had obliterated everything except this faint trace that might originally
have been plainer because deeper. It looked as if the wearer of the
sandal had stepped on the grass-bunch with the fore part of his foot,
slipped back lightly, and thus pressed the hind part of the hoop deeper
into the soil. In that case some trace of the heel-print might still be
found. And indeed a very slight concavity appeared behind the impression
of the sandal. The heel was turned from the north, consequently the man
was going to, not coming from the Rito. The tracks were surely old ones.

Everything was plain now. The Tehua had lost one of his sandals and was
returning on his bare feet. But why should he leave it? Why did he not
take it along? Even that Topanashka could easily explain. People from
the Rito frequently roamed over the northern mesa, close to the Tyuonyi.
He might have noticed the presence of some of them, and have fled in
haste, leaving his foot-gear behind. Most likely the ties or thongs had
given way, and he had no time to mend them. That was an evidence also
that the man was alone, else he would not have fled with such
precipitation. Neither was he in this vicinity any longer. Topanashka
felt that his task was done; he could not gain anything by proceeding
farther.

"Kuawk, kuawk, kuawk!" sounded overhead. A crow had been sitting quietly
on the tree above him, but now it flew off again, the unlucky bird! Its
cry startled the old man, and he raised his head to look after the
herald of evil, following him with his eye