poke to him long and earnestly; after him to the shaykatze and the
uishtyaka; lastly with all three yaya together. Then the yaya went into
retirement, all three in the same place. They are fasting, doing
penance, mercilessly mortifying themselves, in order that Those Above
may forgive the tribe and suffer it to prosper again.

All this has taken place in silence and secret, and nothing has come to
the surface. The only thing that has become public is a general council,
not merely of the delegates of clans with the yaya, but of the tribe.
Hayoue assisted, with Zashue his brother. Tyope was present also, but he
said nothing, and nobody requested him to speak. He was not outlawed; no
punishment was dealt to him; he was simply suffered to remain on that
lower level to which he had naturally dropped.

The principal question agitating the council was the nomination of a
maseua, or head war-chief. The caciques intimated that Hayoue would be
their choice, and all concurred in the selection. But Hayoue positively
declined, insisting that his clan had virtually ceased to exist on the
Rito, and that it was his duty to follow his people in their distress.
Zashue also spoke to the same effect. His wife Say Koitza and his
children had disappeared, even to the little girl, whose brains were
still clinging to the walls of the big house, against which the enemy
had dashed her head. However much the people insisted, Hayoue remained
firm in his resolve to go after the fugitives and to save them if
possible. Most of the people thought them lost, dead, or captives; but
both young men were of the opinion that there were too many of them, and
that at least some must have escaped. It was consequently the duty of
the two youngest survivors to trace them if possible.

The Hishtanyi Chayan was the first to accede to Hayoue's demands, but
conditionally. He insisted that when their duties were fulfilled Hayoue
and his brother should return to the Rito with the rescued. But Hayoue
refused to consent even to this. The grounds given by him were obvious,
though hard to listen to. In case they found a few, he promised to
return; but should there be many yet alive he was determined upon
founding a new settlement. He reproached the council bitterly for having
allowed the lack of arable soil to have been taken as a pretext for
depriving his own small clan of its allotment in order to give it to a
larger one. That small clan should not come back and again