Nevertheless, as no one paid attention to his speech, he felt at last
constrained to drop into silence. Not for a long time, however, for as
if he wished to atone for his lack of civility he called out to
Topanashka,--
"You are late, sa nashtio!"
"Early enough yet, satyumishe," replied the old man quietly, and Tyame
remarked,--
"Shyuamo dwells nearer to the uuityam than we. The Turquoise men have
everything close at hand,--the tapop, the place, everything, and
everybody. All we have is the maseua," he added laughing, "and he is
very old."
The laughter became general, and Tyope said in a tone of flattery,--
"Our nashtio is old, but he is still stronger than you, Tyame. He is
also wiser than all of us together. Our father is very strong, runs like
a deer, and his eye is that of an eagle."
There was something like irony in this speech, but Topanashka took no
notice of it. He was looking for the tapop, a difficult task in the
darkness, where a number of men are grouped in all kinds of postures.
Finally he inquired,--
"Where is Hoshkanyi?"
"Not here," came a reply from several voices.
"And the yaya?"
"Tza yaya," was the negative answer.
"Then we are not too late," said the war-chief, turning to Tyame.
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