“Since it is to be like that, may I also speak?”––he asked. “May I not speak to the men who decide? I have thought of this each day since Ua-lano. At some time I must speak:––is not this the time?”
“It may be the time,” she assented. “We will go to the old men of the orders. It may be they will listen.”
All night they listened, and all night they talked, and the old men looked at the mother strangely that the son should speak the words of a man in council.
“Thanks that you let me speak,” he said. “Thanks! It is true what you hear of the white gold-hunter’s magic. It is strong. It is good that we find out how it is strong. My mother tells you how the Snake priests of Tusayan make me of their order, so that I can know that magic for the rain ceremony. In my hands also was given the Flute of Prayer to the desert gods, and to know Hopi prayers does not hurt me for a Te-hua:––it is Te-hua prayers my mother teaches me always! So it will not hurt me to learn the magic of the men of iron. They are 39 strong and they will be hard to fight. The grey robe man is the man who teaches of their gods. He teaches it from magic white leaves in his hand, on the leaves there are words––other iron men can talk from them, but only the grey robe is the priest and teaches. He would teach me if I would serve him––then I could have their magic with our own.”
“It may be evil magic,” said one.
“It tames the strange beasts as the Hopi prayers tame the snakes,” replied the boy––“and every day the beasts do work for these people.”
The old men nodded assent––it certainly must be strong magic to do that!
But a man of the Tain-tsain clan arose.
“This woman has been gone many moons on a strange trail,” he said. “The son she brings back to her clan speaks not as a youth speaks. It is as if he has been very old and grows young again. It may be magic––and again it may be that he is half lost in his mind and dreams the dreams of a man. It is a new thing that men listen to a child in council.”
Then K[=a]-ye-fah the aged Po-Ahtun-ho made a sign for silence, and sat with closed eyes, and it was very quiet in the council until he spoke.