He knew long ago that the leaders of the movement for which the Turquoise people were used as battering-rams hated him, that he was a thorn in their flesh, a stone in their crooked paths.

If the revelations of Hoshkanyi created deep apprehensions in him, it was out of no personal fear; in the present instance it was clear that a trap had been set for the purpose of decoying him into a false move.

It was the first time that anything of the kind had been attempted; and Topanashka looked upon it as very serious, not for his individual sake, but because it showed that it was undertaken jointly with a move that was sure to bring about internal disturbances, and was probably a part of that move itself, and because it exhibited a degree of boldness on the part of the schemers which proved that their plans were nearly, if not absolutely, mature.

A crisis was near at hand; he saw it, but it could not be prevented.

A deep gloom settled on the heart of the old maseua, and something like despondency crept over him at times.