The four days at the expiration of which the council was to take place were drawing to a close, for it was the night of the fourth, that on which the uuityam was to meet.

It was a beautiful night; the full moon shone down into the gorge in its greatest splendour, and only along the cliffs was it possible to walk in the shadow.

The air was cool and balmy; not a breeze stirred; and the population of the Rito seemed to enjoy the luminous, still, and refreshing hours that followed upon a warm and busy day.

Laughter, singing, shouting, came from the roofs and the vicinity of the houses, as well as from the caves and their approaches.

The people felt happy; few if any suspected that a momentous question agitated the minds of some of their number.
Two men were walking along the cliffs toward the group of cave-dwellings which the Prairie-wolf clan inhabited.