Felix and Walter had gone to the head of the cot and seized the ends of
the tent poles and Van Shaw had stepped up to one of the poles at the
other end when Esther, who perhaps sensed some electricity in the air
not caused by the recent thunder storm, said to Paul:
"You take hold with Mr. Van Shaw, Paul, and let Mr. Coleman and Mr.
Calder take their turn later. The trail looks very steep. I'm sure you
will need to be relieved occasionally."
They started accordingly and Helen laughingly complimented her cavaliers
as they picked up the cot and after several trials discovered the most
effective way of handling it.
The trail was bounded on one side by the Oraibi cemetery. The recent
rains had washed some of the bodies out of their graves made in the
loose gravel of the steep hill. The trail wound up sharply, disclosing
at every turn some new marvel of the limitless expanse below. A Hopi
came out on a ledge far above them and chanted his song to the sun.
Every step brought the party nearer the queer built houses and the kivas
with their projecting ladders. Other visitors and tourists were on the
trail in front and the progress was slow. Several stops were made and
changes occurred in the order of carriers, but when the top of the rock
was reached, Masters, who with Mrs. Masters and Miss Gray were close
behind the litter, suddenly exclaimed, "There is Talavenka!" pointing to
the roof of the first house fronting the trail. A Hopi maiden,
distinguished by her whorl of hair as unmarried, stood up by the ladder,
smiling down at the party.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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