But this takes us beyond the age of tender childhood in the children's Paradise. To a children's friend the Hopi tots are a perennial joy. Their bright eyes are full of appreciation, though bashfulness may make them hide behind mother's skirts, but there is a magic word they have learned from the white people which overcomes that. A picture still dwells in the writer's mind of a little fellow who approached some visitors as near as he dared and spoke the two words of English he knew: "Hello, kente" (candy). Although the ceremony of marriage is of small importance in comparison with the endless ceremonies of the Hopi priesthoods, yet a great deal of interest clusters around it and it is really a complicated affair. The trying antecedent stage of courtship, so amusing to those not concerned, is the same as among civilized young men and maidens. One of the first questions Hopi women ask one is, "Have you a wife?" and if the answer is negative, they express condolence and sympathy, if they do not go so far as to inquire the reason. As elsewhere, the young man must show some possession and likewise an ability to provide before he can take the step of matrimony, and of course, the most inflexible rule of all those which regulate the affairs in Hopiland is observed in making the choice of a wife--the absolute prohibition against marriage between members of the same clan. If both have the totem of the tobacco plant, for instance, it would be hopeless to think of union even if it were imaginable that such a thing would ever enter a Hopi's thoughts. There may be no relationship, but if the clan name is the same, there is an effectual bar. One of the sure signs that matters are going smoothly is when a girl is seen combing a young man's hair, seated perhaps in the doorway where all the world may stare. This is taken to mean a betrothal, but long before this in a community where everyone's business is known, the "match" has been no secret. Hopi courtship presents advantages. No prospectively irate parents have to be asked; the Peaceful People do not put thorns in the path of true love, but let things adjust themselves in a simple, natural way. There are no first families with pride of birth or wealth, no exclusive circles or cliques, there is no bar except the totem in this perfect democracy.