however, as the one who had so effectually routed him showed again a
decided movement toward his raven locks, he beat a hasty retreat to his
elder brother. This change of base excited new hilarity, and under a
shower of jokes and sarcasms the two boys departed. Okoya walked along
at a steady gait; but Shyuote, as soon as he considered the distance
safe enough, turned around, making grimaces at the belligerent damsels,
vowing vengeance, and uttering opprobrious epithets of the choicest
kind. He noticed that the two returned his compliments without reserve,
whereas Mitsha stood in silence leaning against the house-wall. One
single look, one earnest almost sad glance, she sent after the
disappearing form of Shyuote's elder brother.

The main building was now close at hand. It was an irregular pentagon,
and at places two, at others three stories high. With one single
exception these stories formed terraces, retreating successively from
the ground to the top like so many steps of a staircase. Nowhere did
there appear any entrance. Notched beams led up to trapdoors in the
roofs, similar beams penetrated into the interior below. Absolute
stillness reigned about the edifice. Some women scoured scanty clothing
in the ditch running past the structure; on the terraces not a soul
appeared. The lads directed their course toward that side where the
three stories presented a perpendicular wall, and as they neared it an
entrance, or doorway, high enough for a man and wide enough for four
abreast appeared in the vertical front. It led them through a dark
passage into an interior court which was fairly clean and contained
three estufas. Its diameter did not exceed one hundred and fifty feet.

Toward this court, or yard, the stories of the building descended in
terraces also; but though everywhere beams leaned up as ladders, access
to the ground-floor was also afforded by narrow doorways closed with