Flower open.

That is where the tempter caught him. What power that would give him
over the other Indians! What was Kla-quitch, with his painted sticks and
bones, compared with him, if only he were the possessor of this marvel!
He should need no other stock in trade as medicine-man. The people would
pay well to have it opened--that would be good medicine:--and simply
keeping it shut would be bad medicine:--delightfully easy! How did it
shut, by the by? He fumbled at the stick, but it did not close: he
pushed and pulled, it made no difference. He pressed on the cloth; an
ominous creaking warned him that Big Flower objected to being shut by
force, and threatened to break.

A nice fix he was in now: the genie he had raised would not down! He
grew hot and cold by turns. Jose was far ahead by now: he ought to
overtake him, but he could not appear before the Padre like this. He did
not know what the purpose of the thing was, but most likely it had
something to do with the Church, and he knew how strict the Padre was
about even the handling of such objects. What should he do? The tempter
had the answer ready,--there was only one thing he could do,--run away
with the magic thing and be a medicine-man, as his father had been, only
he would be a much more powerful and cunning one. Sly tempter! Poor Pio!
He had only meant to nibble, and here he was, fairly hooked.

Well, since he was in for it, he had better get away before any one saw
him. He caught up the clothes and the umbrella and hurried off into the
brush. It was not easy for him to make his way along with the
obstreperous load, and he soon discovered that the best way to manage
the umbrella was to carry it over his head. Very comforting he found it,
too, though it did not for a moment occur to him that this was its real