Books: Nada the Lily

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"'Hail, Galazi, child of Siguyana!' said the voice, 'Galazi the Wolf!
Say, what dost thou here in the Ghost Mountain, where the stone Witch
sits forever, waiting for the world to die?'

"Then, Umslopogaas, I answered, or seemed to answer, and my voice,
too, sounded strange and hollow:--

"'Hail, Dead One, who sittest like a vulture on a rock! I do this on
the Ghost Mountain. I come to seek thy bones and bear them to thy
mother for burial.'

"'Many and many a year have I sat aloft, Galazi,' answered the voice,
'watching the ghost-wolves leap and leap to drag me down, till the
rock grew smooth beneath the wearing of their feet. So I sat seven
days and nights, being yet alive, the hungry wolves below, and hunger
gnawing at my heart. So I have sat many and many a year, being dead in
the heart of the old stone Witch, watching the moon and the sun and
the stars, hearkening to the howls of the ghost-wolves as they ravened
beneath me, and learning the wisdom of the old witch who sits above in
everlasting stone. Yet my mother was young and fair when I trod the
haunted forest and climbed the knees of stone. How seems she now,
Galazi?'

"'She is white and wrinkled and very aged,' I answered. 'They call her
mad, yet at her bidding I came to seek thee, Dead One, bearing the
Watcher that was thy father's and shall be mine.'

"'It shall be thine, Galazi,' said the voice, 'for thou alone hast
dared the ghosts to give me sleep and burial. Hearken, thine also shall be
the wisdom of the old witch who sits aloft forever, frozen into
everlasting stone--thine and one other's. These are not wolves that
thou hast seen, that is no wolf which thou hast slain; nay, they are
ghosts--evil ghosts of men who lived in ages gone, and who must now
live till they be slain by men. And knowest thou how they lived,
Galazi, and what was the food they ate? When the light comes again,
Galazi, climb to the breasts of the stone Witch, and look in the cleft
which is between her breasts. There shalt thou see how these men
lived. And now this doom is on them: they must wander gaunt and hungry
in the shape of wolves, haunting that Ghost Mountain where they once
fed, till they are led forth to die at the hands of men. Because of
their devouring hunger they have leapt from year to year, striving to
reach my bones; and he whom thou hast slain was the king of them, and
she at his side was their queen.

"'Now, Galazi the Wolf, this is the wisdom that I give thee: thou
shalt be king of the ghost-wolves, thou and another, whom a lion shall
bring thee. Gird the black skin upon thy shoulders, and the wolves
shall follow thee; all the three hundred and sixty and three of them
that are left, and let him who shall be brought to thee gird on the
skin of grey. Where ye twain lead them, there shall they raven,
bringing you victory till all are dead. But know this, that there only
may they raven where in life they ravened, seeking for their food.
Yet, that was an ill gift thou tookest from my mother--the gift of the
Watcher, for though without the Watcher thou hadst never slain the
king of the ghost-wolves, yet, bearing the Watcher, thou shalt thyself
be slain. Now, on the morrow carry me back to my mother, so that I may
sleep where the ghost-wolves leap no more. I have spoken, Galazi.'

"Now the Dead One's voice seemed to grow ever fainter and more hollow
as he spoke, till at the last I could scarcely hear his words, yet I
answered him, asking him this:--

"'Who is it, then, that the lion shall bring to me to rule with me
over the ghost-wolves, and how is he named?'

"Then the Dead One spoke once more very faintly, yet in the silence of
the place I heard his words:--

"'He is named Umslopogaas the Slaughterer, son of Chaka, Lion of the
Zulu."

Now Umslopogaas started up from his place by the fire.

"I am named Umslopogaas," he said, "but the Slaughterer I am not
named, and I am the son of Mopo, and not the son of Chaka, Lion of the
Zulu; you have dreamed a dream, Galazi, or, if it was no dream, then
the Dead One lied to you."

"Perchance this was so, Umslopogaas," answered Galazi the Wolf.
"Perhaps I dreamed, of perhaps the Dead One lied; nevertheless, if he
lied in this matter, in other matters he did not lie, as you shall
hear.

"After I had heard these words, or had dreamed that I heard them, I
slept indeed, and when I woke the forest beneath was like the clouds
of mist, but the grey light glinted upon the face of her who sits in
stone above. Now I remembered the dream that I had dreamed, and I
would see if it were all a dream. So I rose, and leaving the cave,
found a place where I might climb up to the breasts and head of the
stone Witch. I climbed, and as I went the rays of the sun lit upon her
face, and I rejoiced to see them. But, when I drew near, the likeness
to the face of a woman faded away, and I saw nothing before me but
rugged heaps of piled-up rock. For this, Umslopogaas, is the way of
witches, be they of stone or flesh--when you draw near to them they
change their shape.

"Now I was on the breast of the mountain, and wandered to and for
awhile between the great heaps of stone. At length I found, as it
were, a crack in the stone thrice as wide as a man can jump, and in
length half a spear's throw, and near this crack stood great stones
blackened by fire, and beneath them broken pots and a knife of flint.
I looked down into the crack--it was very deep, and green with moss,
and tall ferns grew about in it, for the damp gathered there. There
was nothing else. I had dreamed a lying dream. I turned to go, then
found another mind, and climbed down into the cleft, pushing aside the
ferns. Beneath the ferns was moss; I scraped it away with the Watcher.
Presently the iron of the club struck on something that was yellow and
round like a stone, and from the yellow thing came a hollow sound. I
lifted it, Umslopogaas; it was the skull of a child.

"I dug deeper and scraped away more moss, till presently I saw.
Beneath the moss was nothing but the bones of men--old bones that had
lain there many years; the little ones had rotted, the larger ones
remained--some were yellow, some black, and others still white. They
were not broken, as are those that hyenas and wolves have worried, yet
on some of them I could see the marks of teeth. Then, Umslopogaas, I
went back to the cave, never looking behind me.

"Now when I was come to the cave I did this: I skinned the she-wolf
also. When I had finished the sun was up, and I knew that it was time
to go. But I could not go alone--he who sat aloft in the cleft of the
cave must go with me. I greatly feared to touch him--this Dead One,
who had spoken to me in a dream; yet I must do it. So I brought stones
and piled them up till I could reach him; then I lifted him down, for
he was very light, being but skin and bones. When he was down, I bound
the hides of the wolves about me, then leaving the leather bag, into
which he could not enter, I took the Dead One and placed him on my
shoulders as a man might carry a child, for his legs were fixed
somewhat apart, and holding him by the foot which was left on him, I
set out for the kraal. Down the slope I went as swiftly as I could,
for now I knew the way, seeing and hearing nothing, except once, when
there came a rush of wings, and a great eagle swept down at that which
sat upon my shoulders. I shouted, and the eagle flew away, then I
entered the dark of the forest. Here I must walk softly, lest the head
of him I carried should strike against the boughs and be smitten from
him.

"For awhile I went on thus, till I drew near to the heart of the
forest. Then I heard a wolf howl on my right, and from the left came
answering howls, and these, again, were answered by others in front of
and behind me. I walked on boldly, for I dared not stay, guiding
myself by the sun, which from time to time shone down on me redly
through the boughs of the great trees. Now I could see forms grey and
black slinking near my path, sniffing at the air as they went, and now
I came to a little open place, and, behold! all the wolves in the
world were gathered together there. My heart melted, my legs trembled
beneath me. On every side were the brutes, great and hungry. And I
stood still, with club aloft, and slowly they crept up, muttering and
growling as they came, till they formed a deep circle round me. Yet
they did not spring on me, only drew nearer and ever nearer. Presently
one sprang, indeed, but not at me; he sprang at that which sat upon my
shoulders. I moved aside, and he missed his aim, and, coming to the
ground again, stood there growling and whining like a beast afraid.
Then I remembered the words of my dream, if dream it were, how that
the Dead One had given me wisdom that I should be king of the ghost-
wolves--I and another whom a lion should bear to me. Was it not so? If
it was not so, how came it that the wolves did not devour me?

"For a moment I stood thinking, then I lifted up my voice and howled
like a wolf, and lo! Umslopogaas, all the wolves howled in answer with
a mighty howling. I stretched out my hand and called to them. They ran
to me, gathering round me as though to devour me. But they did not
harm me; they licked my legs with their red tongues, and fighting to
come near me, pressed themselves against me as does a cat. One,
indeed, snatched at him who sat on my shoulder, but I struck him with
the Watcher and he slunk back like a whipped hound; moreover, the
others bit him so that he yelled. Now I knew that I had no more to
fear, for I was king of the ghost-wolves, so I walked on, and with me
came all the great pack of them. I walked on and on, and they trotted
beside me silently, and the fallen leaves crackled beneath their feet,
and the dust rose up about them, till at length I reached the edge of
the forest.

"Now I remembered that I must not be seen thus by men, lest they
should think me a wizard and kill me. Therefore, at the edge of the
forest I halted and made signs to the wolves to go back. At this they
howled piteously, as though in grief, but I called to them that I
would come again and be their king, and it seemed as though their
brute hearts understood my words. Then they all went, still howling,
till presently I was alone.

"And now, Umslopogaas, it is time to sleep; to-morrow night I will end
my tale."

CHAPTER XIV

THE WOLF-BRETHREN

Now, my father, on the morrow night, once again Umslopogaas and Galazi
the wolf sat by the fire in the mouth of their cave, as we sit to-
night, my father, and Galazi took up his tale.

"I passed on till I came to the river; it was still full, but the
water had run down a little, so that my feet found foothold. I waded
into the river, using the Watcher as a staff, and the stream reached
to my elbows, but no higher. Now one on the farther bank of the river
saw that which sat upon my shoulders, and saw also the wolf's skin on
my head, and ran to the kraal crying, 'Here comes one who walks the
waters on the back of a wolf.'

"So it came about that when I drew towards the kraal all the people of
the kraal were gathered together to meet me, except the old woman, who
could not walk so far. But when they saw me coming up the slope of the
hill, and when they knew what it was that sat upon my shoulders, they
were smitten with fear. Yet they did not run, because of their great
wonder, only they walked backward before me, clinging each to each and
saying nothing. I too came on silently, till at length I reached the
kraal, and before its gates sat the old woman basking in the sun of
the afternoon. Presently she looked up and cried:--

"'What ails you, people of my house, that you walk backwards like men
bewitched, and who is that tall and deathly man who comes toward you?'

"But still they drew on backward, saying no word, the little children
clinging to the women, the women clinging to the men, till they had
passed the old wife and ranged themselves behind her like a regiment
of soldiers. Then they halted against the fence of the kraal. But I
came on to the old woman, and lifted him who sat upon my shoulders,
and placed him on the ground before her, saying, 'Woman, here is your
son; I have snatched him with much toil from the jaws of the ghosts--
and they are many up yonder--all save one foot, which I could not
find. Take him now and bury him, for I weary of his fellowship.'

"She looked upon that which sat before her. She put out her withered
hand and drew the bandage from his sunken eyes. Then she screamed
aloud a shrill scream, and, flinging her arms about the neck of the
Dead One, she cried: 'It is my son whom I bore--my very son, whom for
twice ten years and half a ten I have not looked upon. Greeting, my
son, greeting! Now shalt thou find burial, and I with three--ay, I
with thee!'

"And once more she cried aloud, standing upon her feet with arms
outstretched. Then of a sudden foam burst from her lips, and she fell
forward upon the body of her son, and was dead.

"Now silence came upon the place again, for all were fearful. At last
one cried: 'How is this man named who has won the body from the
ghosts?'

"'I am named Galazi,' I answered.

"'Nay,' said he. 'The Wolf you are named. Look at the wolf's red hide
upon his head!'

"'I am named Galazi, and the Wolf you have named me,' I said again.
'So be it: I am named Galazi the Wolf.'

"'Methinks he is a wolf,' said he. 'Look, now, at his teeth, how they
grin! This is no man, my brothers, but a wolf.'

"'No wolf and no man,' said another, 'but a wizard. None but a wizard
could have passed the forest and won the lap of her who sits in stone
forever.'

"'Yes, yes! he is a wolf--he is a wizard!' they screamed. 'Kill him!
Kill the wolf-wizard before he brings the ghosts upon us!' And they
ran towards me with uplifted spears.

"'I am a wolf indeed,' I cried, 'and I am a wizard indeed, and I will
bring wolves and ghosts upon you ere all is done.' And I turned and
fled so swiftly that soon they were left behind me. Now as I ran I met
a girl; a basket of mealies was on her head, and she bore a dead kid
in her hand. I rushed at her howling like a wolf, and I snatched the
mealies from her head and the kid from her hand. Then I fled on, and
coming to the river, I crossed it, and for that night I hid myself in
the rocks beyond, eating the mealies and the flesh of the kid.

"On the morrow at dawn I rose and shook the dew from the wolf-hide.
Then I went on into the forest and howled like a wolf. They knew my
voice, the ghost-wolves, and howled in answer from far and near. Then
I heard the pattering of their feet, and they came round me by tens
and by twenties, and fawned upon me. I counted their number; they
numbered three hundred and sixty and three.

"Afterwards, I went on to the cave, and I have lived there in the
cave, Umslopogaas, for nigh upon twelve moons, and I have become a
wolf-man. For with the wolves I hunt and raven, and they know me, and
what I bid them that they do. Stay, Umslopogaas, now you are strong
again, and, if your courage does not fail you, you shall see this very
night. Come now, have you the heart, Umslopogaas?"

Then Umslopogaas rose and laughed aloud. "I am young in years," he
cried, "and scarcely come to the full strength of men; yet hitherto I
have not turned my back on lion or witch, on wolf or man. Now let us
see this impi of yours--this impi black and grey, that runs on four
legs with fangs for spears!"

"You must first bind on the she-wolf's hide, Umslopogaas," quoth
Galazi, "else, before a man could count his fingers twice there would
be little enough left of you. Bind it about the neck and beneath the
arms, and see that the fastenings do not burst, lest it be the worse
for you."

So Umslopogaas took the grey wolf's hide and bound it on with thongs
of leather, and its teeth gleamed upon his head, and he took a spear
in his hand. Galazi also bound on the hide of the king of the wolves,
and they went out on to the space before the cave. Galazi stood there
awhile, and the moonlight fell upon him, and Umslopogaas saw that his
face grew wild and beastlike, that his eyes shone, and his teeth
grinned beneath his curling lips. He lifted up his head and howled out
upon the night. Thrice Galazi lifted his head and thrice he howled
loudly, and yet more loud. But before ever the echoes had died in the
air, from the heights of the rocks above and the depths of the forest
beneath, there came howlings in answer. Nearer they grew and nearer;
now there was a sound of feet, and a wolf, great and grey, bounded
towards them, and after him many another. They came to Galazi, they
sprang upon him, fawning round him, but he beat them down with the
Watcher. Then of a sudden they saw Umslopogaas, and rushed at him
open-mouthed.

"Stand and do not move!" cried Galazi. "Be not afraid!"

"I have always fondled dogs," answered Umslopogaas, "shall I learn to
fear them now?"

Yet though he spoke boldly, in his heart he was afraid, for this was
the most terrible of all sights. The wolves rushed on him open-
mouthed, from before and from behind, so that in a breath he was well-
nigh hidden by their forms. Yet no fang pierced him, for as they leapt
they smelt the smell of the skin upon him. Then Umslopogaas saw that
the wolves leapt at him no more, but the she-wolves gathered round him
who wore the she-wolf's skin. They were great and gaunt and hungry,
all were full-grown, there were no little ones, and their number was
so many that he could not count them in the moonlight. Umslopogaas,
looking into their red eyes, felt his heart become as the heart of a
wolf, and he, too, lifted up his head and howled, and the she-wolves
howled in answer.

"The pack is gathered; now for the hunt!" cried Galazi. "Make your
feet swift, my brother, for we shall journey far to-night. Ho,
Blackfang! ho, Greysnout! Ho, my people black and grey, away! away!"

He spoke and bounded forward, and with him went Umslopogaas, and after
him streamed the ghost-wolves. They fled down the mountain sides,
leaping from boulder to boulder like bucks. Presently they stood by a
kloof that was thick with trees. Galazi stopped, holding up the
Watcher, and the wolves stopped with him.

"I smell a quarry," he cried; "in, my people, in!"

Then the wolves plunged silently into the great kloof, but Galazi and
Umslopogaas drew to the foot of it and waited. Presently there came a
sound of breaking boughs, and lo! before them stood a buffalo, a bull
who lowed fiercely and sniffed the air.

"This one will give us a good chase, my brother; see, he is gaunt and
thin! Ah! that meat is tender which my people have hunted to the
death!"

As Galazi spoke, the first of the wolves drew from the covert and saw
the buffalo; then, giving tongue, they sprang towards it. The bull saw
also, and dashed down the hill, and after him came Galazi and
Umslopogaas, and with them all their company, and the rocks shook with
the music of their hunting. They rushed down the mountain side, and it
came into the heart of Umslopogaas, that he, too, was a wolf. They
rushed madly, yet his feet were swift as the swiftest; no wolf could
outstrip him, and in him was but one desire--the desire of prey. Now
they neared the borders of the forest, and Galazi shouted. He shouted
to Greysnout and to Blackfang, to Blood and to Deathgrip, and these
four leaped forward from the pack, running so swiftly that their
bellies seemed to touch the ground. They passed about the bull,
turning him from the forest and setting his head up the slope of the
mountain. Then the chase wheeled, the bull leaped and bounded up the
mountain side, and on one flank lay Greysnout and Deathgrip and on the
other lay Blood and Blackfang, while behind came the Wolf-Brethren,
and after them the wolves with lolling tongues. Up the hill they sped,
but the feet of Umslopogaas never wearied, his breath did not fail
him. Once more they drew near the lap of the Grey Witch where the cave
was. On rushed the bull, mad with fear. He ran so swiftly that the
wolves were left behind, since here for a space the ground was level
to his feet. Galazi looked on Umslopogaas at his side, and grinned.

"You do not run so ill, my brother, who have been sick of late. See
now if you can outrun me! Who shall touch the quarry first?"

Now the bull was ahead by two spear-throws. Umslopogaas looked and
grinned back at Galazi. "Good!" he cried, "away!"

They sped forward with a bound, and for awhile it seemed to
Umslopogaas as though they stood side by side, only the bull grew
nearer and nearer. Then he put out his strength and the swiftness of
his feet, and lo! when he looked again he was alone, and the bull was
very near. Never were feet so swift as those of Umslopogaas. Now he
reached the bull as he laboured on. Umslopogaas placed his hands upon
the back of the bull and leaped; he was on him, he sat him as you
white men sit a horse. Then he lifted the spear in his hand, and drove
it down between the shoulders to the spine, and of a sudden the great
buffalo staggered, stopped, and fell dead.

Galazi came up. "Who now is the swiftest, Galazi?" cried Umslopogaas,
"I, or you, or your wolf host?"

"You are the swiftest, Umslopogaas," said Galazi, gasping for his
breath. "Never did a man run as you run, nor ever shall again."

Now the wolves streamed up, and would have torn the carcase, but
Galazi beat them back, and they rested awhile. Then Galazi said, "Let
us cut meat from the bull with a spear."

So they cut meat from the bull, and when they had finished Galazi
motioned to the wolves, and they fell upon the carcase, fighting
furiously. In a little while nothing was left except the larger bones,
and yet each wolf had but a little.

Then they went back to the cave and slept.

Afterwards Umslopogaas told Galazi all his tale, and Galazi asked him
if he would abide with him and be his brother, and rule with him over
the wolf-kind, or seek his father Mopo at the kraal of Chaka.

Umslopogaas said that it was rather in his mind to seek his sister
Nada, for he was weary of the kraal of Chaka, but he thought of Nada
day and night.

"Where, then, is Nada, your sister?" asked Galazi.

"She sleeps in the caves of your people, Galazi; she tarries with the
Halakazi."

"Stay awhile, Umslopogaas," cried Galazi; "stay till we are men
indeed. Then we will seek this sister of yours and snatch her from the
caves of the Halakazi."

Now the desire of this wolf-life had entered into the heart of
Umslopogaas, and he said that it should be so, and on the morrow they
made them blood-brethren, to be one till death, before all the company
of ghost-wolves, and the wolves howled when they smelt the blood of
men. In all things thenceforth these two were equal, and the ghost-
wolves hearkened to the voice of both of them. And on many a moonlight
night they and the wolves hunted together, winning their food. At
times they crossed the river, hunting in the plains, for game was
scarce on the mountain, and the people of the kraal would come out,
hearing the mighty howling, and watch the pack sweep across the veldt,
and with them a man or men. Then they would say that the ghosts were
abroad and creep into their huts shivering with fear. But as yet the
Wolf-Brethren and their pack killed no men, but game only, or, at
times, elephants and lions.

Now when Umslopogaas had abode some moons in the Witch Mountain, on a
night he dreamed of Nada, and awakening soft at heart, bethought
himself that he would learn tidings concerning me, his father, Mopo,
and what had befallen me and her whom he deemed his mother, and Nada,
his sister, and his other brethren. So he clothed himself, hiding his
nakedness, and, leaving Galazi, descended to that kraal where the old
woman had dwelt, and there gave it out that he was a young man, a
chief's son from a far place, who sought a wife. The people of the
kraal listened to him, though they held that his look was fierce and
wild, and one asked if this were Galazi the Wolf, Galazi the Wizard.
But another answered that this was not Galazi, for their eyes had seen
him. Umslopogaas said that he knew nothing of Galazi, and little of
wolves, and lo! while he spoke there came an impi of fifty men and
entered the kraal. Umslopogaas looked at the leaders of the impi and
knew them for captains of Chaka. At first he would have spoken to
them, but his Ehlose bade him hold his peace. So he sat in a corner of
the big hut and listened. Presently the headman of the kraal, who
trembled with fear, for he believed that the impi had been sent to
destroy him and all that were his, asked the captain what was his
will.

"A little matter, and a vain," said the captain. "We are sent by the
king to search for a certain youth, Umslopogaas, the son of Mopo, the
king's doctor. Mopo gave it out that the youth was killed by a lion
near these mountains, and Chaka would learn if this is true."

"We know nothing of the youth," said the headman. "But what would ye
with him?"

"Only this," answered the captain, "to kill him."

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