San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-08-02

or the ola Wltcn VINO SltS alOft-tnlne
and one others. These are not wolves
that thou hast seen; they are ghosts of
men who lived in ages gone and who
must now live till they be slain of men.
And knowesG thou how they lived, Ga
lazi, 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 once they
fed till they are led forth to die at the
hands of men. Because of their devour-
ing hunger have they leaped 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 the queen.
Now, Galazi the Wolf, this is the
wisdom that give thee. Thou shalt be
king of the ghost wolves, thou and an
other whom a lion shall bring thee.
Grid 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 grid on the skin
of gray. Where We twain lead them,
there shall they raven, bringing you
victory till all are slain. But know this,
that there only may they raven where
in life they ravened, seeking for their
food. Yet that was an i'll 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 | may sleep where
the ghost wolves leap no more. | have
spoken, GalaZi'
Now the Dead Ones voice seemed to
grow ever fainter and more hollow as
he spoke, till at the last could scarcely
hear his words, yet | answered him,
asking this of him:
"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 family. yet in the silence of the
place heard his words:
HE is named UmslOpOgaas the
Slaughterer, son of Chaka, Lion of the
Zulu"
Now when Umslopogaas heard these
words he started up from his place by
the fire.
Il am named Umslopogaas," he said,
''but the Slaughterer | am not named,
and am the son of Mopo and not the
son of Chaka, Lion of the Zulu. You
have dreamed dream, Galazi, or, if it
was not a dream, then the Dead One
lied to you"
"Perchance this was so, Umslopo-
gaas," answered Galazi the Wolf. Per
haps l dreamed, or perhaps the Dead
One lied. Nevertheless, if he lied in
this matter, in other matters he did not
lie, as you shall hear.
After | had heard these words, or
had dreamed that | heard them, slept
indeed, and when | woke remembered
the dream that | had dreamed. SO l
rose, and leaving the cave found place
where might climb up to the breasts
and head of the Stone Witch. Iclimbed,
and as drew near the likeness to the
face of a woman faded away and | saw
nothing before me but rugged heaps of
piled up rock. NowI was on the breast
of the mountain and wandered to and
fro awhile between great heaps of stone.
At length found a crack in the stone,
and near this crack stood great stones
blackened by fire and beneath them
broken pots and knife of flint. l
looked down into the Crack-it was very
deep and green with moss and tall ferns
grew about in it. There was nothing
else. / had dreamed lying dream. |
turned to go, then found another mind
and climbed down into the cleft, push
ing aside the ferns. Beneath the ferns
was moss. l scraped it away with the
Watcher. Presently the iron of the
club struck on something that was yell
low and round like stone, and from
the yellow thing came a hollow sound.
/ lifted it. 1t was the skull of child.
Il dug deeper and scraped away more
moss. Beneath the moss was nothing
but bones of men-old bones that had
lain there many years; the little ones
had rotted, the large ones remained
some were yellow, some black and 9th
ers yet white. They were not broken as
are those that hyenas and wolves have |
worried, yet ON some of them could |
see the marks of teeth. Then | went !
back to the cave.
"Now / skinned the she wolf also.
When had done the sun was up and
knew that it was time to go. But l must
not go alone-he who sat aloft in the
cleft of the cave must 90 with me.