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