“‘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!”