herself down within a spear's length of where
Umslopogaas was seated, and at once began to weep, speaking to herself
as she wept.

"Would that the ghost-wolves might fall on him and all that is his," she
sobbed, "ay, and on Masilo also! I would hound them on, even if I myself
must next know their fangs. Better to die by the teeth of the wolves
than to be sold to this fat pig of a Masilo. Oh! if I must wed him, I
will give him a knife for the bride's kiss. Oh! that I were a lady of
the ghost-wolves, there should be a picking of bones in the kraal of
Jikiza before the moon grows young again."

Umslopogaas heard, and of a sudden reared himself up before the maid,
and he was great and wild to look on, and the she-wolf's fangs shone
upon his brow.

"The ghost-wolves are at hand, damsel," he said. "They are ever at hand
for those who need them."

Now the maid saw him and screamed faintly, then grew silent, wondering
at the greatness and the fierce eyes of the man who spoke to her.

"Who are you?" she asked. "I fear you not, whoever you are."

"There you are wrong, damsel, for all men fear me, and they have cause
to fear. I am one of the Wolf-Brethren, whose names have been told of;
I am a wizard of the Ghost Mountain. Take heed, now, lest I kill you.
It will be of little avail to call upon your people, for my feet are
fleeter than theirs."

"I have no wish to call upon my people, Wolf-Man," she answered. "And
for the rest, I am too young to kill."

"That is so, maiden," answered Umslopogaas, looking at her beauty. "What
were the words upon your lips as to Jikiza and a certain Masilo? Were
they not fierce words, such as my heart likes well?"

"It seems that you heard them," answered the girl. "What need to waste
breath in speaking them again?"

"No need, maiden. Now tell me your story; perhaps I may find a way to
help you."

"There is little to tell," she answered. "It is a small tale and a
common. My name is Zinita, and Jikiza the Unconquered is my step-father.
He married my mother, who is dead, but none of his blood is in me. Now
he would give me in marriage to a certain Masilo, a fat man and an old,
whom I hate, because Masilo offers many cattle for me."

"Is there, then, another whom you would wed, maiden?" asked Umslopogaas.

"There is none," answered Zinita, looking him in the eyes.

"And is there no path by which you may escape from Masilo?"

"There is only one path, Wolf-Man--by death. If I die, I sh