however, that he should not tell my name, but should say only that it
was "Mouth of Dingaan." Then I and those with me followed slowly on the
path of the man whom I sent forward, for the way was still far, and I
had bidden him return and meet me bearing the words of the Slaughterer,
Holder of the Axe.

All that day till the sun grew low we talked round the base of the great
Ghost Mountain, following the line of the river. We met no one, but once
we came to the ruins of a kraal, and in it lay the broken bones of
many men, and with the bones rusty assegais and the remains of ox-hide
shields, black and white in colour. Now I examined the shields, and
knew from their colour that they had been carried in the hands of those
soldiers who, years ago, were sent out by Chaka to seek for Umslopogaas,
but who had returned no more.

"Now," I said, "it has fared ill with those soldiers of the Black One
who is gone, for I think that these are the shields they bore, and
that their eyes once looked upon the world through the holes in yonder
skulls."

"These are the shields they bore, and those are the skulls they wore,"
answered one. "See, Mopo, son of Makedama, this is no man's work that
has brought them to their death. Men do not break the bones of their
foes in pieces as these bones are broken. Wow! men do not break them,
but wolves do, and last night we saw wolves a-hunting; nor did they hunt
alone, Mopo. Wow! this is a haunted land!"

Then we went on in silence, and all the way the stone face of the Witch
who sits aloft forever stared down on us from the mountain top. At
length, an hour before sundown, we came to the open lands, and there, on
the crest of a rise beyond the river, we saw the kraal of the People
of the Axe. It was a great kraal and well built, and their cattle were
spread about the plains like to herds of game for number. We went to
the river and passed it by the ford, then sat down and waited, till
presently I saw the man whom I had sent forward returning towards us. He
came and saluted me, and I asked him for news.

"This is my news, Mopo," he said: "I have seen him who is named Bulalio,
and he is a great man--long and lean, with a fierce face, and carrying
a mighty axe, such an axe as he bore last night who hunted with the
wolves. When I had been led before the chief I saluted him and spoke to
him--the words you laid upon my tongue I told to him. He listened,
then laughed aloud, and said: 'Tell him who sent y