Ayesha, the Return of She

by H. Rider Haggard

  CHAPTER XI

  THE HUNT AND THE KILL

  We reached our rooms, meeting no one in the passages, and there madeour preparations. First we changed our festal robes for those warmergarments in which we had travelled to the city of Kaloon. Then we ateand drank what we could of the victuals which stood in the antechamber,not knowing when we should find more food, and filled two satchels suchas these people sling about their shoulders, with the remains of themeat and liquor and a few necessaries. Also we strapped our big huntingknives about our middles and armed ourselves with short spears that weremade for the stabbing of game.

  "Perhaps he has laid a plot to murder us, and we may as well defendourselves while we can," suggested Leo.

  I nodded, for the echoes of the Khan's last laugh still rang in my ears.It was a very evil laugh.

  "Likely enough," I said. "I do not trust that insane brute. Still, hewishes to be rid of us."

  "Yes, but as he said, live men may return, whereas the dead do not."

  "Atene thinks otherwise," I commented.

  "And yet she threatened us with death," answered Leo.

  "Because her shame and passion make her mad," I replied, after which wewere silent.

  Presently the door opened, and through it came the Khan, muffled in agreat cloak as though to disguise himself.

  "Come," he said, "if you are ready." Then, catching sight of the spearswe held, he added: "You will not need those things. You do not goa-hunting."

  "No," I answered, "but who can say--we might be hunted."

  "If you believe that perhaps you had best stay where you are till theKhania wearies of Yellow-beard and opens the gates for you," he replied,eyeing me with his cunning glance.

  "I think not," I said, and we started, the Khan leading the way andmotioning us to be silent.

  We passed through the empty rooms on to the verandah, and from theverandah down into the courtyard, where he whispered to us to keep inthe shadow. For the moon shone very clearly that night, so clearly, Iremember, that I could see the grass which grew between the joints ofthe pavement, and the little shadows thrown by each separate blade uponthe worn surface of its stones. Now I wondered how we should pass thegate, for there a guard was stationed, which had of late been doubled byorder of the Khania. But this gate we left upon our right, taking a paththat led into the great walled garden, where Rassen brought us to adoor hidden behind a clump of shrubs, which he unlocked with a key hecarried.

  Now we were outside the palace wall, and our road ran past the kennels.As we went by these, the great, sleepless death-hounds, that wanderedto and fro like prowling lions, caught our wind and burst into a suddenchorus of terrific bays. I shivered at the sound, for it was fearful inthat silence, also I thought that it would arouse the keepers. But theKhan went to the bars and showed himself, whereon the brutes, which knewhim, ceased their noise.

  "Fear not," he said as he returned, "the huntsmen know that they arestarved to-night, for to-morrow certain criminals will be thrown tothem."

  Now we had reached the palace gates. Here the Khan bade us hide in anarchway and departed. We looked at each other, for the same thought wasin both our minds--that he had gone to fetch the murderers who were tomake an end of us. But in this we did him wrong, for presently we heardthe sound of horses' hoofs upon the stones, and he returned leading thetwo white steeds that Atene had given us.

  "I saddled them with my own hands," he whispered. "Who can do more tospeed the parting guest? Now mount, hide your faces in your cloaks as Ido, and follow me."

  So we mounted, and he trotted before us like a running footman, such asthe great lords of Kaloon employed when they went about their businessor their pleasure. Leaving the main street, he led us through a quarterof the town that had an evil reputation, and down its tortuous by-ways.Here we met a few revellers, while from time to time night-birds flittedfrom the doorways and, throwing aside their veils, looked at us, butas we made no sign drew back again, thinking that we passed to someassignation. We reached the deserted docks upon the river's edgeand came to a little quay, alongside of which a broad ferryboat wasfastened.

  "You must put your horses into it and row across," Rassen said, "forthe bridges are guarded, and without discovering myself I cannot bid thesoldiers to let you pass."

  So with some little trouble we urged the horses into the boat, where Iheld them by their bridles while Leo took the oars.

  "Now go your ways, accursed wanderers," cried the Khan as he thrust usfrom the quay, "and pray the Spirit of the Mountain that the old Rat andhis pupil--your love, Yellow-beard, your love--are not watching you intheir magic glass. For if so we may meet again."

  Then as the stream caught us, sweeping the boat out towards the centreof the river, he began to laugh that horrible laugh of his, callingafter us--"Ride fast, ride fast for safety, strangers; there is deathbehind."

  Leo put out his strength and backed water, so that the punt hung uponthe edge of the stream.

  "I think that we should do well to land again and kill that man, for hemeans mischief," he said.

  He spoke in English, but Rassen must have caught the ring of hisvoice and guessed its meaning with the cunning of the mad. At least heshouted--"Too late, fools," and with a last laugh turned, ran soswiftly up the quay that his cloak flew out upon the air behind him, andvanished into the shadows at its head.

  "Row on," I said, and Leo bent himself to the oars.

  But the ferry-boat was cumbersome and the current swift, so that we wereswept down a long way before we could cross it. At length we reachedstill water near the further shore, and seeing a landing-place, managedto beach the punt and to drag our horses to the bank. Then leaving thecraft to drift, for we had no time to scuttle her, we looked to ourgirths and bridles, and mounted, heading towards the far column ofglowing smoke which showed like a beacon above the summit of the Houseof Fire.

  At first our progress was very slow, for here there seemed to be nopath, and we were obliged to pick our way across the fields, and tosearch for bridges that spanned such of the water-ditches as were toowide for us to jump. More than an hour was spent in this work, till wecame to a village wherein none were stirring, and here struck aroad which seemed to run towards the mountain, though, as we learnedafterwards, it took us very many miles out of our true path. Now for thefirst time we were able to canter, and pushed on at some speed, thoughnot too fast, for we wished to spare our horses and feared lest theymight fall in the uncertain light.

  A while before dawn the moon sank behind the Mountain, and the gloomgrew so dense that we were forced to stop, which we did, holding thehorses by their bridles and allowing them to graze a little on someyoung corn. Then the sky turned grey, the light faded from the columnof smoke that was our guide, the dawn came, blushing red upon the vastsnows of the distant peak, and shooting its arrows through the loopabove the pillar. We let the horses drink from a channel that wateredthe corn, and, mounting them, rode onward slowly.

  Now with the shadows of the night a weight of fear seemed to be liftedoff our hearts and we grew hopeful, aye, almost joyous. That hated citywas behind us. Behind us were the Khania with her surging, doom-drivenpassions and her stormy loveliness, the wizardries of her horny-eyedmentor, so old in years and secret sin, and the madness of that strangebeing, half-devil, half-martyr, at once cruel and a coward--the Khan,her husband, and his polluted court. In front lay the fire, the snow andthe mystery they hid, sought for so many empty years. Now we would solveit or we would die. So we pressed forward joyfully to meet our fate,whatever it might be.

  For many hours our road ran deviously through cultivated land, where thepeasants at their labour laid down their tools and gathered into knotsto watch us pass, and quaint, flat-roofed villages, whence the womensnatched up their children and fled at the sight of us. They believed usto be lords from the court who came to work them some harm in person orin property, and their terror told _us_ how the country smarted beneaththe rod of the oppressor. By mid-day, although the peak se
emed to bebut little nearer, the character of the land had changed. Now it slopedgently upwards, and therefore could not be irrigated.

  Evidently all this great district was dependent on the fall oftimely rains, which had not come that spring. Therefore, although thepopulation was still dense and every rod of the land was under theplough or spade, the crops were failing. It was pitiful to see thegreen, uneared corn already turning yellow because of the lack ofmoisture, the beasts searching the starved pastures for food and thepoor husbandmen wandering about their fields or striving to hoe the ironsoil.

  Here the people seemed to know us as the two foreigners whose coming hadbeen noised abroad, and, the fear of famine having made them bold, theyshouted at us as we went by to give them back the rain which we hadstolen, or so we understood their words. Even the women and the childrenin the villages prostrated themselves before us, pointing first to theMountain and then to the hard, blue sky, and crying to us to send themrain. Once, indeed, we were threatened by a mob of peasants armed withspades and reaping-hooks, who seemed inclined to bar our path, so thatwe were obliged to put our horses to a gallop and pass through themwith a rush. As we went forward the country grew ever more arid and itsinhabitants more scarce, till we saw no man save a few wandering herdswho drove their cattle from place to place in search of provender.

  By evening we guessed that we had reached that border tract which washarried by the Mountain tribes, for here strong towers built of stonewere dotted about the heaths, doubtless to serve as watch-houses orplaces of refuge. Whether they were garrisoned by soldiers I do notknow, but I doubt it, for we saw none. It seems probable indeed thatthese forts were relics of days when the land of Kaloon was guarded fromattack by rulers of a very different character to that of the presentKhan and his immediate predecessors.

  At length even the watch-towers were left behind, and by sundown wefound ourselves upon a vast uninhabited plain, where we could seeno living thing. Now we made up our minds to rest our horses awhile,proposing to push forward again with the moon, for having the wrathof the Khania behind us we did not dare to linger. By this eveningdoubtless she would have discovered our escape, since before sundown, asshe had decreed, Leo must make his choice and give his answer. Then,as we were sure, she would strike swiftly. Perhaps her messengerswere already at their work rousing the country to capture us, and hersoldiers following on our path.

  We unsaddled the horses and let them refresh themselves by rollingon the sandy soil, and graze after a fashion upon the coarse tufts ofwithering herbage which grew around. There was no water here; but thisdid not so much matter, for both they and we had drunk at a little muddypool we found not more than an hour before. We were finishing our mealof the food that we had brought with us, which, indeed, we needed sorelyafter our sleepless night and long day's journey, when my horse, whichwas knee-haltered close at hand, lay down to roll again. This it couldnot do with ease because of the rope about its fore-leg, and I watchedits efforts idly, till at length, at the fourth attempt, after hangingfor a few seconds upon its back, its legs sticking straight into theair, it fell over slowly towards me as horses do.

  "Why are its hoofs so red? Has it cut itself?" asked Leo in anindifferent voice.

  As it chanced I also had just noticed this red tinge, and for the firsttime, since it was most distinct about the animal's frogs, which untilit rolled thus I had not seen. So I rose to look at them, thinking thatprobably the evening light had deceived us, or that we might have passedthrough some ruddy-coloured mud. Sure enough they _were_ red, as thougha dye had soaked into the horn and the substance of the frogs. What wasmore, they gave out a pungent, aromatic smell that was unpleasant, sucha smell as might arise from blood mixed with musk and spices.

  "It is very strange," I said. "Let us look at your beast, Leo."

  So we did, and found that its hoofs had been similarly-treated.

  "Perhaps it is a native mixture to preserve the horn," suggested Leo.

  I thought awhile, then a terrible idea struck me.

  "I don't want to frighten you," I said, "but I think that we had bettersaddle up and get on."

  "Why?" he asked.

  "Because I believe that villain of a Khan has doctored our horses."

  "What for? To make them go lame?"

  "No, Leo, to make them leave a strong scent upon dry ground."

  He turned pale. "Do you mean--those hounds?"

  I nodded. Then wasting no more time in words, we saddled up in frantichaste. Just as I fastened the last strap of my saddle I thought that afaint sound reached my ear.

  "Listen," I said. Again it came, and now there was no doubt about it. Itwas the sound of baying dogs.

  "By heaven! the death-hounds," said Leo.

  "Yes," I answered quietly enough, for at this crisis my nerves hardenedand all fear left me, "our friend the Khan is out a-hunting. That is whyhe laughed."

  "What shall we do?" asked Leo. "Leave the horses?"

  I looked at the Peak. Its nearest flanks were miles and miles away.

  "Time enough to do that when we are forced. We can never reach thatmountain on foot, and after they had run down the horses, they wouldhunt us by spoor or gaze. No, man, ride as you never rode before."

  We sprang to our saddles, but before we gave rein I turned and lookedbehind me. It will be remembered that we had ridden up a long slopewhich terminated in a ridge, about three miles away, the border of thegreat plain whereon we stood. Now the sun had sunk behind that ridgeso that although it was still light the plain had fallen into shadow.Therefore, while no distant object could be seen upon the plain,anything crossing the ridge remained visible enough in that clear air,at least to persons of keen sight.

  This is what we saw. Over the ridge poured a multitude of littleobjects, and amongst the last of these galloped a man mounted on a greathorse, who led another horse by the bridle.

  "All the pack are out," said Leo grimly, "and Rassen has brought asecond mount with him. Now I see why he wanted us to leave the spears,and I think," he shouted as we began to gallop, "that before all is donethe Shaman may prove himself a true prophet."

  Away we sped through the gathering darkness, heading straight for thePeak. While we went I calculated our chances. Our horses, as good as anyin the land, were still strong and fresh, for although we had riddenfar we had not over-pressed them, and their condition was excellent. Butdoubtless the death-hounds were fresh also, for, meaning to run us downat night when he thought that he might catch us sleeping, Rassen wouldhave brought them along easily, following us by inquiry among thepeasants and only laying them on our spoor after the last village hadbeen left behind.

  Also he had two mounts, and for aught we knew--though afterwards thisproved not to be the case, for he wished to work his wickedness aloneand unseen--he might be followed by attendants with relays. Therefore itwould appear that unless we reached some place whither he did not dareto follow, before him--that is the slopes of the Peak many miles away,he must run us down. There remained the chance also that the dogs wouldtire and refuse to pursue the chase.

  This, however, seemed scarcely probable, for they were extraordinarilyswift and strong, and so savage that when once they had scented blood,in which doubtless our horses' hoofs were steeped, they would fall deadfrom exhaustion sooner than abandon the trail. Indeed, both the Khaniaand Simbri had often told us as much. Another chance--they might losethe scent, but seeing its nature, again this was not probable. Even anEnglish pack will carry the trail of a red herring breast high without afault for hours, and here was something stronger--a cunning compound ofwhich the tell-tale odour would hold for days. A last chance. If we wereforced to abandon our horses, we, their riders, might possibly escape,could we find any place to hide in on that great plain. If not, weshould be seen as well as scented, and then----No, the odds were allagainst us, but so they had often been before; meanwhile we had threemiles start, and perhaps help would come to us from the Mountain, somehelp unforeseen. So we set our teeth and sped away like ar
rows while thelight lasted.

  Very soon it failed, and whilst the moon was hidden behind the mountainsthe night grew dark.

  Now the hounds gained on us, for in the gloom, which to them wasnothing, we did not dare to ride full speed, fearing lest our horsesshould stumble and lame themselves, or fall. Then it was for the secondtime since we had dwelt in this land of Kaloon that of a sudden the fireflamed upon the Peak. When we had seen it before, it had appeared toflash across the heavens in one great lighthouse ray, concentratedthrough the loop above the pillar, and there this night also the ray ranfar above us like a lance of fire. But now that we were nearer to itsfount we found ourselves bathed in a soft, mysterious radiance like thatof the phosphorescence on a summer sea, reflected downwards perhaps fromthe clouds and massy rock roof of the column loop and diffused by thesnows beneath.

  This unearthly glimmer, faint as it was, helped us much, indeed but forit we must have been overtaken, for here the ground was very rough, fullof holes also made by burrowing marmots. Thus in our extremity help didcome to us from the Mountain, until at length the moon rose, when asquickly as they had appeared the volcanic fires vanished, leaving behindthem nothing but the accustomed pillar of dull red smoke.

  It is a commonplace to speak of the music of hounds at chase, but oftenI have wondered how that music sounds in the ears of the deer or the foxfleeing for its life.

  Now, when we filled the place of the quarry, it was my destiny to solvethis problem, and I assert with confidence that the progeny of earthcan produce no more hideous noise. It had come near to us, and in thedesolate silence of the night the hellish harmonies of its volumeseemed terrific, yet I could discern the separate notes of which it wascomposed, especially one deep, bell-like bay.

  I remembered that I had heard this bay when we sat in the boat upon theriver and saw that poor noble done to death for the crime of loving theKhania. As the hunt passed us then I observed that it burst fromthe throat of the leading hound, a huge brute, red in colour, witha coal-black ear, fangs that gleamed like ivory, and a mouth whichresembled a hot oven. I even knew the name of the beast, for afterwardsthe Khan, whose peculiar joy it was, had pointed it out to me. He calledit Master, because no dog in the pack dared fight it, and told me thatit could kill an armed man alone.

  Now, as its baying warned us, Master was not half a mile away!

  The coming of the moonlight enabled us to gallop faster, especially ashere the ground was smooth, being covered with a short, dry turf, andfor the next two hours we gained upon the pack. Yes, it was only twohours, or perhaps less, but it seemed a score of centuries. The slopesof the Peak were now not more than ten miles ahead, but our horses weregiving out at last. They had borne us nobly, poor beasts, though we wereno light weights, yet their strength had its limits. The sweat ran fromthem, their sides panted like bellows, they breathed in gasps, theystumbled and would scarcely answer to the flogging of our spear-shafts.Their gallop sank to a jolting canter, and I thought that soon they mustcome to a dead stop.

  We crossed the brow of a gentle rise, from which the ground, that wassprinkled with bush and rocks, sloped downwards to where, some milesbelow us, the river ran, bounding the enormous flanks of the Mountain.When we had travelled a little way down this slope we were obliged toturn in order to pass between two heaps of rock, which brought us sideon to its brow. And there, crossing it not more than three hundred yardsaway, we saw the pack. There were fewer of them now; doubtless manyhad fallen out of the hunt, but many still remained. Moreover, not farbehind them rode the Khan, though his second mount was gone, or moreprobably he was riding it, having galloped the first to a standstill.

  Our poor horses saw them also, and the sight lent them wings, for allthe while they knew that they were running for their lives. This wecould tell from the way they quivered whenever the baying came nearto them, not as horses tremble with the pleasureable excitement of thehunt, but in an extremity of terror, as I have often seen them do whena prowling tiger roars close to their camp. On they went as though theywere fresh from the stable, nor did they fail again until another fourmiles or so were covered and the river was but a little way ahead, forwe could hear the rush of its waters.

  Then slowly but surely the pack overtook us. We passed a clump of bush,but when we had gone a couple of hundred yards or so across the openplain beyond, feeling that the horses were utterly spent, I shoutedto Leo--"Ride round back to the bush and hide there." So we did, andscarcely had we reached it and dismounted when the hounds came past.Yes, they went within fifty yards of us, lolloping along upon our spoorand running all but mute, for now they were too weary to waste theirbreath in vain. "Run for it," I said to Leo as soon as they had gone by,"for they will be back on the scent presently," and we set off to theright across the line that the hounds had taken, so as not to cut ourown spoor.

  About a hundred yards away was a rock, which fortunately we were able toreach before the pack swung round upon the horses' tracks, and thereforethey did not view us. Here we stayed until following the loop, they cameto the patch of bush and passed behind it. Then we ran forward again asfar as we could go. Glancing backwards as we went, I saw our two poor,foundered beasts plunging away across the plain, happily almost in thesame line along which we had ridden from the rise. They were utterlydone, but freed from our weights and urged on by fear, could stillgallop and keep ahead of the dogs, though we knew that this would notbe for very long. I saw also that the Khan, guessing what we had donein our despair, was trying to call his hounds off the horses, but asyet without avail, for they would not leave the quarry which they hadviewed.

  All this came to my sight in a flash, but I remember the picture well.The mighty, snow-clad Peak surmounted by its column of glowing smoke andcasting its shadow for mile upon mile across the desert flats; the plainwith its isolated rocks and grey bushes; the doomed horses strugglingacross it with convulsive bounds; the trailing line of great dogs thatloped after them, and amongst these, looking small and lonely in thatvast place, the figure of the Khan and his horse, of which the blackhide was beflecked with foam. Then above, the blue and tender sky,where the round moon shone so clearly that in her quiet, level light nodetail, even the smallest, could escape the eye.

  Now youth and even middle age were far behind me, and although a verystrong man for my years, I could not run as I used to do. Also I wasmost weary, and my limbs were stiff and chafed with long riding, soI made but slow progress, and to worsen matters I struck my left footagainst a stone and hurt it much. I implored Leo to go on and leave me,for we thought that if we could once reach the river our scent would belost in the water; at any rate that it would give us a chance of life.Just then too, I heard the belling bay of the hound Master, and waitedfor the next. Yes, it was nearer to us. The Khan had made a cast andfound our line. Presently we must face the end.

  "Go, go!" I said. "I can keep them back for a few minutes and you mayescape. It is your quest, not mine. Ayesha awaits you, not me, and I amweary of life. I wish to die and have done with it."

  Thus I gasped, not all at once, but in broken words, as I hobbled alongclinging to Leo's arm. But he only answered in a low voice--"Be quiet,or they will hear you," and on he went, dragging me with him.

  We were quite near the water now, for we could see it gleaming below us,and oh! how I longed for one deep drink. I remember that this was theuppermost desire in my mind, to drink and drink. But the hounds werenearer still to us, so near that we could hear the pattering of theirfeet on the dry ground mingled with the thud of the hoofs of the Khan'sgalloping horse. We had reached some rocks upon a little rise, justwhere the bank began, when Leo said suddenly--"No use, we can't make it.Stop and let's see the thing through."

  So we wheeled round, resting our backs against the rock. There, about ahundred yards off, were the death-hounds, but Heaven be praised! _onlythree of them_. The rest had followed the flying horses, and doubtlesswhen they caught them at last, which may have been far distant, hadstopped to gorge themselves upon them. So t
hey were out of the fight.Only three, and the Khan, a wild figure, who galloped with them; butthose three, the black and red brute, Master, and two others almost asfierce and big.

  "It might be worse," said Leo. "If you will try to tackle the dogs, I'lldo my best with the Khan," and stooping down he rubbed his palms in thegrit, for they were wet as water, an example which I followed. Then wegripped the spears in our right hands and the knives in our left, andwaited.

  The dogs had seen us now and came on, growling and baying fearfully.With a rush they came, and I am not ashamed to own that I felt terriblyafraid, for the brutes seemed the size of lions and more fierce. One,it was the smallest of them, outstripped the others, and, leaping up thelittle rise, sprang straight at my throat.

  Why or how I do not know, but on the impulse of the moment I too sprangto meet it, so that its whole weight came upon the point of my spear,which was backed by my weight. The spear entered between its forelegsand such was the shock that I was knocked backwards. But when I regainedmy feet I saw the dog rolling on the ground before me and gnashing atthe spear shaft, which had been twisted from my hand.

  The other two had jumped at Leo, but failed to get hold, though one ofthem tore away a large fragment from his tunic. Foolishly enough, hehurled his spear at it but missed, for the steel passed just under itsbelly and buried itself deep in the ground. The pair of them did notcome on again at once. Perhaps the sight of their dying companion madethem pause. At any rate, they stood at a little distance snarling,where, as our spears were gone, they were safe from us.

  Now the Khan had ridden up and sat upon his horse glowering at us, andhis face was like the face of a devil. I had hoped that he might fear toattack, but the moment I saw his eyes, I knew that this would not be. Hewas quite mad with hate, jealousy, and the long-drawn excitement of thehunt, and had come to kill or be killed. Sliding from the saddle, hedrew his short sword--for either he had lost his spear or had broughtnone--and made a hissing noise to the two dogs, pointing at me with thesword. I saw them spring and I saw him rush at Leo, and after that whocan tell exactly what happened?

  My knife went home to the hilt in the body of one dog--and it came tothe ground and lay there--for its hindquarters were paralysed, howling,snarling and biting at me. But the other, the fiend called Master, gotme by the right arm beneath the elbow, and I felt my bones crack in itsmighty jaws, and the agony of it, or so I suppose, caused me to drop theknife, so that I was weaponless. The brute dragged me from the rock andbegan to shake and worry me, although I kicked it in the stomach withall my strength. I fell to my knees and, as it chanced, my left handcame upon a stone of about the size of a large orange, which I gripped.I gained my feet again and pounded at its skull with the stone, butstill it did not leave go, and this was well for me, for its next holdwould have been on my throat.

  We twisted and tumbled to and fro, man and dog together. At one turnI thought that I saw Leo and the Khan rolling over and over each otherupon the ground; at another, that he, the Khan, was sitting against astone looking at me, and it came into my mind that he must have killedLeo and was watching while the dog worried me to death.

  Then just as things began to grow black, something sprang forward and Isaw the huge hound lifted from the earth. Its jaws opened, my arm camefree and fell against my side. Yes! the brute was whirling round inthe air. Leo held it by its hind legs and with all his great strengthwhirled it round and round.

  _Thud!_

  He had dashed its head against the rock, and it fell and lay still, ahuddled heap of black and red. Oddly enough, I did not faint; I supposethat the pain and the shock to my nerves kept me awake, for I heardLeo say in a matter-of-fact voice between his gasps for breath--"Well,that's over, and I think that I have fulfilled the Shaman's prophecy.Let's look and make sure."

  Then he led me with him to one of the rocks, and there, resting supinelyagainst it, sat the Khan, still living but unable to move hand or foot.The madness had quite left his face and he looked at us with melancholyeyes, like the eyes of a sick child.

  "You are brave men," he said, slowly, "strong also, to have killed thosehounds and broken my back. So it has come about as was foretold by theold Rat. After all, I should have hunted Atene, not you, though now shelives to avenge me, for her own sake, not mine. Yellow-beard, she huntsyou too and with deadlier hounds than these, those of her thwartedpassions. Forgive me and fly to the Mountain, Yellow-beard, whither I gobefore you, for there one dwells who is stronger than Atene."

  Then his jaw dropped and he was dead.