Pag was more than a slave, because, from the
hour that Wi, braving the wrath of the women, who thought that they
were rid of Pag and his gibes, and perchance the anger of the chief,
had rescued him when he was starving in a season of bitter frost, Pag
loved him more than a woman loves her first-born, or a young man his
one-day bride.
Thenceforward he was Wi’s shadow, ready to suffer all things for him,
and even to refrain from sharp words and jests about Aaka or any other
woman upon whom Wi looked with favour, though to do so he must bite a
hole in his tongue. So Pag loved Wi and Wi loved Pag, for which reason
Aaka, who was jealous-hearted, came to hate him more than she had done
at first.
There was trouble about this business of the saving of the life of Pag
by Wi after he had been driven out to starve as an evil-eyed and
scurrilous fellow, but the chief, Henga’s father, a kindly natured
man, when the matter came before him, said that, since twice Pag had
been thrown out and brought back again, it was evident that the gods
meant him to die in some other fashion. Only now that Wi had taken
him, Wi must feed him and see that he hurt none. If he chose to keep a
one-eyed wolf, it was his own business and that of no one else.
Shortly after this, Henga killed his father and became chief in place,
and the matter of Pag was forgotten. So Pag stayed on with Wi and was
beloved of him and by Wi’s children, but hated of Aaka.
CHAPTER IV
THE TRIBE
“A good pelt,” said Pag, pointing to the wolf with his red knife,
“for, the spring being so late, this beast had not begun to shoot its
hair. When I have brayed it as I know how, it will make a cloak for
Foh. He needs one that is warm, even in the summer, for lately he has
been coughing and spitting.”
“Yes,” answered Wi anxiously. “It has come upon him ever since he hid
in the cold water because the black bear with the great teeth was
after him, knowing that the beast hates water, for which,” he added
viciously, “I swear that I will kill that bear. Also he grieves for
his sister, Fo-a.”
“Aye, Wi,” snarled Pag, his one eye flashing with hate. “Foh grieves,
Aaka grieves, you grieve, and I, Pag the Wolf-man, grieve, too. Oh,
why did you make me come hunting with you that day when my heart was
against it and, smelling evil, I wished to stop with Fo-a, whom Aaka
let run off by herself just because I told her that she should keep
the girl at home?”
“It was the will of the gods, Pag,” muttered Wi, turning his head
away.
“The gods! What gods? I say it was the will of a brute with two legs—
nay, of the great-toothed tiger himself of which our forefather told,
living in a man’s skin, yes, of Henga, helped by Aaka’s temper. Kill
that man tiger, Wi, and never mind the great black bear. Or, if you
cannot, let me. I know a woman who hates him because he has put her
away and made her serve another who has her place, and I can make good
poison, very good poison–-”
“Nay, it is not lawful,” said Wi, “and would bring a curse upon us.
But it is lawful that I should kill him, and I will. I have been
talking to the gods about it.”
“Oh! that is where the wolf’s head has gone—an offering, I see. And
what did the gods say to you, Wi?”
“They gave me a sign. A stone fell from the brow of the ice, as Aaka
said that it would if I was to fight Henga. It nearly hit me, but I
had moved closer to the ice to look at the Sleeper, the greatest of
the gods.”
“I don’t believe it is a god, Wi. I believe it is a beast of a sort we
do not know, dead and frozen, and that the shadow behind it is a man
that was hunting the beast when they both fell into the snow that
turned to ice.”
Wi stared at him, for this indeed was a new idea.
“How can that be, Pag, seeing that the Sleeper and the Shadow have
always been there, for our grandfathers knew them, and there is no
such beast known? Also, except us,
hour that Wi, braving the wrath of the women, who thought that they
were rid of Pag and his gibes, and perchance the anger of the chief,
had rescued him when he was starving in a season of bitter frost, Pag
loved him more than a woman loves her first-born, or a young man his
one-day bride.
Thenceforward he was Wi’s shadow, ready to suffer all things for him,
and even to refrain from sharp words and jests about Aaka or any other
woman upon whom Wi looked with favour, though to do so he must bite a
hole in his tongue. So Pag loved Wi and Wi loved Pag, for which reason
Aaka, who was jealous-hearted, came to hate him more than she had done
at first.
There was trouble about this business of the saving of the life of Pag
by Wi after he had been driven out to starve as an evil-eyed and
scurrilous fellow, but the chief, Henga’s father, a kindly natured
man, when the matter came before him, said that, since twice Pag had
been thrown out and brought back again, it was evident that the gods
meant him to die in some other fashion. Only now that Wi had taken
him, Wi must feed him and see that he hurt none. If he chose to keep a
one-eyed wolf, it was his own business and that of no one else.
Shortly after this, Henga killed his father and became chief in place,
and the matter of Pag was forgotten. So Pag stayed on with Wi and was
beloved of him and by Wi’s children, but hated of Aaka.
CHAPTER IV
THE TRIBE
“A good pelt,” said Pag, pointing to the wolf with his red knife,
“for, the spring being so late, this beast had not begun to shoot its
hair. When I have brayed it as I know how, it will make a cloak for
Foh. He needs one that is warm, even in the summer, for lately he has
been coughing and spitting.”
“Yes,” answered Wi anxiously. “It has come upon him ever since he hid
in the cold water because the black bear with the great teeth was
after him, knowing that the beast hates water, for which,” he added
viciously, “I swear that I will kill that bear. Also he grieves for
his sister, Fo-a.”
“Aye, Wi,” snarled Pag, his one eye flashing with hate. “Foh grieves,
Aaka grieves, you grieve, and I, Pag the Wolf-man, grieve, too. Oh,
why did you make me come hunting with you that day when my heart was
against it and, smelling evil, I wished to stop with Fo-a, whom Aaka
let run off by herself just because I told her that she should keep
the girl at home?”
“It was the will of the gods, Pag,” muttered Wi, turning his head
away.
“The gods! What gods? I say it was the will of a brute with two legs—
nay, of the great-toothed tiger himself of which our forefather told,
living in a man’s skin, yes, of Henga, helped by Aaka’s temper. Kill
that man tiger, Wi, and never mind the great black bear. Or, if you
cannot, let me. I know a woman who hates him because he has put her
away and made her serve another who has her place, and I can make good
poison, very good poison–-”
“Nay, it is not lawful,” said Wi, “and would bring a curse upon us.
But it is lawful that I should kill him, and I will. I have been
talking to the gods about it.”
“Oh! that is where the wolf’s head has gone—an offering, I see. And
what did the gods say to you, Wi?”
“They gave me a sign. A stone fell from the brow of the ice, as Aaka
said that it would if I was to fight Henga. It nearly hit me, but I
had moved closer to the ice to look at the Sleeper, the greatest of
the gods.”
“I don’t believe it is a god, Wi. I believe it is a beast of a sort we
do not know, dead and frozen, and that the shadow behind it is a man
that was hunting the beast when they both fell into the snow that
turned to ice.”
Wi stared at him, for this indeed was a new idea.
“How can that be, Pag, seeing that the Sleeper and the Shadow have
always been there, for our grandfathers knew them, and there is no
such beast known? Also, except us,
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