'Tween Snow and Fire

Book Excerpt: ...me here as I stand. Shoot again, Umlilwane--shoot again, if you dare. Hau! Hear my `word.' You have slain my dog--my white hunting dog, the last of his breed--who can outrun every other hunting dog in the land, even as the wind outstrippeth the crawling ox-wagon, and you have shed my blood, the blood of a chief. You had better first have cut off your right hand, for it is better to lose a hand than one's mind. This is my `word, ' Umlilwane--bear it in memory, for you have struck a chief--a man of the House of Gcaleka."[Umlilwane: "Little Fire"--Kafirs are fond of bestowing nicknames. This one referred to its bearer's habitually short temper.]"Damn the House of Gcaleka, anyway," said Carhayes, with a sneer as the savage, having vented his denunciation, stalked scowlingly away with his compatriots. "Look here, isidenge," [fool], he continued. "This is my word. Keep clear of me, for the next time you fall foul of me I'll shoot you dead. And now, Eustace," turni..