Look now, I close the stone, as is my custom of a night, so,"-- and he grasped the rock and swung it round upon its pivot, on which it turned as a door turns.

"Thus I leave it, and though, except those to whom the secret is know, none would guess that a cave was here, yet it can be rolled back again with a push of the hand.

But enough of the stone.

Enter again, wanderer, and I will go forward with my tale, for it is long and strange.
"I started from the kraal of the old woman, and the people of the kraal followed me to the brink of the river.

It was in flood, and few had dared to cross it.
"'Ha! ha!' they cried, 'now your journey is done, little man; watch by the ford you who would win the Watcher of the Ford! Beat the water with the club, perhaps so it shall grow gentle that your feet may pass it!' "I answered nothing to their mocking, only I bound the shield upon my shoulders with a string, and the bag that I had brought I made fast about my middle, and I held the great club in my teeth by the thong.
Then I plunged into the river and swam.