Allan and the Ice Gods by H. Rider Haggard Page B

think will conquer, Pag?”
    Pag stopped and pointed to the sea. At some distance from the shore a
    mighty struggle was in progress between a thresher shark and a whale.
    The terrible shark had driven the whale into shallow water, where it
    floundered, unable to escape by sounding. Now the sea wolf, as it is
    called, was leaping high into the air, and each time as it fell it
    smote the whale upon the head with its awful sword-like tail, blow
    upon blow that echoed far and wide. The whale rolled in agony, beating
    the water to a foam with its giant flukes, but for all its size and
    bulk could do nothing. Presently, it began to gasp and opened its
    great mouth, whereon the thrasher, darting between its jaws, seized
    its tongue and tore it out. Then the whale rolled over and began to
    bleed to death.
    “Look,” said Pag. “There is Henga the huge and mighty and there is Wi
    the nimble, and Wi wins the day and will feed his fill upon whale’s
    flesh, he and his friends. That is my answer, and the omen is very
    good. Now I go to make Wi ready for this battle.”
    When Pag reached the hut, he sent Aaka and Foh out of it, leaving
    himself alone with Wi. Then, causing Wi to strip off his cloak, he
    made him lie down and rubbed him all over with seal oil. Also, with a
    sharp flint and a shell ground to a fine edge, slowly and painfully he
    cut is hair short, so short that it could give no hold to Henga’s
    hand, and, this done, greased what remained of it with the seal oil.
    Next he bade Wi sleep awhile and left the hut, taking with him Wi’s
    stone ax, also his spear, that with which he had killed the wolf, and
    his flint knife that was hafted with two flat pieces of ivory rubbed
    down from a walrus tusk and lashed onto the end of the flint.
    Outside the hut, he met Aaka, who was wandering to and fro in an ill-humour. She made as though she would pass him, setting her face toward
    the hut.
    “Nay,” said Pag, “you do not enter.”
    “Why not?” she asked.
    “Because Wi rests and must not be disturbed.”
    “So a misshapen monster, a wolf-man hated of all, who lives on bounty,
    may enter my husband’s hut, when I, the wife, may not,” she said
    furiously.
    “Yes, for presently he goes upon a man’s business, namely, to kill his
    enemy or be killed of him, and it is best that no woman should come
    near to him till the thing is ended.”
    “You say that because you hate women, who will not look on you, Pag.”
    “I say it because women take away the strength of men and suck out
    their courage and disturb them with weak words.”
    She leapt to one side as though to rush past him, but Pag leapt also,
    lifting the spear in his hand, whereon she stopped, for she feared the
    dwarf.
    “Listen,” he said. “You do ill to reproach me, Aaka, who am your best
    friend. Still, I do not blame you overmuch for I know the reason of
    your hate. You are jealous of me because Wi loves me more than he does
    you, as does Foh, if in another fashion.”
    “Loves you, you abortion, you hideous one!” she gasped.
    “Yes, Aaka, who, it seems, do not know that there are different sorts
    of love, that of the man for the woman which comes and goes, and that
    of man for man which changes not. I say that you are jealous. Only
    this day I told Wi that, if he had not taken me with him hunting but
    had left me to watch Fo-a, she would not have been stolen and killed
    by yonder cave dweller. It was a lie. I could have refused to go
    hunting with Wi and he would have let me be, who knows that always I
    have a reason for what I do. I went with him because of words which
    you had spoken which you will remember well. I told you that Fo-a was
    in danger from Henga the cave-dweller and that I had best watch her,
    and you said that no girl child of yours should be watched by a wolf’s
    cub and that you would take care of her yourself, which you did not
    do. Therefore, because you goaded me, I went hunting and Fo-a was
    taken and killed.”
    Now Aaka