After this they had no doubt at all of its being their true grandmother , and went off to their hunting , leaving our friend at home in the hut . As soon as they had gone out of sight our hero made haste to take the liver from the place where he had hid it , threw off the skin of the old nyamatsane , and ran away as hard as he could , only stopping to pick up a very brilliant and polished little stone , which he put in his bag by the side of the liver . Towards evening the nyamatsanes came back to the hut full of anxiety to know how their grandmother had got on during their absence . The first thing they saw on entering the door was her skin lying on the floor , and then they knew that they had been deceived , and they said to each other , ` So we were right , after all , and it was human flesh we smelt . ' Then they stooped down to find traces of the man 's footsteps , and when they had got them instantly set out in hot pursuit . Meanwhile our friend had journeyed many miles , and was beginning to feel quite safe and comfortable , when , happening to look round , he saw in the distance a thick cloud of dust moving rapidly . His heart stood still within him , and he said to himself , ' I am lost . It is the nyamatsanes , and they will tear me in pieces , ' and indeed the cloud of dust was drawing near with amazing quickness , and the nyamatsanes almost felt as if they were already devouring him . Then as a last hope the man took the little stone that he had picked up out of his bag and flung it on the ground . The moment it touched the soil it became a huge rock , whose steep sides were smooth as glass , and on the top of it our hero hastily seated himself . It was in vain that the nyamatsanes tried to climb up and reach him ; they slid down again much faster than they had gone up ; and by sunset they were quite worn out , and fell asleep at the foot of the rock . No sooner had the nyamatsanes tumbled off to sleep than the man stole softly down and fled away as fast as his legs would carry him , and by the time his enemies were awake he was a very long way off . They sprang quickly to their feet and began to sniff the soil round the rock , in order to discover traces of his footsteps , and they galloped after him with terrific speed . The chase continued for several days and nights ; several times the nyamatsanes almost reached him , and each time he was saved by his little pebble . Between his fright and his hurry he was almost dead of exhaustion when he reached his own village , where the nyamatsanes could not follow him , because of their enemies the dogs , which swarmed over all the roads . So they returned home . Then our friend staggered into his own hut and called to his wife : ` Ichou ! how tired I am ! Quick , give me something to drink . Then go and get fuel and light a fire . '
So she did what she was bid , and then her husband took the nyamatsane 's liver from his pouch and said XXXXX her , ` There , I have brought you what you wanted , and now you know that I love you truly . '
So after as at in into on than to within