<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN>
<div class='tnotes covernote'>
<p class='c000'><b>Transcriber’s Note:</b></p>
<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p>
</div>
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<div>STORIES</div>
<div class='c002'><span class='xlarge'>of the</span></div>
<div class='c002'>CAVE PEOPLE</div>
</div></div>
</div>
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<div>
<h1 class='c003'>STORIES <i>of the</i> CAVE PEOPLE</h1></div>
<div class='nf-center-c0'>
<div class='nf-center c004'>
<div><span class='large'><i>By</i> MARY E. MARCY</span></div>
</div></div>
<div class='figcenter id003'>
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<div class='nf-center-c0'>
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<div><span class='large'>CHARLES H. KERR & COMPANY</span></div>
<div>PUBLISHERS     ::     ::     ::     CHICAGO</div>
</div></div>
</div>
<div class='nf-center-c0'>
<div class='nf-center c001'>
<div>Copyright 1917</div>
<div class='c002'>by</div>
<div class='c002'>CHARLES H. KERR & COMPANY</div>
<div class='c002'>CHICAGO</div>
</div></div>
<div class='box'>
<div class='nf-center-c0'>
<div class='nf-center'>
<div>JOHN F. HIGGINS</div>
<div>PRINTER AND BINDER</div>
</div></div>
<div class='figcenter id004'>
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<div class='nf-center-c0'>
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<div>376–382 MONROE STREET</div>
<div>CHICAGO, ILLINOIS</div>
</div></div>
</div>
<div class='pbb'>
<hr class='pb c002' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>
<h2 class='c005'>PREFACE</h2></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>No man or woman can begin to intelligently
interpret the causes of social phenomena and
human progress to-day without a practical knowledge
of sociology and a general understanding of
the underlying causes of social evolution.</p>
<p class='c007'>Man has risen from a stage of lowest savagery,
little higher than the apes, buffetted by the hand
of Nature, dependent upon the wild game he might
kill or the food he found ready to hand, a fearing
and a furtive creature of the forests and of the
plains, preyed upon by a thousand stronger foes,
to a being able to provide warmth and clothing
and shelter against the rains and the cold and
food against the seasons. He has become a master
instead of a plaything of the elements. In a
large measure he has become arbiter of his own
food supply and, hence, his own destiny. He has
subjugated, in a marvelous degree, the forces of
Nature and harnessed them to his needs.</p>
<p class='c007'>The ordinary man all over the world to-day
does not know these things. He attributes all this
wonderful progress to a supernatural agency or
to supernatural agencies; he believes that the institutions
<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>of to-day have existed since the beginning
of time; that the Gods created man exactly
as we find him in the 20th century; that the present
ideas of morality, religion, law and human
justice have always prevailed. He is unable to
tell whence we sprung and which way we are going.
Amid a changing world he sees only fixed
things.</p>
<p class='c007'>He knows neither the origin nor the trend of
anything; to him the world, the human race and
all social institutions began as they are now and
will be—world without end.</p>
<p class='c007'>But Science has shown us that the only stable
fact in the world to-day is the process of <i>change</i>,
how man has evolved through the ageless past and
the direction of the social current.</p>
<p class='c007'>In this little book I have sought, in a series of
stories or sketches, to present only the <i>first steps
in human progress</i> as elaborated by Lewis J. Morgan
in his brilliant work on Ancient Society. If
they stimulate the young folks to a more comprehensive
study of the struggles of primitive man
and the causes of his slow but steady advance,
they shall have fulfilled their purpose.</p>
<div class='lg-container-r'>
<div class='linegroup'>
<div class='group'>
<div class='line'><span class='sc'>The Author.</span></div>
</div></div>
</div>
<div class='chapter'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>
<h2 class='c005'>A SONG OF THE “CAVE PEOPLE”</h2></div>
<div class='nf-center-c0'>
<div class='nf-center c004'>
<div><i>By Gerald J. Lively</i></div>
</div></div>
<div class='lg-container-b c008'>
<div class='linegroup'>
<div class='group'>
<div class='line'><span class='c009'>H</span>ear now a tale—a tale of human genesis,</div>
<div class='line in2'>A tale of first endeavor,</div>
<div class='line in2'>The dawn-flush in the night.</div>
<div class='line'>It’s a long, long way to go, to those days of long ago,</div>
<div class='line'>But your baby feet have trod it, oh ye children of the light.</div>
</div>
<div class='group'>
<div class='line'>Dark were our early days—night and cold encumbered us,</div>
<div class='line in2'>Driving us to trees and caves</div>
<div class='line in2'>Who had no eyes to fight.</div>
<div class='line'>Yet it still seems very near, does that dreary age of fear,</div>
<div class='line'>When we trembled in our shelters at the noises of the night.</div>
</div>
<div class='group'>
<div class='line'>Prey to all the stronger beasts—mock of half the lesser ones;</div>
<div class='line in2'>Little, less, and lower ones</div>
<div class='line in2'>Marvelled at our shame.</div>
<div class='line'>Till from out our utter need came the thought, and came the deed,</div>
<div class='line'>And we won our way to freedom with the all-compelling flame.</div>
</div>
<div class='group'>
<div class='line'>Noises we misunderstood—dreams that came to trouble us;</div>
<div class='line in2'>Shades that shrank and lengthened</div>
<div class='line in2'>And danced about our way.</div>
<div class='line'>Our world was full of hosts of goblins, gnomes, and ghosts—</div>
<div class='line'>Are ye still afraid of goblins, oh ye children of the day?</div>
</div>
<div class='group'>
<div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>Stark—but for flint and bone—pitted we our wit against</div>
<div class='line in2'>The sabre-tooth and cave-bear</div>
<div class='line in2'>And beasts we slew for food;</div>
<div class='line'>But the fiercest fight began when we slew our brotherman:</div>
<div class='line'>Oh children of the daylight, have ye lost the taste for blood?</div>
</div>
<div class='group'>
<div class='line'>Dim is the tale we tell: dust of Time has muffled it;</div>
<div class='line in2'>Far apart the happenings</div>
<div class='line in2'>That made ye lords of earth.</div>
<div class='line'>By the ages in between times ye know and pleistocene</div>
<div class='line'>Have pity on our childish ways and pride in all our worth.</div>
</div></div>
</div>
<div class='chapter'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>
<h2 class='c005'>CONTENTS</h2></div>
<table class='table0' summary='CONTENTS'>
<tr>
<th class='c010'></th>
<th class='c011'>Pages</th>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>The Fire Beast</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_15'>15</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>The Ornament of Big Nose</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_27'>27</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>When Run Fast Went Hunting for a Wife</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_41'>41</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>Little Laughing Boy</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_53'>53</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>Hunting an Echo</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_69'>69</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>The Flood</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_81'>81</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>Big Foot’s New Weapon</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_95'>95</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>The First Planting</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_109'>109</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>The First Pot</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_123'>123</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>The Arrow Throwers</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_137'>137</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>The First Priest</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_151'>151</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class='c010'>Questions for Teachers</td>
<td class='c011'><SPAN href='#Page_162'>162</SPAN></td>
</tr>
</table>
<div class='figcenter id002'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>
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<div class='figcenter id002'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_015.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<h2 class='c005'>I<br/> THE FIRE BEAST</h2></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>No one among the Cave
People knew how to
kindle a fire. On several occasions
when they found the
trees in the forest aflame,
Strong Arm had borne back
to the Hollow a burning
branch. Immediately all the
other Cave People were seized
with a desire to have torches
and they swarmed around the
skirts of the blaze and secured
boughs also. And on they
sped toward home and the
Hollow amid roars of laughter
and much pride, till the
sparks from one of the
branches blew into the frowsy
hair of the Stumbler and set
him aflame.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>Instantly all the Cave People dropped their
boughs in terror and the Stumbler beat his head
with his hand, uttering shrill cries of pain.</p>
<p class='c007'>Only Strong Arm advanced steadily toward
the river, grunting his disgust. “Bah! Bah!” he
said many times, spitting the words from his
mouth.</p>
<p class='c007'>Strong Arm was the great man of the tribe.
No one among the Cave People could jump so far,
or lift so large a rock as he. His back was broader
than the shoulders of the other men. His head
was less flat, and his eyes were very keen and
saw many things.</p>
<p class='c007'>When they reached the Hollow, Strong Arm
gathered dry leaves and sticks and built a huge
bonfire upon the rocks. And the Old Woman and
Gray Beard came out of their cave to marvel at
his work.</p>
<p class='c007'>The young men brought branches and leaves
and fed the flames and when night came on the
Cave People sat around the fire and laughed together.
For the wolves came out of their holes
and showed their white fangs. And their yellow
eyes gleamed through the darkness, but they hovered
on the edge of the woods, for they were
afraid.</p>
<p class='c007'>Far into the night the Cave People danced,
while the flames from the fire brightened the whole
Hollow. They beat their hands together and
chanted in two tones from a minor strain, and not
<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>till they were worn out with dancing and fuel
gathering did they crawl back into their caves.</p>
<p class='c007'>But in the morning the fire was dead. Grey
ashes marked the spot of their gaiety and the
Cave People were filled with awe and wonder.</p>
<p class='c007'>But they learned many things. The next time
Strong Arm brought a blazing bough to the Hollow
he discovered that the fire burned best when
the branches met the face of the wind, and in time
they learned to coax the coals to live through the
night by covering them carefully with ashes and
damp moss. And at last, by watchful care, the
Cave People were able to keep the fire burning
constantly.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Cave Women with little children, who
were unable to hunt with the men, came in time to
be the natural care-takers of the fire.</p>
<p class='c007'>It was the Foolish One who first, in a fit of
wantonness, threw a hunk of bear meat upon the
coals, and it was Strong Arm, the wise, who fished
it out again. For in those days bear meat was
not to be had all the time, and Famine followed
close upon the heels of Feasting. Often a chunk
of bear meat was the most precious thing in the
world.</p>
<p class='c007'>Strong Arm ate the steak which he had poked
from the coals and he found it delicious. Then he
threw more chunks into the fire and gave them to
the Cave People. After that every one threw his
meat into the flames. By and by they stuck great
<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>hunks of raw flesh upon long sticks and broiled
them over the fire.</p>
<p class='c007'>No longer as darkness crept over the world
were the Cave People forced into their Caves for
safety. Secure around the fire they danced and
chanted rude measures wherein they mocked their
enemies, the mountain lion and the grey wolves,
who came forth in the night and watched them
hungrily from afar.</p>
<p class='c007'>Four times had the nut season come and gone
since the birth of little Laughing Boy and he could
remember one day only when the fire had not
burned upon the rocks in the Hollow. Ever since
he had been able to walk he had trotted at his
mother’s heels down to the shore, when the air
was chill and had squatted very close to the coals,
for the warmth was very pleasant to his small
body.</p>
<p class='c007'>His mother, Quack Quack, which meant Wild
Duck in the language of the Cave People, always
screamed shrilly to him and gesticulated wildly,
till he crept back out of danger, while she scoured
the woods for logs and branches.</p>
<p class='c007'>But there came a day when he crawled down to
the river and found no fire on the shore. Then his
father, Strong Arm, had gone upon a long journey.
Many paths he had crossed on his journey
along the bank of the river to a friendly neighboring
tribe. And he returned after several suns
with the good fire in his hands.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>Since then the Cave People had tended the fire
more carefully than ever. Thus Laughing Boy came
to know that the fire was a friend, a friend who
protected the Cave People from the wild animals
of the forest. He knew also that it was very good
to feel the warm flames near his brown body when
the days were cool, and that it hurt very much
if touched with his fingers.</p>
<p class='c007'>Laughing Boy always ran at the side of his
mother, Quack Quack, tagging at her heels or
hanging on her shoulders. Although a very big
boy, as Cave Boys grew, he had never been
weaned and always when he grew cold or hungry,
he ran to her side and pulled at her breasts, uttering
queer little grunts and cries.</p>
<p class='c007'>In the bad season Quack Quack grew very thin
as Laughing Boy nursed at her breasts. When he
was four years old and the fruit was dead and
the nuts and berries were nowhere to be found
from the North fork of the river to the bend far
below, Quack Quack felt that she could no longer
endure but pushed him from her again and again,
giving him bits of meat and fish to chew.</p>
<p class='c007'>When once the Cave People had hunted twelve
days without bringing home any large game, the
eyes of the people grew deep with hunger and
their faces were drawn and gaunt. A few fish
they caught and again found bitter roots and some
scrubby tubers, but these meant only a mouthful
<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>to the Cave People when they could, one and all,
have devoured great hunks of meat.</p>
<p class='c007'>Strong Arm sat on the bank of the river one
whole day, but the storms had driven the fish up
stream and he caught only two small ones that
fluttered and beat themselves against the sticks
which he had rammed into the mud, after the
fashion of a fence.</p>
<p class='c007'>Quack Quack, who was often alone in the Hollow,
felt the gnawing pangs of hunger more keenly
every day as she weakly thrust Laughing Boy
from her breasts again and again, and staggered
into the forest after fresh fuel.</p>
<p class='c007'>And there came a time when the hunger and
pain grew so strong that she remembered only
that she must satisfy them. Then she pushed
Laughing Boy into the cave, which was the place
that served to her and Strong Arm for a home,
and with a mighty effort rolled a stone before the
entrance.</p>
<p class='c007'>Laughing Boy, too, was very hungry, but she
knew he was safe from the beasts of the forest.
She heard his low wails as she turned her back
on the Hollow and hurried away toward the
branch of the river, pausing only when she saw
the scrub ends of the wild plants, to examine them.
But she found nothing to eat, only many holes
where the Cave People had thrust their sticks in
a search of roots.</p>
<p class='c007'>Quack Quack continued on her way, almost forgetting
<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>the mountain lion, and the dangers that
assailed without, for the hunger passion was
strong within her.</p>
<p class='c007'>The wild duck she sought and knew their
haunts of old. It was because of her skill in catching
them that she had earned her name among the
Cave People.</p>
<p class='c007'>Better than any other, she knew their habits
and how to catch and kill one among them without
alarming the flock.</p>
<p class='c007'>This she had discovered when she was a very
little girl. In those days it had been almost impossible
for the Cave People to catch the wild
duck. While they were sometimes successful in
killing one, the others always scattered in terror.
Soon they began to regard the Cave People as
their enemies and immediately one of them appeared
the alarm was given.</p>
<p class='c007'>But when Quack Quack, the mother of Laughing
Boy, was ten years old and the Cave People
were disgusted because the wild ducks eluded them
so quickly, she found a way to deceive the flocks.</p>
<p class='c007'>She had waded out into the fork of the river,
with the great green leaves of the cocoanut palm
wet and flapping about her head, for the sun was
very hot, and she stood quietly among the rushes,
when a flock of wild ducks swam slowly down the
stream. Suddenly she stretched out her arm, under
the water, and seized one of the ducks by the
legs and drew him down. And then the rest of
<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>the flock, unsuspicious of danger, swam on slowly
around the bend.<SPAN name='r1' /><SPAN href='#f1' class='c012'><sup>[1]</sup></SPAN></p>
<div class='footnote' id='f1'>
<p class='c007'><SPAN href='#r1'>1</SPAN>. Prof. Frederick Starr says in his Some First Steps in
Human Progress that this old method of catching wild ducks
is still practiced by the tribes in Patagonia.</p>
</div>
<p class='c007'>Then the little brown girl ran out of the water
holding aloft the duck, which was dead. Her
mother was very proud as well as the young
brown girl, and all the Cave People clapped their
hands and said, “Good! Good!” And the young
men said “Woman,” meaning she was grown very
wise, and after that everybody called her Quack
Quack, after the voice of the wild duck.</p>
<p class='c007'>And Quack Quack grew very proud of her accomplishment
and spent long hours hiding in the
rushes for ducks. All the Cave People put leaves
or bark over their heads in order to hide themselves
and tried to catch them as the brown young
girl had done, but they always frightened away
the flock even when they were lucky enough to
seize one of the ducks.</p>
<p class='c007'>Many years had passed since the brown girl
discovered the new way of hunting, but the brown
woman, whom they still called Quack Quack, had
not forgotten.</p>
<p class='c007'>She could not forget with a great hunger in
her breast, as she slipped through the wood along
the river bank.</p>
<p class='c007'>Gently she stepped, making no sound, and
every little while she parted the brushes lining
<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>the river with her hands and peered through. But
there were no ducks and she caught her breath
each time eagerly and went further on, twitching
her ears nervously.</p>
<p class='c007'>When she was almost exhausted, after some
time, she again parted the brush. Now her eyes
flashed, her small nostrils quivered and her hands
worked convulsively, for there, not very far away,
evidently drowsing near the rushes, she saw a
solitary wild duck.</p>
<p class='c007'>The brown woman drew in her breath, and
softly, very softly, withdrew from the brush and
bent her steps further up the river. On her way
she tore a long strip of dead bark from a tree and
wound it carefully around her head and face.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then she plunged into the river until it rose
above her shoulders, when she waded very gently
with the current, down stream. The water was
very cold, but Quack Quack clutched her hands
sharply and stepped onward, deeper into the sluggish
current, till only the rough bark which covered
her head, remained in view.</p>
<p class='c007'>Slowly, very slowly, she felt her way over the
soft bottom, making no sound, causing not even a
ripple in the water. A small bough floated at her
side and she kept pace with it, going no faster, no
slower than it drifted, till she came close, very
close, to the motionless duck. Then her hand shot
forth and she dragged it sharply under the water.
But it was alone. There was none to take flight
<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>at its cries and Quack Quack, the brown woman,
scrambled up the bank, wringing the duck’s neck
as she ran.</p>
<p class='c007'>She shivered in the wind and shielded herself
in the brush, and then, lying flat on the ground,
buried her teeth in the duck’s breast. Swiftly she
ate, making loud noises with her lips and grunting
joyfully, and not until the last portion was gone
did she rise and turn her face toward the Hollow.
Her stomach sagged with its heavy load and she
walked slowly, glutted with food.</p>
<p class='c007'>When the Cave People saw her, they cried out,
“Wild Duck, Wild Duck!” They looked at her
stomach, big and distended and were very miserable,
for they knew after what manner she had
earned her name.</p>
<p class='c007'>The fire on the rocks in the Hollow was cold
and dead and Strong Arm was very angry, but
Quack Quack said nothing. She heard the cry of
Laughing Boy as she slipped into the Cave, and
she threw herself onto the bed of dead leaves and
drew him, whimpering, to her breast.</p>
<div class='chapter'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>
<h2 class='c005'>II<br/> THE ORNAMENT OF BIG NOSE</h2></div>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_027.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>As far back as any of the Cave People could
remember, their fathers had used the bones
of wild beasts as weapons. I suppose they discovered
long before that the marrow inside these
bones was very good to eat. Then they hammered
them with great stones till the bones split
open and after they had eaten the marrow somebody
discovered the sharp bones made very formidable
weapons. No one had ever found sticks
so strong and so sharp as these bone weapons.</p>
<p class='c007'>By and by all the Cave People possessed great
bones, split at one end, like a sharp sword. Almost
every day the youths and maidens threw bones
or sticks to display their skill. And the one
whose aim was true and who showed most power
<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>in his arm, strutted about and stuck out his chest,
in order that all the other Cave people might know
how great he was.</p>
<p class='c007'>One there was whom they called Big Nose.
Now in the time of the Cave People it was a marvelous
thing for a child to possess a nose that
protruded. Generally cave noses were much like
the noses of the Tree People, with merely two
large nostrils in the center of the face, slightly
extended, preceding the head in order that the
owner might catch the smell of danger or of good
food. But him the Cave People called Big Nose
because his nose turned down instead of upward,
and it extended nearly half an inch beyond his
face.</p>
<p class='c007'>When he was only a slim brown youth, Big
Nose became able to out-throw all the other young
folks. He could fling his rough bone javelin many
feet further than any of the others and with
greater force. At the edge of the woods, he would
hurl it far among the trees and clip off, every time,
the heads of the small purple flower that grew tall
and slim in the forest.</p>
<p class='c007'>Big Nose grew proud and held his head very
high. And he began, after a little while, to wander
farther and farther into the woods alone, for
he desired greatly to meet the mountain lion or
the green snake, in order that he might kill them
with his weapon and become still greater in the
eyes of the Cave People.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>Every one thought he was brave but very
foolish, for the youths and maidens rarely wandered
about in the forest alone. Too often had
their brothers gone out and never returned, and
there was fear in their hearts.</p>
<p class='c007'>But in spite of their warnings, Big Nose continued
to hunt and one day, when he had traveled
beyond the great rocks, he discovered a large tree
lying prone upon the ground. The spring storms
had uprooted it and flung it down to die.</p>
<p class='c007'>Big Nose sped on till he reached the oak tree,
when he heard, from its branches, a deep growl
and much scratching. Big Nose drew back quickly
and sheltered himself behind a great tree, waiting.
Aloft he held his bone spear, ready to hurl
it upon the enemy.</p>
<p class='c007'>He waited a long time, but nothing came forth
from the boughs of the oak tree, and gradually he
grew bolder and cautiously advanced again. His
ears twitched constantly and he drew his lips back
from his teeth just as dogs do when they attack
the enemy.</p>
<p class='c007'>Big Nose still heard the low growling, but he
saw nothing. When he reached the fallen oak,
he saw that its branches were flung over a deep
hole in the ground. He peered into it carefully
and saw a black bear, digging frantically with
her paws. Evidently she had blundered through
the branches of the tree and had fallen down into
the hollow.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>When Big Nose found there was no danger,
he grew very happy and laughed softly to himself,
for the black bear stood upon her hind feet
and clawed the air, trying to get out.</p>
<p class='c007'>And he dropped stones upon her head till she
grew wild with rage and staggered about trying
to reach him with her paws. Big Nose laughed
softly and continued to tease her till she stood
again on her hind feet, exposing her throat in
rage. Then he lifted his arms above his head and
flung the bone javelin into her breast with all his
strength.</p>
<p class='c007'>The bear dropped to the ground pawing at the
bone which protruded from her throat, dripping
with blood. Furiously she tore about the pit,
beating its sides with her paws. And Big Nose
was terrified when he saw his bone weapon fall to
the bottom of the hollow, and he ran about hunting
for a long stick with which he hoped to poke
it out again.</p>
<p class='c007'>When he returned to the pit, bearing sticks
and boughs, he found the bear pressing her paws
to her breast and growling with rage.</p>
<p class='c007'>Very carefully he bent over the hollow and
poked his weapon, but the bear discovered his
movements and turned quickly upon him. With
a stroke of her great paw, she slashed savagely
at his arm, and laid it open to the bone. Big
Nose choked back a cry of pain.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>Then he arose to his feet and staggered homeward.
Softly he went and his feet touched the
earth gently. Dry leaves did not crack under
them and he made no sound. But his wound bled
badly and he grew weak with pain.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then he stopped at the side of a dead tree and
tore off a strip of bark, which he wrapped tightly
around his arm. And he sped quickly, for wild
beasts came forth eagerly at the smell of blood
and he had no weapon with which to defend himself.</p>
<p class='c007'>But he arrived at the hollow in safety. And
the old men among the Cave People nodded their
heads and threw out their hands, as much as to
say:</p>
<p class='c007'>“We told you so.”</p>
<p class='c007'>But the youths and maidens gathered around
Big Nose with much interest, saying, “What?
What?” which, in the language of the Cave People,
means, What is the matter?</p>
<p class='c007'>And the brown maidens came near and gazed
upon Big Nose with wonder and admiration. Even
Light Foot, who had, alone, slain the man, who
came down the river, from the enemies, the Arrow
People, was pleased with Big Nose and brought
herbs with which to wrap his wounds.</p>
<p class='c007'>But Big Nose waved them all aside with a lofty
gesture. Though the pain hurt him sorely, his
face was calm, and he knew all the Cave People
would think long of his bravery. And his blood
<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>was warm because Light Foot looked upon him
with love and fire in her eyes.</p>
<p class='c007'>When all the eyes of the Cave People were directed
upon him, Big Nose knelt quickly on the
ground and dug a small hole in the earth. With
his arm that was uninjured, he pointed into it,
growling in imitation of the black bear. And they
knew he had discovered a bear that had stumbled
into a hollow. Then Big Nose threw a stick into
the hole and they understood he had hurled his
bone javelin upon the bear. Snatching a second
stick, he poked furiously to show how he had
sought to extricate his weapon. With another
deep growl, he pulled out his arm and held his
wound where all could see.</p>
<p class='c007'>It was in this way that the Cave People talked
to each other. Their words were few and most
of their ideas were expressed by gestures.
“Quack, quack,” they said when they meant wild
duck. A deep growl signified the black bear, while
a long line, made by drawing a finger through the
dust or sand, gave everybody to understand the
person spoke of a snake.</p>
<p class='c007'>If you have seen a pantomime show, you will
understand something of the manner of the gesture
language of the Cave People. Even we “civilized”
folks, long accustomed to verbal language,
say many things to each other every day, by facial
expression and by gesture.</p>
<p class='c007'>And so, even the children among the Cave
<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>People understood the adventures Big Nose had
encountered. When his pantomime monologue
was finished, the men and women of the tribe rose
eagerly. They pointed first to the hole Big Nose
had dug in the ground, and then toward the forest,
as much as to say,</p>
<p class='c007'>“Is the bear still in the pit?”</p>
<p class='c007'>And one of them asked “Big Nose kill?” Big
Nose shook his head and started toward the wood,
indicating that the Cave Men were to follow.</p>
<p class='c007'>So the strong men started through the forest.
They hurried forward, keeping close together,
with their bone javelins in their hands. For it was
growing dusk. But all were hungry, and Cave
People who have eaten little for twenty-four hours
are willing to risk some danger for a meal of
fresh meat.</p>
<p class='c007'>They reached the pit safely. The bear still
growled savagely in pain, and it was after much
jabbing with their bone weapons that they dispatched
her.</p>
<p class='c007'>Speedily they dragged her from the hole and
began at once to skin and disembowel her. They
worked into the dark hacking up and distributing
portions in order that each man might carry back
to the Hollow his share of the burden.</p>
<p class='c007'>Very sharply the Cave Men drew in their
breath, for the fresh blood of the bear smelled
good to them. But the terror of the night was
strong upon them, and they listened intently, sniffing
<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>the air, twitching their ears and trembling
with fear. For it is in the night that the wild
beasts creep forth for food, and the smell of
fresh blood reaches a long way off.</p>
<p class='c007'>So the Cave Men huddled together very close,
each carrying a portion of the dripping carcass
of the bear. Big Nose, too, bore a huge chunk of
the meat, which he chewed from time to time.
His wounded arm ached sorely, but because of
the pride in his heart, he spoke not. But the way
to the Hollow seemed very far and his knees almost
sank beneath him.</p>
<p class='c007'>Each man bore his bone weapon pointing away
from his fellows, in order that the hyena, if it
sprang at them, might receive the sharp bone
point.</p>
<p class='c007'>Strong Arm was he who thought most of the
fire and the safety it brought. But he was unable
to express his thoughts. For the sign of the fire
among the Cave People was spoken in a gesture,
and gesture language is not understood in the
darkness.</p>
<p class='c007'>One terrifying incident marked the journey
home. Soft foot-falls crumbled the leaves and
two green eyes spotted the black, but the Cave
Men huddled closer together, and shrieked so
loudly that the animal, whatever it was, dashed
away in fear.</p>
<p class='c007'>When they came to the Hollow, the Cave Men
called loudly to the others, and distributed big
<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>chunks of bear meat, which they all ate eagerly,
with great satisfaction. Then the people crept
into their caves, rolled great stones before the
entrances, and slept.</p>
<p class='c007'>Many suns came and went away again and
Big Nose was so proud of his wound that he moved
his arm with great care. The blood that covered
it grew hard and black but he sought to preserve
it there always, in order to recall to the minds of
the Cave People thoughts of his courage. To him
it was a precious ornament, so beautiful that it
caused the young men to regard him with jealousy
and the young women with admiration.</p>
<p class='c007'>And Light Foot, who was very beautiful in
the eyes of all the Cave People, refused to look
any longer upon the other youths of the tribe.
And when Big Nose asked her to share his cave,
she was proud and happy and went to live with
him and became his wife.</p>
<p class='c007'>One there was among the youths of the Cave
People whom they had never called “Man,” which
is to say, “you are wise and brave; therefore you
are a man.” Him they called Run Fast, because,
in spite of the hair grown heavy upon his face,
it was always his custom to run away when
trouble came.</p>
<p class='c007'>All the Cave People were often afraid, for
death sometimes lurked in the shadows, and their
ignorance was so great that they were unable to
explain very common occurrences. But Run Fast
<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>was more fearful than the old women and the little
children.</p>
<p class='c007'>Run Fast hated Big Nose because Big Nose
had done all the things he was afraid to do.</p>
<p class='c007'>But one day he crept into the wood. He
thought he knew of a way that would cause all the
Cave People to look upon him with admiration.
He did not see Laughing Boy slip through the
brush behind him.</p>
<p class='c007'>Run Fast did not travel far. He never went
far from the Hollow when he was alone. And he
did not see little Laughing Boy, who watched him
curiously from the bushes.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then Run Fast did a very strange thing.
Seizing his split bone knife, he scraped his arm
till the blood ran and dropped on the ground.
Then he bound it tightly, with a piece of bark, just
as Big Nose had done.</p>
<p class='c007'>He returned to the Hollow, screaming wildly,
until the Cave People gathered to learn the cause
of his distress. And he repeated, in the language
of gesture, the same story Big Nose had told a
few suns before.</p>
<p class='c007'>The strong men and the women surveyed him
sharply, for it did not seem possible to them that
Run Fast had killed anything. But little Laughing
Boy, who saw that Run Fast was receiving
much attention because of the blood upon his arm,
pushed his way among the people.</p>
<p class='c007'>With a stone in his hand, he rubbed fiercely up
<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>and down upon his forearm, till the blood flowed,
pointing to Run Fast and shaking his head.</p>
<p class='c007'>His meaning was plain. The Cave People understood
him. It was, “See me. I can scratch myself
harder than Run Fast did.”</p>
<p class='c007'>Then all the Cave People knew what Run
Fast had done and they cried “Baby! Baby!”
to Run Fast and he was disgraced before them
all.</p>
<p class='c007'>After that, when the young men of the tribe
came home with blood upon their bodies, the
strong men shook their heads and refused to believe
tales of their adventures, unless they brought
back something to prove their words. So it came
to be a custom among the Cave People that the
men or women who had killed a savage beast carried
home with him the tail, or the hide or teeth
of that animal. These they wore always as tokens
of their bravery. Thus the Cave People first
adorned their bodies.</p>
<div class='figcenter id002'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_038.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_041.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<h2 class='c005'>III<br/> WHEN RUN FAST WENT HUNTING FOR A WIFE</h2></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The Cave People were skillful fisher folk.
From the bark of the cocoanut palm, which
they bound to the forked branches of trees, they
made nets and caught the fish.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Cave babies were able to swim almost before
they could walk. When for the first time
their fathers and mothers threw them into the
edge of the river they would beat the water with
their little hands, and, with much splashing, make
their way toward the bank again.</p>
<p class='c007'>Boat making, however, came slowly to the
Cave People. They knew, of course, how logs, or
the trunks of trees float, but tree-felling was beyond
their knowledge and their tools.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>Not until they had learned to fashion cane
rafts rudely strung or bound together with strips
of bark, were the Cave People able to ride against
the current of the river. But these cane rafts
were so light that they were able, with little effort,
to paddle up stream, if they hugged the
banks of the river where the current was weak.</p>
<p class='c007'>When the men of the Hairy Folk, who dwelt
far up the river, descended upon the Cave People
and sought to take away their women and their
daughters, the Cave People gave them blow for
blow and, in the end, drove the intruders back
into the wood.</p>
<p class='c007'>And the secret of the matter was a strange
sickness that had came upon the women of the
Hairy Folk, and had stricken them with an unknown
illness. The women of the Hairy Folk had
died in great pain, one by one, till only the old
and unattractive ones remained to the tribe. And
the young men of the Hairy Folk went forth to
seek new wives.</p>
<p class='c007'>Now Run Fast was the greatest coward among
the tribe of the Cave People, but after the Hairy
Folk were driven away, he felt that a great
strength had come into his heart.</p>
<p class='c007'>Much hair covered his face, and his limbs were
as lithe as the branches of the willow, shining in
the sun like bars of burnished copper. But his
courage was like the water of cool springs, running
from him always.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>For this reason he had never been able to win
for himself a wife. Stripling lads had routed him
and taken the young women he loved, and so he
remained alone in the tribe.</p>
<p class='c007'>Deep in his heart Run Fast knew that it would
be by brave deeds alone that he could gain a wife.
And it was the laugh of the Cave People and the
scorn of the young women, as well as the hunger
in his heart, that drove Run Fast one day along
the river bank.</p>
<p class='c007'>He bore only his bone weapon, split at the end
like a strong javelin. At his side, and beyond,
down past him, flowed the great river and as he
ran, he kept close to the bank for he knew that
there only would he be able to elude the fierce
hyenas and the black bear.</p>
<p class='c007'>It was the first time Run Fast had ever traveled
forth from the Cave People alone; there was
a trembling in his strong limbs, and upon the
breaking of a twig, or the falling of a branch, he
started forth closer to the river.</p>
<p class='c007'>And the waters rushed continually past him
with a mad roar and he knew that he had only to
throw himself into the current to be borne swiftly
back in the direction whence he had come. Of this
one thing Run Fast had no fear, for he had been
accustomed to the water for many seasons.</p>
<p class='c007'>For many hours he traveled, only pausing at
the edge of the river and dipping his palms, cupwise,
to drink.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>And when he grew hungry Run Fast skirted
the edge of the forest for nuts. Then he resumed
his journey, for he remembered the word of
Strong Arm, and his gesture toward the sun, when
Strong Arm spoke of the homes of the Hairy Folk.
This meant that it would take one of the Cave Men
a day of hard walking to reach their dwelling
places.</p>
<p class='c007'>When the Western sky was covered with the
gold of the setting sun Run Fast found a raft tied
to a tree with a piece of bark. The raft was rude
and very heavy, being merely the trunk of a great
tree across which were bound branches and pieces
of cane, which served to prevent the log from rolling
over in the river and dumping the people into
the water.</p>
<p class='c007'>Run Fast knew the raft belonged to the Hairy
Folk, for according to the words of Strong Arm,
there remained but a little way to travel before
he would reach their homes.</p>
<p class='c007'>But he marked the spot where the raft lay
well. If the Hairy Folk discovered his approach,
he had only to throw himself upon the raft and
be borne toward the Hollow where dwelt the tribe
of the Cave People.</p>
<p class='c007'>So eager was Run Fast to reach the enemy that
he slipped through the wood, like a shadow in the
evening. The rustle of leaves was not heard as
his feet sped over them. And he was in the land
of the Hairy Folk before he was aware.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>When he saw the men walking about or squatting
over a piece of bear meat, Run Fast slipped
into the brush where, unseen, he could watch the
manner of living of these folks. His limbs trembled
sorely for the quick beating of his heart refused
to subside, so heavy was it with fear.</p>
<p class='c007'>But his heart said over and over again that did
he but kill one of the men of the Hairy Folk, or
return to his people with one of their women, all
the Cave People would look upon him with wonder
and admiration. He knew also that if the men of
the Hairy Folk discovered him he would have
need to run very swiftly to elude their vengeance.
It was this thought that brought the sweat to his
brow and caused his hair to bristle with fear.</p>
<p class='c007'>The longing to feed his anger against the
enemy burned within him, but Fear taught him
reason. So he lay long among the bushes, awaiting
an opportunity to harm them.</p>
<p class='c007'>Men he saw lying with distended bellies, after
a meal of fresh meat, but no women. Darker it
grew, as the sun continued to ride low in the West,
and he had need of all his new found courage to
prevent his limbs from running away.</p>
<p class='c007'>Came a time when he felt he could endure the
waiting no longer that a woman walked forth from
one of the caves. Tall she was and very thin, and
so heavy grew the hair upon her chin and face that
he first mistook her for a man. Heavily she
walked, as though she were very old or weary with
<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>much pain. And at her heels trotted a small
brown boy.</p>
<p class='c007'>Long Run Fast watched her eagerly for his
cave was lonely for want of a wife. His eyes
gleamed and he heard in his mind the yells of the
men of the Hairy Folk when he should carry off
one of their women.</p>
<p class='c007'>At length as the woman bent her steps toward
the caves Run Fast rushed upon her, like the
winds that come when the buds grow large. He
made no sound, but the brown boy who first saw
him set up a cry of alarm. With a sweep of his
arm, Run Fast struck the boy to the earth and
seized the woman, whom he bore, clawing and
scratching, to the bank of the river.</p>
<p class='c007'>The hairy woman showed her great teeth, making
hideous sounds of rage. She tore at his hair
and dug her teeth into his arms.</p>
<p class='c007'>But nothing stopped Run Fast and on he
dashed, dragging, pulling and finally carrying her
as he went. Soon they reached the edge of the
river where lay the raft. And close upon their
heels, mad with rage, came the men of the Hairy
Folk.</p>
<p class='c007'>Very quickly Run Fast tore loose the bark
that held the raft and drew the woman onto it
with him. Then he gave a mighty shove that sent
them whirling into the river, where the current
caught the raft and bore it swiftly down stream.</p>
<p class='c007'>The men of the Hairy Folk were now on the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>bank of the river and some of them leaped into the
water. Others hurled their bone weapons toward
Run Fast. But none of them stuck home,
and beating down the woman he paddled with his
hands, and they were soon beyond pursuit.</p>
<p class='c007'>At this season of the year the current of the
river made about five miles an hour, and the distance
it had taken Run Fast a hard day’s journey
to cover, would be made by the raft in a few
hours.</p>
<p class='c007'>Continually the old woman struck at Run Fast
and he had great difficulty in keeping her from
throwing herself into the river. But a blow from
his fist soon quieted her and she ceased to
struggle.</p>
<p class='c007'>By and by the stars came out and the moon
showed her face and covered the surface of the
river with a flood of gold. The old woman snarled,
but Run Fast held her very tightly in his arms.</p>
<p class='c007'>His heart sung a song of pride and triumph for
he knew that he would no longer be the scorn of
the Cave People. No more would he be compelled
to sit alone in his cave with the howl of the hyena
to make him more lonely.</p>
<p class='c007'>The day of his triumph was at hand and with
tenderness he drew the old woman close to his
breast. And the stars laughed and the moon
smiled, while the raft floated steadily, noiselessly
down the river. But the face of the woman was
hard with pain, for she knew that men may come
<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>and men may go, but the small brown boy, in the
home of the Hairy Folk, would be her boy forever.</p>
<p class='c007'>Who can know the understanding of the dog,
which lost in a strange land, finds his way home
again! Or the animals of the forest, how they find
the old haunts through the unknown ways! And
who among us can say how Run Fast understood
that when the moon rose high in the heavens the
raft would be nearing the bend in the river which
appeared before the Hollow, wherein lay the
homes of the Cave People!</p>
<p class='c007'>For the Cave People were unable to count. One,
they made known by the pointing of a fore-finger
upward; and two by pointing two fingers. But
beyond this, they had no signs for the numbers but
flung out their hands as though to say, “many.”</p>
<p class='c007'>But Run Fast knew even as his brothers would
have known under similar circumstances. And
when the raft curved about the bend, he paddled
with his hand to steer the boat close to the shore.</p>
<p class='c007'>Very cautiously he pushed the woman on to the
bank before him, for the beasts came often to the
river edge to drink, but he saw no danger. Then,
making fast the boat, he bore the woman of the
Hairy Folk over the rocks to his cave and rolled
a great stone before the entrance.</p>
<p class='c007'>And his heart was glad and his blood was
warm, for he knew that no longer would he be an
outcast among his own people.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>Two suns had come and gone again when Run
Fast bent his steps toward the forest, and the
old woman disappeared. Doubtless she turned her
face toward the home of the small brown boy
among the Hairy Folk. Run Fast was thus again
made lonely, but the voices of his brothers cheered
him. Always they said, “man, man,” when he
appeared, for he had proven his courage and his
bravery among the tribe. The young women
looked tenderly at the strength of his limbs and
he was become honored among his people.</p>
<hr class='c013' />
<p class='c014'>[Charles Darwin says in his Descent of Man: “In utterly
barbarous times the women have more power in choosing,
rejecting and tempting their lovers, or of afterwards changing
their husbands, than might have been expected.” He
gives several illustrations. Page 620, Crowell edition.]</p>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_050.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_053.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<h2 class='c005'>IV<br/> LITTLE LAUGHING BOY</h2></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>When the luscious fruit ripened and fell and
the nut season came around, the time of joy
and plenty was at hand for the Cave Dwellers.
Then millions of fish sought the shallows of the
river; nourishing plants, with a strange bittersweet
flavor, thrust up their heads, and the nests
were full of eggs for the hand of him who cared
to gather.</p>
<p class='c007'>It was then only that the Cave People were
never hungry. With plenty abounding always in
the forest, they feasted continually and grew fat
against those periods of famine that spread
through the long after-suns and the dreary wet
seasons.</p>
<p class='c007'>True it was, that their enemies of the forest
throve and grew strong also. The green snakes
awoke and wound themselves around the branches
of trees, with eyes that glistened and glowed toward
<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>every living creature. And the brush grew
thick and abounded with creeping things.</p>
<p class='c007'>The cubs of the black bear flourished and the
fierce hyena yielded bounteously to her young.
Great flocks of strange and familiar birds darkened
the sky and swooped down upon the berry
bushes and swept them bare. But for all these
there was enough and to spare for the wants of
the Cave Dwellers.</p>
<p class='c007'>Even the limbs of Strong Arm, the wise and
brave, grew soft during this season, for his stomach
was always filled. The fierce rays of the
tropical sun beat down upon the heads of the
Cave Dwellers, filling them with a sweet drowsiness.
There was nothing to drive them forth from
the shades of the Hollow, where the waters of the
river washed the green rocks, and teemed with
thousands of golden and silver fish.</p>
<p class='c007'>It was not in the season of plenty that the
Cave People learned new ways to trap the black
bear, or to snare the wild pig. Nor did they at
that time seek to fashion new weapons or to travel
strange paths. Rarely they plied the waters.
These were not the days of progress or discovery,
and the minds of the Cave People grew torpid
and they forgot many things they had learned in
the times of hunger and activity.</p>
<p class='c007'>The hands of the youths and maidens lost a
portion of their cunning and the older members of
the tribe grew lazy and dull. For the bread fruit
<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>ripened and the tubers grew thick and all the
land smiled with a bountiful supply of daily food.</p>
<p class='c007'>The season of plenty was come. And the Cave
People loved and laughed and feasted and were
content. Few dangers menaced during those
days and the members of the tribe forgot fears
and drowsed in peace.</p>
<p class='c007'>But the children of the Cave People grew
strong, lifting their heads. The fierce rays of
the sun were unable to subdue them. Laughing
Boy, grown tall and straight, was weaned at last.
Always he laughed, showing his large white teeth,
like a dark dog snapping at a bone. And he danced
and ran about, spilling the strong life that surged
up within him and would not be stilled.</p>
<p class='c007'>With his young friend, The Fish, whom the
Cave People had given his name because of his
early skill in swimming, Laughing Boy learned
many things. Their joy and juvenility seemed
exhaustless, and their romps and chatterings ended
only with the days.</p>
<p class='c007'>Not many years before, the fathers and mothers
of the Cave People had come down out of the
trees to dwell. The Tree Dwellers found shelter
in the natural caves that lined the river bank. In
time they learned to walk erect, on two legs. The
Cave Dwellers resembled them very closely. The
arms of the Cave People had grown shorter as
they ceased to swing themselves constantly, from
tree to tree. The thumb of the foot disappeared
<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>and they now possessed a great toe in its place.
Still the feet of the Cave Dwellers retained the
power of prehension. They were able to hold—to
cling awkwardly with them.</p>
<p class='c007'>In the children this power was very marked.
On the skirts of the forest they loved to clamber
up the slim trees, poise on the swaying boughs
and swing themselves from branch to branch, like
young monkeys. This gave them strength of limb
and quickness of vision. Soon they learned to
choose those branches strong enough to bear their
weight, as they flung themselves through great
gaps of space to seize the boughs of a neighboring
tree.</p>
<p class='c007'>But the fear of the green snakes, that wound
about and hid themselves among the leaves, kept
them near the Hollow. Only on rare occasions did
they penetrate deep into the forest.</p>
<p class='c007'>Among many of the savages living to-day great
skill and agility prevails. We are told of tribes
whose members are able, by a partial circling of
the trunks, with their arms, and by the clinging
and pressing of flexible toes, to mount trees in a
sort of walk.</p>
<p class='c007'>Jack London writes that this is a common
practice of the natives of the South Sea Islands.
And we are assured by several young friends that
the art has not wholly disappeared among our
own boys.</p>
<p class='c007'>Many were the feats accomplished among the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>swaying branches of the trees by Laughing Boy,
and his friend, The Fish, in their frolics many
years ago. Their feet were never still. Their
jabberings flowed without end. Tireless as the
birds they were and gay as youth itself.</p>
<p class='c007'>One day, as they played, Laughing Boy found
a flat, curved piece of wood. It was as long as
the arm of a man and had been split from a tree
during a storm. Laughing Boy hurled the stick
far into the air at his friend, The Fish. But The
Fish threw himself from the bank, into the river,
to avoid it. And he screamed with joy as he disappeared
beneath the waters. Then a very strange
thing happened. For the flat stick swished
through the air, like a great bird, far over the
river. Then it turned about and whirled slowly
back again, where it fell at the feet of Laughing
Boy. At once the hair of his head rose with fear,
and he ran to his mother uttering shrill squeals of
alarm. Quack Quack awoke from her sleep and
snatched up a bone weapon, for she thought one
of the forest enemies had attacked Laughing Boy.</p>
<p class='c007'>But he pointed only to the strange, curved stick
and clung to her, in terror. All the while he jabbered
wildly. Quack Quack desired to quiet his
fear, so she flung the stick far out over the river,
as he had done. Then again the big stick swished
through the air, turned about and whirled gently
back, striking her arm. Then it fell at her feet.</p>
<p class='c007'>Whereupon Laughing Boy screamed and ran
<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>into the Cave. Then a great fear assailed Quack
Quack and she added her cries to his. And all the
Cave People hurried to her side to learn the cause
of so much trouble.</p>
<p class='c007'>Again the strange stick was hurled toward the
river, and once more it returned. And all the
Cave People marveled and were afraid. For they
could not understand a stick that returned when it
was thrown.</p>
<p class='c007'>Strong Arm only was brave enough to touch it
with his fingers. His face bore a strange wonder
that such things could be possible to a mere
stick. And he carried it to his cave, where he hid
it among the rocks, under the dead leaves.</p>
<p class='c007'>But when the nuts were gone and the season of
plenty had passed away, and there was need for
the Cave People to hunt, he brought it forth again.
After many seasons, a flat stick, curved in the
manner of the one first found by Laughing Boy,
came to be used as a weapon by the Cave People.</p>
<p class='c007'>Perhaps you have seen the painted boomerangs
sold in some of our stores to-day. They are
the same shape as those first used by the ancient
Cave Dwellers. A small pasteboard boomerang,
cut the right size and shape will interest the children.
When struck with a lead pencil, it will whirl
through the air and return, just as the larger and
more formidable boomerangs did when thrown at
their enemies by the Cave Dwellers many thousands
of years ago.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>After a time the alarm and excitement caused
by Laughing Boy’s discovery of the first rude
boomerang, died away. The strange stick no
longer menaced them, and the Cave People returned
to their feasting and their slumbers. And
Laughing Boy and his young friend, The Fish,
resumed their play.</p>
<p class='c007'>They chased each other up and down the Hollow
or concealed themselves in the long grass that
lined the river bank. At each discovery they
tossed and rolled over and over again, like puppies,
wild with the exuberance of young blood.</p>
<p class='c007'>It was one of their great pleasures to lie chattering
in the grass on the top of the river bank
and roll, tumbling, down into the clear waters.
Then, amid a great splashing and much laughter,
to clamber out and up the slope again. Thus the
children of the Cave Dwellers romped and grew
strong, during the season of plenty, in the days of
old.</p>
<p class='c007'>One day it chanced that Laughing Boy stumbled
over a large cocoanut, during his frolics with
his young friend. He seized it in his arms and
danced about, jabbering with glee, that his friend
might know the treasure he had found.</p>
<p class='c007'>In an instant The Fish was upon him, but
Laughing Boy rolled over in the grass and bounded
away, with squeals of delight. Then, for no
reason in the world, save that the blood pounded
<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>riotously in his veins, he darted into the wood,
bearing his prize.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Fish followed, close on his heels, as Laughing
Boy threw shrill mocking cries over his shoulder.
The Fish gave answer with a whirling stone,
while more mocking cries from Laughing Boy announced
that his aim was bad. And, O, the fun
of the chase through the deep woods! The rollicking
laugh and the deep shouts of The Fish as they
startled the birds from their nests in the old
forest!</p>
<p class='c007'>The brush grew thicker with every step and
the trees locked branches more closely with their
neighbors for want of room to stretch them freely
toward the sun.</p>
<p class='c007'>When he reached the tall lautania palm which
marked the point beyond which it was unsafe for
the children of the Cave People to go alone,
Laughing Boy concealed himself in the brush. He
thought to be able to elude his brown playmate,
and while The Fish sought him beyond the bunya-bunya,
to dash backward, toward the Hollow.</p>
<p class='c007'>In a moment came The Fish. But the deep
breathing of Laughing Boy and a rustling of the
bushes made known his hiding place. As his friend
parted the thicket, Laughing Boy had time only
to crawl out on the opposite side and dart onward
ere he was caught. A shout and a shrill chattering
told his victory, and he disappeared again.
<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>The Fish grunted his displeasure, but he was not
far behind.</p>
<p class='c007'>In the tall bambusa Laughing Boy again hid
himself, and it was by the tripping of The Fish
over a creeping vine that he escaped. But his
foot blundered on a cone from the bunya tree and
the cocoanut slipped from his hands. The two
boys threw themselves downward and rolled over
each other in their eagerness to recover it.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Fish gave a shout of joy and made away,
holding the cocoanut above his head for Laughing
Boy to see. A warm sweat covered their
bodies and their bronze skins shone like burnished
copper.</p>
<p class='c007'>On and on they ran. Further and still further
they plunged into the depths of the forest.
They forgot the dangers that lurked there and the
wise warnings of the Cave People. They forgot
their playmate, Crooked Leg, who had wandered
into the wood and vanished from the face of the
Hollow. Fears they had none, only laughter and
the joy of abundant youth!</p>
<p class='c007'>All this time the grown members of the tribe
of the Cave People slept securely in the cool of
the hollow. Their protruding bellies told of continued
eating and no one among them marked the
absence of The Fish and Laughing Boy.</p>
<p class='c007'>Thicker and more dark grew the forest which
the boys penetrated. The way grew rough, and
the tough vines trailing through the undergrowth
<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>often tripped them. Still they lunged forward
with no thought of turning their faces toward the
Hollow.</p>
<p class='c007'>It was a crackling in the brush that warned
them. The cocoanut rolled from the hands of The
Fish and the boys crouched low together. No
sound they made, save the breath in their throats
which struggled to be free. Couchant, they
strained their bodies into an attitude of listening.
Came again a soft rustling in the thicket. This
time nearer. And then—through the long bambusa,
they saw the head and throat of a grey
hyena.</p>
<p class='c007'>For a moment they paused while the sweat
froze on their brown skins. Their lips drew back
in a snarl of helpless rage. But the hyena covered
the ground with great bounds, and they flung their
arms about a tall sapling. Their breath burst
from them in quick gasps, for they were near
spent with running.</p>
<p class='c007'>But they dug their toes into the rough bark
and the strength of The Fish enabled him to
speedily mount to the forked branches above. But
many moments Laughing Boy clung half-way up
the trunk of the tree, with the hyena snapping at
his heels. At every leap so near she came, that
he curled his feet up under his small body. The
teeth of the hyena shone white and her eyes
gleamed. A great fear paralyzed him. The Fish
danced about on the limbs above, chattering wildly,
<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>till Laughing Boy gathered breath and courage
to continue his way to safety.</p>
<p class='c007'>There he sat, huddled among the leaves, close
to The Fish and for a long time they gazed, quivering,
at the enemy below. But a caution, wholly
new, had come to them, and they scrambled into
the branches of a neighboring banyan slowly and
with care. Thence on through several trees that
brought them nearer the homes of the Cave Dwellers.
With much shivering they made their way
pausing often to mark the progress of the enemy.
She moved as they advanced, persistently, like a
hungry dog watching a bone.</p>
<p class='c007'>Slowly and fearfully the boys continued toward
the Hollow, through the interlocked limbs of
the great trees. But the hyena followed. From
a bunya-bunya the boys pelted her with cones
which she dodged easily. Unmoved, she continued
to gaze longingly upon them, while the slather
dripped from her lips.</p>
<p class='c007'>At one time the boys almost threw themselves
into the coils of a huge green snake, that wound
itself around the trunk of a cocoanut palm. They
were not expecting new dangers. A quick leap
and they swung downward, clinging closely to the
bough of a neighboring bunya, and then scrambled
up to safety once more. Thus they made on,
but the distance they had run so joyously a short
time before, seemed now to stretch before them
without end. Sometimes they paused to rest and
<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>gather breath. At these points they huddled together
and whimpered very low, or snarled, jabbering
at the enemy, as she sat on her haunches,
waiting.</p>
<p class='c007'>But the glad time came when they saw below
the familiar berry bushes. Beyond that the arboreal
way was not unknown. With a new freedom
and ease they flung themselves forward.
Their leaps grew daring and their feet more sure,
till at last they reached the edge of the wood near
the Hollow.</p>
<p class='c007'>Here they lifted their voices in sharp cries that
aroused the Cave People from their torpor. Soon
the stalwart members of the tribe had seized their
bone weapons and hurried to the rescue.</p>
<p class='c007'>At first the hyena did not retreat before them,
but darted in and out slashing the Cave People
with her great fangs. But the fierce stabs of many
bone weapons soon sent her fleeing back into the
forest. Soon Quack Quack soothed the whimpering
of Laughing Boy, holding him close to her
breast.</p>
<p class='c007'>The nut seasons came and the nut seasons
passed away and Laughing Boy grew tall and
strong. Though his deeds were brave and his
arm was long, he hunted with the tribe, for he had
learned the wisdom of the Cave Dwellers. He
knew that it was not safe for a man or a woman to
fight alone. The least of the forest enemies was
able to destroy them. Strong men had wandered
<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>into the forest to return no more. But when the
tribe went forth great deeds were possible, even
the sabre-toothed tiger had been destroyed by the
thrusts of many. It was the strength of all the
Cave People that made safe the lives of every one.</p>
<div class='figcenter id002'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_066.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='figcenter id002'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_068.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_069.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<h2 class='c005'>V<br/> HUNTING AN ECHO</h2></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>To the Cave People, dreams were chief
among the great mysteries. None of the
strange occurrences of the world about them, so
filled them with wonder and awe, as the deeds they
performed and the adventures they encountered
while their bodies lay wrapped in sleep. Often it
was difficult for them to separate the dream world
from the world of reality. This may account for
the reports of those anthropologists who charge
savage tribes with being the most amazing liars
in the world. It may be that some of these primitive
men and women have merely related the
remarkable exploits of their dreams which they
were not always able to distinguish clearly from
their actual experiences.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>Often a Cave Man might go forth alone in the
night, and after traveling a journey of many suns,
slay fearlessly all the members of a hostile tribe,
while he slept securely in his cave. But when he
reported his dream adventures to his wife, she refused
often to believe them. Whenever she stirred
during the night, she had found him at her side.
Or perhaps she had groaned through the long
darkness, with the colic that comes from too much
eating of the early fruit. This she made known
to the dreamer. Indeed he had slumbered peacefully
through all her trouble!</p>
<p class='c007'>Again, when a Cave Dweller fell asleep beside
his brothers and dreamed of dispatching the
sabre-toothed tiger with a single blow, the whole
tribe was ready to assure him, in the language
of the Cave People, that he had not moved from
his resting place, but had slept continually. This
was all very strange.</p>
<p class='c007'>When the fire dashed through the sky, during
a storm, or the waters of the river climbed up
over the banks and flooded the woods, they were
not so wonderful as these dream things.</p>
<p class='c007'>Many men and women of the tribe had closed
their eyes in the long sleep, but when the Cave
People slumbered, the dead came back again, to
journey and hunt the forests with their brothers
and sisters. And so, in time, the Cave People
came to believe that their friends, who had deserted
the body, still lived. That they had, themselves,
<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>fought and hunted while their bodies slept, the
Cave People well knew, and that the dead come
back again, they knew also, for they had seen and
spoken with them in their dream journeyings.</p>
<p class='c007'>This was the origin of the idea of spirit, at
first only dim and confused but gathering
strength as the years rolled away. The seed of
the idea of immortality sprang also from the
dreams of primitive man. Though the sabre-toothed
tiger devoured a brother he would surely
return again. They had seen these things with
their own eyes, in dreams.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Cave People saw also their shadows that
followed where they went, moving slowly when
they walked, and swiftly when they ran, keeping
ever at their sides.</p>
<p class='c007'>When a Cave Man gazed into the river, always
a face looked back at him, and the other
members of the tribe told him he saw his own
image. This also was very strange. If he journeyed
as far as the great canyon, and sent his
voice echoing among the big rocks, a call came
bounding back to him, although there was no
other man there. Gradually he came to believe
the cry was the voice of a spirit and that the face
he had seen in the waters of the river was the face
of a spirit also.</p>
<p class='c007'>To all things the Cave People attributed animation.
To them everything was alive. Young
trees were the children of big trees and great
<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>stones were the fathers of small stones. Little
they spoke of these things, for their words were
few and it is impossible to tell many things in a
gesture language. Danger and confusion they
saw everywhere, for the whole world was filled
with happenings they could not understand.</p>
<p class='c007'>Many seasons had passed since they had found
the Fire beast eating up the trees in the woods.
The small blaze they had kept alive in the Hollow
had died long before, when Quack Quack forgot
to feed it. In these days the Fire flashed only
through the heavens during a storm. Strong Arm
had been able to call it by striking a sharp stone
against the rock before his cave. When the darkness
came on and he struck the rock swiftly, a
small spark fell. Again and again the Cave People
saw these sparks. But so quickly were they
gone that no man or woman was able to catch
them, or to feed them the dead leaves they had
brought.</p>
<p class='c007'>At this time Big Nose made a great discovery.
He had chased a fat lizard over the rocks and had
seen it disappear into the hollow of a tree that
lay prone on the river bank. Immediately he
poked violently with a long rod of bamboo, in
order to drive the lizard out. To him the fresh
flesh of the lizard was sweeter than any other
meat.</p>
<p class='c007'>On removing the rod, Big Nose found the end
of it warm. From one side to the other, Big Nose
<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>tipped his brown head, like a great monkey, in an
effort to understand this new experience. Then
he trotted off to make known these things to the
tribe.</p>
<p class='c007'>Soon all the Cave People gathered around the
dead tree, chattering curiously. Big Nose thrust
the bamboo rod into the hollow trunk and pulled
it out again. But this time it was not warm. The
friction of the bamboo rubbed violently against
the dry wood of the tree had caused the heat before,
but Big Nose did not know this.</p>
<p class='c007'>For a long time the Cave People chattered and
gesticulated about the tree while Big Nose continually
made the fire sign, waving his fingers upward,
like smoke arising. One by one all the
Cave People threw themselves upon their bellies
and gazed into the hollow trunk. But they saw
nothing.</p>
<p class='c007'>At last Big Nose again thrust the bamboo into
the tree, this time angrily, jamming it in and out
with all the strength of his great arms. And the
end of the rod came forth warm again. Then
every member of the tribe must have his turn in
thrusting. Each one sought to outdo his fellows
in the frenzy of his movements.</p>
<p class='c007'>Meanwhile the end of the rod had worn away,
leaving a soft inflammable saw-dust in the old tree.
And when Light Foot sent the rod in and out
sharply with her strong, brown arms, the end of
the bamboo came forth smoking.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>A flood of excited chatterings greeted her
success and the Cave People cried “Food! Food!”
which was the word they used for “eat” also.
For they thought the Fire (within the tree) had
begun to eat the bamboo rod. Many of them ran
about gathering dry leaves to feed the Fire.</p>
<p class='c007'>When the rod came forth at last, with its end
a dull glow, Light Foot laid it on the rocks in the
dead leaves. A soft breeze came from the river
and coaxed the embers into a blaze. And the Cave
People jabbered frantically as they gathered
brush and wood.</p>
<p class='c007'>Often they threw themselves on the rocks to
gaze in wonder into the hollow tree. But many of
them believed Light Foot had driven the Fire
from the tree trunk, just as they had often forced
out the lizard.</p>
<p class='c007'>Thus for the first time in the memory of the
tribe, a fire was kindled. And the hand of the
maiden, Light Foot, had worked the miracle. The
Cave People laughed and danced and sat in the
Hollow long into the darkness; for security came
with the Fire and their forest enemies were
afraid.</p>
<p class='c007'>But a time came when great rains fell and
the Fire died away with every drop. And Strong
Arm gathered a brand and carried it into his cave.
But the smoke from the burning choked him and
forced him out. Then he carried the Fire to the
hollow of a tree that towered very high, and he
<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>fed the Fire in this hollow. There it lived for
many suns, eating slowly into the tree trunk on
one side.</p>
<hr class='c013' />
<p class='c007'>The Sun saw many strange mysteries on the
day when the Cave People first came upon the
great canyon. It was during the period of the
year that comes before the season of plenty.</p>
<p class='c007'>Keen hunger assailed every living thing and
sent them forth, sharp-eyed into the forest. The
wild hog grew strong and wary from the struggles
of the hard and meagre days. The green
snakes hidden away, waited continually for the
small forest folk to run into their coils. The lank
black bear grew bold and desperate with the
hunger passion and the Cave People acquired a
new skill in hunting.</p>
<p class='c007'>Beside the strength of their forest enemies,
they were weak indeed. But armed with their
long, sharp bone weapons, and a wonderful cunning,
they fought in all their numbers and were
able to triumph over the animals of the forest.</p>
<p class='c007'>With eyes keen and tense hands gripping their
weapons, they followed the trail of the black bear
which led them through strange ways. At the
breaking of a twig, they paused. And no falling
leaf escaped them. Sounds they made none, as
they slipped through the deep woods, one before
the other.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>At last they came to an open space, where the
trees ceased to grow and where the tracks of the
bear were lost in a rocky way. Beyond them lay
the canyon, which had been once the bed of a river.
Only the waters of the spring rains lay in the hollows
of the rocks that lined its bottom.</p>
<p class='c007'>Here the Cave People halted, for they knew
not which way the black bear had taken, nor how
to follow her. As they separated to seek further
for her tracks, no word was spoken. Only Strong
Arm gave a low grunt of approval, as his comrades
departed.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then, in the silence of the old world, it came,
the strange voice echoing down the great canyon,
grunting in the tones of Strong Arm! The whole
tribe heard it and they paused, motionless, while
their eyes swept the canyon for him who had
spoken. But they saw no one.</p>
<p class='c007'>Silently they gathered together, with weapons
raised. But the stillness remained unbroken.
Then Strong Arm raised his voice in a soft
“Wough!” And in his own tone, the Echo answered
him, “Wough!”</p>
<p class='c007'>It was very strange. The Cave People could
not understand. But they forgot the black bear
and sent their voices ringing down the great
canyon. Came again the echo, in many tones,
back to them.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then a great chattering arose among them,
<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>and even as they spoke, the chatterings of many
voices arose from the canyon.</p>
<p class='c007'>“Wough-ee!” said the Cave People. And
they gave a sign in the gesture language, for they
thought the sounds were the voices of their enemies,
the Hairy Folk.</p>
<p class='c007'>With great caution they departed to the point
whence the sounds had come. Not boldly, but by
varied paths they made their way, slowly, concealing
themselves behind the rocks and the trees
as they progressed. Long they hunted, one and
all, but no man they found, nor any signs of man,
and they returned at length to the mouth of the
great canyon.</p>
<p class='c007'>Again their voices rang down the bed of the
old river, this time defiantly. And the Echoes replied
once more, challenging them. The Cave People
grew angry and the search was continued, but
they found no one. And they were compelled to
return to their caves in the Hollow with hearts
heavy with wrath against the Hairy Folk.</p>
<p class='c007'>Often they returned to the great canyon, bearing
their bone weapons. There they remained
long in hiding, awaiting the advent of the enemy,
till at last they learned no one was there. Then
the mystery grew more strange, for no man could
tell whence came the voices that replied to them.</p>
<p class='c007'>But there came a time when the Cave People
believed that these cries were the voices of the
spirits that came to hunt with them, in their dream
<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>journeyings. No longer were they afraid. Only
a great awe filled them and much wonder concerning
these things.</p>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_078.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_080.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='figcenter id002'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_081.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<h2 class='c005'>VI<br/> THE FLOOD</h2></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>Early in the spring the snows began
to melt on the mountain tops,
many miles above the Hollow, and
to run down into little streams that
lost themselves in the great river.
Day by day the waters of the river
arose along its banks. The Cave
People gave little heed, for they
had much to do at this time, to satisfy
their hunger. Only the Old
Woman bent her eyes on the
whirling waters with fear and
dread in her heart.</p>
<p class='c007'>Long before the memory of the
other members of the tribe, she recalled
a time when the waters had
clambered over the river banks and
spread many a day’s journey into
the deep forests. Many of her
<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>brothers and her sisters had been swallowed up
by the angry waters. The members of her tribe
had been scattered and joined new tribes. Since
those days, she had always feared the river, when
it rose in the spring.</p>
<p class='c007'>When she warned the Cave People, one and all,
they listened to her words, but they knew not what
to do. And always the river rose higher and higher
and its current grew more swift, tearing away
the young saplings that grew low down, and bearing
them swiftly away.</p>
<p class='c007'>But the Cave People had need of great skill
these days to satisfy the hunger of the tribe. A
new activity seemed born unto them. Eyes grew
keen for the tracks of the wild boar and their ears
were open for a sound of the foot of the forest
enemies.</p>
<p class='c007'>Sharp eyes everywhere pierced the woods and
glanced from the branches of trees, for man and
beast had need to be ever alert and watchful to
survive the dreary period of the hard seasons.
The black bear appeared, thin and dangerous. But
the Cave People eluded and outwitted her. Across
yawning cracks in the ground or over great hollows,
they threw branches of trees. And upon
these branches they threw dead fish and smeared
the blood of the wild duck.</p>
<p class='c007'>Through the woods the smell of fresh blood
reached the keen nose of the bear and she made
her way thither to satisfy the hunger that gnawed
<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>her continually. But the branches gave way under
her great bulk and she fell crashing into the
pit below, where the Cave People killed her with
their long bone weapons.</p>
<p class='c007'>It was after one of these great bear feasts,
when the Cave People had fed the Fire into a
roaring blaze to protect them from the animals
that grew over-bold at this season of the year,
that the Old Woman renewed her warnings. The
waters of the great river continued to climb upward
and there remained but a little way before
they should overflow the banks.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then the Old Woman gathered the members
of the tribe together and told them the story of
her childhood days. The new words of the tribe
came stumblingly to her lips, therefore she made
known her thoughts chiefly in the gesture language.</p>
<p class='c007'>First she pointed to the land across the river,
waving her wrinkled hands northward. That way
lay the home of her birth. Many, many years
before—she held up both hands to indicate the
time was beyond the power of counting—she had
lived with her fathers and mothers, on a river
bank. Very small she was in those days. Her
head came only to the thigh of a man.</p>
<p class='c007'>Came a time when the waters of the river crept
up over the lands, just as they had begun to steal
over the wood north of the Hollow. The people
of her tribe had climbed into the great trees, but
<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>with the coming of every new sun, the waters rose
higher and higher. Long the waters continued to
climb till they became a great surging flood, creeping
through the forest and at last joining the
waters of the river that flowed beside the homes
of the Cave People. Over all the world there remained
no dry land.</p>
<p class='c007'>And the Old Woman, who was then a child,
dwelt for many suns with her fathers and mothers,
in the tall trees.</p>
<p class='c007'>But there came one day a storm, when the
waters foamed and whirled and tore up the trunks
of the great trees and hurled them into the flood.
And the limbs of the tree, on which the Old
Woman clung, were beaten and bent in the mighty
struggle till at last, she was whipped from the
branches and thrown into the waters, as nuts are
shaken from the trees.</p>
<p class='c007'>And the Old Woman was borne away in the
swift current. She heard many cries, as the
waters threw her about, and some of her people
leaped into the flood to save her. But she was
beaten about like a leaf in the wind and unable to
call to them.</p>
<p class='c007'>Soon she found herself dashed against the
trunk of a tree, and she climbed upon it and clung
to it for a long time. Often she grew very weary
and slipped back into the waters, but always she
clung to the branches of the tree, till, at last, she
had been washed ashore. And she made her way
<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>into the new land till she came, by and by, to the
homes of the Cave Dwellers.</p>
<p class='c007'>Tubers they fed her and the eggs of the wild
fowl. And she remained with them and became a
member of the tribe.</p>
<p class='c007'>Never again had the Old Woman beheld the
people of her own tribe, save at night when she
dreamed on her bed of dry leaves in the deep cave.
Sometimes they returned to her then and told her
strange things.</p>
<p class='c007'>Thus the Old Woman told her story and when
she was finished a trembling seized her brown
body and she gazed long at the swift waters of
the river. Of the color of the leaves, touched by
the frosts of winter, were her wrinkled hands,
with which she pointed toward the river. And
the Cave People were seized with fear also, for
even as they watched, small rivulets crept over the
banks and trickled down into the Hollow.</p>
<p class='c007'>Heavy rains fell all through the day that followed
and the small streams of water that overflowed
the banks found their way into all the little
hollows, filling them. At night when the Cave
Dwellers sought their caves, their hearts were
filled with dread.</p>
<p class='c007'>Quack Quack crouched close to Strong Arm,
with her arms about little Laughing Boy. The
rumbling and roar of the waters sounded in their
ears, as the swollen river tore downward in her
course. But, after a time, they fell asleep and forgot
<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>their terrors, till the cries of their brothers
and sisters aroused them toward the morning.</p>
<p class='c007'>Now the cave in which Strong Arm slept was
upon a point above the caves of the other members
of the tribe, but when he arose and rolled the great
stone from the entrance of the cave, the snarling
waters curled about his feet and wet them. And,
when he looked into the Hollow, a strange sight
met his eyes. For the river had risen in the darkness,
covering the face of the world. Every moment
the waters surged savagely onward over the
land, into the deep woods, as though they meant to
devour the whole earth.</p>
<p class='c007'>At those points where the ground rose higher
than the surrounding land, clustered the Cave
People, chattering in terror and clinging desperately
upon whatsoever their hands found. Very
quickly Strong Arm called Quack Quack and
Laughing Boy. And he assisted them to mount to
the top of the cave, where Laughing Boy whimpered
with fear. They heard the voice of the Old
Woman, calling shrilly to them, as she pointed
towards the branches of the tall trees in the forest,
where they might find safety.</p>
<p class='c007'>And many members of the tribe cast themselves
into the waters that rose steadily every
moment, and swam toward the woods. But the
waters tossed them and the current pushed them
ever backward. Often they were struck by great
<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>floating logs, that rolled over and over when they
sought to climb up on them.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then, amid the great tumult, was heard the
voice of Light Foot and the sounds of Big Nose,
her man, also. And when the Cave People
looked about, they discovered a flood of huge logs
and dead trees that had been jammed before the
entrance of the cave wherein dwelt these two,
barring the way out.</p>
<p class='c007'>And every man in the whole tribe forgot his
desire for safety to answer the cry for help that
Light Foot sent up. For, among the Cave Dwellers,
there was a great tenderness among the men
and women of the tribe. The word of a woman
bore great weight, for it was the joy of every man
to please and aid her.</p>
<p class='c007'>So Strong Arm threw himself into the water,
with a cry to his brothers, while Quack Quack remained
upon the top of the cave holding Laughing
Boy in her arms, lest he be harmed.</p>
<p class='c007'>Long the members of the tribe struggled with
the current, till at last they reached the cave of
Light Foot where she struggled with the logs that
shut her in. With all their strength these strong
men tugged and plucked at the trees. But with
every effort the waters bore back on them, jamming
the logs into a wedge again, between the
cave and the rocks, till the Old Woman thought
they should all be drowned.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>At last, however, Strong Arm thrust a great
stick between the cave and the jam of trees and
Big Nose and Light Foot were able to add their
strength in diverting the danger. Soon they were
free and making their way, with those who had
saved them, toward the woods. It is well to note
here, too, that the cave men thought always of the
women, lending them every aid and that there
was not one forgotten amid grave peril.</p>
<p class='c007'>Not till it was too late to effect his rescue, however,
did the Cave People remember Old Grey
Beard, who had also become imprisoned in his
cave. At that time the waters tore about the
tops of the rocks and they knew it was too late to
help him.</p>
<p class='c007'>Although many swam for the woods, few arrived
there. Strong Arm, Quack Quack and
Laughing Boy, who had followed their friends,
soon found themselves regretting the rocks above
their cave. For all the drift borne down the
river by the swift waters, seemed hemmed and
wedged about the woods. Over these logs it was
impossible to pass. For they rolled and dipped
under the feet, dumping the Cave People back into
the boiling water, sometimes crushing them
between the great logs.</p>
<p class='c007'>Strong Arm progressed beneath the debris,
but he was unable to find an opening to come up,
and was compelled to return to Quack Quack and
Laughing Boy, who swam about the edge of the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>great mass of logs, awaiting him. Very dizzy he
was and his lungs collapsed with his breath as he
appeared, for the struggle against the current was
almost beyond his strength.</p>
<p class='c007'>Again and again they sought to reach the
woods where they might find shelter in the trees,
but each time they failed. It was impossible to
advance and the strong current rendered it still
more difficult to go back.</p>
<p class='c007'>And every moment the waters rose. Logs
whirled swiftly past with many of the forest animals
clinging to them. Now and then they saw
one of the Hairy Folk tossed and straining to
reach the trees. The Silent One, who clung to
one of the cane rafts, was flung into the whirling
jam, by the current, and crushed like a dry leaf in
the hand. As far as the eye could reach the foaming
waters tore their way through the woods.
But between the Cave Dwellers who clung to the
skirts of the jam, and the safety of the forest
trees, it seemed there floated and rocked and
churned all the trees of a great world of woods,
plucked out and cast there by the great river, in
order to mock them.</p>
<p class='c007'>But the Cave People clung tenaciously, while
the great mass of logs strained and tore each
other, or were flung away in the current. At last
the great hollow tree, in which Strong Arm had
kept the Fire alive, was borne down, for its trunk
was old with fire and with rot. As it was tossed
<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>onward in the mighty current, Strong Arm, with
Laughing Boy and Quack Quack close at his side,
made their way toward it with a great effort. As
it whirled past them, they flung their arms over
the rough bark and clung to it.</p>
<p class='c007'>Soon they were able to climb into the burned
out hollow of the tree, where they lay shivering
with fear. The trunk of the tree made a kind of
boat the Cave People had never seen, for only the
burned out portion at the end lay open and dipped
into the waters. In the hollow they lay for a long
time, till their strength returned and their fears
fell. Then they sat up and looked about.</p>
<p class='c007'>The rains had ceased and the sun made his way
high in the heavens, and they were borne swiftly
along in the great log. Often they crashed into
the branches of trees that rose just above the
water. But always Strong Arm, Quack Quack
and Laughing Boy clung tightly. They did not
mean to be hurled into the waters again.</p>
<p class='c007'>But they were checked in their fearful journey,
at last, when the hollow log was driven amid
the interwoven trunks and branches of a tall
banyan. There it lay, tossing in the boughs, as
safe as though it had been anchored securely. For
the current of the river sucked and drove it always
more strongly into the arms of the tree.</p>
<p class='c007'>Soon a great chattering arose among the
branches that dipped now and then into the angry
<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>waters, and in a moment they beheld the Foolish
One and a man from the tribe of the Hairy Folk,
who called to them.</p>
<p class='c007'>And Laughing Boy forgot his terrors as he
seized a bough and made his way into the tree, for
safety, while Quack Quack and Strong Arm followed
him.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then arose such a jabbering as was never before
heard in the old banyan, while Strong Arm
and the Foolish One made known their adventures.
Also they talked to the man from the tribe of the
Hairy Folk in the gesture language.</p>
<p class='c007'>Where the limbs of the tree ran far out over
the whirling waters, Laughing Boy found the long
deep nests of the oo-ee-a. Often the branches bent
beneath his feet and threatened to give way under
him, but his lightness enabled him to secure these
treasures. And together, the Foolish One, Strong
Arm, Quack Quack, Laughing Boy and the man
from the tribe of the Hairy Folk made a supper
upon the eggs of the oo-ee-a. Then they sought
out forked branches, where they curled themselves
up and fell asleep.</p>
<p class='c007'>The waters roared and thundered beneath.
Dead trees and old logs beat against their new
refuge in the great banyan, but they wound their
arms and legs about the limbs of the tree and
found rest.</p>
<p class='c007'>Thus, they dwelt in the old banyan, with a wild
fowl now and then, a fish, or a few gulls’ eggs to
<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>satisfy their hanger, while the river sank lower
and lower into its old channel. Every day the
waters receded and slipped back into the river
bed, till Strong Arm declared the time was come
when they might venture forth toward the land
of their fathers.</p>
<div class='figcenter id002'>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_092.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='figcenter id002'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_094.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_095.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<h2 class='c005'>VII<br/> BIG FOOT’S NEW WEAPON</h2></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The great flood that came in the spring brought
death and misery to the tribes of savages
that lived upon the banks of the river. Many
were drowned in the swift waters, while others
were borne away and scattered in strange lands.
A few members of the tribe of Cave Dwellers
found safety in the trees near the old Hollow. Far
below, many of their brothers and sisters, with
the men and women of other tribes, clung to the
great trees where they also found security.</p>
<p class='c007'>Strong Arm, Quack Quack and little Laughing
Boy were among these. With the Foolish One
and the Hairy Man they lived in the great banyan
until the river crept back into its old channel.
Then they descended upon the earth once more
and began their long journey toward the Hollow,
<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>where they had lived with a small group of Cave
Dwellers, the people of their own tribe.</p>
<p class='c007'>All the face of the world seemed covered with
a layer of rich mud, deposited by the river. The
sun grew warmer with every day and a hot steam
arose continually from the earth. Strong Arm
and his little band made their way slowly, for the
moist air gave them a fever and weakened them.
Always it was very difficult to find food, for the
roots lay buried in the soft mud. It was necessary
to search in the branches of the trees for the
nests of birds, and occasionally they found a few
gulls’ eggs.</p>
<p class='c007'>For two nights they had slept in the limbs of
trees, while Strong Arm watched wearily lest
an enemy approach.</p>
<p class='c007'>Already at this early stage in their journey
the rank grasses of the tropics were springing up.
A thousand creeping things thrust out their heads
from the mud and slime. And the tracks of the
black bear, the wooly-haired rhinoceros and the
sabre-toothed tiger were seen once more along the
river bank.</p>
<p class='c007'>Very cautiously this small band of savages advanced,
for they had only rough sticks to use in
defending themselves. On the third day they
had traveled but a little way and of eggs they
found none, nor any other thing. Their stomachs
cried for food and they ventured beyond the skirts
<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>of the wood, where dangers lurked, seeking something
with which to satisfy their hunger.</p>
<p class='c007'>Strong Arm advanced, with caution, ahead of
the little party. When he had gone but a little
way, before him, from the cane, there arose suddenly
a huge man. He was taller than any man
among the tribe of the Cave Dwellers, and with
a stout stick he struck Strong Arm a blow on
the head that dashed him to the ground. Though
the arm of the big man was swift, it was not much
quicker than Quack Quack, who threw herself upon
him from behind. Laughing Boy added his
blows to hers, scratching and biting the legs of
the stranger with all his young power, till he also
lay motionless.</p>
<p class='c007'>A soft movement in the cane announced the
presence of another and more wary enemy. But
the blows of Quack Quack, the Hairy Man and
the Foolish One soon drove him from cover, where
they beat him freely, till he threw up his hands
in a gesture of submission.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then, borne on the winds that swept the old
forest, came a faint smell of fresh meat to the
nostrils of the hungry group. The anger of the
travelers was soon forgotten and Strong Arm
now commanded the two strangers to lead them to
the feast. With a great show of friendliness, they
limped forward and conducted their victors to a
fire that blazed above a pile of rocks.</p>
<p class='c007'>And they poked away the coals that covered
<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>a basin fashioned among the stones, like a great
oven. Covered with large leaves, lay the roasted
body of a man, which the two strangers dragged
steaming from the flames. Then the Cave Dwellers
and the strangers seized each his portion of
the meat and fell to eating. And the flesh of the
roasted man seemed very good to them.</p>
<p class='c007'>Till the new moon grew round and full, the
Cave People and the Hairy Man remained with
the strangers, while the water slowly drained off
the swampy river banks and the way toward their
old home in the Hollow became more safe.</p>
<p class='c007'>They now had always the wonderful Fire with
which to protect themselves against the forest animals.
No caves there were and the trees abounded
with the green snakes and many other enemies,
but for all these the small group of men and
Quack Quack, the woman, were not harmed.</p>
<p class='c007'>Upon the rocks they kept the fire burning continually
and at night they slept securely while
some among them fed the blaze.</p>
<p class='c007'>Very soon the Cave People began to call the
shorter of the two strangers Big Foot, because
his feet were very long. The other they called
Tall, on account of his extreme height.</p>
<p class='c007'>Although Strong Arm, Quack Quack and the
Foolish One were from tribes strange to Big Foot
and Tall, they were all able to understand each
other perfectly, by means of the simple gesture
language common to all tribes in the lower stage
<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>of savagery. Thus, the Hairy Man, from still
another tribe, had no difficulty in making himself
understood, nor in learning the thoughts or
wishes of his companions.</p>
<p class='c007'>One day, when hunting, the little band came
upon a flint pit. To the Cave People the old gravel
bed meant nothing, but Tall and Big Foot became
greatly excited, and they grabbed the flakes
that had become chipped from the flint cores and
dashed them violently against a great stone lying
near. Faint sparks flew. Then Tall covered the
rocks with the feathers of a dead fowl and struck
among them with the flint flake. Soon the feathers
were ignited by the sparks. And Strong Arm
and Quack Quack marveled at the Fire Beast
which the strange rock had been able to summon.</p>
<p class='c007'>The tribe from whence Tall and Big Foot came,
had long known the use of flint in kindling fires,
and well they knew the treasures they had found.
From them the Cave People learned, also, and
Strong Arm and Quack Quack bore with them always
thereafter, one of these strange and wonderful
stones, with which they soon became able
to call forth the Fire Beast to their protection.</p>
<p class='c007'>More and more, as the days passed, Tall
taught them wonderful things. The flesh they
cooked remained sweet for many days and did not
grow rank with time, as raw meat did. Thus a
new hope sprang up in the hearts of the Cave
People, for armed with these rude flints, they
<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>were able at any time to kindle a fire and protect
themselves from the forest enemies. Also they
cooked their food and, this made possible the
long, dangerous journey to the land of their
fathers.</p>
<p class='c007'>In spite of the height of Tall and the long
limbs and great muscles of Big Foot, they wished
always to carry out the desires of Quack Quack.
Not only was she a woman, and for all women
they cherished a great tenderness, but also was
she strong, and both these men were unable to
forget the blows she had given them when first
they had attacked the Cave Dwellers and their little
band. To Quack Quack, therefore, they looked
for commands and they obeyed her words and
gestures, while they sought her good will. But
in spite of all this, Strong Arm remained the leader
over all, for he was able to stand up before
any man in the group, and the words which he
spoke and the desires he made known were always
for the good of the band.</p>
<p class='c007'>So it came about naturally that when Strong
Arm and Quack Quack signified their desire to
return to the Hollow, which was the old home
of the Cave People, that the Hairy Man, Tall
and Big Foot gave heed to them.</p>
<p class='c007'>And they all made preparations for the journey.
The large bones which they had found,
were made formidable, when they were cracked
and split open at the end. Also they gathered
<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>knotted limbs from the trees, which the Cave People
were accustomed to wave savagely around
their heads, crushing in the skulls of the enemy.</p>
<p class='c007'>But they prized nothing so highly as the rough
pieces of flint flakes which they dug from the
old gravel bed. Wonder and awe they felt for
these strange stones, and not a little fear. To
them even inanimate things possessed life, and
the small flakes of flint were only a new, queer sort
of animal that had hitherto befriended them by
calling forth the great Fire Beast. These might
also be capable of doing them harm, and it was
with deep feelings of uncertainty that they first
began to use these wonderful flint rocks.</p>
<p class='c007'>In the hunt which preceded their departure,
the little band were fortunate in snaring a fat
young boar. They speedily killed him and
dragged his body to the top of a small rocky hill.
And they pulled out the loose stones, building a
deep, basin-like oven, into which they put the
body. This they covered with green palm leaves.
Then a fire was kindled over this great oven and
everybody made ready for the feast.</p>
<p class='c007'>But the fragrant odor of roast meat reached
the nose of the sabre-toothed tiger and he followed
the scent till he came to the small camp.
And all the stray members of the little band
crouched low on the opposite side of the big blaze
in mortal terror. For here there were no caves in
which they could take refuge and their numbers
<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>were too few for them to fight the enemy safely
in the open.</p>
<p class='c007'>But all the loose stones they had dislodged and
pulled out when building the great oven, lay about
them. And they gathered them up and piled them
high like a great wall, for they feared an attack
from the rear. And the rude wall of stones rose
almost to their waists.</p>
<p class='c007'>Very warily the tiger crept up the hill and approached
the flames. The wind bore the smell of
the roasting meat squarely into his teeth, and
lured him on. But the wind carried, too, the thick
smoke upon him, and he choked and paused to
reconnoiter. As the wind died down he advanced
hungrily, but the smoke and sparks from the
flames sent him back to the foot of the hill.</p>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_102.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<p class='c007'>The little band of savages watched him, while
their limbs trembled and their hair stood on end.
Between them and the tiger roared the tall sheet
<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>of flames, but soon he began to circle the hill seeking
an easy way to attack. Below the rude wall,
erected by them, the terrifying smoke and flying
sparks no longer threatened. And he sniffed the
air and advanced cautiously.</p>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_103.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<p class='c007'>In the meantime, the small band of savages
were rendered almost beside themselves with fear.
Of weapons they had none. All their new sharp
bone spears lay at the foot of the hill, with the
great knotted clubs. The Foolish One started one
of the big stones rolling down upon the tiger, but
it passed instead of deterring him.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then Strong Arm seized a large burning
bough and hurled it straight into the great beast’s
face. But the tiger crouched low on the ground
and the blazing torch passed over his head without
harming him. Low he lay, with his long striped
tail swaying to and fro, like the tail of a great
<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>cat. His eyes glowed with rage and fear and his
lips were curled back in a snarl of fury.</p>
<p class='c007'>Of all things in the old forest the strange, red,
flaming fire alone had caused him to hesitate. The
fierce unknown spat out a breath of hot smoke that
bit into his muscular throat and choked him and
the hot blaze held a menace that thrilled his long,
lank body with a new fear.</p>
<p class='c007'>Still he did not give up. Never in all his
strong, free life in the forest had he ever given
up. But he retreated to the foot of the hill, circling
round and round it once more.</p>
<p class='c007'>Long he continued, with his body crouched low,
and his head thrown up, scenting at once the rich
odor of the roasting boar, and the thick smoke,
so full of strange menace.</p>
<p class='c007'>Again and again he advanced, driven by the
hunger within him, only to retreat because of the
fear that would not be subdued. But as the sun
sank low in the west, the little band scattered the
flames and dragged out the roasted body of the
young boar. From this they tore, eagerly, great
chunks of the warm and dripping flesh and devoured
them and one and all they thought no meat
had ever tasted so sweet before.</p>
<p class='c007'>During the feast they watched the tiger always,
and they laid new branches upon the fire
to keep it alive. But ere any one was filled—as
savages were used to fill their stomachs after a
long period of fasting—Strong Arm made known
<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>his wishes. Soon everybody understood his desire
to reserve a portion of the young boar, that,
should they prove unequal to the task of driving
off the tiger, they might fling to him and escape.</p>
<p class='c007'>To his wise suggestion all listened and obeyed
except Big Foot, who declined to relinquish his
portion. It was only after Strong Arm had thrust
him down the side of the hill, threatening to hurl
him to the hungry beast below, that Big Foot
yielded. Once more Strong Arm had proven himself
the leader of the band. Once more had his
words resulted in the welfare of the group.</p>
<p class='c007'>For, the flames having subsided a little, the
smell of the meat drew old sabre-tooth irresistibly,
and he made a bold and sudden dash upon the
band.</p>
<p class='c007'>But Strong Arm was quick also and a yell of
warning he gave, as he threw a blazing bough upon
him. But the tiger leaped over it and made
his way nearer. Now the others seized burning
branches and hurled them, until he must step
straight upon the glowing coals to advance. And
the fierce fires under his feet and the sparks and
flames about him, sent the old fear through his
blood and sent the tiger down the hill and through
the forest snarling and howling with pain. Long
they hear his roarings re-echoing through the old
woods, but when darkness came on they descended
and gathered more branches and leaves to continue
the fire throughout the night.</p>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_106.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_109.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<h2 class='c005'>VIII<br/> THE FIRST PLANTING</h2></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>When the great flood, which Little Laughing
Boy imagined covered the face of all the
land, had subsided, and the roaring river fell back
into a portion of its old channel, the survivors of
the clans turned their feet toward the homes of
their fathers.</p>
<p class='c007'>There were many changes. Strange things had
occurred. Hundreds of members of the various
hordes had been lost in the flood; the river bed itself
had been twisted into a new and alarming
shape so that, on the other side of its bank, trees
had been torn up and the waters had eaten into
the earth and lapped the foot of the low hills;
the old Hollow was filled with many tons of new
black earth and many of the caves were buried
beneath the soil deposited by the river.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Hollow had been the home of the Cave
People, of Little Laughing Boy, his father, Strong
Arm, and his mother, Quack Quack. They had escaped
<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>during the flood with the Foolish One, a
member of their own tribe, and had been joined
later on by the Hairy Man, a survivor of the Hairy
Folk. And they had clung together during their
dangers and journeyings for mutual strength and
protection.</p>
<p class='c007'>When they had encountered Tall and Big Foot,
of one of the man-eating hordes, their numbers enabled
them to overcome these powerful enemies,
who joined the band and fed Laughing Boy his
first taste of roasted human flesh. These men also
taught the Cave People the wonderful power hidden
away in the flint pit, which they had discovered;
how two pieces of this strange rock could
call forth the protecting fire when struck sharply
together, and how thin pieces of this same rock
made wonderful knives with which to hack and
slay the enemy. Indeed, it was the insistence of
Big Foot in carrying away several pieces of this
new rock that caused the others to do likewise,
although it was a long time before any of them
returned to the flint pit and began to use flint regularly
in making weapons.</p>
<p class='c007'>In spite of the large number of men and women
and children who lost their lives in the great flood,
this was a time of progress, a time when all the
tribes learned many new things. The surviving
Hairy Folk were thrown with members of the
tribe of Cave People—and learned the use of fire.
The Tree Dwellers were forced to walk upon the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>ground and learned new methods of fishing and
hunting from the Cave People, the fashioning of
rafts made of bamboo poles bound together with
tough grasses and wild vines, which one could
propel in the water by paddling with the hands.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Tall People, who contributed a meagre
knowledge of flint, gained the use of the bow and
arrow from their old enemies, the Dart Throwers.
It was a time when men learned much. Of course,
many of these things were forgotten in the days
of ease and plenty, until the children of the members
of the tribes discovered or invented or were
shown them all over again in the years that followed.</p>
<p class='c007'>Strong Arm and Quack Quack and Laughing
Boy, in company with the Foolish One and Tall
and Big Foot and the Hairy Man, followed the
shore of the river in order to reach the home of
the Cave People. Scarcely a sound they made,
as they wound their way through the heavy
grasses that sprung up, with the magic of the
tropics, from the rich soil left by the flood.</p>
<p class='c007'>Of food there was now every day a greater
abundance. Fruits ripened and grew luscious
over night. Hundreds of fish were left in shallows
by the receding flood where they could be gathered
by hand. And it was impossible to avoid stumbling
over the egg-filled nests of the gulls and the
oo-ee-a.</p>
<p class='c007'>Also there were unknown dangers, and Tall
<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>grew ill with a fever that made the touch of his
hands like the flames of the protecting fire. And
although Big Foot and Quack Quack brought him
every day fresh fruit and other food, which they
sometimes roasted in the coals, he drove them
away. Steadily he grew worse until madness
came into his eyes and his voice rose above the
quiet of the night and Laughing Boy grew fearful
in spite of the friendly fire. For the roars of
the sick man, Tall, echoed through the woods and
the forest enemies would hear and approach.</p>
<p class='c007'>But Tall could not be restrained. A new
strength that comes with the fever fed his veins,
and a night came when he thrust his companions
from him and disappeared, screaming into the
woods. They never saw him again. For as he
ran, his wild cries filled the night and the very
branches of the trees seemed to waken with the
tumult.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then came the grim howl of the hyena and the
soft fall of padded feet upon the earth. Down the
gulley a strange voice arose. Life stirred in the
bushes and the hair on the head of Laughing Boy
rose in terror.</p>
<p class='c007'>Farther and farther receded the wailings of
the sick man till at last a howl re-echoed in the
darkness that brought the band of tribes people
huddling together in fear. For it was the cry of
the sabre-toothed tiger. Came then a stillness
<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>with only the voice of Tall driving the sweat out
upon their bodies.</p>
<p class='c007'>And while the little band fed the friendly fire
and gathered near its protecting flames, they
waited for the end of the sick man. It came at
last, one long scream of agony, when the greatest
enemy of all the hordes came upon him.</p>
<p class='c007'>Big Foot knew and Strong Arm knew and the
others of the tribes knew also that the danger to
themselves was over for the night, but long they
crouched in the light of the flames, ears twitching,
nostrils quivering, like images of bronze frozen
with fear.</p>
<hr class='c013' />
<p class='c007'>Many other adventures befell the mixed group
from the different clans, on their journeyings toward
the Hollow which had been the home of the
Cave People. There were dangers encountered
and evaded or overcome in every hour of these
eventful days. But at last they reached the ridge
above the edge of the Hollow. Quack Quack and
Strong Arm and the Foolish One and the others
climbed the hill and gazed over into what had
been once a lovely valley. But much of this lay
filled with the soil left by the flood. Tall grasses
waved in the breeze, and many new blossoms lifted
their heads. And nearly all of the old familiar
caves were filled with mud and covered up.</p>
<p class='c007'>It was all very queer. And while they proceeded
<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>with caution, as men going into a strange
land, the brush before them parted and they beheld
the grinning features of Big Nose and Light
Foot and behind them others of the Cave People,
and a fuzzy woman from among the Hairy Folk
and strange people and former enemies from the
other clans, all of whom had escaped the flood and
wandered back toward the dwelling places of their
tribes.</p>
<p class='c007'>And Strong Arm scooped out the soil that had
been washed against the opening of a high cave
upon the hill and entered it to rest after his long
journey. And he dug with his hands into the
soft earth, for he remembered the tubers he had
buried there one day when he had been hunting
with the men of the tribe, for he was hungry. And
lo! <i>many</i> juicy tubers he found where he had
buried only two or three. And Strong Arm and
Quack Quack ate of the potatoes, while, for a
Cave-man, Strong Arm pondered deeply on these
things.</p>
<p class='c007'>He thought much of <i>one</i> tuber and how it had
made <i>many</i> tubers, and recalled the words of his
father, who had spoken of the <i>mother</i> potato.
Then he felt Quack Quack at his side and forgot
the matter and fell asleep.</p>
<p class='c007'>Necessity has been the great spur to the progress
of mankind, and it is probable that over and
over again, in the early stages of primitive culture,
the use of fire was discovered and lost and
<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>forgotten and regained before men realized the
need which fire supplied. It is almost certain that
the art of pottery was discovered and lost and
rediscovered times without number. It is equally
certain that it took primitive man many, many
long, dark years to learn to plan for the periods
of want and famine.</p>
<p class='c007'>In tropical countries, where food was to be
had in abundance almost the whole year around,
no necessity arose for the raising of crops. Man
would never have felt the need of learning to cultivate
food stuffs in this environment.</p>
<p class='c007'>Savages had only the vaguest notions of the
relation of cause and effect. It was necessary for
buried tubers to sprout new potatoes year after
year, for the plants to multiply before their very
eyes and the <i>necessity</i> of planting food to have
arisen before the relation of sowing and reaping
could begin to mean anything to them. Only then
did <i>planting</i> assume any tribal significance.</p>
<p class='c007'>Doubtless it was in some semi-tropical country
that the discovery of Strong Arm first began to
make an impression upon the awakening minds of
the early savages. Buried sweet yams and others
of the potato family which had multiplied and become
many yams or potatoes, must have been a
wonderful windfall when discovered by the half
starved tribes, in the midst of a long season of
want. The cause of their growing would then be
carefully observed by the clans.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>Be sure that it was necessity that forced the
first early savage to sow and bury against the
days of coming hunger. Man did not take naturally
to work. For several hundreds of thousands
of years he dwelt in tropical or semi-tropical
lands, where food was usually plentiful, it was
only an urgent need that forced him to sow and
till the soil. Before that time he had dwelt in the
continual problems of the day and had been compelled
to give no real thought nor plan for the
morrow.</p>
<hr class='c013' />
<p class='c007'>Strong Arm slept in the cave with Quack Quack
after their long journey back to the home of their
fathers. And he dreamed a dream wherein he
saw Tall, the great man from the strange tribe,
alive and walking about, just as he had done before
the sickness came upon him when he had
wandered out into the night and met the sabre-toothed
tiger.</p>
<p class='c007'>And in his dream Strong Arm saw Tall stand
before his cave and thrust many tubers in the
ground where one tuber had been. And when
Strong Arm awoke he told Quack Quack and his
brothers and Laughing Boy of his dream in the
few words he knew and in signs and pantomime.</p>
<p class='c007'>And so much Strong Arm wondered that
when he ate of the fish that had been roasting, he
removed one fish from the ashes and carried it
to his cave, where he buried it in the soft earth.
<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>Then he took the bones of a young boar and buried
them also, for when these bones are cracked the
marrow is very sweet to eat. He desired one fish
to grow into a hundred fish and the bones of one
wild pig to become a whole forest of bones.</p>
<p class='c007'>And he tried to tell these things to the tribe—to
say that perhaps it was the Spirit of Tall which
would come in the night and make many fish out
of one and a forest of bones from one young boar.
The Cave People came and watched him at his
labors and chattered and gesticulated and wondered.</p>
<p class='c007'>And in the morning they gathered about to eat
of the many fish which Strong Arm hoped to find
in the earth in his cave, and to crack the bones
and partake of the marrow. But there were only
the fish and the bones which Strong Arm had
planted and he sat down upon his haunches and
wept bitterly. The Cave People were disappointed,
and Big Foot mocked him.</p>
<p class='c007'>Perhaps Strong Arm was one of the first experimenters.
He did not give up altogether. Occasionally
the thought of many little tubers grown
from one big tuber, would seize hold of him, and
one day he buried a yellow yam, which resembled
our sweet potatoes, and turned up the ground
the next day only to find that it had not become a
whole dinner of sweet potatoes. He was not sure
that Tall, the dead man, or the Spirit of Tall had
anything to do with these things. Tall had not
<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>returned again to Strong Arm in his dreams. It
was all very strange. Strong Arm did not understand.
Everything was mysterious and confused.</p>
<p class='c007'>Another time he buried several tubers. The
day following he dug them up, but he forgot one
or two of these and when, after some time, he
jammed about in the soil again, he found a whole
armful of tubers. The miracle had come back
again. And Tall, or the Spirit of the dead man,
had not returned to make possible the wonder.
The miracle was stranger than ever.</p>
<p class='c007'>Almost Strong Arm evolved an idea, an idea
that tubers (or potatoes) planted in the earth in
the sun, and left for a whole tribe of suns, might
in some mysterious manner beyond his understanding
become the mother of many potatoes.</p>
<hr class='c013' />
<p class='c007'>Then the Hairy Folk descended from the ridge,
upon the Cave People. They came with long
spears in their hands and cries of death in their
fuzzy throats, and Strong Arm and the Cave People
gave them to battle. Many were killed and
Big Foot roasted the body of one of the enemy upon
the coals and the Cave People ate the Hairy
Man with much zest and relish.</p>
<p class='c007'>And the stomachs of the Cave People were distended
with the feast and Strong Arm strutted
and danced about the fire with those who had accomplished
the victory. And he forgot all about
<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>the idea he had almost achieved, about the planting
of potatoes and the making of more sweet
yams.</p>
<p class='c007'>So the discovery, that was only half a discovery,
was lost to the tribe for many years. Doubtless
if you had reminded him of it and he could
have spoken to you in a language you would understand,
Strong Arm would have replied that
there were the Hairy Folk and the Dart Throwers
to be annihilated, the children of the tribe to
be protected and food to be provided and that he
had ceased to think of such foolish things as the
sticking of fat tubers in the ground in the hope of
making them the mothers of many little potatoes,
and anyway, these were strange things past all the
ability of any man to understand.</p>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_123.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<h2 class='c005'>IX<br/> THE FIRST POT</h2></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>Sometime before the Cave People discovered
the use of the bow and arrow, they had
learned to make clay pots or bowls. For many
years the tribe lived in the tropical lands where
the bread fruit ripened nearly the whole year
round, and where nuts were plentiful and tubers
and sweet yams were often to be found; where
there were more nests than there were trees in
the forests, filled with treasures of fresh eggs;
and there were fowl and fish. As much as the
horde loved to eat the wild duck or the cocoanut,
or even the wild honey, one and all knew that when
the hot sun beat down upon bare brown skins in
the heat of the day during the summer there was
nothing in all the valley so sweet as a drink of
water.</p>
<p class='c007'>One could go without food for many suns, but
if one day passed without fresh water for the
members of the group, fevers came upon them, the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>strange fevers that caused them to do many foolish
things.</p>
<p class='c007'>At first no member of the tribe willingly journeyed
far from the source of fresh water, for they
had nothing with which to carry water from one
place to another. Then they used cocoanut shells,
and sometimes the shells that lay upon the banks
of the great river. But these held little and were
easily upset.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then some one discovered that the hollow
joints of the giant bamboo were more easy to
carry and held more water, and these became the
first water jugs of the clan.</p>
<p class='c007'>Later, when it became the fashion for men and
women to decorate themselves with the skins of
the animals they had slain, they found that there
are many uses which hides may serve.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Cave People wore no clothes, but bound
over their shoulders they bore great weights of
skins and hides, of heads and tails, of bones and
teeth, as a mark of their skill and bravery in the
hunt. Great teeth cunningly fastened together
made necklaces that spoke every day more loudly
than a man’s voice of what that man had done.</p>
<p class='c007'>But as pride grew in these emblems of prowess,
little by little the people of the tribe began to
use these hides for other things. They found that,
with holes punched along the edges, through
which a thong might be drawn, as a gathering
string about a handbag, these skins made water
<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>bags that one could carry on a far journey, taking
with him drink for a whole day. But it was only
when the sun beat down like the flames of the fire
that they thought much on these things. Then
thoughts of water and the milk of the cocoanut
were never long absent.</p>
<p class='c007'>It was at the time of the year when the scorching
rays of the summer sun had licked dry all the
little brooks and most of the springs that Laughing
Boy and Web Toe, he who could outswim the
fastest fishes, planned an excursion over the hills
in search of wild honey.</p>
<p class='c007'>They were 14 years old and stood straight and
brown and almost as tall as the men of the tribe,
but they had not yet learned to have care for all
the dangers that lurked in the unknown ways, as
older men.</p>
<p class='c007'>They were proud of the wild skins that lay
hot and heavy on their shoulders and the teeth
that made chains about their throats. They were
never done showing the trophies they had gathered
in the hunt to their young companions. And
they boasted much, for they were more strong
than the other boys of the clan.</p>
<p class='c007'>Laughing Boy was proud of his water bag
which, when the thong was tightly drawn and the
bag was filled with water, spilled scarcely a single
drop, while Web Toe beat much of the time upon
his drum or tom-tom which he believed made the
most beautiful music in the world. This tom-tom
<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>he had made by stretching the soft skin of some
small animal over a willow branch bent and fastened
in a circle.</p>
<p class='c007'>The older members of the tribe were stretched
in the cooling shade near the river bank, or sleeping
the sleep that comes from much eating in the
cool of the caves. But the children and the youths
romped about, vyeing with each other in games of
sport and in feats of strength. Among these Web
Toe and Laughing Boy were easily the victors,
throwing their boomerangs and their stone weapons
further and with greater accuracy than any
of the others.</p>
<p class='c007'>Laughing Boy had now smeared his whole
chest with the deep vermilion juice of “the Make
Brave” plant and Web Toe had gouged holes in
both ears, from which hung half a dozen shells
and cougar teeth and they strutted about in the
glory of their strength and budding manhood.</p>
<p class='c007'>But at last they stole away from the others
and softly made their way through the thicket and
on up and over the hill to the high places, where
the dry grass crackled and rustled beneath their
scurrying feet. Laughing and chattering they
ran, flinging care and caution to the winds, racing
to see which would be the quicker to reach this
point or that, and again speeding on to make the
giant banyan trees.</p>
<p class='c007'>Here they paused to rest and to laugh softly,
and the cunning of all wood creatures came back
<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>to their straggling senses and they proceeded
cautiously, chattering more softly and laughing
more quietly.</p>
<p class='c007'>Laughing Boy carried his stone weapon and
his water bag, which bulged with ample fullness,
while Web Foot brandished his tom-tom in one
hand and his stone sling in the other. Only now
he made not a sound with his beloved music box.
It was a time to avoid the creatures of the forest,
though all were sleepy and lazy from abundant
food and the warmth of the sun.</p>
<p class='c007'>They jabbered of the “sweet, sweet,” meaning
wild honey, which they meant to take back to the
tribe and with which they intended to show the
other youths how much more clever and courageous
they were than the other boys in the clan.</p>
<p class='c007'>With every gay and confident step as they advanced
up the small plateau the land grew more
parched. Laughing Boy, who saw things that escaped
the eyes of Web Toe pointed to little hollows
now and then which had been dried by the
sun, and when Web Toe, soon grown thirsty,
sought to take his bag for a drink, Laughing Boy
shook his head. “No,” he said, and pointed to the
sun high overhead. He meant to save the water
for the journey caveward.</p>
<p class='c007'>Berries they ate and nuts gathered hastily on
the way, and when they neared the tall cocoanut
palms both boys, forgetting the dangers that
might beset them, dashed their heavy weapons to
<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>the ground and rushed forward. In a few moments
both were encircling the straight, tall
trunks of the trees with their arms and, climbing
up them in a sort of walk, their toes pressed close
and almost clinging to the bark. Soon the great
nuts were tumbling to the ground and the boys slid
back to refresh themselves with the sweet of
cocoanut milk.</p>
<p class='c007'>But the thicket parted and an angry and suspicious
black she-bear lumbered toward them with
two curious, tumbling black cubs at her heels. It
was no time to dispute for the possession of their
weapons. It was not the time to pause for a
drink of cocoanut milk, and so, with a pretense at
nonchalance, as though they had seen nothing and
had no concern in the two rollicking cubs, Laughing
Boy and Web Toe glided toward the thicket.
They knew that females of every species are eager
to contest the right of all ways when accompanied
by their young. And their courage lay with their
stone weapons.</p>
<p class='c007'>The black bear sniffed angrily and slowly followed
the boys. Her little red eyes rolled wickedly.
The two curious cubs dashed on ahead to learn
what manner of beast these new animals were.
And mother bruin quickened her pace.</p>
<div class='figright id006'>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_129.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<p class='c007'>Her heart was running over with fears for her
young and she considered that particular part of
the woods her own domain. A deep humming
filled the ears of the boys as they broke into a run
<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>and Laughing Boy cried
softly, “sweet, sweet,” for
he smelled wild honey.</p>
<p class='c007'>The cubs ran still faster
for they remembered the
feasts they had enjoyed
when, guided by their mother,
they had last visited the
wood. With the old bear close behind,
Laughing Boy flung himself
out and upward, grasping the tough
vines of the “oo-oee” in his hands
and pulling himself up on a large
stone slab, where he lay panting
for breath.</p>
<p class='c007'>Web Toe scrambled up a slim
pine and wedged himself between
two slender forked limbs. There
he huddled, peering about in fear of
new dangers. But he saw nothing
and, presently, grown bolder he
looked down at the bear which stood
on hind legs gazing angrily up at
him. Now and then she would run
away and dash back, jolting the
tree and setting the branches aquiver.</p>
<p class='c007'>Web Toe forgot all caution and jeered down at
the enemy. He pulled his tom-tom around and
<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>over his shoulder and beat it triumphantly with
his fists while the black bear tried to climb the
tree and failed, because it was slender of trunk.</p>
<p class='c007'>Laughing Boy lay on the smooth boulder, flat
upon his belly, making no sound. Not a muscle
betrayed him. Only his eyes moved following the
movements of the black bear. Apparently she had
forgotten all about him.</p>
<p class='c007'>He wanted to call out to Web Toe to be silent.
Web Toe seemed to think the matter was a joke,
but Laughing Boy knew better. It was true he
and Web Toe were at the moment safely out of
reach of the enemy’s claws, but if she remained on
watch how would they get down to earth again?</p>
<p class='c007'>All that afternoon Web Toe was compelled to
cling to the fork of the pine tree. Soon he grew
quiet, for he remembered that safety lies in
silence. He folded his arms about a branch and
made himself as flat and inconspicuous as he
could.</p>
<p class='c007'>The cubs curled themselves up at their
mother’s feet and went to sleep and, at length,
close to the pine tree, she also seemed to doze.</p>
<p class='c007'>It might have been possible for Laughing Boy
to slide down the opposite side of the boulder and
steal away unnoticed. Who can say? It may
have been a fear of the long journey back to the
cave people alone that deterred him. Anyway,
he clung to the rock and waited. A long drink
from his water bag relieved his thirst and he, too,
<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>fell asleep. But there was no drinking for poor
Web Toe. He had only his marvelous tom-tom in
place of a water bag, and his lips grew parched
and he longed to scream from fear and thirst.</p>
<p class='c007'>After a long time darkness came and at last
the moon arose, and still the two boys neither
moved nor spoke. The cubs awoke and stretched
themselves and moved about, and at last the black
bear arose also and led them away to some hidden
spring known only to herself.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then, very cautiously, Web Toe slid to the
ground and called to Laughing Boy, who joined
him, and together, with great fear in their hearts,
they turned their faces homeward.</p>
<p class='c007'>And all that fearful, weary way Web Toe
thought of new dangers and of cool springs and
Laughing Boy’s emptied water bag. Never again
would he go honey-hunting or any other sort of
hunting in the dry season without water at his
side. And when at last they reached the dwelling
place of the tribe Web Toe ran to the spring and
threw himself into the water and drank until he
was near water-logged.</p>
<p class='c007'>And so Web Toe became the great waterman
of the tribe—another great waterman, who spoke
always words of warning of the terrible things
that may befall boys and girls and men and
women, who journey far from the spring without
a bag of water.</p>
<p class='c007'>Stories he told the people of the tribe on his return
<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>with Laughing Boy of how, sick of thirst, he
had faced the black bear and driven her before
him. But he had nothing to prove his words, for
Laughing Boy returned also empty-handed.</p>
<p class='c007'>It was adventures like this that taught the
Cave People and all the other tribes to travel close
to the water’s edge. And so it was that when the
Foolish One made the first clay pot, the people
praised him and called him Wise.</p>
<p class='c007'>The clay pot was the accident of a fool. Many
great discoveries have been the accidents of other
fools. For wise people do always everything as
nearly as possible as their fathers have done and
new things are only learned through departures
into new ways.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Foolish One had discovered the use of fire
by playing with a burning branch ignited by the
lightning in the forest. A fool bestrode the first
wild horse and rode upon its back. Nearly always
it was the fools who did things first. Wise
Men were too wise—they had seen too many fools
die of their folly.</p>
<p class='c007'>The fingers of the Foolish One were never idle.
He made many things and he pulled as many to
pieces again. The people of the tribe had grown
very skillful in weaving baskets from tough
grasses. They even made hats to keep out the
sun and later they wove willows into rude roofs,
which they patched with clay from the river banks
to keep out the rain.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>The baskets which they made were almost
water-tight and the Foolish One made many baskets.
Each time he worked harder and wove these
baskets more tightly, but they all leaked when he
filled them with water from the spring.</p>
<p class='c007'>One day he made a basket shaped like a bowl
and lined it with clay; then he wove the grasses
upward like the neck of a large bottle, dipping his
fingers inside to plaster it with more clay, for he
wanted to surprise the folk with a basket that
would carry water without leaking. But when all
was done he forgot his plans and went swimming
in a pool, and when next he saw the basket he
tossed it into the fire, so sure was he that it would
leak as all baskets leaked.</p>
<p class='c007'>And there, in the red flames, beheld by all the
members of the tribe, lay the marvelous basket
with its clay lining. And soon the grasses of the
basket burned away and when the fire died down
the Foolish One saw the clay lining lying among
the coals. It was round and firm and almost perfect
in shape. He peered into it and running to
the river, filled it with water. And, marvel of
marvels! the clay had grown hard in the fire and
the first jug the tribe had ever made or seen or
dreamed of, held water, from which there leaked
not one single drop.</p>
<p class='c007'>For a long time the Cave People made their
jugs by lining baskets with clay and burning off
the grasses, leaving the jugs unmarred, till they
learned newer and better ways of making pottery.</p>
<div class='figcenter id002'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_134.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='figcenter id005'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_137.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<h2 class='c005'>X<br/> <i>The</i> ARROW THROWERS</h2></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>For many years the Bow and Arrow Folks had
been the most ferocious as well as the most
skillful of all the tribes that dwelt in the heart of
the luxuriant lands along the banks of the Father
of Rivers. Every other tribe had long since
learned to hate and fear them beyond any other
living creatures.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Bow and Arrow Folks might wander
whithersoever they wished, might drive the Hairy
Folk and the Tree Dwellers and the Cave People
from the places that had known them, might bring
death and destruction in their train, provided only
that they traveled and fought in numbers and bore
wide quivers filled with very many of their magical
stinging darts.</p>
<p class='c007'>Up to the appearance of the Dart or Arrow
Throwers, with their marvelous weapons, the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>Cave People had always been able to meet their
human foes on terms nearly approaching equality.
The Hairy People and the Tree Dwellers, and
even the man-eaters, had all to come to close quarters
in their life and death contests. Then there
was much to the advantage of the Cave People,
who were of heavier build and who possessed
greater strength and speed of limb than any of
their man enemies. None of these was able to
shoot a dart across the river into the breast of
an enemy.</p>
<p class='c007'>But the Arrow People were more fearful than
the great saber-tooth himself. One could dig pits,
covered with branches of leaves in the hope that
they might stumble into these and hence be dispatched
to the long sleep; it was quite as likely
as not that the Arrow People would not approach
near enough to fall into them.</p>
<p class='c007'>When the Arrow People came whooping over
the hills sending down their rain of arrows into
the flesh of the Cave People, Strong Arm had
gathered his small band about the big fire where
they had crouched low. But even the protecting
blaze could not prevail against the invaders.
Their darts flew through the smoke and the flame
and pinned more than one of the Cave People to
the earth.</p>
<p class='c007'>And when Strong Arm was wounded so that
blood dripped red from a hole in his breast the
Cave People flung themselves into the brush and
<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>made their way on their bellies as silent as snakes,
far out beyond the old hollow. With much caution
they gathered together about some grey stone
boulders that banked the wild berry thicket.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then it was that some one silently gathered
twigs and leaves and dead branches for the making
of a fire. And a youth struck a spark from
his flint stones and by the light of the flames the
Cave People saw and were astonished that it was
One Ear who had come back to his own people.</p>
<p class='c007'>No one of the older members of the tribe had
forgotten One Ear nor how he had lost one of his
ears when he was only a small boy not many
moons from his mother’s breast. It was this
way:</p>
<p class='c007'>One Ear had wandered from the caves and beyond
the space where it was safe for the children
of the tribe to go alone. No one marked his ramblings
and he chattered and scampered about,
plucking the red blossoms of the eegari and chasing
birds from their nests in happy content. But
he had not gone far when he heard the grunt of
the wild and hairy hog which was thrusting her
short tusk into the soil for tender roots. A litter
of small black pigs followed close to their mother’s
side and set up a mighty squealing when they beheld
in One Ear a possible enemy.</p>
<p class='c007'>Immediately the old sow turned upon One Ear
and bit at his feet and snapped at his legs and
tripped him. Then she flew upon him with the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>wild fury of the forest mother who believes her
young to be endangered. One Ear raised his own
voice in yells of terror and threw up his arms and
rolled into the bushes and sent his small brown
feet kicking with mighty show into the face of the
foe.</p>
<p class='c007'>And the uproar increased while the blood
poured from the side of the boy’s head whence
the wild sow had torn his small ear in her attack.
Soon the mother of One Ear and other members
of the tribe of Cave People appeared with their
long bone weapons in their hands and killed the
hog and carried back as many of the young pigs
as had not scampered away in the conflict. And
there was much feasting in the Hollow that day
and a great noise from the wails of One Ear,
whose wounds were many times licked and plastered
and caressed by his distracted mother.</p>
<p class='c007'>And so the boy came to be called One Ear. It
was impossible to forget one so distinctly different
from other members of the tribe of Cave
People and so, when One Ear was later captured
by the Arrow Folk during a raid made on the people
of the Hollow, One Ear was long mourned
and thought of by the tribe.</p>
<p class='c007'>Now he was come back to his own people. And
in the light made by the flames of the fire, the
Cave People saw that he bore many of the strange
darts that the enemy had used with so much skill
and accuracy. The Cave People were almost
<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>afraid of him, but One Ear at once showed himself
friendly and busied himself in helping to build
coverings of sticks and brush and leaves to form
huts for the tribe.</p>
<p class='c007'>The night was very dark and the Cave People
were worn and weary and very much afraid.
They knew very little about the life and the woods
and the things that surrounded them. When a
man stumbled over a loose stone and slipped and
fell, the Cave People believed that some of the
tribe’s numerous enemies had wrought the evil.</p>
<p class='c007'>Little they understood of the causes of the
natural events that occurred around and to them.
And so they peopled the woods, the Hollow, the
night and all things with spirits or evil ghosts that
sought to do them harm.</p>
<p class='c007'>There were terrors everywhere, both the enemies
which they could see and the enemies which
they could not see. The enemies who dwelt in
in the dead tree trunks that lay upon the ground
over which they stumbled, the spirits who were
hidden in the stones that scratched their feet, the
evil magicworkers who entered their stomachs and
made them sick and haunted the feet of the unwary
to cause them to faint before the blows of
the Arrow People and who sent men and women
upon the Long Sleep from which their spirits
arose to prowl about over the lands.</p>
<p class='c007'>Primitive men knew nothing about natural
laws. They had no ideas about what caused the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>rain; therefore, they thought someone made it
rain. They knew nothing about the melting of
snows upon the mountain tops that flowed downward,
swelling the Father of Rivers far beyond
“his” banks and thus causing the floods; therefore,
some evil enemy wrought the disaster.</p>
<p class='c007'>They knew truly that men and women did not
altogether die. All men possessed two selves—the
self with whom you might fight and dance,
whom you might touch and see and smell in the
light of broad day. Then there was also a spirit
self, who came to you in dreams and who worked
evil or good unto you.</p>
<p class='c007'>When a child was lost in the wood and devoured
by the wild enemies of the tribe, the people
knew that it was an evil spirit that had lured
his footsteps into the danger.</p>
<p class='c007'>It is true, too, that they believed in good spirits;
the spirits who sent rain when the earth was
parched; the kindly magic-makers who delivered
an attacking enemy into your hand to his own disaster,
who stood beside you unseen during great
dangers and thrust forth obstructions in the paths
of those who would take you unawares.</p>
<p class='c007'>But considered in a broad way, from the viewpoint
of primitive man, the world was peopled
chiefly with enemies who were down upon you
at the slightest opening, who might anywhere and
in the strangest form imaginable pounce upon
you to your own destruction or disaster.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>It cheered the Cave People greatly when they
saw that One Ear had returned to the tribe bringing
some of the magical arrows, so effectively
employed by the Dart Throwers. They believed
that the bone javelin of Strong Arm possessed
some of the strength and skill of this mighty cave
man; they knew that the dried head of the green
snake which had been killed by Big Foot and a
great boulder were filled with his valor and his
wisdom, for they had seen Run Fast elude the
wild boar with this snake head in her hands. If
any one thing was sure in all the muddle of
strange things and stranger events in this world,
it was that weapons or adornments or tools, acquired
the characteristics of their owners, and that
these characteristics might be transferred to him
who was fortunate enough to secure them. The
darts or the arrows of the Dart Throwers brought
skill to the holders and so the Cave People were
cheered when they beheld the darts in the hands
of One Ear.</p>
<p class='c007'>All through the night, as they huddled and
shivered in the shadows, the Cave People kept the
big fire burning and listened for the Arrow People.
It was when the moon rode high in the
heavens that the soft wind brought the scent of
the enemy approaching with quiet and with caution.
With quivering nostrils Strong Arm, who,
in spite of the pain he suffered from his wounds,
was the first to smell the coming Arrow Throwers,
<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>gathered the tribe behind the protection of
the giant rocks.</p>
<p class='c007'>And when they advanced within the circle of
light thrown out by the flames of the fire, One Ear
drew his great bow to his shoulder and sent arrow
after arrow into the gleaming breasts of those
who made the attack, until the Arrow people were
confounded and afraid and fled away in the night
whence they had come.</p>
<p class='c007'>And for days there was peace and the
Cave People encamped themselves near a fresh
water hole and built more mud caves and huts of
the branches of trees. But evil spirits hovered
over Strong Arm and entered into him and gave
him fever and sickness and pain from the wound
in his breast, until at last he died in the night and
his Spirit passed out of his body. So thought the
Cave Dwellers.</p>
<p class='c007'>And they mourned for Strong Arm, both in
their hearts and with loud voices, for they knew
that his spirit would hover about to see what they
said of his words and his deeds and they desired
very strongly to please and propitiate the Spirit
of Strong Arm, for he had always been a powerful
and wise man, able to help those he loved and
bring evil to those whom he had hated. And they
wanted to win the support and friendship of the
Spirit of Strong Arm in order that it might work
good in their behalf.</p>
<p class='c007'>So even Big Foot, who had always feared and
<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>envied Strong Arm, spoke loudly in his behalf,
saying “Brave, Brave, Strong, Strong,” and he
screamed as though he had lost his best friend.
This was all done to show the Spirit of Strong
Arm in what high esteem Big Foot held him.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Cave People chopped up the body of
Strong Arm and roasted his arms and his legs
and his head on the coals so that every member
of the tribe might acquire some of the noble virtues
of the mighty chief by eating a portion of
his body. To Laughing Boy was apportioned the
hands of his father, and he ate them, stripping
the flesh from the bones so that his own hands
might become skillful and quick in killing the
enemy. The remainder of the body of Strong
Arm was laid in a cavity in the earth, along with
his sharp bone javelin, and his stone knife and his
flint; and food also, which they knew he would
need in the Spirit Land where he had gone. These
things they covered with earth and leaves and
weighed them down with heavy stones so that
neither wild boar, nor any other wild animal
might devour the remains of Strong Arm.</p>
<p class='c007'>And in the night the Spirit of Strong Arm
came back to his people in their dreams, telling
them many things. Once he appeared in a dream
to Quack Quack, with his bone javelin in his hands,
and the cry of danger upon his lips and a long arrow
thrust in his hair. And Quack Quack and
the Cave People knew that this was a warning to
<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>them that the Arrow Throwers were again stealing
upon them to drive them from their new land,
so they gathered up their bone weapons, and the
bow and arrows which One Ear had brought, and
their knives and their adornments, and wandered
toward the North in the hope of escaping.</p>
<p class='c007'>But the Hairy Folk fell upon them, and the
Man-eaters and the Tree People nagged them and
stole their food and wrecked disaster at every
step, so that there was no peace, only constant
fighting and death and terror in all the days.</p>
<p class='c007'>So the Cave People traveled wearily and furtively,
ever farther North, where the fruit grows
only in one season and the cold descends over the
earth for a long period of the year, and where
men are only able to survive by learning new
things and new methods of keeping food against
the barren days.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then, more than in all the previous history of
their lives, the Cave People began to progress, began
to plan, to build, to preserve and store food
and finally to bury one tuber in order that it might
become the father of many potatoes; to salt their
meats so that they would not spoil and finally they
discovered that skins used formerly only as a
means of adornment, or decoration—skins which
had formerly been merely visible proof of a man’s
skill and valor in the hunt, were a warm and comfortable
protection against the cold days which
had come upon them in the strange new land.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>Many died and many fell in the long wars that
the Cave People fought during their long journey
to the North country, but One Ear grew strong
and wise and tall in his young manhood. And, because
of the things he had learned from the Arrow
Throwers, he became a leader of the tribe, which
he taught also to hurl the death-tipped darts, both
to bring down the beasts of the forests and for
the protection of the tribe in battle with its human
enemies.</p>
<p class='c007'>And so the cool climate and the changing seasons
drove the Cave People to learn, to discover,
to invent. And for the first time they began to
consider the earth and to subdue a little of it for
their own food and clothing and for their own
shelter and security.</p>
<div class='figcenter id002'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_148.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>
<h2 class='c005'>XI<br/> THE FIRST PRIEST</h2></div>
<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>Although Strong Arm, who was the wisest
and strongest and swiftest man among the
Cave People had been dead, and in part eaten and
in part buried beneath a great pile of earth and
stones, the Cave People felt sure that he had not
remained dead.</p>
<p class='c007'>More than one of the members of the tribe had
seen him fighting and hunting, eating and dancing,
during the dreams that come in the night, and so
they believed that a part of Strong Arm, the spirit
or ghost part of Strong Arm, still lived. Again
and again he had appeared to them in the spirit,
or in dreams, to advise them about the things the
tribe intended to do.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Cave People were unable to understand
these things and there was nobody to tell them
that dreams were not of the world of reality. And
so they believed that Strong Arm still lived, and
that other dead men and women and children of
the tribe still lived in the Spirit World. It was
true that the spirits of these dead did not appear
in the broad light of day, but the Cave People believed
that they haunted their old grounds, invisible
to the eyes of their tribesman.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>They believed that the spirits of the dead may
return to befriend the members of the tribe, or to
hinder their enemies, provided, always, that the
members of the tribe enlisted their aid and their
affections.</p>
<p class='c007'>Now Big Foot, since there was no longer the
wise voice of Strong Arm, nor the mighty strength
of the old chief to enforce the good of his people,
set himself to become the leader of the Cave People.
He slashed his hairy thighs with his flint
knife to prove how brave he was, allowing the
gashes to become sores in order to prolong the
evidence of his courage. He strutted about and
waved his poison-tipped arrows when the young
men refused to listen to his words. Also he rubbed
the noses of all the women of the tribe and sought
to caress them, attempting to drive the men of the
tribe from the new nests, or caves or huts, which
they had built in the far North country so many
moon journeys from the old hollow where little
Laughing Boy was born.</p>
<p class='c007'>Big Foot boasted with a loud voice and bullied
the children and spoke soft words to the women,
while he glared at the young men and urged them
into the forest to hunt for food. Always he kept
his poisoned darts at his side and he managed to
secure for himself the tenderest portion of the
young goats which the people had discovered leaping
and running wild amid the sharp slopes and
crags of the mountains.</p>
<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>So the tribe grew weary of his sorry ruling
and there was much fighting and discord, which
laid them open to the attacks of their many
enemies.</p>
<p class='c007'>Without doubt Big Foot was possessed of
much cunning, for while other men of the tribe
were as strong of limb and as fleet of foot, Big
Foot was more powerful than they. Longer was
his arm because he had learned first how to make
and to wield his great bow and arrows almost as
well as young One Ear, who had escaped from the
Arrow Throwers and returned to his own people,
the Cave Dwellers, bringing knowledge of the
weapons of these strange enemies.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Cave Dwellers had paused in their journeyings
and battlings northward, on the banks of
the lake that shone like white fire When the sun
beat down upon its rolling surface. The way was
new to them and unknown dangers threatened
everywhere and they had utmost need to walk
warily, lest a new tribe descend upon them with
some new weapon of destruction and turn them
back into the dangers they had outstripped.</p>
<p class='c007'>Instead of holding the people together with
wise words and instead of preparing to search out
the lands to prepare for the strange evils that lie
in wait for primitive man whenever he travels beyond
the ways of his experience, Big Foot caused
nothing but conflict. It was only his superior skill
in the use of the flint-tipped arrows, which the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>Cave People were acquiring very rapidly, that
prevented him from being slain by the members
of the tribe.</p>
<p class='c007'>Then it was that One Ear dreamed a dream.
He thought that his spirit had journeyed far into
the spirit world where it encountered the spirit of
Strong Arm. And Strong Arm had spoken with
One Ear, sending words of wisdom to the people
of the tribe. He had called Big Foot the enemy of
the Cave People. And when he wakened in the
morning, One Ear remembered his dream. So he
gathered all the people together and told them
these things. And no man or woman among them
knew that he spoke only of a dream. They believed
that the spirit of Strong Arm still lived and
that the things in One Ear’s dream had actually
occurred.</p>
<p class='c007'>So the Cave People chattered together and
gesticulated and stole the fresh meat Big Foot
had hidden in his cave and menaced him from
cover by shaking their clubs and growling like
angry dogs. Big Foot fled to his branch hut,
where he glared at the members of the tribe and
waved his long arrows.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Cave People had long respected the words
of Strong Arm and when they heard what he had
spoken to One Ear in a dream, they hated Big
Foot more fiercely than ever.</p>
<p class='c007'>At last Big Foot returned to the people of
the tribe, many of whom were sitting about a
<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>wood fire, and he spoke to them, trying to gain
their good will and attempting to show them that
none was so swift, so strong or so brave as he.
But the people screamed “Strong Arm! Strong
Arm!” to remind Big Foot that the old chief had
spoken against him.</p>
<p class='c007'>And Big Foot grew frantic with the rage that
came upon him. He seized the club of Strong
Arm which had been given to Laughing Boy in
order that he might derive from it some of the
virtue of bravery which his father, Strong Arm,
had possessed. Big Foot spat upon it and crushed
it beneath a great stone; then he hurled the shattered
fragments far out into the green waters of
the lake.</p>
<p class='c007'>All the Cave People shivered with fear, for
they thought this was a very foolish thing. They
believed that the spirits of the dead grow angry
when their weapons are broken or destroyed and
they felt sure that the spirit of Strong Arm would
punish Big Foot for the desecration he had
worked on the club of the old chief.</p>
<p class='c007'>But Big Foot was too angry to be afraid.
White foam appeared upon his lips. When he
thought of the spirit of Strong Arm he longed for
a tangible foe, with flesh upon his bones that he
might crush, with red juice in his skin that he
might spill, with ears and a nose that he might
bite and twist and tear. He desired an enemy into
<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>whose soft belly he might hurl one of his sharp
arrows.</p>
<p class='c007'>But there were only the Cave People beside
him and the menace in their eyes and their lips,
pulled back, snarling from their teeth, made him
afraid. So he lifted up his voice in a frenzy of
hate and scorn while he called the name of
“Strong Arm! Strong Arm! Maker of lies;” he
called him, and “Fool! Coward! Weak One!
Baby!” and “Snake-that-crawls!” while he made
violent gestures of hatred and disgust.</p>
<p class='c007'>The Cave People watched him fearfully. To
them it did not seem the part of wisdom to mock
and defy the spirit of Strong Arm, which still
lived, though his body had perished. Something
was bound to happen. Strong Arm had never permitted
any man to speak thus of him when he was
living in the flesh and they did not believe his
spirit would endure insult from Big Foot. Indeed,
yes, something was sure to happen.</p>
<p class='c007'>But it was not good for the whole tribe to be
punished or blamed for the foolishness of Big
Foot. This they knew and they made haste to
put wide distances between themselves and him,
pursuing their own work or their own ends with
much ostentation as far as possible removed from
his presence. If the spirit of Strong Arm was
hiding in the valley and had chanced to overhear
the evil words of Big Foot, no flat-headed savage
among the tribe wanted Strong Arm to fancy
<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>he had anything to do with these things. They
washed their hands of the whole affair and departed
from the immediate presence of Big Foot.</p>
<p class='c007'>The more Big Foot raved, the oftener One Ear
called upon the spirit of Strong Arm, crying:</p>
<p class='c007'>“Brave one! Wise one! Swift of foot” and
“Give us of thy counsel!” And the Cave People
began talking in loud voices of the good deeds of
their old chief, of his courage and strength, of
his wisdom and his “Eye-that-never-slept.”</p>
<p class='c007'>While Big Foot defied the spirit of Strong
Arm, One Ear and the Cave People sought to
propitiate him with loud words of admiration and
some flattery.</p>
<p class='c007'>“Stronger than the hairy mastodon” they
called him and “Father of all the lions.” He could
outleap the mountain goat and outclimb the longest
armed ou-rang-oo-tang. His voice was like the
thunder and his breath like the winds that bend
the trees on the river banks.</p>
<p class='c007'>They felt more certain than ever that something
was going to happen. They expected the
spirit of Strong Arm to make it happen. But they
did not desire to share in untoward events if a
little information given to the spirit of Strong
Arm could prevent this thing.</p>
<p class='c007'>But the day passed, and the sun slid down the
wings of the sky into the red fire of the lake, and
still Big Foot strutted about with loud and boasting
<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>words. Still the Cave People waited and
hoped, and were afraid.</p>
<p class='c007'>And that night the spirit of Strong Arm again
appeared to One Ear in a dream and his voice was
fierce with anger against Big Foot and, in the
dream, he counselled One Ear to tell the Cave People
to push Big Foot from the tallest crag along
the mountain gorge so that his body would be
crushed upon the sharp stones below.</p>
<p class='c007'>In the morning One Ear told these things to
the people of the tribe and they drank the words
of Strong Arm eagerly, begging Big Foot to join
in a hunt for the wild goat amid the slopes of
the mountain. But Big Foot was afraid and hid
in his hut, making queer mouthings and snatching
food from the children and waving his sharp
arrows.</p>
<p class='c007'>So the Cave People gathered about One Ear
urging him to meet the spirit of Strong Arm once
more and to ask for more wisdom on how to dispatch
the evil man who brought dangers and conflict
to the tribe.</p>
<p class='c007'>Again in the morning One Ear called the people
together, saying that the spirit of Strong Arm
counselled the people to build fires about the hut
of Big Foot in the night so that he might be destroyed.</p>
<p class='c007'>And so, when darkness wrapped the valley in
her soft folds, the Cave People stole from their
shelters, each bearing branches and glowing coals
<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>from the camp fire, which they hurled in the door
of Big Foot, with stones and spears so that he
might not escape and injure the tribe.</p>
<p class='c007'>The night was black and Big Foot was unable
to hit the people with his sharp arrows. Coals
were thrown upon the dry thatch of his hut and
soon the flames encircled him with their burning
tongues.</p>
<p class='c007'>And when it was discovered that his body was
burned to ashes and that the spirit of Big Foot
had escaped, the Cave People rejoiced in their
hearts. But their lips were dumb. For the first
time they spoke well of Big Foot, whom they hated
in their hearts. For was not the fate of Big Foot
proof of the foolishness of speaking ill of the
dead! Was not the victory of the Cave People
who had spoken well of Strong Arm proof of their
wisdom in these things?</p>
<p class='c007'>The Cave People believed the spirit of Big
Foot would be actively inimical to the tribe, just
as they believed that the spirit of Strong Arm
had proved itself to be the friendly father of the
people.</p>
<p class='c007'>And One Ear continued to dream dreams,
which he related to the Cave People, giving them
words of wisdom and courage from the spirit of
Strong Arm and evil words from the spirit of
Big Foot. Thus they grew to believe wondrous
things of Strong Arm. His virtues grew with the
passing of the suns, just as his strength increased
<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>and his wisdom was extolled until he became almost
a god to the people of the tribe.</p>
<p class='c007'>And when ill befell the Cave People, One Ear
told them it had been caused by the evil spirit of
Big Foot and when they escaped from these evils,
he reported how the spirit of Strong Arm had befriended
the tribe. Always was One Ear dreaming
dreams. He told how the spirit of Strong
Arm had counselled the people to make of Big
Nose their leader and chief, which they did.</p>
<p class='c007'>As he grew in years and in power, One Ear demanded
that the best joints of meat, the warmest
place by the fire, the safest cave or hut, be his portion.
These things he declared were the commands
of Strong Arm.</p>
<p class='c007'>And so One Ear became a great man of the
tribe. When the forest fire swept the plains and
drove the wild fowl and the forest animals far
inland, and brought famine to the Cave People,
One Ear reported that the spirit of Strong Arm
had done these things to punish the people because
they had not brought young fowl, of which he
was very fond, every day to One Ear.</p>
<p class='c007'>Thus One Ear became the first priest of the
tribe, protected before other men in order that
the good spirits might not take vengeance upon
the tribe should ill befall him. People brought
him sharp knives and soft skins with which he
made himself warm when the far northern winds
blew cold in the winter time. And One Ear said
<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>good words to the great spirits for these bearers
of gifts, so that they might be prospered and escape
the sharp tooth of the crocodile.</p>
<p class='c007'>By and by there came other dreamers of
dreams who spoke with the great spirits and also
brought messages to the people. Strong arms of
the tribe clashed and there were great battles
among the Cave People, till the Pretenders were
slain, when once more peace and harmony
reigned within the valley upon the shores of the
great lake.</p>
<div class='figcenter id002'>
<ANTIMG src='images/i_161.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></div>
<div class='chapter'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>
<h2 class='c005'>QUESTIONS</h2></div>
<p class='c015'>For Those Holding Classes in Sociology for Children.</p>
<h3 class='c016'>I<br/> <br/> THE FIRE BEAST</h3>
<dl class='dl_1 c002'>
<br/>1
<br/>In what sort of a climate may we expect to find prehistoric man during the period of
Lower Savagery, when he was without tools or weapons except of the most primitive kind?
Why?
<br/>2
<br/>Since agriculture in that early day was wholly unknown and unnecessary, on what did the
people subsist?
<br/>3
<br/>Did they cook their food? Why not?
<br/>4
<br/>Imagine yourself placed upon an uninhabited island without food, clothing or shelter in
answering these questions. What sorts of shelter did the tribes possess, if any?
<br/>5
<br/>What sorts of weapons can you fancy people would be able to make without tools, metals or
fire?
<br/>6
<br/>What would you consider the very greatest discovery made by early man? Why?
<br/>7
<br/>How was man able to protect himself from the wild beasts during the periods of Savagery?
<br/>8
<br/>How were the enemies of man captured and slain in these days?
<br/>9
<br/>Why do we find the tribes of this period always dwelling close to lakes, rivers or other
bodies of water?
<br/>10
<br/>How do we gather that people in the period of Lower Savagery must have lived either in
tropical or semi-tropical regions?
<h3 class='c016'>II<br/> <br/> THE ORNAMENT OF BIG NOSE</h3>
<dl class='dl_1 c002'>
<br/>1
<br/>How did primitive man convey his wants and his ideas <span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>to his fellow creatures
before he possessed a wide articulate language?
<br/>2
<br/>Can you suggest any sharp weapons the Cave Men could make without the use of tools? Name
some.
<br/>3
<br/>Do you imagine the Cave People possessed longer arms than civilized men? Why?
<br/>4
<br/>Was this period the Golden Age of Peace and Plenty that some people suggest?
<br/>5
<br/>Do you imagine Cave Men were care free or that they were forced to be cunning and furtive
creatures of the forests?
<br/>6
<br/>Were the early savages superior to the other animals of that period in running? In
swimming? In fighting?
<br/>7
<br/>Had they longer teeth? Sharper claws? Greater physical protection for the soft and
delicate portions of their bodies?
<br/>8
<br/>To what do you attribute man’s survival amid a world of savage enemies?
<br/>9
<br/>Was man more cunning? Was he more social?
<br/>10
<br/>If you have classes of children, suggest pantomime plays in which they can convey ideas
or desires to the others by means of gestures.
<h3 class='c016'>III<br/> <br/> WHEN RUN-FAST WENT HUNTING FOR A WIFE</h3>
<dl class='dl_1 c002'>
<br/>1
<br/>Suggest ways for catching fish during this period.
<br/>2
<br/>Do you imagine that at this time man had any method for preserving meat?
<br/>3
<br/>Would the low order of man’s tools and weapons restrict him in his wanderings from place
to place over the earth’s surface? Why?
<br/>4
<br/>Did primitive man first ornament or first clothe himself?
<br/>5
<br/>What were ornaments used to signify?
<br/>6
<br/>Which men would you imagine secured wives during early savagery?
<br/>7
<br/>Would you expect to see the strong and brave men win wives, or the weak and cowardly?
<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span></div>
<br/>8
<br/>How far were the Cave People able to count?
<br/>9
<br/>Did men gradually learn to use, first all their fingers, and then their toes, to reckon
with?
<br/>10
<br/>Primitive man must soon have discovered the use of sails for boats. Out of what do you
supposed they fashioned the first sails?
<h3 class='c016'>IV<br/> <br/> LITTLE LAUGHING BOY</h3>
<dl class='dl_1 c002'>
<br/>1
<br/>During what season would you imagine the Cave People learned, invented, discovered most?
Why?
<br/>2
<br/>What was the season of greatest danger? Why?
<br/>3
<br/>Were the feet of the Cave People prehensile? Were the Cave People agile? Why?
<br/>4
<br/>Can any of the children of to-day walk up a slanting tree by encircling its trunk with
their arms?
<br/>5
<br/>What is a boomerang? Make one.
<br/>6
<br/>Why did wise Cave People always travel in groups?
<br/>7
<br/>Why was extreme individuality discouraged among the members of the tribes?
<br/>8
<br/>What happened to the youth who was determined to “go it alone” in those days?
<br/>9
<br/>Was the Cave Man the King of the Forests, Monarch of all he surveyed that we sometimes
read about? Why not?
<br/>10
<br/>It is true that the Cave Man was weaker than most of his enemies and yet he has managed
to outlive and outthrive them all. Give some reasons for this.
<h3 class='c016'>V<br/> <br/> HUNTING AN ECHO</h3>
<dl class='dl_1 c002'>
<br/>1
<br/>Did the Cave People know what an Echo is?
<br/>2
<br/>Could they explain their reflections in the rivers and lakes?
<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span></div>
<br/>3
<br/>What was their idea of a shadow?
<br/>4
<br/>What was the origin of their belief in spirits?
<br/>5
<br/>What made them think the dead came back again; that they were not really dead, but lived
in the spirit world?
<br/>6
<br/>How did they explain their dreams?
<br/>7
<br/>How would a primitive man explain the rain? Or Fire? Floods? Give some suggestions of
your own.
<br/>8
<br/>How did the Cave People probably first secure a fire?
<br/>9
<br/>How did they learn to keep a fire going?
<br/>10
<br/>What were one or two ways by which they first learned how to <i>make</i> a fire?
<h3 class='c016'>VI<br/> <br/> THE FLOOD</h3>
<dl class='dl_1 c002'>
<br/>1
<br/>What were some of the great early catastrophes?
<br/>2
<br/>What was probably the earliest sort of power used to propel a boat or raft?
<br/>3
<br/>What would we naturally expect the first boats or floats to be? Why?
<br/>4
<br/>Would it be possible to build a raft with nothing but stone tools?
<br/>5
<br/>How would you fasten such a raft together?
<br/>6
<br/>What were the first natural paddles?
<br/>7
<br/>Can you propel a boat through the water with your hands?
<br/>8
<br/>How could a boy live in a great banyan tree for several days?
<br/>9
<br/>Where would he secure food?
<br/>10
<br/>Could you make a hollow in a log without steel knives or saws or other modern tools? How?
<br/>11
<br/>Would such a hollow log serve as a crude boat?
<div>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>
<h3 class='c016'>VII<br/> <br/> BIG FOOT’S NEW WEAPON</h3></div>
<dl class='dl_1 c002'>
<br/>1
<br/>Did fire enable the savage tribes to preserve their meat?
<br/>2
<br/>Did fire bring any greater degree of security to the tribes? How?
<br/>3
<br/>Do the animals you know fear fire?
<br/>4
<br/>Have any other animals besides man learned to use a fire?
<br/>5
<br/>Does a cat or a dog ever make use of a fire? How?
<br/>6
<br/>Has any animal besides man ever learned to keep a fire going or to <i>build</i> a fire?
<br/>7
<br/>Could a dog build a fire even if he <i>knew how</i>? Why not?
<br/>8
<br/>Has the thumb of man, which was probably once a toe like the great toe of your foot, been
a help in his struggle for existence?
<br/>9
<br/>Without thumbs would we have ever learned more than to push things about?
<br/>10
<br/>Did fire equip man so that he would wander more freely over the earth’s surface? How?
<h3 class='c016'>VIII<br/> <br/> THE FIRST PLANTING</h3>
<dl class='dl_1 c002'>
<br/>1
<br/>How did man probably discover the use of flint?
<br/>2
<br/>How can you build a fire without matches and without flint?
<br/>3
<br/>In what other ways may flint be used?
<br/>4
<br/>What is cannibalism?
<br/>5
<br/>How did the people first discover agriculture?
<br/>6
<br/>In what kind of a climate would sowing and reaping be necessary?
<br/>7
<br/>Name several ways by which we might discover that seeds sprout, and bear.
<br/>8
<br/>How would primitive man probably explain a garden?
<br/>9
<br/>What would make him eager to possess a garden?
<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span></div>
<br/>10
<br/>Why do people progress more in a temperate climate than in a tropical region? Explain.
<br/>11
<br/>Why did the Cave People believe in miracles?
<br/>12
<br/>What is a miracle?
<br/>13
<br/>Did savage and barbarous men like to work?
<br/>14
<br/>What makes people remember things?
<br/>15
<br/>When do we learn by doing things?
<br/>16
<br/>What things are we most likely to forget?
<h3 class='c016'>IX<br/> <br/> THE FIRST POT</h3>
<dl class='dl_1 c002'>
<br/>1
<br/>What did the very first men do when they wanted a drink of water?
<br/>2
<br/>How did they first carry water into their caves?
<br/>3
<br/>Of what did they weave baskets?
<br/>4
<br/>Of what are our dishes made to-day?
<br/>5
<br/>How did prehistoric folks learn to make pots?
<br/>6
<br/>Which did they need to learn first, pot-making or fire-building?
<br/>7
<br/>How did men probably learn to cook things to eat?
<br/>8
<br/>How did they undoubtedly learn to bake clay pots?
<br/>9
<br/>Why did savage tribes decorate themselves?
<br/>10
<br/>Can you tell how to make a hollow clay pot without a form to make it over?
<h3 class='c016'>X<br/> <br/> THE ARROW THROWERS</h3>
<dl class='dl_1 c002'>
<br/>1
<br/>With what did the early men tip their arrows?
<br/>2
<br/>Where did they get strings for their bows?
<br/>3
<br/>And of what were bows made?
<br/>4
<br/>Can you suggest a way by which they chanced to invent the bow and arrow?
<br/>5
<br/>What advantage did a bow and arrow possess over a bone javelin?
<br/>6
<br/>Will an arrow travel farther?
<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span></div>
<br/>7
<br/>Name half a dozen early weapons.
<br/>8
<br/>Why did the Cave People want to possess the weapons of strong and brave men?
<br/>9
<br/>Did they think a man’s weapons possessed the characteristics of the man?
<br/>10
<br/>Did they believe the dead heard what you said about them?
<h3 class='c016'>XI<br/> <br/> THE FIRST PRIEST</h3>
<dl class='dl_1 c002'>
<br/>1
<br/>Why did a dead man’s enemies speak well of him?
<br/>2
<br/>Did the Cave People believe that a dead man could injure them?
<br/>3
<br/>Or that he could help them?
<br/>4
<br/>Did they, very naturally, exaggerate the virtues of the dead until the dead seemed
superhuman?
<br/>5
<br/>When the Cave Dwellers were driven to a colder climate did they learn to plant? To clothe
themselves? Why?
<br/>6
<br/>Who was generally chief of the tribe? Why?
<br/>7
<br/>If a Cave Man told the people that the spirit of a dead chief had laid commands upon him,
would they believe him?
<br/>8
<br/>How did ancient priests happen to happen?
<br/>9
<br/>Might not people sometimes fabricate stories of their interviews with the spirits of dead
chiefs?
<div class='pbb'>
<hr class='pb c002' /></div>
<div class='tnotes'>
<div class='chapter'>
<h2 class='c005'>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</h2></div>
<ol class='ol_1 c004'>
<li>Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
</li>
<li>Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
</li>
</ol></div>
<SPAN name="endofbook"></SPAN>
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