diff options
Diffstat (limited to '28936.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 28936.txt | 8557 |
1 files changed, 8557 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/28936.txt b/28936.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ddd3ed8 --- /dev/null +++ b/28936.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8557 @@ +Project Gutenberg's In the Morning of Time, by Charles G. D. Roberts + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: In the Morning of Time + +Author: Charles G. D. Roberts + +Release Date: May 24, 2009 [EBook #28936] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE MORNING OF TIME *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +IN THE MORNING OF TIME + + + + +IN THE MORNING OF TIME + +BY + +CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS + +Author of "The Kindred of the Wild," etc. + +[Illustration] + +NEW YORK + +FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY + +PUBLISHERS + + + + +Copyright, 1922, by + +Frederick A. Stokes Company + +All rights reserved + +Printed in the United States of America + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I The World Without Man 1 + II The King of the Triple Horn 20 + III The Finding of Fire 41 + IV The Children of the Shining One 70 + V The Puller-Down of Trees 97 + VI The Battle of the Brands 123 + VII The Rescue of A-ya 149 + VIII The Bending of the Bow 174 + IX The Destroying Splendor 198 + X The Terrors of the Dark 219 + XI The Feasting of the Cave Folk 243 + XII On the Face of the Waters 259 + XIII The Fear 278 + XIV The Lake of Long Sleep 295 + + + + +IN THE MORNING OF TIME + + + + +IN THE MORNING OF TIME + +CHAPTER I + +THE WORLD WITHOUT MAN + + +It lay apparently afloat on the sluggish, faintly discolored tide--a +placid, horse-faced, shovel-nosed head, with bumpy holes for ears and +immense round eyes of a somewhat anxious mildness. + +The anxiety in the great eyes was not without reason, for their owner +had just arrived in the tepid and teeming waters of this estuary, and +the creatures which he had already seen about him were both unknown +and menacing. But the inshore shallows were full of water-weeds of a +rankness and succulence far beyond anything he had enjoyed in his old +habitat, and he was determined to secure himself a place here. + +From time to time, as some new monster came in sight, the ungainly +head would shoot up amazingly to a distance of five or ten, or even +fifteen feet, on a swaying pillar of a neck, in order to get a better +view of the stranger. Then it would slowly sink back again to its +repose on the water. + +The water at this point was almost fresh, because the estuary, though +fully two miles wide, was filled with the tide of the great river +rolling slowly down from the heart of the continent. The further shore +was so flat that nothing could be seen of it but an endless, pale +green forest of giant reeds. But the nearer shore was skirted, at a +distance of perhaps half a mile from the water, by a rampart of +abrupt, bright, rust-red cliffs. The flat land between the waterside +and the cliffs, except for the wide strip of beach, was clothed with +an enormous and riotous growth of calamaries, tree-ferns, cane and +palm, which rocked and crashed in places as if some colossal wayfarers +were pushing through them. Here and there along the edge of the cliffs +sat tall beings with prodigious, saw-toothed beaks, like some species +of bird conceived in a nightmare. + +Far out across the water one of these creatures was flapping slowly in +from the sea. Its wings--eighteen feet across from tip to tip--were +not the wings of a bird, but of a bat or a hobgoblin. It had dreadful, +hand-like claws on its wing-elbows; and its feet were those of a +lizard. + +As this startling shape came flapping shoreward, the head afloat upon +the water eyed it with interest, but not, as it seemed, with any great +apprehension. Yet it certainly looked formidable enough to excite +misgivings in most creatures. Its flight was not the steady, even +winging of a bird, but spasmodic and violent. It came on at a height +of perhaps twenty feet above the sluggish tide, and its immense, +circular eyes appeared to take no notice of the strange head that +watched it from the water's surface. It seemed about to pass a little +to one side, when suddenly, with a hoarse, hooting cry, it swerved and +swooped, and struck at the floating head with open jaws. + +Swift as was that unexpected attack, the assailant struck nothing but +a spot of foam where the head had disappeared. Simultaneously with the +lightning disappearance, there was a sudden boiling of the water some +eighty-odd feet away. But the great bird-lizard was either too furious +to notice this phenomenon or not sagacious enough to interpret it. +Flopping into the air again, and gnashing his beak-like jaws with +rage, he kept circling about the spot in heavy zigzags, expecting the +harmless looking head to reappear. + +All at once his expectations were more than realized. The head not +only reappeared, but on a towering leather-colored column of a neck it +shot straight into the air to a height of twenty feet. The big, placid +eyes were now sparkling with anger. The flat, shovel jaws were gaping +open. They seized the swooping foe by the root of the tail, and, in +spite of screeches and wild flappings, plucked him down backwards. At +the surface of the water there was a convulsive struggle, and the wide +wings were drawn clean under. + +For several minutes the water seethed and foamed, and little waves ran +clattering up the beach, while the owner of the harmless-looking head +trod his assailant down and crushed him among the weeds of the bottom. +Then the foam slowly crimsoned, and the mauled, battered body of the +great bird-lizard came up again; for the owner of the mysterious head +was a feeder on delicate weeds and succulent green-stuff only, and +would eat no blood-bearing food. The body was still struggling, and +the vast, dark, broken wings spread themselves in feeble spasms on the +surface. But they were not left to struggle long. + +The water, in the distance, had been full of eager spectators of +the fight, and now it boiled as they rushed in upon the disabled +prey. Ravenous, cavern-jawed, fishlike beasts, half-porpoise, +half-alligator, swarmed upon the victim, tearing at it and at each +other. Some bore off trailing mouthfuls of dark wing-membrane, +others more substantial booty, while the rest fought madly in the +vortex of discolored foam. + +At the beginning of the fray the grim figures perched along the red +ramparts of the cliff had shown signs of excitement, lifting their +high shoulders and half unfolding the stiff drapery of their wings. As +they saw their fellow overwhelmed they launched themselves from their +perch and came hooting hoarsely over the rank, green tops of the palms +and feathery calamaries. Swooping and circling they gathered over the +hideous final struggle, and from time to time one or another would +drop perpendicularly downward to stab the crown or the face of one of +the preoccupied fish-beasts with his trenchant beak. Such of the +fish-beasts as were thus disabled were promptly torn to pieces and +devoured by their companions. + +Some fifty feet away, nearer shore, the harmless-looking head which +had been the source and inspirer of all this bloody turmoil lay +watching the scene with discontent in its round, wondering eyes. +Slowly it reared itself once more to a height of eight or ten feet +above the water, as if for better inspection of the combat. Then, as +if not relishing the neighborhood of the fish-beasts, it slowly sank +again and disappeared. + +Immediately a heavy swirling, a disturbance that stretched over a +distance of nearly a hundred feet, began to travel shoreward. It +grew heavier and heavier as the water grew shallower. Then a +leather-colored mountain of a back heaved itself up through the +smother and a colossal form, that would make the hugest elephant a +pigmy, came ponderously forth upon the beach. + +The body of this amazing being was thrice or four times the bulk of +the mightiest elephant. It stood highest--a good thirteen feet--over +the haunches (which were supported on legs like columns), and sloped +abruptly to the lower and lighter-built fore-shoulders. The neck was +like a giraffe's, but over twenty feet in length to its juncture with +the mild little head, which looked as if Nature had set it there as a +pleasantry at the expense of the titanic body. The tail, enormous at +the base and tapering gradually to a whip-lash, trailed out to a +distance of nearly fifty feet. As its owner came ashore, this +tremendous tail was gathered and curled in a semi-circle at his +side--perhaps lest the delicate tip, if left too distant, might fall a +prey to some significant but agile marauder. + +For some minutes the colossus (he was one of the Dinosaurs, or +Terrible Lizards, and known as a Diplodocus) remained on all-fours, +darting his sinuous neck inquiringly in all directions, and +snatching here and there a mouthful of the rank tender herbage which +grew among the trunks of fern and palm. Apparently the spot was to +his liking. Here was a wide beach, sunlit and ample, whereon to bask +at leisure. There were the warm and weed-choked shallows wherein to +pasture, to wallow at will, to hide his giant bulk from his enemies if +there should be found any formidable enough to make hiding advisable. +Swarms of savage insects, to be sure, were giving him a hot +reception--mosquitoes of unimaginable size, and enormous stinging +flies which sought to deposit their eggs in his smooth hide, but with +his giraffe-like neck he could bite himself where he would, and the +lithe lash of his tail could flick off tormentors from any corner +of his anatomy. + +Meanwhile, the excitement off-shore had died down. The harsh hootings +of the bird-lizards had ceased to rend the air as the dark wings +hurtled away to seek some remoter or less disturbed hunting-ground. +Then across the silence came suddenly a terrific crashing of branches, +mixed with gasping cries. Startled, the diplodocus hoisted himself +upon his hind-quarters, till he sat up like a kangaroo, supported and +steadied by the base of his huge tail. In this position his head, +forty feet above the earth, overlooked the tops of all but the tallest +trees. And what he saw brought the look of anxiety once more into his +round, saucer-eyes. + +Hurling itself with desperate, plunging leaps through the rank +growths, and snapping the trunks of the brittle tree-ferns in its path +as if they had been cauliflowers, came a creature not unlike himself, +but of less than half the size, and with neck and tail of only +moderate length. This creature was fleeing in frantic terror from +another and much smaller being, which came leaping after it like a +giant kangaroo. Both were plainly dinosaurs, with the lizard tail and +hind-legs; but the lesser of the two, with its square, powerful head +and tiger-fanged jaws, and the tremendous, rending claws on its short +forearms, was plainly of a different species from the great +herb-eaters of the dinosaurian family. It was one of the smaller +members of that terrible family of carnivorous dinosaurians which +ruled the ancient cycad forests as the black-maned lion rules the +Rhodesian jungles to-day. The massive iguanodon which fled before it +so madly, though of fully thrice its bulk, had reason to fear it as +the fat cow fears a wolf. + +A moment more, and the dreadful chase, with a noise of raucous groans +and pantings, burst forth into the open, not fifty feet from where the +colossus stood watching. Almost at the watcher's feet the fugitive was +overtaken. With a horrid leap and a hoot of triumph, the pursuer +sprang upon its neck and bore it to the ground, where it lay bellowing +hoarsely and striking out blunderingly with the massive, horn-tipped +spur which armed its clumsy wrist. The victor tore madly at its throat +with tooth and claw, and presently its bellowing subsided to a +hideous, sobbing gurgle. + +The diplodocus, meanwhile, had been looking down upon the scene with +half-bewildered apprehension. These creatures were insignificant in +size, to be sure, as compared with his own colossal stature, but the +smaller one had a swift ferocity which struck terror to his dull +heart. + +Suddenly a red wrath mounted to his small and sluggish brain. His +tail, as we have seen, was curled in a half-circle at his side. Now he +bent his body with it. For an instant his whole bulk quivered with the +extraordinary tension. Then, like a bow released, the bent body sprang +back. The tail (and it weighed at least a ton) struck the victor and +the victim together with an annihilating shock, and swept them clean +around beneath the visitor's feet. + +Down he came upon them at once, with the crushing effect of a hundred +steam pile-drivers; and for the next few minutes his panicky rage +expended itself in treading the two bodies into a shapeless mass. Then +he slowly backed off down into the water where the weedy growths were +thickest, till once more his whole form was concealed except the +insignificant head. This he reared among the swaying tufts of the +"mares' tails," and waited to see what strange thing would happen +next. + +He had not long to wait. That hideous, mangled heap there, sweating +blood in the noon sun, seemed to have some way of making its presence +known. Crashing sounds arose in different parts of the forest, and +presently some half-dozen of the leaping, kangaroo-like flesh-eaters +appeared. + +They were of varying sizes, from ten or twelve feet in length to +eighteen or twenty, and they eyed each other with jealous hostility. +But one glance at the weltering heap showed them that here was +feasting abundant for them all. With a chorus of hoarse cries they +came hopping forward and fell upon it. + +Presently two vast shadows came overhead, hovering a moment, and a +pair of the great bird-lizards dropped upon the middle of the heap. +Hooting savagely, with wings half uplifted, they struck about them +with their terrible beaks till they had secured room for themselves at +the banquet. Other unbidden guests came leaping from among the +thickets; and in a short time there was nothing left of the carcasses +except two naked skeletons, dragged apart and half dismembered by +mighty teeth. In the final melee one of the smaller revellers was +himself pounced upon and devoured. + +Then, as if by consent of a mutual distrust, the throng drew quickly +apart, each eyeing his neighbor warily, and scattered into the woods. +Only the two grim bird-lizards remained, seeming to have a sort of +understanding or partnership, or possibly being a mated pair. They +pried into the cartilages and between the joints of the skeletons with +the iron wedges of their beaks, till there was not another tit-bit to +be enjoyed. Then, hooting once more with satisfaction, they spread +their batlike vanes and flapped darkly off again to their red +watch-tower on the cliff. + +When all was once more quiet the giant visitor fell to pasturing among +the crisp and tender water-weeds. It took a long time to fill his +cavernous paunch by way of that slender neck of his, and when he was +satisfied he went composedly to sleep, his body perfectly concealed +under the water, his head resting on a little islet of matted reeds in +a thicket of "mares' tails." When he woke up again the sun was +half-way down to the west, and the beach glowed hotly in the afternoon +light. Everything was drenched in heavy stillness. The visitor made up +his drowsy mind that he must leave his hiding-place and go and bask in +that delicious warmth. + +He was just bestirring himself to carry out his purpose, when once +more a swaying in the rank foliage of the cycads caught his vigilant +eye. Discreetly he drew back into hiding, the place being, as he had +found it, so full of violent surprises. + +Suddenly there emerged upon the beach a monster even more extraordinary +in appearance than himself. It was about thirty-five feet in length, +and its ponderous bulk was supported on legs so short and bowed that +it crawled with its belly almost dragging the ground. Its small head, +which it carried close to the earth, was lizard-like, shallow-skulled, +feeble-looking, and its jaws cleft back past the stupid eyes. In +fact, it was an inoffensive-looking head for such an imposing body. +At the base of the head began a system of defensive armor that +looked as if it might be proof against artillery. Up over the +shoulders, over the mighty arch of the back, and down over the haunches +as far as the middle of the ponderous tail, ran a series of immense flat +plates of horn, with pointed tips and sharpened edges. The largest of +these plates, those that covered the center of the back, were each +three feet in height, and almost of an equal breadth. Where the +diminished plates came to an end at the middle of the tail, their +place was taken by eight immense, needle-pointed spines, set in pairs, +of which the chief pair had a length of over two feet. The monster's +hide was set thick with scales and knobs of horn, brilliantly +colored in black, yellow, and green, that his grotesque bulk might +be less noticeable to his foes among the sharp shadows and patchy lights +of the fern jungles where he fed. + +The sluggish giant moved nervously, glancing backwards as he came, and +seemed intent upon reaching the water. In a few moments his anxiety +was explained. Leaping in splendid bounds along his broad trail came +two of those same ferocious flesh-eaters whom the great watcher among +the reeds so disliked. They ranged up one on each side of the +stegosaur, who had halted at their approach, stiffened himself, and +drawn his head so far back into the loose skin of his neck that only +the sharp, chopping beak projected from under the first armor-plate. +One of the pair threatened him from the front, as if to engross his +attention, while the other pounced upon one of his massive, bowed +hind-legs, as if seeking to drag it from beneath him and roll him over +on his side. + +But at this instant there was a clattering of the plated hide, and +that armed tail lashed out with lightning swiftness, like a +porcupine's. There was a tearing screech from the rash flesh-eater, +and he was plucked back sidewise, all four feet in air, deeply impaled +on three of those gigantic spines. While he clawed and writhed, +struggling to twist himself free, his companion sprang hardily to the +rescue. She hurled herself with all her weight and strength full upon +the stegosaur's now unprotected flank. So tremendous was the impact +that, with a frightened grunt, he was rolled clean over on his side. +But at the same time his sturdy forearms clutched his assailant, and +so crushed, mauled and tore her that she was glad to wrench herself +away. + +Coughing and gasping, she bounded backwards out of reach; and then she +saw that her mate, having wriggled off the spines, was dragging +himself up the beach toward the forest, leaving a trail of blood +behind him. She followed sullenly, having had more than enough of the +venture. The triumphant stegosaur rolled himself heavily back upon his +feet, grunted angrily, clattered his armored plates, jerked his +terrible tail from side to side as if to see that it was still in +working order, and went lumbering off to another portion of the wood, +having apparently forgotten his purpose of taking to the water. As he +went, one of the grim bird-lizards from the cliff swooped down and +hovered, hooting over his path, apparently disappointed at his +triumph. + +The watcher in the reeds, on the other hand, was encouraged by the +result of the combat. He began to feel a certain dangerous contempt +for those leaping flesh-eaters, in spite of their swiftness and +ferocity. He himself, though but an eater of weeds, had trodden one +into nothingness, and now he had seen two together overthrown and put +to flight. With growing confidence he came forth from his hiding, +stalked up the beach, coiled his interminable tail beside him, and lay +down to bask his dripping sides in the full blaze of the sun. + +The colossus was at last beginning to feel at home in his new +surroundings. In spite of the fact that this bit of open beach, +overlooked by the deep green belt of jungle and the rampart of red +cliffs, appeared to be a sort of arena for titanic combats, he began +to have confidence in his own astounding bulk as a defense against all +foes. What matter his slim neck, small head and feeble teeth, when +that awful engine of his tail could sweep his enemies off their feet, +and he could crush them by falling upon them like a mountain! A pair +of the great bird-lizards flapped over him, hooting malignantly and +staring down upon him with their immense, cold eyes, but he hardly +took the trouble to look up at them. + +Warmed and well fed, his eyes half-sheathed in their membraneous lids, +he gazed out vacantly across the waving herbage of the shallows, +across the slow, pale tides whose surface boiled from time to time +above the rush of some unseen giant of a shark or ichthyosaur. + +In the heavy heat of the afternoon the young world had become very +still. The bird-lizards, all folded in their wings, sat stiff and +motionless along the ramparts of red cliff. The only sounds were the +hiss of those seething rushes far out on the tide, the sudden droning +hum of some great insect darting overhead, or the occasional soft +clatter of the long, crisp cycad leaves as a faint puff of hot air +lifted them. + +At the back of the beach, where the tree-ferns and the calamaries grew +rankest, the foliage parted noiselessly at a height of perhaps twenty +feet from the ground, and a dreadful head looked forth. Its jaws were +both long and massive, and armed with immense, curved teeth like +scimitars. Its glaring eyes were overhung by eaves of bony plate, and +from the front of its broad snout rose a single horn, long and sharp. +For some minutes this hideous apparition eyed the unconscious colossus +by the waterside. Then it came forth from the foliage and crept +noiselessly down the beach. + +Except for its horned snout and armored eyes, this monster was not +unlike in general type to those other predatory dinosaurs which had +already appeared upon the scene. But it was far larger, approaching +thirty-five feet in length, and more powerfully built in proportion to +its size; and the armory of its jaws was more appalling. With a +stealthy but clumsy-looking waddle, which was nevertheless soundless +as a shadow, and his huge tail curled upwards that it might not drag +and rattle the stones, he crept down until he was within some fifty +feet or more of the drowsing colossus. + +Some premonition of peril, at this moment, began to stir in the heavy +brain of the colossus, and he lifted his head apprehensively. In the +same instant the horned giant gathered himself, and hurled himself +forward. In two prodigious leaps he covered the distance that +separated him from his intended prey. The coiled tail of the colossus +lashed out irresistibly, but the assailant cleared it in his spring, +fell upon the victim's shoulders, and buried his fangs in the base of +that columnar neck. + +The colossus, for the first time, was overwhelmed with terror. He gave +vent to a shrill, bleating bellow--an absurdly inadequate utterance to +issue from this mountainous frame--writhed his neck in snaky folds, +and lashed out convulsively with the stupendous coils of his tail. But +he could not loosen that deep grip, or the clutch of those iron +claws. + +In spite of the many tons weight throttling his neck, he reared +himself aloft, and strove to throw himself over upon his assailant. +But the marauder was agile, and eluded the crushing fall without +loosing his grip. Then, bleating frightfully, till the sounds +re-echoed from the red cliffs and set all the drowsing bird-lizards +lifting their wings, he plunged down into the tide and bore his +dreadful adversary out of sight beneath a smother of ensanguined +foam. + +Now, the horned giant was himself a powerful swimmer and quite at home +in the water, but in this respect he was no match for his quarry. +Refusing to relinquish his hold, he was borne out into deep water; and +there the colossus, becoming all at once agile and swift, succeeded in +rolling over upon him. Forced thus to loose his grip, he gave one +long, ripping lunge with his horn, deep into the victim's flank, and +then writhed himself from under. The breath quite crushed out of him, +he was forced to rise to the surface for air. There he rested, +recovering his self-possession, reluctant to give up the combat, but +even more reluctant to expose himself to another such mauling in the +depths. As he hesitated, about a hundred feet away he saw the mild +little head of the colossus, apparently floating on the tide, and +regarding him anxiously. That decided him. With a crashing bellow of +rage and a sweep of his powerful tail he darted at the inoffensive +head. But it vanished instantly, and a sudden tremendous turmoil, +developing into a wake that lengthened out with the speed of a +torpedo-boat, showed him the hopelessness of pursuit. Turning +abruptly, he swam back to the shore and sulkily withdrew into the +thickets to seek some less unmanageable quarry. + +The colossus, so deeply wounded that his trail threw up great clots +and bubbles of red foam, swam onward several miles up the estuary. He +realized now that that patch of sunny beach was just a death-trap. But +in the middle of the estuary, far out from either shore, far removed +from the unseen, lurking horrors of the fern forests, spread acre upon +acre of drowned marsh, overgrown with tall green reeds and feathery +"mares' tails." Through these stretches of marsh he ploughed his way, +half-swimming, half-wading, and felt that here he might find a safe +refuge as well as an unfailing pasturage. But the anguish of his +wounds urged him still onwards. + +Beyond the reed-beds he came to a long, narrow islet of wet sand, +naked to the sun. This appeared to him the very refuge he was craving, +a spot where he could lie secure and lick his hurts. He dragged +himself out upon it eagerly. Not until he had gained the very center +of it did he notice how his ponderous feet sank in it at every stride. +As soon as he halted he felt the treacherous sands sucking him down. +In terror he struggled to free himself, to regain the water. But now +the sands had a grip upon him, and his efforts only engulfed him the +more swiftly. He reared upon his hind legs, and immediately found +himself swallowed to the haunches. He fell forward again, and sank to +his shoulder-blades. And then, the convulsive thrashings of his tail +hurling the sands in every direction, he lifted his head and bleated +piteously. + +The struggle had already drawn the dreadful eyes of those grim, folded +figures perched along the cliff-tops miles away; and now, as if in +answer to his cry they came fluttering darkly over him. Seeing his +helplessness, they flapped down upon him with hoots of exultation. +Their vast beaks tore at his helpless back, and stabbed at the swiftly +writhing convolutions of his neck. One, more heedless than his +fellows, came within reach of the thrashing tail, and was dashed, half +stunned, to earth, where the sands got him in their hold before he +could recover himself. With dreadful screeches, he was sucked down, +but his fellows paid no attention to his fate. And meanwhile, in a +ring about the islet, not daring to come near for terror of the +quicksand, crocodiles and alligators and ichthyosaurs, with upturned, +gaping snouts, watched the struggle greedily. + +As the lower part of his neck was drawn down into the quicksand, the +colossus lost the power to move his head quickly enough to evade the +attacks of his horrid assailants. A moment more, and he was blinded. +Then he felt his head enfolded in the strangling membranes of wings +and borne downwards. Once or twice the convulsions of his neck threw +his enemies off, and the bleeding, sightless head reemerged to view. + +But not only his force, but his will to struggle, was fast ebbing +away. Presently, with a thunderous, gasping sob, the last breath left +his mighty lungs, and his head dropped on the sand. It was trodden +under in an instant; and then, afraid of being engulfed themselves, +the hooting revellers abandoned it, to crowd struggling upon the +arched hump of the back. Here they tore and gorged and quarreled till, +some fifteen minutes later, their last foothold sank beneath them. +Then, with dripping beaks and talons, they all flapped back to their +cliffs; and slowly the fluent sand smoothed itself to shining +complacency over the tomb of the diplodocus, hiding and sealing away +the stupendous skeleton for half a million years. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE KING OF THE TRIPLE HORN + + +It was a little later in the Morning of Time--later by perhaps some +two or three hundred thousand years. Monstrous mammals now held sway +over the fresh, green round of the young earth, so exuberant in her +youthful vigor that she could not refrain from flooding the Poles +themselves with a tropical luxuriance of flower and tree. The +supremacy of the Giant Reptiles had passed. + +A few representatives of their most colossal and highly-specialized +forms still survived, still terrible and supreme in those vast, +steaming, cane-clothed savannahs which most closely repeated the +conditions of an earlier age. But Nature, pleased with her experiments +in the more promising mammalian type, had turned her back upon them +after her fashion, and was coldly letting them die out. Her failures, +however splendid, have always found small mercy at her hands. + +But it was little like a failure he looked, the giant who now heaved +his terrible, three-horned front from the lilied surface of the lagoon +wherein he had been wallowing, and came ponderously ploughing his way +ashore. As he emerged upon dry ground, he halted--with the tip of his +massive, lizard-like tail still in the water--and shook a shower from +the hollows of his vast and strangely armored head. + +His eyes, coldly furious, and set in a pair of goggle-like projections +of horn, peered this way and that, as if suspecting the neighborhood +of a foe. His gigantic snout--horned, cased in horn, and hooked like +the beak of a parrot--he lifted high, sniffing the heavy air. Then, as +if to end his doubts by either drawing or daunting off the unknown +enemy, he opened his grotesquely awful mouth and roared. The huge +sound that exploded from his throat was something between the bellow +of an alligator and the coughing roar of a tiger, but of infinitely +vaster volume. + +The next moment, as if in deliberate reply to the challenge, an +immense black beast stepped from behind a thicket of pea-green bamboo, +and stood scrutinizing him with wicked little pig-like eyes. + +It was the old order confronted by the new, the latest most terrible +and perhaps most efficient of the titanic but vanishing race of the +Dinosaurs, face to face with one of those monstrous mammalian forms +upon which Nature was now trying her experiments. + +And the place of this meeting was not unfitted to such a portentous +encounter. The further shore of the lagoon was partly a swamp of +rankest growth, partly a stretch of savannah clothed with rich +cane-brake and flowering grasses that towered fifteen or twenty feet +into the air. But the hither shore was of a hard soil mixed with sand, +carpeted with a short, golden-green herbage, and studded with clumps +of bamboo, jobo, mango and mahogany, with here and there a thicket of +canary-flowered acacia, bristling with the most formidable of thorns. + +They were not altogether ill-matched, these two colossal protagonists +of the Saurian and the Mammal. The advantage of bulk lay altogether +with the Dinosaur, the three-horned King of all the Lizard kind. His +armament, too, whether for offense or for defense, was distinctly the +more formidable. Fully twenty feet in length, and perhaps eight feet +high at the crest of the massively-rounded back, he was of ponderous +breadth, and moved ponderously on legs like columns. + +His splotched brown and yellow hide was studded along the neck and +shoulders with pointed knobs of horn. His enormous, fleshy tail, some +seven feet long and nearly two feet thick at the base, tapered very +gradually to a thick tip, and dragged on the ground behind him. But +the most amazing thing about this King of the Lizards was his +monstrous and awe-inspiring head. + +Wedge-shaped from the tip of its cruel parrot-beak to its spreading, +five-foot-wide base, its total length was well over seven feet. Its +three horns, one on the snout and two standing out straight forward +from the forehead just above the eyes, were immensely thick at the +base and fined down smoothly to points of terrible keenness. The one +on the snout was something over a foot in length, while the brow pair +were nearly three feet long. + +Almost from the roots of these two terrific weapons protruded the huge +horn goggles which served as sockets for the great, cold, implacable +lizard-eyes. Behind the horns, outspreading like a vast ruff from +three to four feet wide upwards and laterally, slanted a smooth, +polished shield of massive shell like the carapace of a giant turtle, +protecting the neck and shoulders from any imaginable attack. + +The antagonist who had come in answer to the giant's challenge was +less extravagant in appearance and more compact in form. He was not +much over a dozen feet in length, but this length owed nothing to the +tail, which was a mere wriggling pendant. He was, perhaps, seven feet +high, very sturdy in build, but not mountainous like his terrible +challenger. His legs and feet were something like those of an +elephant, and he looked capable of a deadly alertness in action. But, +as in the case of the King Dinosaur, it was his head that gave him his +chief distinction. Long, massive and blunt-nosed, it was armed not +only with six horns, set in pairs, but also with a pair of deadly, +downward-pointing tusks--like those of a walrus, but much shorter, +sharper and more effective. + +Of the six horns, the first pair, set on the tip of the broad snout, +were mere bony points, of no use as weapons, and employed by their +owner for rooting in the turf after the fashion of a tuber-hunting +pig. The second pair, set about the middle of the long face, just over +the eyes, were about eighteen inches in length, and redoubtable enough +to make other weapons seem superfluous. + +The third pair, however, were equally formidable, and set far back at +the very base of the skull, like those of an antelope. The eyes, as +has been already stated, were small, deep-set and vindictive. The +sullen black of his coloring added to the portentousness of his swift +appearance around the clump of pea-green bamboo. + +For several minutes the two monsters stood eyeing each other, while +the rage of an instinctive hatred mounted slowly in their sluggish +brains. To the King Dinosaur, this stranger was a trespasser on his +domain, where no other creatures, unless of his own kind, had ever +before had the presumption to confront him. The suddenness of the +black apparition, also, exasperated him; and he loathed at once the +sickly sour smell, so unlike the pungent muskiness of his own kindred, +which now for the first time met his sensitive nostrils. + +The Dinoceras, on his part, was in a chronic state of rage. He was a +solitary old bull, driven out, for his bad temper, from the +comfortable herd of his fellows, and burning to find vent for his +bottled spleen. The herd, in one of its migrations, had just arrived +in the neighborhood of the great lagoons, and he, in his furious +restlessness, was unconsciously playing the part of vanguard to it. + +He had never, of course, conceived of so terrible an adversary as this +splotched brown and yellow monster before him. But he was in no mood +to calculate odds. For all his blind rage, however, he was a crafty +fighter, always. Seeing that the challenger made no move, he gave +voice to a huge, squealing grunt, like the noise of a herd of raging +pigs. Then he dug his armed snout into the turf and hurled a shower of +sod into the air. + +In the eyes of the King Dinosaur this was apparently an intolerable +insult. With a roar he came lumbering forward, at a slow, rolling run +which seemed to jar the earth. Grunting again, and moving at thrice +his speed, the black beast rushed to meet him, head down, like a +charging bison. + +They met under the spreading branches of an immense hoya-tree. But +they did not meet fairly, head to head, as the Dinosaur intended. Had +they done so the battle would have been decided then and there, for +the black beast's horns and unprotected front were no match for the +impenetrable armor and leveled lances of the King's colossal head. But +they did not meet fairly. The black stranger was much too crafty for +that. At the last moment he swerved nimbly aside, wheeled with an +agility that was marvelous for a creature of his bulk, and thrust at +the shoulders of the colossus with a fierce, rooting movement like the +stroke of the wild boar. + +But he struck the rim of that impenetrable defense, the spreading ruff +of horn. And he might as well have struck a mountain-side. That +enormous bulk, firm-based on the wide-set columns which formed its +legs, merely staggered an instant, coughed from the jarring of the +blow, and swung about to present his terrific horns against another +such attack. The black stranger, meanwhile, as if disappointed at the +meager result of his tactics, had drawn back out of reach. He stood +rooting the turf and squealing defiance, in the hope of luring the +giant into a second charge. + +The stupendous duel had two interested spectators. On the top of the +next tree sat an extraordinary-looking bird, about the size of a +pheasant, colored blue and rose like a macaw. Its tail was like a +lizard's, long and fully-vertebrated, with a pair of flat feathers +standing out opposite each other at right angles from each joint, for +all the world like an immense acacia-frond done in red. At the tips of +its wing-elbows it carried clutching, hand-like claws, resembling +those of the flying reptiles; and its straight, strong beak was armed +with pointed teeth. It kept opening and shutting its beak excitedly +and uttering sharp cries, as if calling everyone to come and see the +fight. + +The other spectator was not excited at all. He was a large, ape-like +man--one would have said, rather, a manlike ape, had it not been for +the look in his eyes. + +This enigmatic figure sat on a branch immediately over the combatants, +and held on with one powerful, hairy hand to the branch just above +him. He was covered with thick, brown hair, like fur, from head to +foot, but that on his head was true hair, long and waving. His +shoulders were massive, his chest of great depth, his arms so long +that if he had been standing erect they would have hung to his knees, +his legs short, massive and much bowed. His hands were furred to the +second joint of the fingers, but they were the hands of a man, not +those of an ape, for the huge thumb was opposed to the fingers instead +of being set parallel with them like another finger. His head was low +in the arch of the skull, low and narrow in the forehead, with a small +facial angle and hardly any bridge to the broad, flat, wide-nostriled +nose; and the jaws were heavy and thrust forward brutishly. But the +eyes, under the roof of the heavy, bony brows, held an expression +profoundly unlike the cold, mechanical stare of the giant Dinosaur or +the twinkling, vindictive glare of the black stranger. They gazed down +at the battle with a sort of superiority, considerate, a little +scornful, in spite of the obvious fact that either of the two, as far +as mere physical bulk and prowess were concerned, could have +obliterated him by simply setting foot upon him. In his free hand he +grasped a branch of acacia set with immense thorns, the needle-like +points of which he touched contemplatively from time to time, as if +pondering what use he could put them to. He had no marked prejudice, +for the moment, in favor of either side in the battle below him. Both +monsters were his foes, and the ideal result, in his eyes, would have +been for the two to destroy each other. But if he had any preference, +it was for the black mammalian beast, the lizard monster appearing to +him the more alien, the more incomprehensible and the more impregnable +to any strategy that he might devise. + +For perhaps a couple of minutes, now, the King kept his place, +wheeling ponderously to face his agile opponent, who circled about him +at a distance of ten to twelve yards, seeking an opportunity to get in +a rush upon his open flank. This wheeling and circling made the cool +watcher in the tree impatient. Wrenching off a heavy branch, he hurled +it down with all his force upon the King's face. To the King this +seemed but another insult from his black antagonist, and his rage +exploded once more. With a roar he wallowed forward, thinking to pin +the elusive foe to earth and tread the life out of him. + +This gave the black beast his opportunity. Doubling nimbly like a wild +boar, he dashed in and caught his colossal opponent fairly on the +side, midway between the shoulder and the haunch. The impact shocked +the breath from the monster's lungs, with a huge, explosive cough, and +brought him to a bewildered standstill, though it could not throw him +from his feet. But the armored hide proved too tough for the black +beast's horns to penetrate. Perceiving this on the instant, the latter +reared, and brought down the two awful daggers of his tusks upon the +monster's ribs. They penetrated, but they failed to rip as far and as +conclusively as their owner intended. And while he struggled to free +himself for another attack, the monster recovered from his daze. + +Now the stranger had taken count only of those weapons which the King +Dinosaur bore on his terrible front; and these for the moment were out +of reach. But he had forgotten the massive and tremendous tail. +Suddenly it lashed out, nearly half a ton in weight, and with the +force of a pile-driver. It struck the black beast on the legs, and +swept them clean from under him. + +Before he could pick himself up the Dinosaur had swung about and +buried all three horns, to the sockets, in his throat and chest. His +life went out in one ear-splitting squeal of rage and anguish. The red +blood streaming from horns and ruff, the monster wrenched himself +free, and then moved irresistibly over his victim, like a rolling +mountain. + +When satisfied that his triumph was complete, the King drew back a +pace or two, and examined the mangled heap with his cold, unchanging +stare. Then he sniffed at it contemptuously, and prodded it with his +nose-horn, and tore it with his extravagant parrot-beak. But, being a +feeder on herbage only, he had not thought of tasting the red flesh. +The smell of it was abominable to him; and presently he moved closer +under the trees to wipe his beak, as a bird might, on a clump of +coarse grasses. + +As he did so, the lowering of his head threw his horny ruff far +forward, exposing the folds of naked hide on the back of his neck. The +silent man-creature on the branch above was quick to note the +opportunity. He was displeased at the monster's triumph. He was also +interested to see if he had any power to hurt so colossal and well +protected a foe. Swinging down by his legs and one hand, he thrust the +thorned branch of acacia deep in under the ruff. The monster, jerking +his head up sharply at this unexpected assault, drove the long thorns +well home. + +In an instant he was beside himself with rage and pain. Roaring till +the blue-and-crimson bird on the tree-top flew off in a panic, he +shook his head desperately, and then almost tried to stand upon it. He +started to roll over on his back, hoping thus to dislodge the galling +thing beneath the carapace, but thought better of it at the first +added pressure. His contortions were so vehement that the man +discreetly drew himself up to a higher branch, a slow grin widening +his heavy mouth, as he marked his power to inflict injury on even such +an adversary as the King Dinosaur. The experiment had been successful +beyond his utmost anticipations. Like Nature herself, he was +continually experimenting, but by no means always with satisfactory +results. + +Suddenly the monster made off, with head held as low as possible, for +the edge of the lagoon. Ploughing his way in with a huge splashing, he +disappeared beneath the water. A minute later he returned to the +surface and swam rapidly towards the jungle on the opposite shore, +probably intending to find some projecting stump of a dead limb on +which he could scratch the torment from under his ruff. At the edge of +the jungle he was joined by another monster, like himself, but +smaller--probably one of his mates--and together they disappeared, +with heavy crashings, in the rank tangle of the swamp-growths. + +The man-creature descended from his refuge, carrying in one hand a +heavy fragment of branch, which he held awkwardly, as if not +over-familiar with the idea of an artificial weapon. He seemed to be +groping his way towards some use of it, either as a club or as a +stabbing instrument. During the fight, while he was experimenting with +the thorn branch, he had evidently had this weapon lodged in some safe +crotch. And now he kept handling it with a curious interest. + +Standing erect, he might easily have been mistaken for a slightly +built and shapelier variety of the gorilla but for the true man-hands +and the steady, contemplative, foreseeing look in the eyes. He came +and examined the mangled bulk of the Dinoceras, scrutinized the horns +and tusks minutely, and strove with all his force to wrench one of the +latter from its socket, as if hoping to make some use of it. Then, +fastidiously selecting a shred of the victim's torn flesh, he sniffed +and nibbled at it, and then threw it aside. He could eat and enjoy +flesh-food at a pinch. But just now fruit was abundant; and fruit, +with eggs and honey, formed the diet he preferred. As he stood +pondering the lifeless mass before him, a shrill call came to his +ears, and, turning sharply, he saw his mate, with her baby in the +crook of her hairy arm, standing at the foot of a tree, and signaling +him to come to her. As soon as she saw that he understood, and was +coming, she swung herself lightly up into the branches. He ran to the +tree, climbed after her, and followed her to the very top, where she +awaited him. The tree was taller than any of its neighbors, and +commanded a clear view of the meadow-lands that lay a half mile back +from the lagoon. His mate was pointing eagerly to these meadows. He +saw that they were dotted and spotted with groups of great black, +horned and tusked beasts like the one whose destruction he had just +witnessed. These were the migrant herds of the Dinoceras, just arrived +at their new pasturage. The man eyed them with discontent. He had seen +a specimen of their temper; and he congratulated himself that he and +his mate knew how to live in trees. + +The man-creature himself was a new-comer to the shores of the great +lagoon. The place suited him admirably by reason of the abundance of +its fruits. Along the banks of the lagoon were innumerable little +groves of plantain, the rich sustaining fruit of which was of all +foods his favorite. And he had found no trace whatever of his most +dangerous enemies, the gigantic and implacable black lion of the +caves, the red bear and the saber-tooth. + +Such an irresistible giant as the King of the Triple Horn he might +wonder at, and hate, but he thought he had little cause to fear him. +It is easy enough, if one is prudent, to avoid a mountain. + +Having found the place good, and resolved to stay, the man had built a +refuge for himself and his family in this tall watch-tower of a tree. +With interwoven branches he had made a rude but substantial platform, +and carpeted it to something like softness with smaller branches and +twigs. A similar but lighter platform overhead made him a roof that +was anything but waterproof, and a few bushy branches served for +walls. Such as it was, it was at least the beginning of a home. He +loved it; and in defense of the little hairy brown mate and downy +brown baby who shared it with him he would have fought both Dinosaur +and Dinoceras with his naked hands. + +For some days nothing more was seen of the two Dinosaurs, the King +being probably occupied, in the depths of the jungle, with the nursing +of his wrath and his hurts. The herds of the Dinoceras, meanwhile, +kept to their meadows, having better drinking-water in a slow stream +which traversed the pastures than in the brackish tide of the lagoon. + +Then came a morning when the brown mother, babe on arm, was gathering +plantains not far from the waterside, while the man chanced to be away +exploring the limits of his new domain. The woman looked up suddenly; +and there, almost upon her, was the giant horror of the Dinosaur, his +cold, expressionless eyes gaping at her immovably from their goggling +sockets. She turned to flee; and there was the monster's mate, not +quite so huge, but equally appalling. Behind her was an impenetrable +wall of thorn-acacia. There was only one refuge--a tree, all too +small, but lofty enough to take her beyond the reach of those +horrifying horned and immobile masks. Up the little tree she went, +nimbly as a monkey, and crouched shivering in a crotch. The slender +trunk swayed beneath her weight. She clutched the brown baby to her +heart, and sent shriek after shriek through the glades. + +A mile away the man heard it. He gave one deep-chested shout in +answer, and then came running in silence, saving his breath. + +But it was a mile he had to come. The female Dinosaur, the more +instantly malignant of the two, hurled herself upon the trunk of the +tree. It swayed horribly, but did not yield at once. Thereupon the two +began to root beneath it with their horns, having often used this +method to obtain fruits which were above their reach. The tree leaned +far over. The giant straddled it as a moose straddles a poplar +sapling, and bore it down irresistibly. Its top touched earth. + +The brown mother sprang forth with a tremendous leap, clearing the +horns with a twist which nearly broke her back. She thought herself +free. And then a gigantic tail struck her and felled her senseless. A +second more, and the female Dinosaur's great foot crushed her and the +wailing babe out of existence together. + +The swift end of the tragedy the man had seen as he came racing down a +stretch of open glade. He did not need to look at the awful thing +beneath the monster's foot to know that all was over. Beyond one +hoarse groan he uttered not a sound. But blindly--for he had never yet +practised such an art--he hurled his ragged club at the nearest +monster. It rebounded like a baby's rattle from the vast horn-armored +head. But a lucky chance had guided it. One of its sharp, splintered +knots struck fairly in the Dinosaur's eye, and smashed it in the +socket. She roared with agony; and the two, side by side, came lunging +towards him. + +The man ran back slowly. His despairing grief had changed suddenly +into a cold hate and a resolve for vengeance. It was so easy for him +to outstrip these lumbering monsters who were spouting their fetid, +musky breath close upon his heels. He stumbled carefully at every +other step. He let them feel that at the next stride they would +transfix him. He led them on, the earth shaking beneath their tread, +till another fifty feet would have brought them out upon the skirts of +the meadow. But at this point, wearied by such an unwonted burst of +effort, the King halted sulkily. He had not had an eye put out. He +wanted to give it up. But his mate came right on, thirsting for her +revenge. + +The man was not content with her pursuit alone. Spurting ahead, he +gathered up two handfuls of sand and gravel, whirled about, and drove +them with all his strength into the King's cold eyes. It worked. +Smarting and half blinded, the monster forgot his weariness, and came +charging along furiously in the trail of his mate. + +They were stupid, these Lizard Kings, with more brains in their pelvic +arches than in their giant skulls. Because the puny man-creature went +stumbling almost within reach of their beaks, they imagined they were +going to catch him. That he would go dodging around thickets which +they crashed over blindly, and would then return to present himself +again deliberately before them, did not strike them as at all +suspicious. Their dull but relentless hate once thoroughly aroused, as +long as he was in sight and they could move the mighty columns of +their legs, they would pursue him. + +Through the last heavy fringe of bush and leafage they pursued him, +and with a great crashing of branches came out upon the open, +short-grass meadow. Still the man-creature stumbled on, straight out +into the open, and still they followed, raging silently. + +The black herds of the Dinoceras stopped feeding all at once, and +raised their vicious heads and stared. + +There were countless cows in the herd, horned like the bulls, but +smaller, and without the rending tusks. The cows, at this season, all +had young. After one long, comprehending stare at the two gigantic +mottled shapes bearing down upon them, the herd put itself in motion. +The man-creature they hardly noticed, he seemed so insignificant. + +With eyes that took in everything, coolly and sagaciously, the man +observed that the motion of the herd was an ordered one. The black +beasts were deftly sorting themselves out to meet the danger. The +bulls came thrusting themselves to the front--a terrific array which +might have struck panic to the hearts of even the colossal Dinosaurs +had they not been too stupid with rage for any new impression to +pierce their brains. The cows, meanwhile, pushing their calves into a +huddled mass behind them, formed themselves into a second array, a +reserve of less mass and strength than the ranks of the bulls, but of +an invincible mother-fury. + +The man, with a wise fearlessness, ran on straight through the +gathering line of bulls, the nearest of whom thrust at him carelessly +and then paid him no more heed. Behind their ranks, hidden now from +the sight of his pursuers, he swerved, avoiding the line of cows, ran +sharply to the right, and came back around the end of the line to see +what was going to happen. For all his grief, his heart was thumping +almost to suffocation as his titanic vengeance moved to its end. + +When the two raging Dinosaurs lost sight of their prey they stopped +short, stupidly bewildered. Then they noticed the array of black +beasts charging upon them. This, in their mad mood, afforded a new +object to their rage. They plunged wallowing forward to meet the new +foe. And at that moment the man, appearing round the wing of the black +ranks, halted abruptly, and laughed. + +It was a strange, disconcerting sound, that laughter, and the nearest +Dinoceras, disturbed by it, edged away and crowded against his +neighbor's flank in an inexplicable apprehension. + +The next moment the stupendous opposing forces met with a shock that, +to the man's overstrung senses, seemed to make the very daylight reel. +There was no space for evasion or manoeuver. The two ponderous bulks +went straight through the ranks of the black bulls, ripping them with +beak and horn from shoulder to rump, treading them down like corn, and +trampling them under foot as they rolled on. The bulls on either side +charged on their flanks, rearing, grunting, squealing insanely and +ripping with the massive daggers of their tusks. But as this terrific +assault came from both sides at once, the two monsters were in reality +supported by it, so that they were not swept off their feet. Almost +without a check, as it seemed, they ploughed straight on, lashing with +their mighty tails, and leaving a trail of disabled victims behind +them, and so wore their way right up to the line of the cows. + +But here they were stopped. The calves were behind that line. + +The black mothers simply heaped themselves upon those impaling horns +and armored fronts, bearing them down, smothering, engulfing them in +an avalanche of screaming and monstrous bulks. The bulls, meanwhile, +were rending, tearing, stabbing, on flank and rear. The two Dinosaurs +disappeared from view. The dreadful mountain of writhing, gigantic +shapes heaved convulsively for some minutes. Then the great columns +that were the Dinosaurs' legs seemed to crumble beneath the weight. +The awful, battling heap sagged, fell apart, and let in the glare of +the sunlight upon what had been the two colossal monarchs of the early +world. The dreadful, unrecognizable things still moved, still heaved +and twisted ponderously among the bodies of their slain, but it was +mere aimless paroxysm, the blind life struggling to resist its final +expulsion and dissipation. The wounded Dinoceras drew away, to die or +recover as curious Nature might decree. The surviving cows returned to +assure themselves that their young had come to no hurt. And the great +black bulls who had escaped serious injury in the struggle stood about +in a ring, thrusting and ripping at the unresponsive mountains of +flesh. As they satisfied themselves, one after another, that the +victory was complete, and that there was nothing more to battle +against, they fell to devouring their prey. Ordinarily feeders on +herbage and roots, they were like pigs and rats and men, more or less +without prejudice in their diet, and they seemed to think that +dinosaur went very well with grass. + +At a distance of not more than fifty paces from these destroying +hosts, the man-creature stood carelessly, and stared and considered. +He had no fear of them. He knew he could avoid them with ease. So +insignificant that in their excitement they hardly noticed him, so +small that in bulk he was no greater than the least of their calves, +he nevertheless despised the gigantic beasts and felt himself their +lord. He had played with the two monarchs of all the early world, led +them into his trap, and taken such dreadful vengeance upon them that +his grief was almost assuaged by the fullness of it. The black herds +of the Dinoceras he had used as the tools of his vengeance. No doubt, +if necessary, he could use them again in some such fashion. + +He turned his back upon them, knowing that his fine ear would inform +him at once if any should take it into their heads to pursue him, and +stalked away with deliberation towards the wooded ground. But he +avoided his tree. He would never more go near that empty home. He +would return to the regions beyond the head of the lagoon, where he +would find scattered members of his kindred. He would find another +mate; and in a dim, groping way he harbored a desire for new +offspring, for sons, in particular, who should be inquiring and full +of resource, like himself. At the edge of the wood he turned, and gave +one more long, musing look at the invincible black herds whom he had +used. The idea of sons came back upon him insistently. A faint sense +of the immeasurable vastness of what was to be done swept over his +soul. But he was not daunted. He would at least do something. And he +would teach his children, till they should learn, perhaps, by taking +thought, even to overcome the ferocity of the saber-tooth and foil the +malice of the great red bear. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE FINDING OF FIRE + + +I + +The people of the Little Hills were in extremity. Trouble after +trouble had come upon them, blow after blow had stricken them, till +now there were but three score fighting-men, with perhaps twice that +number of women able to bear children, left to the tribe. It looked as +if but one more stroke such as that which had just befallen them must +wipe them out of existence. And that, had ruthless Nature suffered it, +would have been a damage she might have taken some thousands of years +to repair. For the People of the Little Hills had climbed higher from +the pregnant ooze than any other of the man or half-man tribes at that +time struggling into being on the youthful Earth. + +First and not least formidable to the tribe had been an incursion from +the east of beings who were plainly men, in a way, but still more +plainly beasts. Had the tribe of the Little Hills but known it, these +Ape-men were much like their own ancestors except for the blackness of +their skins beneath the coarse fur, the narrow angle of their skulls +and the heavy forward thrust of their lower jaws. + +Soon afterwards, appearing from no man could say just where, came +a scattered incursion of mammoth cave-bears, saber-toothed tigers and +a few gigantic cave-lions. These ravenous monsters not only +slaughtered wholesale the game on which the Hillmen most depended, +but strove--each for himself, fortunately--to seize the caves. As +they raged against each other no less desperately than against +their human adversaries, the issue of the war was never in doubt. +The Hillmen stood together solidly, fought with all their cunning +of pitfall and ambuscade, and overwhelmed the mightiest by sheer +weight of numbers. But again the victory was dearly bought. When the +last of the monsters, sullen and amazed, withdrew to seek less +difficult encounters, he left mourning and lamentation in the caves. + +This war had been a matter of some seasons. Then had followed a summer +of peace and good hunting, which had given wounds time to heal. But +with winter had swept down another dreadful invasion again from the +unfriendly east--wolves, wolves of gigantic stature, and hunting in +such huge packs that many outlying sections of the tribe were cut off +and devoured before the Hillmen could combine to withstand them. +Fortunately, the different packs had no combined action, so after the +first shock the sagacious warrior who ruled the men of the Little +Hills was able to get his diminished followers together, along with +most of their stored supplies, and mass them in the amphitheater of +the central caves. + +So dragged by half the desperate winter. Then suddenly the wolves, +having exterminated or driven off all the game among the Little Hills, +once more took the trail, though with diminished ranks, and swept off +ravaging to the south-westward. The People of the Little Hills were +free once more to come out into the sun. But there was no more game to +hunt, neither in the forest, nor on the upland slopes, nor in the +reeking marshes by the estuary. The tribe was driven to fumbling in +the pools at low tide for scallops and clams and mussels, a diet which +their souls despised and their bodies resented. + +The fact that the invasion of the wolves had forced the tribe to +concentrate, however, presently proved to have been a painfully +disguised blessing. Had they remained as before, scattered all over +their domain for the convenience of the chase, their next and hardest +trial would surely have annihilated them. + +It was once more out of the east that it came upon them, by the trail +of the vanished Ape-men and the ravaging wolves. About sunrise of a +summer's day a woman of the tribe was grubbing for roots with a +pointed stick by the banks of a brook when she was pounced upon by a +pair of squat, yellow-brown, filthy men with enormous shoulders, short +bow-legs and flat faces with gaping, upturned nostrils. Young and +vigorous, she fought like a tigress till stunned by a blow on the +head, which was not before both her assailants were streaming with +blood from the jabs of her sharp digging-stick. Her cries had aroused +the tribe, however, and her captors, appreciating in her a shapeliness +and fairness beyond anything they had ever seen in their own females, +hastened to make sure of their prize by dragging her off into the +woods. Three of the Hillmen, raging in pursuit, were intercepted by a +horde of the squat strangers suddenly leaping from the thickets, +surrounded, pulled down after a heaving convulsion of struggle, torn +to pieces and trodden into the earth. + +The Chief of the tribe, from his vantage at the top of the slope which +led up to the little amphitheater of caves wherein he had gathered his +people, saw and understood. The perils of the past two years had made +him cool and provident. One look at those foul and shaggy hordes, +leaping like beasts, had told him that this was to be a battle to the +death. Angrily beating back the hotheads who would have rushed down to +avenge their kin and inevitably to share their fate, his shouts, +bellowed sonorously from his deep and hairy chest, called up the whole +tribe to the defense of the bottle-neck pass which led into the +amphitheater. At a word, passed on breathlessly from mouth to mouth, +the old men and the old women, with some of the bigger children, +swarmed up among the rocks and ledges which formed the two walls of +the pass, while others raced about collecting stones to hand up to +them. The younger women and grown girls, armed, like the men, with +stone-headed clubs and flint-tipped spears, took their places in the +hinder ranks at the mouth of the pass. + +The Bow-legs, their yellow skin showing through the clotted tufts of +coarse, clay-colored hair which unevenly clothed their bodies, came +plunging irregularly through the brook and gathered in confused masses +along the foot of the slope, jabbering shrilly to each other and +making insolent gestures toward the silent company at the top. The +hair of their heads was stringy, coarse and scant, and of an inky +blackness, in contrast to the abundant locks of the Hillmen, which +were for the most part of a dark brown or ruddy hue. + +In other respects the contrast was still more striking, the Hillmen, +erect and straight, were taller than their bestial-looking opponents +by a foot or fifteen inches. With less breadth of shoulder and +heaviness of trunk, they had great depth of chest, great muscular +development in arm and leg, and a leanness of flank that gave them a +look of breed. Their skins, very hairy in the case of the mature men, +were of a reddish-tan color, paling to pink and cream in the children +and younger women. They had ample foreheads under the wild thatch of +their hair, and high, well-bridged noses, and fierce, steady eyes of +green, blue or brown-gray. Outnumbered nearly ten to one, and shrewd +enough to see at a glance what ferocious power lurked in those +misshapen frames at the foot of the slope, they stood staring down +upon them in silence, with an undaunted loathing. + +For some minutes the hordes of the Bow-legs clustered together, +jabbering and waving their crude but massive clubs excitedly. They +seemed to have no chief, no plan of attack, no discipline of any sort. +Some of them even squatted down on the turf and scratched themselves +like monkeys, glaring malignantly but stupidly at the little array of +their opponents, and snorting through their hideous upturned nostrils, +which were little more than wide, red pits in their faces. Then some +of those who were squatting on the ground began to play with a +dreadful red ball which had some wisps of hair yet clinging to it. + +A snarling roar went up from the ranks of the Hillmen, and some of +them would have rushed to accept the ghastly challenge. But the +Chief held them back sternly. Then he himself, half a head taller +than all but one or two of his followers, with magnificent chest and +shoulders, and a dark, lionlike mane thick-streaked with grey, +strode out three or four paces to the front and stood leaning on his +huge, porphyry-headed club while he glared down contemptuously over +the gesticulating horde. + +The Bow-legs stilled their jabbering for a moment to stare with +interest at this imposing figure. Then one of those who were seated on +the ground seized the ghastly ball that they were playing with, +whirled it by the hair and hurled it two-thirds of the way up the +slope. As it fell and rebounded, two young women sprang from the +ranks, their thick locks streaming like a cloud behind them, and +dashed down the hill to meet it. The foremost caught it up, clutched +it to her naked breast, and screamed a curse upon the gaping +murderers. Then the two fled back, and were lost in the ranks of the +Hillmen. + +The sight of the two women, with their bright skins, their strong, +straight limbs and their rich, floating hair, appeared to give the +Bow-legs just the spur to concerted action that they were needing. +They rightly judged there were more of those desirable beings in the +crowd behind that tall, contemptuous chief. Those on the ground +scrambled eagerly to their feet, and with shrill, bestial yells the +whole horde charged up the slope. + +As the leaping and hideous forms approached the top the pent-up fury +of the Hillmen, in spite of all the Chief could do, broke loose, and +with a roar the foremost ranks bounded forth to meet them. At the +first crash of contact the enemy were crushed back, the stone-headed +clubs and flint-tipped spears working havoc in the reeking masses. +But, as the Chief had foreseen it would be, that forward rush was a +mistake, exposing the flanks; and sheer weight of numbers presently +forced the Hillmen back till their front was once more level with the +jaws of the pass. Here, however, with their flanks protected, they +were solid as a wall of granite. + +Upon this narrow wall the yelling wave of the attack surged and +recoiled, and surged again, and made no impression. The clumsy weapons +of the enemy were no match for the pounding swing of the stone clubs, +the long, lightning thrust of the flint-headed spears. But the +Bow-legs, their little pig-eyes red with lust for their prey, fought +with a sort of frenzy, diving in headlong and clutching at the legs of +the Hillmen with their ape-like, sinewy arms, dragging them down and +tearing then with crooked, clawlike fingers. + +Many of the Hillmen, and some women died in this way. But no woman was +dragged away alive; for if this fate threatened her, and rescue was +impossible, she was instantly speared from her own ranks to save her +from a fate which would have dishonored the tribe. And the women +indeed, in this battle were no less formidable than the men +themselves, for they fought with the swift venom of the she-wolf, the +cunning fury of the mad heifer, intuitive and implacable. Their +instincts of motherhood, the safeguard of the future, made them loathe +with a blind, unspeakable hate these filthy and bestial males who +threatened to father their children. + +The center of the Hillmen's front was securely held by the great +Chief, whose massive club, wielded with the art acquired in many +battles, kept a space cleared before him across which no foe could +pass alive. As his followers went down on either side, others from the +ranks behind stepped eagerly into the gaps. At the extreme left, where +the walls of the pass, lower and less abrupt than on the right, +invited an attack as fierce as that upon the center, the defense was +led by a warrior named Grom, who seemed no less redoubtable than the +Chief himself. He, too, like the Chief, fought in grim silence, saving +his breath, except for an occasional incisive cry of command or +encouragement to those about him. And his club also, like that of the +Chief, kept a zone of death before him. + +But his club was much smaller than that shattering mace of porphyry +wielded by the Chief--smaller and lighter, considerably longer in the +handle and quite of another pattern. The head was of flint, a sort of +ragged cone set sideways into the handle, so that one end of the head +was like a sledge-hammer and the other like a pick. Grasping this neat +weapon nearly half-way up the handle, he made miraculous play with it, +now smashing with the hammer front, now tapping with the pick, now +suddenly swinging it out to the full length of the long handle to +reach and drop an elusive adversary. The weapon was both club and +spear to him; and to guard against any possibility of its being +wrenched from him in the melee, he held it secured to his wrist by a +thong of hide. + +This warrior, though his renown in the tribe, both as hunter and +fighter, was second only to that of the great Chief himself, had never +aroused the Chief's jealousy. This for several reasons. He had always +loyally supported the Chief's authority, instead of scheming to +undermine it, and his influence had always made for tribal discipline. +He was not so tall as the Chief, by perhaps half a handbreadth, and +for all his huge muscles of arm and breast he was altogether of a +slimmer build; wherefore the Chief, while vastly respecting his +counsels, was not suspicious of his rivalry. Moreover, up to the time +of the invasion of the wolves, he had always dwelt in a remote cave, +quite on the outskirts of the tribe, constituting himself a frontier +defense, as it were, and avoiding all the tribal gossip. Slightly +younger than the Chief, and with few gray streaks as yet in the dense, +ruddy-brown masses of his hair and beard, his face nevertheless looked +older, by reason of its deeper lines and the considering gravity of +the eyes. + +In his remote cave Grom had had the companionship of his family, +consisting of his old mother, his two wives, and his four children--three +sons and a daughter. It was while he was absent on a hunting expedition +that the wolves had come. They had surprised the little, isolated +family, and after a terrible struggle wiped it out. + +Conspicuous among the fighters at Grom's back was a young girl, tall, +with a fair skin and masses of long, very dark hair. Armed with a +spear, she fought savagely, but at the same time managed to keep an +eye on all the warrior's movements. + +Suddenly from the rocks above came a shrill cry. To Grom's ears it +seemed like the voice of one of his dead children. At the end of a +long stroke, when his arms and the club were outstretched full length, +he glanced upwards in spite of himself. Instantly the club was +clutched by furious hands. He was pulled forward. At the same time one +of the enemy, ducking under his arms, plunged between his legs. And he +came down upon his face. + +With a piercing scream, the tall girl bounded forth and stood across +him; and her spear stabbed his nearest assailant straight through the +flat and grinning face. So lightning swift was the rage of her attack +that for one vital moment it held the whole horde at bay. Then the +Hillmen swarmed forward irresistibly, battered down the foremost of +the foe, and dragged the fallen warrior back behind the lines to +recover. In half a minute he was once more at the front, fighting with +renewed fury, his head and back and shoulders covered with blood. And +close behind him stood the girl, breathless, clutching at her heart +and staring at him with wide eyes, unaware that the blood which +covered him was not his but her own. + +Although to the invaders, their every charge broken and hurled back +with terrific slaughter, it must have seemed that their tall opponents +had all the best of the battle, to the wise old men and women up among +the rocks it was clear that their warriors were being rapidly worn +away as a bank is eaten by the waves. But now from a high ledge on the +right, where the wall of the pass was a sheer perpendicular, came two +shrill whistles. It was a signal which the Chief, now bleeding from +many wounds, had been waiting for. He roared a command, and his ranks, +after one surge forward to recover their wounded, gave back sullenly +till their front was more than half-way down the pass. With yells of +triumph the Bow-legs followed, trampling their dead and wounded, till +the bottle-neck was packed so tightly that there was no room to move. + +From the left wall a ceaseless shower of stones came down upon their +heads; but from the right, for a few moments, only a rain of pebbles +and dust, which blinded them and choked their hideous, upturned +nostrils. + +Above that dust a band of graybeards heaved upon a lever. They grunted +and strained, with eyes staring and the sweat jumping forth on their +foreheads. Then something gave. A great slice of the rock-face began +to slip. Some of the toilers scrambled back to safety, their long, +white hair flying behind them. But others, unable to recover +themselves in time, fell sprawling forward. Then with a thunderous +growl a huge slab of rock and earth and debris crashed down upon the +packed hordes in the neck of the pass. A long shout of triumph went up +from the Hillmen. The outer ranks of the invaders stood for a second +or two petrified with horror. Then they turned and fled, screaming, +down the slope. On their heels the Hillmen pursued, slaughtering, till +the brook-bed was choked with the dead. Of that filthy horde hardly a +score escaped, and these fled back, gibbering, to meet the migrant +hosts of their kin who were following on their trail. The story they +told was of a tribe of tall, fair-skinned demons, invincible in war, +who tore up mountains to hurl them on their adversaries. And +thereafter, for a time, the Bow-legged hosts changed the path of their +migration, sweeping far to the southward to avoid the land of the +Little Hills. + + +II + +A white, high-sailing moon streamed down into the amphitheater, where +the scarred remnant of the tribe of the Little Hills, squatting before +their cave-mouths, took counsel. Their dead had all been reverently +buried, under heaps of stones, on the bare and wind-swept shoulder of +the downs. Outside the pass the giant jackals, cave-hyenas and other +scavengers of the night, howled and scuffled over the carcasses of the +slain invaders. + +Endless and tumultuous was the talk, the white-haired, bent old men +and the women who had borne children being listened to as attentively +as the warriors. The Chief, sitting on a rock which raised him above +the rest, spoke only a word now and then, but gave ear to all, +glancing from speaker to speaker with narrowed eyes, weighing all +suggestions. On the outskirts of the circle stood Grom, leaning on his +club, staring at the moon, apparently lost in dreams. + +Suddenly the Chief uttered a sharp word, and the tribe fell silent. He +rose, yet stiff from his wounds, and, towering masterfully over the +council announced his decision. + +"I have heard much foolishness," said he, "but also some wisdom. And +the greatest wisdom has come from the lips of my father yonder, Alp +the old." He pointed to a decrepit figure, whose bowed head was hidden +under a mass of white hair. "My father's eyes are blind with age," he +continued, "but behind their darkness they see many things that we +cannot see. They have seen that all these disasters which have lately +come upon us have come out of the east. They see that there must be a +reason. They see that other terrible dangers must also be coming out +of the east, and that we People of the Little Hills lie in their path. +How many more can we withstand, and live? Not one more. Therefore, I +say we will leave this place, this home of our fathers, and we will go +toward the setting sun, and find a new home far from our enemies till +we can grow strong again. I have said it." + +As he sat down there was a low murmur, many thinking he was right; +while others, not daring to dissent quite openly, yet were angry and +afraid at the idea of leaving their familiar dwellings. But Grom, who +had turned on his club and listened to the Chief with shining eyes, +now stepped forward into the circle and spoke. + +"Bawr is our Chief," said he, in a clear, calm voice; "not only +because he is our mightiest in war, but because he is also our wisest +in counsel. When do we go?" + +The Chief thought for a moment. For the murmurs of the dissidents he +cared nothing, having made up his mind. But he was glad of Grom's +support. + +"Two moons hence," he answered presently. "Our wounded must be healed, +for we must be strong on the journey. And as we go far, and know not +where we go, we must gather much food to carry with us. When the moon +is twice again full, we leave these caves and the Land of the Little +Hills." + +"Then," said Grom, "if Bawr will allow me, I will go and find a place +for us, and come again quickly and lead the tribe thither by the +shortest way." + +"It is good!" said Bawr, quick to see what dangerous wanderings might +be spared to the tribe by this plan. "When will you go?" + +"In to-morrow's morning-red," answered Grom. + +At Grom's words, the young girl, A-ya, who had been watching the +warrior where he stood aloof, sprang to her feet in sharp agitation +and clutched her dark hair to her bosom in two great handfuls. At this +a huge youth, who had been squatting as close as possible to the girl, +and eyeing her averted face greedily, jumped up with a jealous scowl. + +"Grom is a traitor!" he cried. "He deserts us in our need. Let him not +go, Chief!" + +A growl of protest went up from his hearers. The girl faced round upon +him with blazing eyes. Grom gave him an indifferent glance, and turned +away, half smiling. The Chief struck the rock with his club, and said +coldly: + +"Mawg is young, and his words are foolish. Grom is a true man. He +shall do as he will." + +The youth's heavy features worked angrily for a moment as he sought +words for a further attack. Then his face smoothed into a grin as he +remembered that from so perilous a venture it was most unlikely his +rival would ever return. He gave a crafty side-glance at the girl, and +sat down again, while she turned her back upon him. At a sign from the +Chief the council broke up, and all slipped off, chattering, into +their caves. + + * * * * * + +As the first pink light crept up the sky, Grom set forth on his +mysterious venture. It was just such a venture as his sanguine and +inquiring spirit, avid of the unknown, had always dreamed of. But +never before had he had such an object before him as seemed to justify +the long risk. There was all a boy's eagerness in his deep eyes, under +their shaggy brows, as he slipped noiselessly out of the bottle-neck, +picked his way lightly over the well-gnawed bones of the slain +invaders, turned his back on the sunrise, and took his course up the +edge of the stream. The weapons he carried were his war-club, two +light, flint-headed hunting-spears and a flint knife hung from his +wolf-skin girdle. + +All that day, till mid-afternoon, he journeyed swiftly, straight +ahead, taking no precaution save to keep always a vigilant watch and +to avoid dark coverts whence tiger or leopard might spring upon him. +He was in a region which he had often hunted over, and where he felt +at home. He traveled very swiftly, at a long, noiseless lope; and when +he wished to rest he climbed into a tree for security. + +Several times during the day he had had a sensation of being followed; +and, turning quickly, he had run back, in the hope of detecting his +pursuer. But when he found no one, he concluded that it was merely one +of the ghosts the tribe so feared, but whom he himself rather held in +contempt as futile. + +Long before noon he had forsaken the brook, because its course had +ceased to lead him westward. In the afternoon he reached a river which +marked the limit of his former explorations. It was a wide, swift +water, but too shallow and turbulent for swimming, and he forded it +with some difficulty. Once across, he went with more caution, +oppressed with a sense of strangeness, although the landscape as yet +was in no way greatly changed. + +As the sun got low, Grom cast about for a safe tree in whose top to +pass the perilous hours of dark. As he stared around him a cry of fear +came from the bunch of woods which he had just quitted. The voice was +a woman's. He ran back. The next second the trees parted, and a girl +came rushing towards him, her dark hair streaming behind her. Close +after her came three huge cave-wolves. + +Grom shouted, and hurled a spear. It struck one of the wolves full in +the chest, splitting the heart. At this the other two halted +irresolutely. But as Grom's tall figure came bounding down upon them, +their indecision vanished. They wheeled about, and ran off into the +thickets. The girl came forward timorously, and knelt at Grom's feet. + +At first with wonder and some annoyance, the warrior looked down upon +her. Then recognition came into his eyes. He saw the tip of a deep +wound on her shoulder, and knew that it ran, livid and angry, half-way +down her bosom. It was the young girl A-ya. His eyes softened, for he +had heard how it was she who had saved him in the battle, fighting so +furiously over him when he was down--she in whose blood he had found +his shoulders bathed. Yet up to that time he had never noticed her, +his mind being full of other matters than women. Now he looked at her +and wondered. He was sorely afraid of being hampered in his great +enterprise, but he asked her gently why she had followed him. + +"I was afraid for you," she answered, without looking up. "You go to +such great dangers. I could not stay with the tribe, and wait." + +"You think I need help?" he asked, with a self-confident look in his +eyes. + +"You did need me in the battle!" answered the girl proudly. + +"True!" said Grom. "But for you I should now have been sleeping under +the stones and the wind." + +He looked at her with a feeling that surprised himself, a kind of +thrilling tenderness, such as he had never felt toward a woman before. +His wives had been good wives and dutiful, and he had been content +with them. But it occurred to him that neither of them would ever have +thought to come with him on this expedition. + +"I could not stay without you," said the girl again. "Also, I was +afraid of Mawg," she added cunningly. + +A wave of jealous wrath surged through Grom's veins. + +"If Mawg had troubled you, I would have killed him!" said he fiercely. +And, snatching the girl to her feet, he crushed her for a moment +vehemently to his great breast. + +"But why," he went on, "did you follow me so secretly all day?" + +"I was afraid you would be angry, and send me back," she answered, +with a sigh of content. + +"I could not have sent you back," said Grom, his indifference quite +forgotten. "But come, we must find a place for the night." + +And hand in hand they ran to a great tree which Grom had already +marked for his retreat. As they climbed to the upper branches, dusk +fell quickly about them, some great beast roared thunderously from the +depths of the forest, and from a near-by jungle came sudden crashings +of the undergrowth. + + +III + +For three weeks Grom and the girl pressed on eagerly, swinging north +to avoid a vast lake, whose rank and marshy shores were trodden by +monsters such as they had never before set eyes upon. Of nights, no +matter how high or how well hidden their tree-top refuge might be, +they found it necessary to keep vigil turn and turn about, so numerous +and so enterprising were the enemies who sought to investigate the +strange human trail. + +Had Grom been alone he would soon have been worn out for want of +sleep. The girl, however, her eyes ever bright with happiness, seemed +utterly untiring, and Grom watched her with daily growing delight. He +had never heard or dreamed of a man regarding a woman as he regarded +the lithe, fierce creature who ran beside him. But he had never been +afraid of new things or new ideas, and he was not ashamed of this +sweet ache of tenderness at his astonished heart. + +Beyond the lake and the morasses they came to a strange, broken +land, a land of fertile valleys, deep-verdured and teeming with life, +but sown with abrupt, conelike, naked hills. Along the near horizon +ran a chain of those sharp, low summits, irregularly jagged against +the pale blue. From several of the summits rose streamers of murky +vapor; and one of these, darker and more abundant than the others, +spread abroad at the top on the windless air till it took the shape +of a colossal pine-tree. To the girl the sight was portentous. It +filled her with apprehension, and she would have liked to avoid +this unfamiliar-looking region. But, seeing that Grom was filled +with interest at the novel phenomena before them, she thrust aside +her fears and assumed a like eagerness on the subject. + +In the heat of the day they came to a pair of trees, lofty and +spreading, which stood a little apart from the rest of the forest +growth, in a stretch of open meadows. An ice-cold rivulet babbled past +their roots. It was time for the noonday rest, and these trees seemed +to offer a safe retreat. The girl drank, splashed herself with the +delicious coolness, flung back her dripping hair, then swung herself +up lightly into the branches. Grom lingered a few moments below, +letting the water trickle down and over his great muscles by handfuls. +Then he threw himself down upon his face and drank deep. + +While he was in this helpless position--his sleepless vigilance for +the moment at fault--from behind a near-by thicket rushed a gigantic, +shaggy grey form, and hurled itself at him ponderously but with awful +swiftness, like a grey bowlder dashing down a hillside. The girl, from +her perch in the lower branches, gave a shriek of warning. Grom +bounded to his feet, and darted for the tree. But the monster--a gray +bear, of a bulk beyond that of the hugest grizzly--was almost upon +him, and would have seized him before he could climb out of reach. A +spear hurtled close past his head. It grazed, and laid open, the side +of the beast's snout, and sank deep into its shoulder. With a roar, +the beast halted to claw it forth. And in that moment Grom swung +himself up into the branches, dropping both his spears as he did so. + +The bear, mad with pain and fury, reared himself against the trunk and +began to draw himself up. Grom struck at him with his club, but from +his difficult position could put no force into his blow and the bear +hardly seemed to notice it. + +"We must lead him up, then drop down and run," said Grom. And the two +mounted nimbly. + +The bear followed, till the branches began to yield too perilously +beneath his weight. Then Grom and the girl slipped over into the next +tree. As they did so another bear even huger than the first, and +apparently her mate, appeared below, glanced up with shrewd, +implacable eyes, and proceeded to climb the second tree. + +Grom looked at the girl with piercing anxiety such as he had never +known before. + +"Can you run, very fast?" he demanded. + +The girl laughed, her terror almost forgotten in her pride at having +once more saved him. + +"I ran from the wolves," she reminded him. + +"Then we must run, perhaps very far," answered Grom, reassured, "till +we find some place of steep rocks where we can fight with some hope. +For these beasts are obstinate, and will never give up from pursuing +us. And, unlike the red cave-bears they seem to know how to climb +trees." + +When both bears were high in the two trees, Grom and the girl slipped +down by the bending tips of the branches, almost as swiftly as +falling. They snatched up Grom's two spears and A-ya's broken one, and +ran, down along the brook toward the line of the smoking hills. The +bears, descending more slowly, came after them at a terrific, +ponderous gallop. + +The girl ran, as she had said, well--so well that Grom who was famous +in the tribe for his running, did not have greatly to slacken his pace +in her favor. Finding that, at first, they gained slightly on their +pursuers, Grom bade her slow down a little till they did no more than +hold their own. Fearing lest she should exhaust herself, he ran always +a pace behind her, admonishing her how to save her strength and her +breath, and ever warily casting his eyes about for a possible refuge. +Warily, too, he chose the smoothest ways, sparing her feet. For he +knew that if she gave out and fell he would stop and fight his last +fight over her body. + +For an hour or more the girl ran easily. Then she began to show signs +of distress. Her face grew ashen, the breath came harshly from her +open lips, and once or twice she stumbled. With the first pang of fear +at his heart, Grom closed up beside her, made her lean heavily on his +rigid forearm, and cheered her with words of praise. He pointed to a +spur of broken mountains now close ahead, with a narrow valley +cleaving them midway. + +"There will be ledges," he said, "where we can defend ourselves, and +where you can rest." + +Skirting a bit of jungle, so dense with massive cane and thorned +creepers that nothing could penetrate it, they came suddenly upon a +space of barren gray plain, and saw, straight ahead, the opening of +the valley. It was not more than a couple of furlongs distant. And its +walls, partly clothed with shrubbery, partly naked, were so seamed and +cleft and creviced that they appeared to promise many convenient +retreats. But across the mouth of the valley extended an appalling +barrier. From an irregular fissure in the parched earth, running on a +slant from one wall to the other, came tongues of red flame, waving +upwards to a height of several feet, sinking back, rising again, and +bowing as if in some enchanted dance. + +Grom's heart stood still in awe and amazement, and for a second he +paused. The girl shut her eyes in unspeakable terror, and her knees +gave way beneath her. As she sank, Grom's spirit rose to the +emergency. The bears were now almost upon them. He jerked the girl +violently to her feet, and spoke to her in a voice that brought her +back to herself. Dragging her by the wrist, he ran on straight for the +barrier. The girl, obedient to his order, shrank close to his side and +ran on bravely, keeping her eyes upon the ground. + +"If they are gods, those bright, dancing things," said Grom, with a +confidence he was far from feeling, "they will save us. If they are +devils, I will fight them." + +A little to the right appeared a gap in the leaping barrier, an +opening some fifty feet across. Grom made for the center of this +opening. The fissure here was not more than three feet in width. The +runners took it in their stride. But a fierce heat struck up from it. +It filled the girl with such horror that her senses failed her +utterly. She ran on blindly a dozen paces more, then reeled and fell +in a swoon. Before her body touched the ground, Grom had swung her up +into his arms, but as he did so he looked back. + +The bears were no longer pursuing. A spear's-throw back they had +stopped, growling and whining, and swaying their mountainous forms +from side to side in angry irresolution. + +"They fear the bright, dancing things," said Grom to himself; and +added, with a throb of exultation, "which I do not fear." + +Noticing for the first time in his excitement that the ground, here +parched and bare, was uncomfortably hot beneath his feet, he carried +his burden a few rods further on, to where the green began again, and +laid her down on the thick herbage. Then he turned to see what the +bears were going to do. + +Seeing that their intended prey made no further effort to flee, the +two monsters grew still more excited. For a moment Grom thought they +would dare the passage of the barrier, but he was reassured to see +that the flames filled them with an insuperable fear. They dared not +come nearer than the thin edges of the verdure. At last, as if the +same notion had struck them both at once, they whirled about +simultaneously, made off among the dense thickets to the right, and +disappeared. + +Grom knew far too well the obstinate vindictiveness of their kind to +think that they had given up the chase; but, feeling safe for the +present, and seeing that the girl, recovered from her swoon, was +sitting up and staring with awed eyes at the line of fire, he turned +all his attention to these mysterious, shining, leaping shapes to +which they owed their escape. + +With an attitude of deference, yet carrying both club and spear in +readiness, he slowly approached the barrier, at the point where the +flames were lowest and least imposing. Their heat made him very +uneasy, but under the eyes of the girl he would show no sign of fear. +At a distance of six or eight feet he stopped, studying the thin, +upcurling tongues of brightness. Their heat, at this distance, was +uncomfortable to his naked flesh, but as he stood there wondering and +took no further hurt, his confidence grew. At length he dared to +stretch out his spear-tip and touch the flames, very respectfully. The +green-hide thongs which bound the flint to the wood smoked, shriveled +and hissed. He withdrew the weapon in alarm, and examined the tip. It +was blackened, and hot to the touch. But, seeing that the bright +dancers had taken no notice, he repeated the experiment. Several times +he repeated it, deeply pondering, while the girl, from her place at +the edge of the grass, stared with the wide eyes of a child. + +At last, though the green thongs still held, the dry wood burst into +flame. Startled to find that when he drew the point back he brought a +portion of the shining creature with it, Grom dashed the weapon down +upon the ground. The flame, insufficiently started, flickered and +died. But it left a spark, winking redly on the blackened wood. +Audacious in his consuming curiosity, Grom touched it with his finger. +It stung smartly, and Grom snatched back his finger with an +exclamation of alarm. But by that touch the spark itself was +extinguished. That was an amazing thing. Sucking his finger, Grom +stood gazing down at the spear-tip, which had but now been so bright, +and was now so black. Plainly, it was a victory for him. He did not +understand it. But at least the Mysterious Ones were not invincible, +however much the bears feared them. Well, he did not fear them, he +said proudly in his heart. Aloud he said to A-ya: + +"The Shining Dancers are our friends, but they do not like to be +touched. If you touch them, they bite." + +His heart swelled with a vast, unformulated hope. Ideas, possibilities +which he could not yet grasp, seethed in his brain. Dimly, but +overpoweringly, he realized that he had passed the threshold of a new +world. He picked up the spear and turned to renew his experiments. + +This time he let the fire take well hold upon the spear-tip before he +withdrew it. Then he held it upright, burning like a torch. As he +gazed at it raptly a scream from the girl aroused him. She had sprung +to her feet and stood staring behind her, not knowing which way to run +because of her fear of the fire. And there, not twenty paces from her, +their giant grey bulks half emerging from the thicket, stood the +bears, slavering in their fury but afraid to come nearer the flame. + +With a shout, Grom darted at them, and the wind of his going fanned +his spear-point to a fierce blaze. The girl screamed again at the +sight, but bravely stood her ground. The bears shrank, growled, +then turned and fled. With a dozen leaps Grom was upon them. The +flame was already licking up the spear-shaft almost to his grip. +With all his force he threw, and the flint tip buried itself in the +nearest monster's haunch. The long fur blazed, and, in a frenzy of +terror, the great beasts went crashing off through the coverts. The +fire was speedily whipped out by the branches, but their panic was +uncontrollable; and long after they had passed out of sight the sounds +of their wild flight could be followed. Grom's heart came near +bursting with exultation, but he disdained to show it. He turned to +the girl, and said quietly: "They will not come back." And the girl +threw herself at his feet in adoration. + +And now for hours Grom sat motionless, pondering, pondering, and +watching the line of flames with deep eyes. The girl did not dare to +interrupt his thoughts. With the going of the sun came a chill breeze +drawing down from the ridges. Grom rose, led the girl nearer the +flames, and reseated himself. As the girl realized the kindly and +comforting warmth her fears diminished. She laughed softly, turned her +shapely body round and round in the glow, and then curled herself up +like a cat at Grom's knees. + +At last Grom arose once more. Picking up his remaining spear, he +approached the fire with decision, and thrust the butt, instead of the +tip, into the flame. When it was well alight, he thrust it down upon a +tuft of withered grass. The stuff caught at once, blazed up and died +out. Then Grom rolled the burning spear-butt on the earth till it, +too, was quite extinguished. The sparks still winking in the grass he +struck with his palm. They stung him, but they perished. He drew +himself up to his full height, turned to the girl and stretched out +his blackened hand. The girl sprang to her feet, thrilled and +wondering. + +"See," said Grom, "I have made the bright Dancing Ones my servants. +The tribe shall come here. And we shall be the masters of all +things." + +Once more the girl threw herself at his feet. He seemed to her a god. +But remembering how she had twice saved his life, she laid her cheek +against his knee. He lifted her into the hollow of his great arm, and +she leaned against him, gazing up into his face, while he stood +staring into the fire, his eyes clouded with visions. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CHILDREN OF THE SHINING ONE + + +I + +From the lip of the narrow volcanic fissure, which ran diagonally +two-thirds of the way across the mouth of the valley, the line of fire +waved and flickered against the gathering dark. Sometimes only a few +inches high, sometimes sinking suddenly out of sight, and then again +as suddenly leaping up to a height of five or six feet, the thin, +gaseous flames danced elvishly. Now clear yellow, now fiery orange, +now of an almost invisible violet, they shifted, and bowed their +crests, and thrust out shooting tongues, till Grom, sitting on his +haunches and staring with fascinated eyes, had no choice but to +believe that they were live things like himself. The girl, curled up +at his side like a cat, paid little attention to the marvel of the +flames. Her big, dark eyes, wild and furtive under the dark, tangled +masses of her hair, kept wandering back and forth between the man's +brooding face and the obscure black thickets which filled the valley +behind him. The dancing flames she did not understand, but she +understood the ponderous crashing, and growls, and savage cries which +came from those black thickets and slopes of tumbled rocks. The man +being absorbed in watching the wonders of the flames, and apparently +all-forgetful of the perils prowling back there in the dark, it was +plainly her duty to keep watch. + +From time to time Grom would drag his eyes away from their contemplation +of the flames to study intently the charred spots on his club and the +burned, blackened end of his spear. He looked down at the lithe figure of +the watching girl, and laid a great, hairy hand on her shoulder in a musing +caress, as if appraising her, and delighting in her, and finding in her +a mate altogether to his desire, although but a child to his inmost +thoughts. But those sounds of menace from the darkness behind him he +affected not to hear at all. He could see from the girl's eyes that the +menace was not yet close at hand; and since he had learned the power of the +fire, and his own mastery over that power, he felt himself suddenly little +less than a god. The fire was surely something of a god; and if he had +any measure of control over the fire, so as to make it serve him surely, +then still more of the god was there in his own intelligence. His heart +swelled with a pride such as he had never before conceived, and his +brain seethed with vague but splendid possibilities. Never before had +he, though at heart the bravest of his brave clan, been able to listen +to the terrible voices of the cave-bear, the cave-hyena, or the +saber-tooth without fear, without the knowledge that his own safety lay in +flight. Now he feared them not at all. + +A louder roaring came out of the shadows, closer than before, and he +saw A-ya's eyes dilate as she clutched at his knee. A slow smile +spread across his bony face, and he turned about, rising to his feet +as he did so, and lifting the girl with him. + +With a new, strange warmth at his heart he realized how fully the girl +trusted him, how cool and steady was her courage. For there, along the +edge of the lighted space, glaring forth from the fringes of the +thickets, were the monstrous beasts whom man had most cause to dread. +Nearest, his whole tawny length emerging from the brush, crouched a +giant saber-tooth with the daggers of his tusks, ten inches long, +agleam in the light of the dancing flames. He was not more than thirty +or forty paces distant, and his tail twitched heavily from side to +side as if he were trying to nerve himself up to a closer approach to +the fire. Some twenty paces further along the fringe of mingled light +and shadow, their bodies thrust half way forth from the undergrowth, +stood a pair of huge, ruddy cave-bears, their monstrous heads held low +and swaying surlily from side to side as they eyed the prey which they +dared not rush in and seize. The man-animal they had hitherto regarded +as easy prey, and they were filled with rage at the temerity of these +two humans in remaining so near the dreaded flames. Intent upon them, +they paid no heed to their great enemy, the saber-toothed, with whom +they were at endless and deadly feud. Away off to the left, quite +clear of the woods, but safely remote from the fire, a pack of huge +cave-hyenas sat up on their haunches, their long, red tongues hanging +out. With jaws powerful enough to crack the thigh-bones of the urus, +they nevertheless hesitated to obtrude themselves on the notice either +of the crouching saber-tooth or of the two giant bears. + +With neither the bears nor the great hyenas did Grom anticipate any +trouble. But he felt it barely possible that the saber-tooth might +dare a rush in. Snatching up a dry branch, and leading the girl with +him by the wrist, he backed slowly nearer the flames. Terrified at +their dancing and the scorching of their breath, the girl sank down on +her naked knees and covered her face with her hair. Smiling at her +terror, Grom thrust the branch into the flames. When it was all ablaze +he raised it above his head, and, carrying his spear in his right +hand, he rushed at the saber-tooth. For a few seconds the monster +faced his approach, but Grom saw the shrinking in his furious eyes, +and came on fearlessly. At last the beast whipped about with a +screeching snarl, and raced back into the woods. Then Grom turned to +the bears, but they had not stayed to receive his attentions. The +sight of the flames bursting, as it seemed, from the man's shaggy head +as he ran, was too much for them, and they had slunk back discreetly +into the shadows. + +Grom threw the blazing stick on the ground, laid several more branches +upon it, and presently had a fine fire of his own going. He seized a +small branch and hurled it at the hyenas, sending them off with their +tails between their legs to their hiding-places on the ragged slopes. +Then he fed his fire with more dry wood till the fierce heat of it +drove him back. Returning to the side of the wondering girl, he sat +down, and contemplated his handiwork with swelling pride. When the +flames died down he piled on more branches till they blazed again to +the height of the nearest tree-tops. This he repeated, thoughtfully, +several times, till he had assured himself of his power to make this +bright, devouring god great or little at his pleasure. + +This stupendous fact established clearly, Grom brought an armful of +grass and foliage, and made the girl take her sleep. He himself +continued for an hour or two his experiments with the fire, building +small ones in a circle about him, discovering that green branches +would not burn well, and brooding with knit brows over each new center +of light and heat which he created. + +Then, seated on his haunches beside the sleeping A-ya, he pondered on +the future of his tribe, on the change in its fortunes which this +mysterious new creature was bound to bring about. At last, when the +night was half worn through, he awakened the girl, bade her keep sharp +watch, and threw himself down to sleep, indifferent to the roars, and +snarls, and dreadful cries which came from the darkness of the upper +valley. + +The valley looked straight into the east. When the sun rose, its +unclouded, level rays paled the dancing barrier of flames almost to +invisibility. Refreshed by their few hours' sleep in the vital warmth, +Grom and the girl stood erect in the flooding light and scanned the +strange landscape. Grom's sagacious eyes noted the fertility of the +level lands at a distance from the fire, and of the clefts, ledges and +lower slopes of the tumbled volcanic hills. Here and there he made out +the openings of caves, half overgrown with vines and bush. And he was +satisfied that this was the land for his tribe to occupy. + +That it was infested with all those monstrous beasts which were Man's +deadliest foes seemed to him no longer a fact worth considering. The +bright god which he had conquered should be made to conquer them. Some +inkling of his purposes he confided to the girl, who stood looking up +at him with eyes of dog-like devotion from under the matted splendor +of her hair. If he was still the man she loved, her mate and lover, +yet was he also now a sort of demi-god, since she had seen him play at +his ease with the flames, and drive the hyena, the saber-tooth and the +terrible red bear before him. + +When the two started on their journey back to the Country of the +Little Hills, Grom carried with him a bundle of blazing brands. He had +conceived the idea of keeping the bright god alive by feeding him +continually as they went, and of renewing his might from time to time +by stopping to build a big fire. + +The undertaking proved a troublesome one from the first. The brand +kept the great beasts at a distance, time and again the red coals +almost died out, and Grom had anxious and laborious moments nursing +them again into activity; and the care of the mysterious things made +progress slow. Grom learned much, and rapidly, in these anxious +efforts. He discovered once, just at a critical moment, the remarkable +efficacy of dry grass. A bear as big as an ox came rushing upon them, +just when the flames were flickering out along the bundle of brands. +A-ya started to run, but Grom's nerve was of steel. + +Ordering her to stop, he flung the brands to the ground, and snatched +a double handful of grass to feed the dying flame. Luckily, the grass +was dry. It flared up on the sudden. The bear stopped short. Grom +piled on more grass, shouted arrogantly, and rushed at the beast with +a blazing handful. It was a light and harmless flame, almost instantly +extinguished. But it was too mysterious for the monster to face. + +Grom was wise enough not to follow up his victory. Returning to the +fire he fed it to a safe volume. And the girl, flinging herself down +in a passion of relief and adoration, embraced his knees. + +After this they journeyed slowly, Grom tending the brands with +vigilant care, and striving to break down the girl's terror of +them. That night he built three fires about the base of a huge +tree, gathered a supply of dry wood, taught the girl to feed the +flames--which she did with head bowed in awe--and passed the hours +of darkness, once so dreaded, in proud defiance of the great beasts +which prowled and roared beyond the circle of light. He made the +girl sleep, but he himself was too prudent to sleep, lest these +fires of his own creation should prove false when his eye was not upon +them. + +The following day, about midday, when he slept heavily in the heat, +the fire went out. It had got low, and the girl, attempting to revive +it, had smothered it with too much fuel. In an agony of fear and +remorse, she knelt at Grom's side, awakened him, and showed him what +she had done. She expected a merciless beating, according to the +rough-and-ready customs of her tribe. But Grom had always been held a +little peculiar, especially in his aversion to the beating of women, +so that certain females of the tribe had even been known to question +his manhood on that account. + +Furthermore, he regarded the girl with a tenderness, an admiration, an +appreciation, which he could not but wonder at in himself, seeing that +he had never heard of it as a customary thing that a man should regard +a woman in any such manner. At the same time he was in a state of +exaltation over his strange achievements, and hardly open, at the +moment, to any common or base brutality of rage. + +He gave the girl one terrible look, then went and strove silently with +the dead, black embers. The girl crept up to him on her knees, +weeping. For a few seconds he paid her no heed. But when he found that +the flames had fled beyond recovery, he lifted her up, drew her close +to him, and comforted her. + +"You have let the Bright One escape," said he. "But do not be afraid. +He lives back there in the valley of the bears, and I will capture him +again." + +And when the girl realized that he had no thought of beating her, but +only wished to comfort and shield her, then she felt quite sure he was +a god, and her heart nearly burst with the passion of her love. + + +II + +It galled Grom's proud heart to find himself now compelled, through +loss of the fire, to go warily, to scan the thicket, to keep hidden, +to hold spear and club always in readiness, and to climb into a tree +at night for safety like the apes. But he let no sign of his chagrin, +or of his anxiety, appear. Like the crafty hunter and wise leader that +he was, he forgot no one of his ancient precautions. + +They had by this time passed beyond the special haunts of the red bear +and the saber-tooth. Twice they had to run before the charge of the +great wooly rhinoceros, against whose massive hide Grom's spear and +club would have been about as effective as a feather duster. But they +had fled mockingly, for the clumsy monster was no match for them in +speed. Once, too, they had been treed by a bull urus, a gigantic white +beast with a seven-foot spread of polished horns. + +But his implacable and patient rage they had cunningly evaded by +making off unseen and unheard, through the upper branches. They came +to earth again half a mile away, and ran on gaily, laughing at the +picture of the furious and foolish beast waiting there at the foot of +the tree for them to come down. Once a prowling leopard confronted +them for a moment, only to flee in great leaps before their instant +and unhesitating attack. Once a huge bird, nearly nine feet high, and +with a beak over a foot in length, struck at them savagely, with a +shrill hissing, through a fringe of reeds, because they had +incautiously come too near its nest. But they killed it, and feasted +on its eggs. And so, without further misadventure, they came at last +to the skirts of their own country, and looked once more on the +rounded, familiar, wind-swept tops of the Little Hills, sacred to the +barrows of their dead. + +It was toward sunset, and the long, rosy glow was flooding the little +amphitheater wherein the remnants of the tribe were gathered, when +Grom crossed the brook, and came striding up the slope, with A-ya +close behind him. She had been traveling at his side all through the +journey, but here she respected the etiquette of her tribe, and fell +behind submissively. + +Hardly noticing, or not heeding if he noticed that the tribe offered +no vociferous welcome, and seemed sullenly surprised at his +appearance, Grom strode straight to the Chief, whom he saw sitting on +the judgment stone, and threw down spear and club at his feet in sign +of fealty. But A-ya, following, was keen to note the hostile attitude +of the tribe. Her defiant eyes darted everywhere, and everywhere noted +black looks. She could not understand it, but she divined that there +was some plot afoot against Grom. Her heart swelled with rage, and her +dark-maned head went up arrogantly, for she felt as if the strongest +and wisest of the tribe were now but children in comparison with her +lord. But, though children, they were many, and she closed up behind +him for a guard, grasping more firmly the shaft of her short, +serviceable spear. She saw the broad, black, scowling visage of young +Mawg, towering over a little group of his kinsfolk, and eyeing her +with mingled greed and rage, and she divined at once that he was at +the back of whatever mischief might be brewing. She answered his look +with one of mocking scorn, and then turned her attention to the Chief, +who was sitting in grim silence, the customary hand of welcome +ominously withheld. + +A haughty look came over Grom's face, his broad shoulders squared +themselves, and he met the Chief's eyes sternly. + +"I have done the bidding of Bawr the Chief," he said, in a clear +voice, so that all the tribe might hear. "I have found a place where +the tribe may hold themselves secure against all enemies. And I have +come back, as was agreed, to lead the tribe thither before our enemies +destroy us. I have done great deeds. I have not spared myself. I have +come quickly. I have deserved well of the people. Why has Bawr the +Chief no welcome for me?" + +A murmur arose from the corner where Mawg and his friends were +grouped, but a glance from the Chief silenced it. With his piercing +gaze making relentless inquisition of the eyes that answered his so +steadily, he seemed to ponder Grom's words. Slowly the anger faded +from his scarred and massy face, for he knew men; and this man, though +his most formidable rival in strength and prestige, he instinctively +trusted. + +"You have been accused," said he at length, slowly, "of deserting the +tribe in our weakness--" + +A puzzled look had come over Grom's face at the word "accused"; then +his deep eyes blazed, and he broke in upon the Chief's speech without +ceremony. + +"Show me my accusers!" he demanded harshly. The Chief waved his hand +for silence. + +"In our weakness!" he repeated. "But you have returned to us. So I see +that charge was false. Also, you have been accused of stealing the +girl A-ya. But you have brought her back. I see not what more your +accusers have against you." + +Grom turned, and, with a quick, decisive motion, drew A-ya to his +side. + +"Bawr the Chief knows that I am his servant, and a true man!" said he +sternly. "I did not steal the girl. She followed me, and I had no +thought of it." + +Angry jeers came from Mawg's corner, but Grom smiled coldly, and went +on: + +"Not till near evening of the second day, when she was chased by +wolves, did she reveal herself to me. And when I understood why she +had come, I looked on her, and I saw that she was very fair and very +brave. And I took her. So that now she is my woman, and I hold to her, +Chief! But I will pay you for her whatsoever is just, for you are the +Chief. And now let Bawr show me my accusers, that I may have done with +them quickly. For I have much to tell." + +"Not so, Grom," said the Chief, stretching out his hand. "I am +satisfied that you are a true man. And for the girl, that will we +arrange between us later. But I will not confront you with your +accusers, for there shall be no fighting between ourselves when our +warriors that are left us are so few. And in this I know that you, +being wise, will agree with me. Come, and we two will talk of what is +to be done." + +He got up from his seat, an immense and masterful figure, to lead the +way to his own cave, where they might talk in private. But Grom +hesitated, fearing lest annoyance should befall A-ya if he left her +alone with his enemies. + +"And the girl, Chief?" said he. "I would not have her troubled." + +Bawr turned. He swept a comprehensive and significant glance over the +gaping crowd. + +"The girl A-ya," said he in his great voice which thundered over the +amphitheater, "is Grom's woman. I have spoken." + +And he strode off toward his cave door. Grom picked up his club and +spear. And the girl, with a haughty indifference she was far from +feeling, strolled off toward the cave of certain old women, kinsfolk +of the Chief. + +But as the meaning of the Chief's words penetrated Mawg's dull wits +he gave vent to a great bellow of rage, and snatched up a spear to +hurl at Grom. Before he could launch it, however, his kinsmen, who +had no wish to bring down upon themselves both Grom's wrath and that +of the Chief, fell upon him and bore down his arm. Raging blindly, +Mawg struggled with them, and, having the strength of a bull, he was +near to wrenching himself free. But other men of the tribe, seeing +from the Chief's action that their bitterness against Grom had +been unjustified, and remembering his past services, ran up and +took a hand in reducing Mawg to submission. For a few seconds Grom +looked on contemptuously; then he turned on his heel and followed +the Chief, as if he did not hold his rival worth a further thought. +Mawg struggled to his feet. Grom had disappeared. But his eyes fell +on the figure of A-ya, slim and brown and tall, standing in the +entrance of the near-by cave. He made as if to rush upon her, but a +bunch of men stood in the way, plainly ready to stop him. He looked at +his kinsmen, but they hung their heads sullenly. Blind with fury +though he was, and slow of wit, he could not but see that the tribe +as a whole was now against him. Stuttering with his rage, he shouted +to the girl, "You will see me again!" Snatching up his club and +spears, he rushed forth from the amphitheater, darted down the slope, +and plunged into the thick woods beyond the brook. His kinsmen +withdrew sullenly into their cave, followed by two young women. And +the rest of the people looked at each other doubtfully, troubled at +this sudden schism in the weakened tribe. + +"One more good warrior gone!" muttered an old man through his bush of +matted white beard. + +That night Grom was too wary to sleep, suspecting that his enemy might +return and try to snatch the girl from him under the cover of the +dark. + +He was not attacked or disturbed, however, but just before dawn, +against the gray pallor beyond the mouth of the pass, he marked four +shapes slinking forth. As they did not return, he did not think it +worth while to raise the alarm. When day came, it was found that two +kinsmen of Mawg, with the two young women who were attached to them, +had fled to join the deserter in the bush. The Chief, indignant at +this further weakening of the tribe, declared them outlaws, and +ordered that all--except the women, who were needed as mothers--should +be killed as tribal traitors, at sight. + + +III + +As was natural since he was trying to present a totally new +conception, with no known analogies save in the lightning and the sun, +Grom found it impossible to convey to the Chief's mind any real idea +of the nature of his tremendous discovery. He did succeed, however, in +making it clear to Bawr that there was a certain mighty Bright One, +capable of putting even the saber-tooth and the red bear to instant +flight, and that he had somehow managed to subdue this powerful and +mysterious being into the service of the tribe. Bawr had examined with +deep musing the strange black bite of the Bright One on Grom's club +and spear. And he realized readily enough that with such an ally the +tribe, even in its present state of weakness, would be able to defy +any further invasions of the bow-legged beast-men from the east. There +was a rumor, vague enough but disquieting, of another migration of the +beast-men under way. So there was no time to lose. Bawr gave orders +that the tribe should get together their scanty possessions of food, +skins and weapons, and make a start on the morrow for their new home. + +The attempts of the girl, meanwhile, to explain about the fire and +Grom's miraculous subjugation of it to his will, had only spread +terror in the tribe. The dread of this unknown Bright One, which was +plainly capable of devouring them all if Grom should lose control of +it, was more nerve-shaking than their dread of the beast-men. +Moreover, there was the natural reluctance to leave the old, +familiar dwellings for an unknown, distrusted land, confessedly +the haunt of those monstrous beasts which they had most cause to fear. +Then, too, there were not a few in the tribe who professed to think +that the hordes of the Bow-legs were never likely to come that way +again. No wonder, therefore, that there was grumbling, and protest, +and shrill lamentation in the caves; but Bawr being in no mood, +since the defection of Mawg and his party, to tolerate any opposition, +and Grom being now regarded as a dangerous wizard, the preparation +for departure went on as smoothly as if all were of one mind. +Packing was no great matter to the People of the Little Hills, the +richest of whom could transport all his wealth on the back of the +feeblest of his wives. So it came that before the sun marked noon +the whole tribe was on the march, trailing forth from the neck of +the amphitheater at the heels of Grom and A-ya, and picking their way +over the bones of their slain enemies which the vultures and the +jackals had already polished white. Bawr, the Chief, came last, +seeing to it that there were no laggards; and as the tail of the +straggling procession left the pass he climbed swiftly to the +nearest pinnacle of rock to take observation. He marked Grom and +the girl, the tribe strung out dejectedly behind them, winding off +to the left along the foot of the bare hills; and a pang of grief, +for an instant, twitched his massive features. Then he turned his eyes +to the right. Very far off, in a space of open ground by the +brookside, he marked the movement of confused, living masses, of a +dull brown on the green. A closer look convinced him that the +moving masses were men--new hordes of the beast-men, the gaping-nosed +Bow-legs. + +"Grom is a true man," he muttered, with satisfaction, and went leaping +like a stag down the slope to rejoin the tribe. When news of what he +had seen was passed from mouth to mouth through the tribe every murmur +was hushed, and the sulkiest laggards pushed on feverishly, as if +dreading a rush of the beast-men from every cleft and glade. + +The journey proved, for the most part, uneventful. Traveling in a +compact mass, only by broad day, their numbers and their air of +confidence kept the red bear and the saber-tooth, the black lion and +the wolf-pack, from venturing to molest them. By the Chief's orders +they maintained a noisy chatter, with laughter and shouting, as soon +as they felt themselves safely beyond range of the beast-men's ears. +For Bawr had observed that even the saber-tooth had a certain +uneasiness at the sound of many human voices together. At night--and +it was their rule to make camp while the sun was yet several hours +high--with the aid of their flint spear-heads they would laboriously +cut down the saplings of the long-thorned acacia, and surround the +camp with a barrier which the monsters dared not assail. Even so, +however, the nights were trying enough to the stoutest nerves. Half +the tribe at a time was obliged to stand on guard, and there was +little sleep to refresh the weariest when the shadows beyond the +barriers were alive with mutterings and prowlings, and terrible, +paling, gleaming eyes. + +On the fourth day of the journey, however, the tribe met a foe whose +dense brain was quite unimpressed by the menace of the human voice, +and whose rage took no account of their numbers or their confidence. +An enormous bull urus--perhaps the same beast which some days earlier, +had driven Grom and the girl into the tree-tops--burst up, dripping +and mud-streaked from his wallow in a reedy pool, and came charging +upon the travelers with a roar. No doubt an outcast from the herd, he +was mad with the lust of killing. With shouts of warning and shrieks +of fear the tribe scattered in every direction. The nearest warriors +hurled their spears as they sprang aside, and several of the weapons +went deep into the monster's flanks, but without checking him. He had +fixed his eyes on one victim, an old man with a conspicuous shock of +snow-white hair, and him he followed inexorably. The doomed wretch +screamed with despair when he found himself thus hideously selected, +and ran, doubling like a rabbit. Just as the monster overtook him he +fell, paralyzed with his fright, and one tremendous horn pinned him to +the earth. At this instant the Chief arrived, running up from the rear +of the line, and Grom, coming from the front. The Chief, closing in +fearlessly, swung his club with all his strength across the beast's +front, blinding one eye, and confusing him for the fraction of a +moment. And in that moment, Grom, calculating his blow with precision, +drove his spear clean through the massive throat. As he sprang back, +twisting his ragged weapon in the wound and tearing it free, the +monster, with a hoarse cough, staggered forward across his victim, +fell upon his knees, and slowly sank, while the blood emptied itself +in enormous, smoking jets from the wound. + +The incident caused a day's delay in the march; for there was the dead +elder to be buried, with heavy stones heaped over his body, according +to the custom of the tribe, and there was also the meat of the slain +bull to be cut up for carrying--a rank food, but sustaining, and not +to be despised when one is on a journey with uncertainties ahead. And +the delay was more than compensated for by the new spirit which now +seized this poor, fugitive remnant of the Tribe of the Little Hills. +The speedy and spectacular triumph over a foe so formidable as the +giant bull urus was unanimously accepted as an omen of good fortune. + +As they approached the valley whose mouth was guarded by the line of +volcanic fire, Grom purposely led the tribe by such a path that they +should get no glimpse of the dancing flames until close upon them. +Down behind a long line of woods he led them, with no warning of what +was to come. Then suddenly around into the open; and there, not a +hundred paces distant, was the valley-mouth, and the long, thin line +of flickering scarlet tongues drawn across it. + +As the people came in sight of the incomprehensible phenomenon, they +stared for a moment, gasping, or uttering low cries; then they fell +upon their faces in awe. Grom remained standing, leaning upon his +spear; and A-ya stood with bowed head close behind him. When the +Chief, shepherding and guarding the rear flanks, emerged around the +elbow of woods and saw his people thus prostrate before the shining +wonder, he too was moved to follow their example, for his heart went +cold within him. But not without reason was he Chief, for he could +control himself as well as others. A pallor spread beneath the smoky +tan of his broad features, but without an instant's hesitation he +strode to the front, and stood like Grom, with unbowed head, leaning +calmly on his great club. His thought was that the Shining One must be +indeed a god, and might, indeed, slay him from afar, like the +lightning, but it could not make him afraid. + +Grom gave him a quick look of approval. "Tell the people," said he, +"to follow us round through the open space yonder, and into the +valley, that we may make camp, for there are many great beasts here, +and very fierce. And tell them not to approach the Shining One, lest +he smite them, but also not to fear, for he will not come at them." + +When the people--trembling, staring with fascinated eyes at the +dancing array, and shrinking nervously from the strange warmth--had +all been gathered into the open space between the fire and the +thickets, Grom led the Chief up to the flames and hurriedly explained +to him what he had found out as to how they must be managed. Then, +leaving him to ponder the miracle, and to experiment, he took A-ya to +help him build other fires along the edge of the thickets in order to +keep the monsters at bay. And all the while the tribe sat watching, +huddled on their haunches, with mouths agape and eyes rolling in +amazement. + +Bawr the Chief, meanwhile, was revolving many things in his sagacious +brain, as he alternately lighted and extinguished the little, eating +flames which fixed themselves upon the dry wood when he held it in the +blaze. His mind was of a very different order from that of Grom, +though, perhaps, not less capacious and capable. Grom was the +discoverer, the initiator, while Bawr was essentially the ruler, +concerned to apply all he learned to the extension and securing of his +power. It was his realization of Grom's transparent honesty and +indifference to power which made him so free from jealousy of Grom's +prestige. His shrewd perceptions told him that Grom would far rather +see him rule the tribe, so long as he ruled it effectually, than be +troubled with the task himself. But there were others in the tribe +whom he suspected of being less disinterested--who were capable of +becoming troublesome if ever he should find his strength failing. One +of these, in particular, a gigantic, black-browed fellow by the name +of Ne-boo, remotely akin to the deserter Mawg, was now watching him +with eyes more keen and considerate than those of his companions. As +Bawr became conscious of this inquiring, crafty gaze, he made a slip, +and closed his left hand on a portion of his branch which was still +glowing red. With superb nerve he gave no sign of the hurt. And he +thought quickly: he had taken a liberty with the Bright One, and been +bitten by those mysterious, shining teeth which left a scar of black. +Well, someone else should be bitten, also. Calmly heating the branch +again till it was a live coal for three-quarters of its length, he +called the crafty-eyed warrior to him. The man came, uneasy, but full +of interest. + +"Take this, and hold it for me," said Bawr, and tossed him the red +brand. With shrinking hands Ne-boo caught it, to drop it instantly +with a yell of pain and terror. It fell, scraping his leg, and his +foot, and in his fright he threw himself down beside it, begging it +not to smite him again. + +"Strange," said Bawr, in a voice for all the tribe to hear, "the +Shining One will not suffer Ne-boo to touch him." With the air of a +high priest he picked the brand up, and held it again into the flames. +And Grom returning at this moment to his side, he commanded in a low +voice: "Let none but ourselves attend or touch the Bright One." + +Grom, his mind occupied with plans for the settling of the tribe, +agreed without asking the reason for this decree. He was thinking +about getting the tribe housed in the caves which he had noticed in +the steep sides of the valley. He knew well enough that these caves +were the houses of the red bear, the saber-tooth and the bone-crushing +hyenas, but, as he explained to the Chief with thrilling elation, the +Shining One would drive these monsters out, and teach them to keep +their distance. To Bawr, who had had some experience in his day with +the red bear and the saber-tooth, and who had not yet seen all that +these dancing tongues of gold and scarlet could do, the enterprise +seemed a formidable one. But he sagaciously reserved his judgment, +pondering things that he felt sure Grom would not dream of. + +That night, when all was thick darkness beyond the magic circle of the +fires, the People of the Little Hills sat or crouched trembling and +wondering, while monstrous dim shapes of such bears or tigers as they +had never imagined in their worst nightmares prowled roaring all about +them, held off by nothing more substantial than just those thin and +darting tongues of flame. That the little, bright things could bite +terribly they had evidence enough, both in the charred and corroded +wood which the flames had licked, and in the angry wounds of Ne-boo. +At the same time they saw their Chief and Grom apparently handling the +Terror with impunity, and the girl A-ya approaching it and serving it +freely, though always with bowed head and every mark of awe. + +But what made the deepest, the most ineffaceable impression on the +minds of the tribe was to see Grom and the Chief, each waving a pair +of dead branches all aflame, charge at a pair of giant saber-tooths +who had ventured too near, and drive them scurrying like frightened +sheep into the bush. Repeating the tactics which he had previously +found so effective, Grom hurled one of his flaming weapons after the +fugitives--an example which the Chief, not to be outshone, followed +instantly. The result was startling. The brands chanced to fall where +there was a great accumulation of dry wood and twigs and leaves. In a +moment, as it seemed, the flames had leapt up into full fury, and were +chasing the fugitives up the valley with a roar. In the sudden great +glare could be seen saber-tooths stretching out in panic-stricken +flight, burly red bear fleeing with their awkward but deadly swift +gallop, huge hyenas scattering to this side and that, and many furtive +unknown creatures driven into a blind and howling rout. Grom himself +was as thunderstruck as any one at the amazing result of his action, +but his quick wits told him to disguise his astonishment, and bear +himself as if it were exactly what he had planned. The Chief copied +his attitude with scrupulous precision and unfailing nerve, though +quite prepared to see the red whirlwind suddenly turn back and blot +himself, the audacious Grom, and the whole shuddering tribe from the +face of the outraged earth. But no such thing happened. The torrent of +flame raged straight up the valley, cutting a path some fifty odd +paces in width, and leaving a track of smoldering, winking, red stems +and stumps behind it. And all the beasts hid themselves in their +terror so that not one of them was seen again that night. As for the +People of the Little Hills, they were now ready to fall down and put +dust in their hair in utter abasement, if either Grom or the Chief so +much as looked at them. + +Soon after sunrise the next day, the Chief and Grom, bearing lighted +brands, and followed close by A-ya with a bundle of dry faggots, twigs +and grass, took possession of two great caves on the southward-facing +slope of the valley. The giant bears which occupied one of them fled +ignominiously at the first threat of the flames, having been scorched +and thoroughly cowed by the conflagration of the previous night. The +other cave had been already vacated by the hyena pack, which had no +stomach to face these throwers of flame. Before the mouth of each +cave, at a safe distance, a fire was lighted--a notice to all the +beasts that their rule was at an end. The whole tribe was set to the +gathering of a great store of fuel, which was heaped about the mouths +of the caves as a shield against the weather. Then the people began to +settle themselves in their new home, secure in the faith that not even +the hordes of the Bow-legs, should they chance that way, would have +the temerity to face their new and terrible protector. + +When all was ordered to his satisfaction, the Chief called Grom to his +side. The two stood apart, and watched the tall figure of A-ya moving +from the one fire to the other, and tending them reverently, as one +performing a rite. Grom's eyes took on a certain illumination at the +sight of her, a look which the Chief had never observed in any man's +eyes before. But he thought little of it, for his mind was full of +other matters. + +"It is well," said he presently, in a low voice, "that the service and +understanding of the Bright One should not be allowed to the people, +but should be kept strictly to ourselves, and to those whom we shall +choose to initiate. I shall appoint the two best men of my own kin, +and two others whom you shall select, as servants of the Bright One. +And I will make a law that the people shall henceforth worship only +the Bright One, instead of, as heretofore, the Thunder, and the Wind, +and the unknown Spirits, which, after all, as far as I can see, have +never been able to do much either for or against us. But this Bright +One is a real god, such as we can be sure of. And you and I shall be +his priests. And only we shall be allowed to understand him." + +"That is good," agreed Grom, whose brain was busy devising other ways +of making the wild flames serviceable to man. "But," he went on, +"there is A-ya. She knows as much about it as you and I." + +The Chief pondered a moment. + +"Either the girl must die," said he, eyeing Grom's face, "or she must +be a priest along with us." + +"I think she will be a very good priest," said Grom drily, his eyes +resting upon her. + +Then the Chief, ascending a rock between the two fires, spoke to the +people, and decreed as he had said. He told a little about the Shining +One, just so much as he thought it good for his hearers to know. He +declared that the ones he had chosen for the great honor of serving +the fires must tend them by turns, night and day, and guard them with +their lives; for that, if one or the other should be suffered to die +out, some great disaster would assuredly come upon the tribe. + +"And henceforth," he concluded, "you shall not be called the People of +the Little Hills; for these ridges, indeed, are not such hills as +those whose bald and windy tops are keeping the bones of our fathers. +But you shall be known and feared greatly by our enemies as 'The +Children of the Shining One,' under whose protection I declare you." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PULLER-DOWN OF TREES + + +On the broken hill-slope overlooking the Valley of Fire, in the two +great caves known as the Cave of the Bears and the Cave of the Hyenas, +the tribe of the Children of the Shining One now dwelt secure and +began to recover heart. Before each cave-mouth, tended night and day, +burned the sacred flame, its tongues licked upwards in gold and +scarlet with a radiance from which all the tribe, with the sole +exceptions of Bawr, the Chief, and Grom, his right hand and councilor, +were wont to avert their eyes in awe whenever they passed it in their +comings and goings. Only from a distance would they presume to look at +the flames directly; and ever as they looked their wonder and their +reverence grew. Their trust in the protection of the Shining One came +to have no bounds, for night after night would the great red bears +return, prowling in the mysterious gloom just beyond the ring of +light, with their dreadful eyes turned fixedly upon their former +habitation, only to be driven off ignominiously when Grom rushed at +them with a shout and a flaming torch above his head. And night after +night would the troops of the hyenas come back, their monstrous-jowled +heads swinging low from their mighty shoulders, to sit and howl their +devilish laughter above their ancient lair, only to slink off in cowed +silence when the Chief would hurl a blazing brand among them. When the +beasts were thus discomfited and abashed, the boldest of the warriors +would go leaping after them and bring down the hindermost with spears. +So it came about that presently the great animals knew themselves +beaten, and sullenly withdrew to the other side of the hills. + +It was just this country at the other side of the hills which most +appealed to the restless imagination of Grom. Within the valley--which +widened out, as it receded from its fiery gateway, to enclose league +upon league of fertile plain--was good hunting, along with an +abundance of roots, fruits and edible herbs. But in Grom's heart +burned that spirit of unquenchable expectation which has led the race +of Man upwards through all obstacles--the urge to find out ever what +lies beyond. So the saw-toothed line of these dark, volcanic summits +drew him irresistibly, with the promise of unknown wonders hidden +behind them. + +During these few weeks since coming to the Valley of the Fire, Grom +had been tirelessly experimenting with the bright element, trying this +kind of fuel and that, one after another, in order to learn what food +was most acceptable to it. He learned that certain substances it would +devour in raging haste, only to fail and die soon after; or not truly +to die, he imagined, but to flee back unseen to its dancing, +flickering source at the valley mouth. Other substances he found that +it would consume slowly, but pertinaciously. While into yet others, +such as dry turf and punk, it would eat its way and hide, maintaining +therein for a long time a retired but potent existence, ready to leap +into radiant life under certain provocation. His invention stimulated +by these experiments, he had made himself several hollow tubes of a +thick green bark whipped about with thongs, and had stuffed them with +that mixture of turf and punk which he found best calculated to hold +the furtive seeds of fire alive. + +With one of these slow torches alight, and several spare ones slung +over his shoulders, Grom set out to cross the pointed hills and seek +new wonders in the lands beyond. The tall girl, A-ya, went with him. +This not being customary in the tribe, they gave reasons. Grom said +that he needed the girl because she alone knew how rightly to serve +and tend the Shining One in combat. It was a good reason, but he was +amazed to find in his heart so deep a desire for her that he was +ill-content whenever his eyes could not rest upon her. There was no +one in the tribe with whom he could discuss this strange emotion, for +no one, not even the wise and subtle-minded Chief, would have +comprehended it--romantic love not yet having come openly to these men +of the Morning of Time. So Grom gave the lesser reason, which all, +including himself, could understand. As for the girl, she said that +whatever her lord commanded she must needs obey, which she did with a +most seemly readiness. But in her heart she knew that if her man had +commanded her to stay behind, she would have obeyed only so long as he +remained in sight, and would then have followed him. + +Like Grom, the girl carried two flint-headed spears. Both wore clumsy +but effective slivers of flint, for knives, in their girdles of +twisted skin. The girl, besides her weapons, carried a substantial +burden of strips of meat dried hard in the sun, in case game should +prove scarce or elusive in the land beyond the hills. But when they +had got well out of sight of the caves, Grom turned, relieved her of +her burdens which, according to tribal conventions, it was her duty to +carry for her man, and gave her instead the light but precious tube of +fire. + +As they ascended the ragged slopes, vegetation grew sparse, and when +toward nightfall they gained the pass which Grom was making for--a +deep cleft between two steep red and purple peaks--the rock beneath +their feet was naked but for a low growth of flowering herbs and +thorn. The pass was too high for the aloe and mesembryanthemum to +flourish, and the lava-bed which floored it was yet too new to have +clothed itself in any of the larger mountain-loving trees. Here they +passed the night, in a shallow niche of rock with a fire before it; +and the fire being visible from a long way off, no prowlers cared even +to approach it. + +On the following day they traveled swiftly, but the pass was long. It +was near sunset again when at last the rocks fell away to either side, +and they saw spread out below their feet the land which they had come +to explore. + +It was a vast, rolling plain, golden-green with rank, cane-like +grasses, dotted with innumerable clumps of trees, and laced with full +watercourses which lay in spacious loops of blue and silver. Here and +there lay broad, irregular patches where the grass did not flourish, +and these were of vivid emerald-green from some unknown growth. + +Along the horizon to the north sparkled a great water. And half-way +down the steep, toward the right, smoked and smouldered a shallow, +saucer-shaped crater from whose broken lower rim a purple-brown +serpent of comparatively recent lava descended in sluggish curves +across the intense green. + +Somewhat to the girl's apprehension, Grom seemed anxious to +investigate the smoking crater, but the only practicable path down the +mountain led them away from it, so he was content to leave it for +another time and another, perhaps less repellent, approach. + +Descending presently into a region of ledges and ravines clothed with +dense thickets, they found on every hand traces of the giant bears and +the saber-tooth tigers whom they had driven from the caves in the +Valley of Fire. Grom hurriedly whirled the smoldering torch into a +flame, and from it lighted a couple of resinous brands, one for +himself, and one for A-ya to carry. Thus armed, they fearlessly +followed the broad trail of bears, which led them very conveniently +down the steep. And bear and saber-tooth alike, at sight of the flame +thus apparently seeking them out, remembered their recent scorching +discomfiture, and slunk off like whipped curs. + +Grom's immediate object was to make his way straight to the shores of +that great water, whose gleaming on the horizon had been like an +invitation to his inquiring spirit. But when early in the forenoon of +the fourth day they reached the lowlands, he found that his way would +be anything but straight. The immense grasses, a species of cane, grew +so tall, so dense and so thick in the stem, that it was impossible to +force a path through them just where he would. + +He saw that he must use the trails of the wild beasts, which +intersected it in all directions. There were the tracks of every +animal he knew--the hunters and the hunted alike--and of many more +which he did not know. But one broad trail in particular arrested his +attention. It struck such fear to the heart of the girl, whose eyes +were keen and understanding, that her knees trembled beneath her, and +had she dared she would have begged Grom to turn back from a land +which held such monsters. + +Even Grom himself felt a thrill of awe as he stared at the trail which +bespoke so mighty a traveler. Wherever it led, the sturdiest growths +were crushed flat as if some huge bowlder from the mountains had been +rolled over them. And the monster footprints, which here and there +stamped themselves clearly in the trail, were thrice the size of those +of the hugest mammoth. + +Grom stooped and studied these footprints, pondering them with knit +brows. What manner of giant it might be which moved on such colossal +and misshapen members it was beyond his wits to guess. But of a surety +it was a fine roadmaker! + +With a confident arrogance born of the knowledge that he was the lord +of Fire, he deliberately chose to pursue this dreadful trail. And the +girl, hiding her terror lest it should diminish her credit in his +sight, followed close at his elbow, her bright eyes tirelessly +searching the jungle on either side. + +Suddenly behind them came a confused, terrifying noise of panting +breaths and trampling feet. It came sweeping down the broad trail. +There were grunting cries, also; and Grom understood at once that a +herd of pig-tapirs--heavy-footed, timorous beasts, as tall as +heifers--were sweeping down upon them in mad flight before some +unknown pursuer. + +Against that blind panic, that headlong frantic rush, he knew that +blazing brands would avail nothing. He clutched the girl by the hand. +"Come!" he ordered. And they fled side by side down the trail. + +It was in their minds to climb the first suitable tree they should +come to, and let the rout go by. In half a minute or so, over the tops +of the giant grasses, they sighted such a tree, only a few hundred +yards ahead. The trail, swerving opportunely, appeared to lead +directly towards its foot, and they raced on, the girl now laughing +softly with excitement, and forgetting her fear of the unknown because +of the known peril behind her. It pleased her curiously to find that +her man had not grown too divine to be ready to run away on fitting +occasion; and she kept glancing at him from under her dark tangle of +hair with eyes of passionate possession. + +The wild uproar behind was drawing nearer swiftly, but the refuge was +now not more than fifty paces ahead. All at once the way to it was +barred. Out from a little side-track on the right came lumbering a +gigantic rhinoceros, his creased and folded hide clothed in matted +brown wool and caked with clay. He swung round into the trail, almost +blocking it with his bulk, stared for a couple of seconds with evil +little eyes at the two slim beings before him, then lowered the huge +double horn that armed his snout, and charged at them with a grunt of +fury. + +Caught thus fairly between the devil before, and the deep sea of +trampling hoofs behind, Grom had no choice. A second's waving of the +lighted brands convinced him that the rhinoceros was too dense of +brain to fear the fire, or even to notice it. Once more clutching the +girl's hand, he ran back a little way, seeking to draw the two perils +together, and give them an opportunity to distract each other's +attention. + +He ran back till the flying, plunging herd of the pig-tapirs came into +full view around the curve of the trail. Then, with all his strength, +he forced his way into the grass, on the left, shouldering aside the +upright stems to make room for the girl to enter. She hurled her +blazing brand full into the face of the rhinoceros, hoping to confuse +or divert him for an instant, then thrust herself lithely in past +Grom. + +The rhinoceros was diverted for an instant. The smoke and sparks half +blinded him, and in a paroxysm of fury he checked himself to trample +the strange assailant under foot. Then he thundered forward. But the +tough stems of the grass had closed up again. The two fugitives were +hidden. He saw the packed herd of the tapirs bearing down upon him; +and, forgetting the insignificant creatures who had first roused his +anger, he charged forward at full speed to meet this new foe. + +Realizing well enough that in three or four seconds more the crash +would come, and that the struggle between the rhinoceros and the +maddened herd would be little short of a cataclysm, Grom and the girl +struggled breathlessly to force themselves to a safe distance lest +they should be crushed in the melee. + +The sweat ran down into their eyes, and swarms of tiny insects, +breeding in the giant stems, choked their throats and nostrils; but +they wrestled their way onward blindly, foot by foot. Behind them, out +in the trail, came a ponderous crash, and, then an appalling explosion +of squeals, screams, grunts and roars. The next instant the rigid +stems gave way suddenly before them, and they fell forward, with a +startled cry from the girl, into a deep and sunless water. + +They came up, spluttering and choking; but as soon as she could catch +breath the girl laughed, whereupon the grimness of Grom's face +relaxed. The water was a deep creek, perfectly overshadowed and hidden +by the rank growth along its banks. But just opposite was the tree +whose refuge they had been trying to gain. They swam across in +half-a-dozen strokes, and drew themselves ashore, and shook themselves +like a pair of retrievers. Through all the flight, the fierce effort +among the grass-stems, and the unexpected ducking, they had kept +tenacious hold of every one of their treasures. But--their fire was +out! The brand was black; the precious tube, with the seeds of fire +lurking at its heart, was drenched, saturated and lifeless. + +For a moment or two Grom looked into the girl's eyes steadily, +conveying to her without a word the whole tremendous significance of +their loss. The girl responded, after a second's dismay, with a look +of trust and adoration which brought a rush of warmth to Grom's heart. +He smiled proudly, and shook his club as if to reassure himself. Then, +climbing hurriedly into the tree, they stared back over the plumed +tops of the grasses. + +The sight that met their eyes was not one for weak nerves. The spot in +the grass which they had just escaped from was a shambles. The +foremost of the panic-stricken pig-tapirs, met by the charge of the +rhinoceros, had been ripped and split by the rooting of his double +horn, and hurled to either side as if by some titanic plough. A couple +more had been trampled down and crushed before his charge was stayed +by the irresistible pressure of the surging, squealing mass. + +There he had stood fast, like a jagged promontory in the surges, +tossing his mighty head and thrusting hideously, while the rest of the +herd passed on, either scrambling clean over him or breaking down the +canes and pouring around on either side. Of those that passed over him +about one in every three or four got ripped by the tossing horn, and +went staggering forward a few paces, only to fall and be trodden out +by their fellows. Close behind the last of the squealing fugitives +came the cause of their panic--two immense black lions, who had +apparently been playing with their prey like cats. + +When they came face to face with the rhinoceros where he stood among +his victims, shaking the blood from horn and head and shoulder, they +stopped abruptly. Together, perhaps, they would have been a match for +him. But theirs was a far higher intelligence than his. They knew the +almost impenetrable toughness of his hide, his Berserk rage, his +imperviousness to reasonable fear; and they had no care to engage +themselves without cause in so uncertain and unprofitable a combat. + +With a roar that rolled in thunder over the plain and seemed to set +the very tree-tops quivering, they leaped lazily aside and went off in +enormous bounds through the grass, circling about as if to intercept, +in sheer wantonness of slaughter, the remnants of the fleeing herd. At +the sight Grom frowned anxiously, thinking how helpless he and the +girl would be against such foes, now that they no longer had the +Shining One to protect them. + +Squealing to split the ears, the pig-tapirs came galloping past the +tree, making for a piece of water some furlongs further on, where +doubtless they hoped to evade both the lion and the rhinoceros. But +they had yet another adversary to reckon with. + +Just past the tree, at a thicket of immense scarlet poinsettias, the +trail curved sharply. From behind the poinsettias arose a gigantic +shape unlike anything that Grom had ever dreamed of. And he knew that +the maker of the mysterious trail and those tremendous footprints was +before him. + +With a trumpeting bray of indignation the monster sat upright on +hind-quarters far more ponderous than those of a mammoth. Its tail, as +thick at the base as the body of a bear, helped to support it, while +its clumsy frame towered to a height of eighteen or twenty feet. Its +hind legs were very short, thick like tree-trunks, grotesquely bowed; +and its thighs like buttresses. Its fore legs were more arms than +legs, of startling length and massive strength, draped in long, stiff +hair, and terminated by colossal hands with immense hooked claws for +fingers. The whole body was clothed with rusty hair of an amazing +coarseness, like matting fiber. The vast head, flat on top and +prolonged to a snout that was almost a proboscis, had the look of +being deformed by reason of its fantastically exaggerated jowl, or +lower jaw. This terrifying monster thrust out a narrow pink tongue, +some three or four feet in length, stooped and turned, and gave a +hurried look at something crouching behind its mighty thighs. + +"Its baby!" muttered the girl, with a little indrawn breath of +sympathy. + +Then the strange being sat up again to meet and ward off the rush of +the maddened pig-tapirs. + +For a moment it beat off the assault, seizing the frantic beasts and +hurling them this way and that as if they had been so many rabbits. +Then it was completely surrounded by the reeking squealing bleeding +horde, which paid no more personal attention to it than if it had been +a mass of rock. They rolled over the little one, unheeding, and trod +it flat. Its death cry split the air; and at that sound the mother +seemed to sink down into her haunches. In her agony of rage and grief +she literally tore some of her assailants in halves, throwing the +awful fragments impatiently from her in order to lose no time in +seizing a new victim. A few seconds more and the rush was past; and +presently the mad rout was hurling itself with a tremendous splashing +into the water. The monster looked around for more victims--and was +just in time to see the hideous vision of the rhinoceros charging down +upon her. Triumphant from the encounter with the lions, he rushed back +to slake his still unsatisfied fury on the pig-tapirs. At any other +time he would have given such an antagonist as the colossal +megatherium a wide berth; but just now he was in one of his madnesses. +His furious little swinish eyes blinking through the blood which +dripped over them, he hurled himself straight onward. His horn was +plunged into the monster's paunch; but at the same time one of those +gigantic armed hands fell irresistibly on his neck, shattering the +vertebrae through all their deep protection of hide and muscle. He +collapsed with an explosive grunt; and the giant hands tossed him +aside. + +It was a frightful wound which the monster had received, but for a few +moments she paid no attention to it, being occupied in licking the +trampled body of her young one with that amazing tongue of hers. At +length, apparently convinced that the little one was quite dead, she +brayed again piteously, dropping forward upon all fours, and made off +slowly down the trail, walking with grotesque awkwardness on the sides +of her feet. For two or three hundred yards she kept on, drawing a +wake of crimson behind her; and then, apparently exhausted by her +wound, she turned off among the canes, and lay down, close beside the +trail, but effectively screened from it. + +From their place in the tree Grom and the girl had followed +breathlessly these astounding encounters. At last Grom spoke: + +"This is a country of very great beasts," he remarked, with the air of +one announcing a discovery. As A-ya showed no inclination whatever to +dissent from this statement, he presently went on to his conclusion, +leaving her to infer his minor premise. + +"We must go back and recover the Shining One. It is not well for us to +go on without him." + +"Yes," agreed the girl eagerly. For all her courage and passionate +trust in her man, the sight of those black lions bounding over the +tops of the towering grasses had somewhat shaken her nerve. She feared +no beasts but the swiftest, and those which might leap into the lower +branches of the trees. "Yes!" she repeated. "Let us go back for the +Shining One, lest he be angry at us for having put him in the water." + +"But for yet a day more we will stay here in this tree, and rest and +sleep in safety," continued Grom, "that we may travel the more +swiftly, till we get beyond the grasses." + +Then, climbing higher into the tree, he proceeded to build a platform +and roof of interlaced branches for their temporary home. In this task +the girl did not help him, because of the great muscular strength +which it required. She lay in a crotch, her hairy but long and shapely +legs coiled under her like a leopard's, now gazing at her man with +ardent eyes, now staring out apprehensively across the sun-drenched, +perilous landscape. + +Suddenly she gave a cry of amazement, and pointed excitedly down the +trail. Beyond the water wherein the pig-tapirs had found refuge, +beyond the lurking-place of the wounded megatherium, came three men, +running desperately. Shading his eyes, Grom made out that they were +nearly exhausted. They were clearly men of the type of his own tribe, +light-skinned and well shaped; and the leader, who carried a long +club, was a man of stature equal to his own. Grom's sympathies went +out to them, and his impulse was to hasten to their assistance. +Glancing further along the trail to learn the cause of their headlong +flight, he saw two black lions in pursuit, probably the same two which +had been driving the pig-tapirs a couple of hours earlier. They were +coming on at such a pace that Grom feared the weary fugitives would be +overtaken before they could reach the tree of refuge. Instinctively he +started to climb down. But, his eyes falling upon the girl, he +remembered that he had no right to enter upon a venture so utterly +hopeless while he had her to take care of. His eager clutch upon his +spear relaxed. + +"They are spent. They'll never get here!" he muttered anxiously. + +"No!" said A-ya, with blank unconcern. "The lions will get them. It's +Mawg, and his two cousins." + +Grom growled an exclamation of astonishment. The girl's eyes--or her +intuitions--were keener than his. But he saw at a second glance that +she was right. + +At this moment Mawg, running a few paces in advance by reason of his +superior speed and stamina, passed the spot where the wounded +megatherium lay hidden. The monster lifted her dreadful head. The next +second the other two arrived, running elbow to elbow, with drooped +shoulders of exhaustion. Through the screen of canes a gigantic hand +shot out above their heads and came down upon them, crushing the two +together. They had not time for outcry; but it was clear that some +sound caught the leader's ears, for he glanced back over his shoulder. +He was near enough now for the keen-eyed watchers in the tree to see +his face change with horror. He ran on without a pause, but now with +fresh speed, as if the sight had shocked him into new vigor. Seeing +that there was, after all, a good prospect of his reaching the tree in +time, Grom swung down to be ready to help him up. As he did so he saw +the two lions approach the hiding-place of the monster. + +The vast, clawed hand still lay there on the two crushed bodies in the +middle of the trail. The lions saw it, and they checked themselves at +a safe distance. They knew that just behind the grass-screen lurked +another such shaggy and monstrous member, waiting to rend them as they +would rend an antelope. They shrank, and drew back, snarling angrily. +It is possible they feared lest the screen on either side of the trail +might conceal more than one of the monsters; for they sprang far aside +as if to make a wide circuit of the perilous spot. + +"There's plenty of time!" muttered Grom, and dropped upon his feet in +the middle of the trail. The girl came in mad haste after him, but at +his sharp command "Stay there!" she contented herself with slipping +out upon the lowest branch, just over his head, and holding her spear +ready. + +"Kill him!" she cried. But Grom seemed not to hear. + +Staggering, and half blind with exhaustion Mawg was within twenty +paces before he noticed who was confronting him. Then his dull eyes +blazed. With a snarl of fury he hurled his club straight at Grom's +face, missing him only by a hand's-breadth. But the effort, and the +disappointment at finding himself thus balked, as he imagined, on the +very threshold of escape, seemed to finish him. He stumbled on with +groping hands outstretched, and fell just at Grom's feet. + +Grom hesitated, wondering how he could get this inert weight up into +the tree. The girl did not understand his hesitation. + +"Kill him!" she hissed, leaning down eagerly from her branch +overhead. + +"No, he's a great warrior, and the tribe needs him," answered Grom, +stooping to shake the prostrate form. + +Mawg stirred, beginning to recover. Grom shook him again. + +"Up into the tree, quick!" he ordered in a loud, sharp voice. "The +lions are coming." + +Mawg roused himself, sat up, and stared with a look of bewilderment +changing swiftly into hate. + +"Up!" shouted Grom again. "The tree. They're coming!" + +At this the fellow growled, but sprang up as if he had been jabbed +with a spear, and clambered into the tree as nimbly as a monkey. Grom +followed, quickly but coolly. A-ya, who had waited with her eyes +watchfully on Mawg, stepped close to Grom's side; and all three swung +upwards into the higher branches as the two lions arrived beneath. + +Glaring up into the tree with shrewd, malevolent eyes, the great +beasts realized that, for the present at least, the tree man-creatures +were quite out of reach. Lashing their tufted tails in disappointment, +they turned aside to sniff, in surly scorn, at the dead, mountainous +hulk of the rhinoceros, which lay with one ponderous foot stuck up in +the air as if in clumsy protest at Fate. Comprehending readily the +manner of its death, they came back and lay down under the tree, and +fell to gnawing lazily at the body of one of the pig-tapirs which the +megatherium had torn in two. They had the air of intending to stay +some time, so Grom presently turned his attention to his rescued +rival. + +Mawg was sitting on the next branch, a good spear's length distant, +and glowering at A-ya's lithe shapeliness with eyes of savage greed. +Grom knit his brows, and significantly passed an arm about the girl's +shoulders. Mawg shifted his attention to him. + +"What do you want of me?" he demanded, in a thick, guttural voice. + +"I thought you ran as if you did not want the lions to eat you," +answered Grom. + +Mawg stared with a stupid brutality and incomprehension; and the eyes +of the two men, meeting fairly, seemed to lock in a duel of +personalities. + +They presented a significant contrast. Both, physically, superb +specimens of their race--the highest then evolved upon the youthful +earth--the elder man, in his ample forehead and calm, reasoning eyes, +displayed all the promise of the future; while the youth, low skulled +and with his dull but pugnacious eyes set under enormous bony brows, +suggested the mere brute from which the race had mounted. His hair was +shorter and coarser than Grom's, and foully matted; and his neck was +set very far forward between his powerful but lumpy shoulders. The +color of his coarse and furrowed skin was so dark as to make the +weathered tan of Grom and A-ya look white by contrast. + +In no way lacking courage, but failing in will and steadiness, in a +dozen seconds Mawg involuntarily shifted his gaze, and looked down at +the lions. + +"What do you want of me?" he demanded again, as if he had had no +answer before. + +"The tribe has too few warriors left. I will take you back to the +tribe!" replied Grom with authority. + +Mawg curled back his thick lips from his great yellow dog-teeth in a +snarling laugh of incredulity. + +"You want to kill me!" said he, nodding his head. + +Grom stared at him for a moment or two with a look of fatigued +contempt, then tore off a substantial strip of dried flesh from the +bundle hanging on the branch, and tossed it to him. The fellow +snatched it, and hid it behind him, being too hungry to refuse it, +but too savage to eat it under his captor's eye. Grom smiled +slowly, and fell to playing with a heavy strand of A-ya's hair +which had fallen over his arm. But to this caress the girl paid no +attention. She was puzzled and outraged at Grom's action in protecting +his rival. Her nostrils dilated, and a red spot glowed angrily under +each cheek-bone. + +Suddenly from down the trail came a noise of cracking grass-stems. The +two lions got up from their meal, and turned their heads inquiringly +toward the sound. The next moment they went stalking off the opposite +way with an air of haughty indignation, ignoring all the bodies of the +slain pig-tapirs. When they had rounded the first turn in the trail +they leaped into the grass, and went bounding off in a straight line +toward a large patch of wood some miles distant. The wounded +megatherium was returning. + +Perhaps stung into restlessness by the anguish of that rending thrust, +the monster came dragging herself back toward the tree, crawling on +the sides of her feet. Arriving at the scene of battle, she sniffed +once more at her mangled young one, and brayed piteously over it. Then +turning in an explosive fury upon the body of the rhinoceros, began to +tear it limb from limb as one might pull apart a roast pigeon. While +thus occupied, she chanced to turn her eyes upon the tree, and caught +sight of the three figures looking down upon her. + +On the instant her rage was diverted to them. Braying like a steam +siren, she came under the tree, reared herself against it, flung her +giant arms about it, and strove to pull it down. The tree rocked as if +struck by a tornado; and Mawg, who had been too slow to notice what +was about to happen, gave a yell of horror as he barely saved himself +from falling. The girl laughed, whereupon he shot her a menacing look +which so enraged her that she raised her spear as if to transfix him. + +But there was too much happening below for her attention to remain on +Mawg. Finding the tree quite too sturdy to be pulled down off-hand, +the monster gripped the lowest main branch, a limb eight or ten inches +through, and with one wrench peeled it down like a stalk of celery. +Her first effort, upon the main trunk, had set the blood once more +pumping from her wound, but she paid no attention to it. Reaching to +the next great branch, she ripped that one down also, taking another +great strip from the main trunk. Grom saw that her purpose obviously +was to pull the tree to pieces bit by bit, in order to get at her +intended victims. Mawg apparently saw this also, and it was too much +for him. Gripping his strip of dried meat between his teeth, he +slipped around the trunk till he was sheltered from the monster's +sight, dropped to a branch which stretched far over the water, ran out +along it nimbly as an ape, and dived. The monster, her eyes fixed upon +the two remaining in the tree, never noticed his escape. Mawg swam the +creek, thrust his way through the grass-stems, darted back to snatch +up his club, shook it at Grom, and, yelling an obscene taunt, raced +off to seek himself another retreat before nightfall. + +Neither Grom nor A-ya had any heed to spare him at that moment. The +monster had just torn down a limb so huge that the main trunk was +almost split in half by its loss. Grom saw that unless he could stop +this process of destruction, in a few moments more the tree would be +overthrown. The monster was just rearing herself to clutch the next +great bough. Spear in hand, Grom slipped down to meet her, and halted +on a branch just out of reach. The monster brayed vindictively, +stretched to her full height, and then shot forth her tremendous +muscular red coil of tongue, thinking evidently to lick down her +insignificant adversary from his perch. She was within an inch of +succeeding. Grom just eluded the strange attack by stepping aside +nimbly; and quick as thought A-ya's spear slashed the dreadful red +tongue as it reached flickering after her lord's ankles. The next +moment, seeing the monster's throat upstretched and unguarded, Grom +drove his spear full force, straight into the soft hollow of it. The +weapon sank into a depth of perhaps three feet, till the ragged flint +lodged in the vertebrae of the monster's neck. Then the shaft was +wrenched violently from his hand; and the monster, blowing blood and +foam from mouth and nostrils, fell with a crash among the litter of +great branches which she had pulled down. + +Grom drew a deep breath of relief, and commended the girl for her +timely and effective stroke at that terrible tongue. Then he set +himself coolly to the task of completing their shelter for the night. +As he wove leafy branches into the floor of the platform to make it +soft, she contemplated his work with satisfaction. Presently he +remarked: + +"I'm glad we are rid of that Mawg." + +"You should have killed him!" said the girl curtly. + +"But why?" demanded Grom, in some surprise. In his eyes the fellow was +a valuable piece of property belonging to the tribe, a fighting +asset. + +"He wants _me_!" answered the girl, meeting his eyes resentfully. + +Grom let his eyes roam all over her--face, hair and form--and such a +look of passionate admiration glowed in their steady depths that her +anger faded, her own eyes dropped, and her breast gave a happy, +incomprehensible flutter. She had never seen such a look in any man's +face before, or even dreamed of such a look as possible. + +"Of course, he wants you," said Grom, wondering, as he spoke, at the +ring of his own voice. "You are the fairest thing, and the most +desirable, on earth. All men whose eyes come to rest on you must want +you. But none shall have you, ever, for you are mine, and none shall +tear you from me." + +And at that the girl forgot her anger, and forgave him for having +neglected to kill Mawg. + +That night sleep was impossible for them, though their lofty shelter +was comfortable and secure. A vast orange moon, near the full, +illuminated the spacious landscape; and beneath the tree came all the +giant night-prowlers, gathering to the unparallelled banquet which the +day had spread for them. Only the two black lions, perhaps already +glutted, did not come. Wolves, a small pack of self-disciplined wild +dogs, a troop of hyenas, and several enormous leopards, howled, +snarled and wrangled in knots over the widely scattered carcases, each +group watching its neighbors with suspicion and deadly animosity. + +A gigantic red bear came lumbering up, and all the lesser prowlers +scattered discreetly but resentfully before him. He strode straight to +the chief place, under the rent, dishevelled tree, and fell to tearing +at the mountainous corpse of the megatherium. He was undisturbed till +two saber-tooths arrived, their tawny coats spectral in the moonlight, +their foot-long tusks giving their broad masks a dreadful grin. + +Before one saber-tooth the bear would have stood his ground +scornfully; but before the two he thought it best to defer. Slowly, +and with a thunderous grumbling, he moved over to the body of the +rhinoceros, pretending that he preferred it. The air was split and +battered with the clamor of raving voices. Other saber-tooths came, +and then another bear. + +There were swift, sudden battles, as swiftly dropped because +neither combatant wished to fight to a finish when there was +feasting so abundant for all. And once a leopard, dodging the paw +of a saber-tooth, sprang into the tree, only to fall back howling +from the spears thrust at him through the floor of Grom's platform. + +Just before dawn the girl slept, while Grom kept watch beside her lest +another leopard should fancy to explore their refuge. An hour later, +when the first pallor was spreading, she awoke with a cry of fear, and +clung to Grom's arm, shuddering strongly. + +"But--what is it?" he asked, in a tender voice, stroking her heavy +mane. + +"I was afraid!" she answered, like a child. + +"What were you afraid of?" asked Grom. + +"I was afraid of Mawg. I _am_ afraid of him!" she answered, sitting up +and shaking the hair from her eyes, and staring out fearfully over the +gray transparent plains. + +"Why should you fear Mawg?" demanded Grom proudly. "Am not I your man? +And am not I always with you? Many such mad brutes as Mawg could not +take you from me." + +"I know," answered the girl, "that he and such as he would be as +straws in my lord's hands. But--even Grom must sometimes sleep!" + +Grom laughed gently at her forebodings. + +"He must sleep now, indeed, for we have a long and perilous journey +before us," said he. Laying his great shaggy head in her lap, and +stretching his limbs as far as the tiny platform would allow he was +asleep in two seconds. The girl, stooping forward till her rich hair +shadowed the rugged, sleeping face, with its calm brows, pondered +deeply over his inexplicable forbearance toward his rival. Her +instincts all assured her that it was dangerous; but something else +within her, something which she strove in vain to grasp, suggested to +her that in some way it was noble, and made her glad of it. Then, all +at once, the first of the sunrise, flooding into the tree-top, bathed +her face with a rosy glow, and wonderfully transfigured it. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE BATTLE OF THE BRANDS + + +I + +Now for two years had the remnants of the tribe been settled in the +Valley of Fire. They had prospered exceedingly. The caves were +swarming with strong children; for at the Chief's orders every warrior +had taken to himself either two or three wives, so that none of the +widows had been left unmated. Grom alone remained with but one wife, +although his position in the tribe, second only to that of Bawr +himself, would have entitled him to as many as he might choose. + +Singularly happy with the girl A-ya, Grom had been unwilling to +receive other women into their little grotto, which branched off from +the high arched entrance of the main cave. He might, however, have +yielded, from policy and for the sake of the tribe, to pressure from +the Chief, but for a look of startled anguish which he had seen leap +into A-ya's eyes when he mentioned the matter to her. This had +surprised him at the moment, but it had also thrilled him curiously. +And as the girl made no objection to a step so absolutely in +accordance with the tribal customs, Grom thought about it a good deal. +A few days later he excused himself to the Chief, saying that other +women in his cave would be a nuisance, and would interfere with those +studies of the Shining One which had proved so beneficial to the +tribe. Bawr had accepted the excuse, though somewhat perplexed by it, +and had accommodatingly taken the extra wives himself--a solution +which had seemed to meet with the unqualified approval of A-ya. + +The first winter in the Valley of Fire had been a wonderful one to the +tribe, thanks to the fierce but beneficent element ever shining, +dancing and whispering in its mysterious tongue before the cave doors. +Bleak winds and driving, icy rains out of the north had no longer any +power to distress them. + +But when the storm was violent, with drenching and persistent rain, +then it was found necessary to feed the fires before the cave-mouths +lavishly with dry fuel from the stores which Grom's forethought had +caused to be accumulated under shelter. These contests between fire +and rain were sagaciously represented by Bawr (who had by now to his +authority as Chief added the subtle sanctions of High Priest) as the +fight of the Shining One in protection of the tribe, his children. + +On more than one occasion of torrential downpour the struggle had +almost seemed to hang for a while in doubt. But the Shining One lost +no prestige, thereby, for always, down there across the valley-mouth, +kept leaping and dancing those unquenchable flames of scarlet, amber +and violet, fed by the volcanic gases from within the crevice, and +utterly regardless of whatever floods the sky might loose upon them. +This was evidence conclusive that the Shining One was master of the +storm, no less than of the monsters which fled so terror-stricken +before him. + +In the early spring, the girl A-ya bore a child to Grom; a big-limbed, +vigorous boy, with shapely head and spacious brow. In this event, and +in the mother's happiness about it (a happiness that seemed to the +rest of the women to savor of foolish extravagance), Grom felt a +gladness which dignity forbade him to betray. + +But pondering over the little one with bent brows, and with deep eyes +full of visions, he conceived such an ambition as had perhaps never +before entered into the heart of man. It was that this child might +grow up to achieve some wonderful thing, as he himself had done, for +the advancement of his people. Of this baby, child of the woman toward +whom he felt emotions so new and so profound, he had a premonition +that new and incalculable things would come. + +One day Grom was following the trail of a deer some distance up the +valley. Skilled hunter that he was, he could read in the trail that +his quarry was not far ahead, and also that it had not yet taken +alarm. He followed cautiously, up the wind, noiseless as a leopard, +his sagacious eyes taking note of every detail about him. + +Presently he came to a spot where the trail was broken. There was a +twenty-foot gap to the next hoofprints, and these went off at right +angles to the direction which the quarry had hitherto been pursuing. +Grom halted abruptly, slipped behind a tree, crouched, and peered +about him with the tense vigilance of a startled fox. He knew that +something had frightened the deer, and frightened it badly. It +behooved him to find out what that something was. + +For some minutes he stood motionless as the trunk against which he +leant, searching every bush and thicket with his keen gaze, and +sniffing the air with expert nostrils. There was nothing perceptible +to explain that sudden fright of the deer. He was on the point of +slipping around the trunk to investigate from another angle. But stop! +There on a patch of soil where some bear had been grubbing for tubers +he detected a strange footprint. Instantly, he sank to the ground, and +wormed his way over, silently as a snake, to examine it. + +It was a human footprint, but much larger than his own, or those of +his tribe; and Grom's beard, and the stiff hairs on the nape of his +corded neck, bristled with hostility at the sight of it. + +The toes of this portentous print were immensely long and muscular, +the heel protruded grotesquely far behind the arch of the foot, which +was low and flat. The pressure was very marked along all the outer +edge, as if the author of the print had walked on the outer sides of +his feet. To Grom, who was an adept in the signs of the trail, it +needed no second look to be informed that one of the Bow-legs had been +here. And the trail was not five minutes old. + +Grom slipped under the nearest bushes, and writhed forward with +amazing speed in the direction indicated by the strange footprint, +pausing every other second to look, sniff the air, and listen. The +trail was as clear as daylight to him. Suddenly he heard voices, +several of them, guttural and squealing, and stopped again as if +turned to stone. Then another voice, at which he started in amazement. +It was Mawg's, speaking quietly and confidentially. Mawg, then, had +gone over to the Bow-legs! Grom's forehead wrinkled. A-ya had been +right. He ought to have killed the traitor. He writhed himself into a +dense covert, and presently, over the broken brink of a vine-draped +ledge, was able to command a view of the speakers. + +They were five in number, and grouped almost immediately below him. +Four were of the Bow-legs, squat, huge in the shoulder, long-armed, +flat-skulled, of a yellowish clay color, with protruding jaws, and +gaping, pit-like, upturned nostrils to their wide, bridgeless noses. +Grom's own nose wrinkled in disgust as the sour taint of them breathed +up to him. + +They were all armed with spears and stone-headed clubs, such as their +people had been unacquainted with up to the time of their attack upon +the Tribe of the Little Hills. It was apparent to Grom that the +renegade Mawg, who towered among them arrogantly, had been teaching +them what he knew of effective weapons. + +Having no remotest comprehension of the language of the Bow-legs--which +Mawg was speaking with them--Grom could get little clue to the drift of +their talk. They gesticulated frequently toward the east, and then +again toward the caves at the valley-mouth, so Grom guessed readily +enough that they were planning something against his people. + +It was clear, also, that this was but a little scouting party which +the renegade had led in to spy upon the weakness of the tribe. This +was as far as he could premise with any certainty. The obvious +conclusion was that these spies would return to their own country, to +lead back such an invasion as should blot the Children of the Shining +One out of existence. + +Grom was quick to realize that to listen any longer was to waste +invaluable time. All that it was possible for him to learn, he had +learned. Writhing softly back till he had gained what he considered a +safe distance from the spies, he rose to his feet and ran, at first +noiselessly, and crouching as he went, then at the top of that speed +for which he was famous in the tribe. Reaching the Caves, he laid the +matter hurriedly before the Chief, and within five minutes they were +leading a dozen warriors up the trail. + +Besides their customary weapons, both Grom and the Chief carried +fire-sticks, tubes of thick, green bark, tied round with a raw hide, +filled with smouldering punk, and perforated with a number of holes +toward the upper end. This was one of Grom's inventions, of proved +efficacy against saber-tooth and bear. By cramming a handful of dry +fiber and twigs into the mouth of the tube, and then whirling it +around his head, he was able to obtain a sudden and most unexpected +burst of flame which no beast ever dared to face, and which never +failed to compel the awe and wonder of his followers. + +Like shadows the little band went gliding in single file through the +thickets and under the drooping branches, their passage marked only by +the occasional upspringing of a startled bird or the frightened +crashing flight of some timorous beast surprised by their swift and +noiseless approach. Arriving near the hollow under the ledge, they +sank flat and wormed their way forward like weasels till they had +gained the post of observation behind the vine-clad rock. + +But the strangers had vanished. An examination of their footprints +showed that they had fled in haste; and to Grom's chagrin it looked as +if he had himself given them the alarm. The problem was solved in a +few minutes by the discovery that Mawg--easily detected by his finer +footprints--had scaled the ledge and come upon the place where Grom +had lain hidden to watch them. Seeing that they were discovered, and +that their discoverer had evidently gone to arouse the tribe, they had +realized that, the Bow-legs being slow runners, their only hope lay in +instant flight. From the direction which they had taken it was evident +that they were fleeing back to their own country. + +The Chief ordered instant pursuit. To this Grom demurred, not only +because the fugitives had obtained such a start--as was shown by the +state of the trail--but because he dreaded to leave the Caves so long +unguarded. He foresaw the possibility of another band of invaders +surprising the Caves during the absence of this most efficient +fighting force. But the Chief overruled him. + +For several hours was the pursuit kept up; and from the trail it +appeared, not only that Mawg was leading his followers cleverly, but +also that the Bow-legs were making no mean speed. The pursuers were +come by now to near the head of the valley, a region with which they +were little familiar. It was a broken country and well fitted for +ambuscade, where a lesser force, well posted and driven to bay, might +well secure a deadly advantage. The tribe was too weak to risk its few +fighting men in any uncertain contest; and the Chief, yielding slowly +to Grom's arguments, was on the point of giving the order to turn +back, when a harsh scream of terror from just ahead, beyond a shoulder +of rock, brought the line to a halt. + +Waving their followers into concealment on either side of the trail, +the Chief and Grom stole forward and peered cautiously around the +turn. + +Straight before them fell away a steep and rugged slope. Midway of the +descent, with his back to a rock, crouched one of the Bow-legs, +battling frantically with his club to keep off the attack of a pair of +leopards. The man was kneeling upon one knee, with the other leg +trailed awkwardly behind him. It seemed an altogether difficult and +disadvantageous position in which to do battle. + +"The fool!" said Bawr. "He doesn't know how to fight a leopard." + +"He's hurt. His leg is broken!" said Grom. And straightway, a novel +purpose flashing into his far-seeing brain, he ran leaping down the +slope to the rescue, waving his fire-stick to a blaze as he went. + +The Chief looked puzzled for a moment, wondering why the deliberate +Grom should trouble to do what it was plain the leopards would do for +him most effectually. But he dreaded the chance of an ambuscade. +Shouting to the men behind to come on, he waved his own fire-stick to +a blaze, and followed Grom. + +One of the leopards had already succeeded in closing in upon the +wounded Bow-leg; but at the sight of Grom and the Chief leaping down +upon them they sprang back snarling and scurried off among the +thickets like frightened cats. The Bow-leg lifted wild eyes to learn +the meaning of his deliverance. But when he saw those two tall forms +rushing at him with flame and smoke circling about their heads, he +gave a groan and fell forward upon his face. + +Grom stood over him, staring down upon the misshapen and bleeding form +with thoughtful eyes; while the Chief looked on, striving to fathom +his purpose. The warriors came up, shouting savage delight at having +at last got one of their dreaded enemies into their hands alive. They +would have fallen upon him at once and torn him to pieces. But Grom +waved them back sternly. They growled with indignation, and one, +sufficiently prominent in the tribal counsels to dare Grom's +displeasure, protested hotly against this favor to so venomous a foe. + +"I demand this fellow, Bawr, as my captive!" said Grom. + +"It was you who took him," answered the Chief. "He is yours." He was +about to add, "though I can't see what you want of him"; but it was a +part of his policy never to seem in doubt or ignorance about anything +that another might perhaps know. So, instead, he sternly told his +followers to obey the law of the tribe and respect Grom's capture. +Then Grom stepped close beside him and said at his ear: "Many things +which we need to know will Bawr learn from this fellow presently, as +to the dangers which are like to come upon us." + +At this the Chief, being ready of wit, comprehended Grom's purpose; +and, to the amazement of his followers, he looked down upon the +hideous prisoner with a smile of satisfaction. + +"Well have I called you the Chief's Right Hand," he answered. "I shall +also have to call you the Chief's Wisdom, for in saving this fellow's +life you have shown more forethought than I." + +The captive's wounds having been dressed with astringent herbs, and +his broken leg put into splints in accordance with the rude but not +ineffective surgery of the time, he was placed on a rough litter of +interlaced branches and carried back by the reluctant warriors to the +Caves. + +None of the warriors were advanced enough to have understood the +policy of their leaders, so no effort was made by either the Chief or +Grom to explain it. The Chief, doubly secure in his dominance by +reason of Grom's loyal support, cared little whether his followers +were content or not, and he took no heed of their ill-humor so long as +they did not allow it to become articulate. + +But when, after an hour's sullen tramping, they suddenly grew merry at +their task, and fell to marching with a child-like cheer under their +repulsive and groaning burden, he was surprised, and made inquiry as +to the reason for this sudden complaisance. It turned out that one of +the warriors, accounted more discerning than his fellows, had +suggested that the captive was to be nursed back to health in order +that he might be made an acceptable sacrifice to the Shining One. As +this notion seemed to meet with such hearty approval, the wise Chief +did not think it worth while to cast any doubt upon it. In fact, as he +thought, such a solution might very well arrive, in the end, in case +Grom's design should fail to come up to his expectations. + +To the presence of the hideous and repulsive stranger in her dwelling, +A-ya, as was natural, raised warm objection. But when Grom had +explained his purpose to her, and the imminence of the peril that +threatened, she yielded readily enough, the dread of Mawg being yet +vivid in her imagination. She lent herself cheerfully to the duty of +caring for the captive's wounds and of helping Grom to teach him the +simple speech of the tribe. + +As for the captive, for some days he was possessed by a morose +anticipation of being brained at any moment--an anticipation, however, +which did not seem to interfere with his appetite. He would clutch +eagerly all the food offered him, and crouch, huddled over it, with +his face to the rock-wall, while he devoured it with frantic haste and +bestial noises. But as he found himself treated with invariable +kindness, he began to develop an anxious gratitude and docility. On +A-ya's tall form his little round eyes, shy and fierce at the same +time, came to rest with an adoring awe. The smell of him being +extremely offensive to all this cleanly tribe, and especially to A-ya +and Grom, who were more fastidious than their fellows, A-ya had taken +advantage of her office as priestess of the Shining One to establish a +little fire within the precincts of her own dwelling, and by the +judicious use of aromatic barks upon the blaze she was able to scent +the place to her taste. And the Bow-leg, seeing her mastery of the +mysterious and dreadful scarlet tongues which licked upwards from the +hollow on their rocky pedestal, regarded her less as a woman than as a +goddess--a being who, for her own unknown reasons, chose to be +beneficent toward him, but who plainly could become destructive if he +should in any way transgress. Toward Grom--who regarded him altogether +impersonally as a means to an end, a pawn to be played prudently in a +game of vast import--his attitude was that of the submitted slave, his +fate lying in the hollow of his master's hand. Toward the rest of the +tribe--who, till their curiosity was sated, kept crowding in to stare +and jeer and curse--he displayed the savage fear and hate of a lynx at +bay. + +But the babe on A-ya's arm seemed to him something peculiarly +precious. It was not only the son of Grom, his grave and distant +master, but also of that wonderful, beautiful, enigmatic deity, his +mistress, the fashioner and controller of the flames. The adoration +which soon grew up in his heart for A-ya's beauty, but which his awe +of her did not suffer him even to realize to himself, was turned upon +the babe, and speedily took the form of a passionate and dog-like +devotion. A-ya, with her mother instinct, was quick to understand +this, and also to realize the possible value to her child of such a +devotion, in some future emergency. Moreover, it softened her heart +toward the hideous captive, so that she busied herself not only to +help Grom teach him their language, but also to reform his manners and +make him somewhat less unpleasant an associate. His wounds soon +healed, thanks to the vitality of his youthful stock; and the bones of +the broken leg soon knit themselves securely. But Grom's surgery +having been hasty and something less than exact, the leg remained so +crooked that its owner could do no more than hobble about with a +laborious, dragging gait. It being obvious that he could not run away, +there was no guard set upon him. + +But it soon became equally obvious that nothing would induce him to +remove himself from the neighborhood of A-ya's baby. He was like a +gigantic watchdog squatting at Grom's doorway, chained to it by links +stronger than any that hands could fashion. And those of the tribe who +had been hoping to do honor to the Shining One, as well as to the +spirits of their slain kinsmen back in the barrow on the windy hills, +by a great and bloody sacrifice, began to realize with discontent that +their hopes were like enough to be disappointed. + + +II + +The captive said his name was Ook-ootsk--a clicking guttural which +none but A-ya was able to master. When he had learned to make himself +understood, he proved eager to repay Grom's protection by giving all +the information that he possessed. Simple-minded, but with much of a +child's shrewdness, he quickly came to regard himself as of some +importance when both the Chief and Grom would spend hours in +interrogating him. His own people he repudiated with bitterness, +because, when he had fallen among the rocks and shattered his leg, his +party had refused to burden their flight by helping him. It became his +pride to identify himself with the interests of his master, and to +call himself the slave of his master's baby. + +The information which he was able to give was such as to cause the +Chief and Grom the most profound disquietude. It appeared that the +Bow-legs, having gradually recovered from the panic of their appalling +defeat in the Pass of the Little Hills, had made up their minds that +the disaster must be avenged. But no longer did they hold their +opponents cheap on account of their scanty numbers. They realized that +if they would hope to succeed in their next attack they must organize, +and prepare themselves by learning how to employ their forces better. +To this end, therefore, when Mawg and his fellow-renegades fell into +their hands, instead of tearing them to pieces in bestial sport, they +had spared them, and made much of them, and set themselves diligently +to learn all that the strangers could teach. And Mawg, seeing here his +opportunity both for vengeance on Grom and for the gratification of +that mad passion for A-ya which had so long obsessed him, had gone +about the business with shrewd foresight and a convincing zeal. + +It was apparent from the accounts which Ook-ootsk was able to give +that the invasion would take place as soon as possible after their +hordes were adequately armed with the new weapons. This, said +Ook-ootsk, would be soon after the dry season had set in. In any case, +he said, the hordes were bound to wait for the dry season, because the +way from their country to the Valley of Fire lay through a region of +swamps which became impassable for any large body of migrants during +the month of rains. + +As the dry season was already close upon them, Bawr and Grom now set +themselves feverishly to the arrangement of their defenses. Counting +the older boys who had grown into sizable youths since the last great +battle and all the able-bodied women and girls, they could muster no +more than about six score of actual combatants. They knew that defeat +would mean nothing less than instant annihilation for the tribe, and +for the women a foul captivity and a loathsome mating. But they knew +also that a mere successful defense would avail them only for the +moment. Unless they could inflict upon the invaders such a defeat as +would amount to a paralyzing catastrophe, they would soon be worn down +by mere force of numbers, or starved to death in their caves. It was +not only for defense, therefore, but for wholesale attack--the attack +of six score upon as many thousand--that Bawr planned his strategy and +Grom wove unheard-of devices. + +Of the two great caves occupied by the tribe one was now abandoned, as +not lending itself easily to defense. To Bawr's battle-trained eyes it +revealed itself as rather a trap than a refuge, because from the +heights behind it an enemy could roll down rocks enough to effectively +block its mouth. But the cliff in which the other cave was hollowed +was practically inaccessible, and hung beetling far over the +entrance. + +Into this natural fortress the tribe--with an infinite deal of +grumbling--was removed. Store of roots and dried flesh was gathered +within; and every one was set to the collection of dry and half-dry fuel. +The light stuff, with an immense number of short, highly-inflammable +faggots, was piled inside the doorway where no rain could reach it. And +the heavy wood was stacked outside, to right and left, in such a fashion +as to form practical ramparts for the innermost line of defense. + +Directly in front of the cave spread a small fan-shaped plateau +several hundred square yards in area. On the right a narrow path, wide +enough for but one wayfarer at a time, descended between perpendicular +boulders to the second cave. On the left the plateau was bordered by +broken ground, a jumble of serrated rocks, to be traversed only with +difficulty. In front there was a steep but shallow dip, from which the +land sloped gently up the valley, clothed with high bush and deep +thickets intersected with innumerable narrow trails. + +Directly in front of the cave, and about the center of the plateau, +burned always, night and day, the sacred fire, tended in turn by the +members of the little band appointed to this distinguished service by +the Chief. Under the Chief's direction the whole of the plateau was +now cleared of underbrush and grass, and then along its brink was laid +a chain of small fires, some ten or twelve feet apart, and all ready +for lighting. + +Meanwhile, Grom was busy preparing the device on which, according to +his plan of campaign, the ultimate issue was to hang. For days the +tribe was kept on the stretch collecting dry and leafy brushwood from +the other side of the valley, and bundles of dead grass from the rich +savannahs beyond the valley-mouth, on the other side of the dancing +flames. All this inflammable stuff Grom distributed lavishly through +the thickets before the plateau, to a distance of nearly a mile up the +slope, till the whole space was in reality one vast bonfire laid ready +for the torch. + +While these preparations were being rushed--somewhat to the perplexity +of the tribe, who could not fathom the tactics of stuffing the +landscape with rubbish--Bawr was keeping a little band of scouts on +guard at the far-off head of the valley. They were chosen from the +swift runners of the tribe; and Bawr, who was a far-seeing general, +had them relieved twice in twenty-four hours, that they might not grow +weary and fail in vigilance. + +When all was ready came a time of trying suspense. As day after day +rolled by without event, cloudless and hot, the country became as dry +as tinder; and the tribe, seeing that nothing unusual happened, began +to doubt or to forget the danger that hung over them. There were +murmurs over the strain of ceaseless watching, murmurs which Bawr +suppressed with small ceremony. But the lame Ook-ootsk, squatting +misshapen in Grom's doorway with A-ya's baby in his ape-like arms grew +more and more anxious. As he conveyed to Grom, the longer the delay +the greater the force which was being gathered for the assault. + +Having no inkling of Grom's larger designs, he looked with distrust on +the little heaps of wood that were to be fires along the edge of the +plateau, and wished them to be piled much bigger, intimating that his +people, though they would be terribly afraid of the Shining One, would +be forced on from behind by sheer numbers and would trample the small +fires out. The confidence of the Chief and Grom, and of A-ya as well, +in the face of the awful peril which hung over them, filled him with +amazement. + +Then, at last, one evening just in the dying flush of the sunset, came +the scouts, running breathlessly, and one with a ragged spear-wound in +his shoulder. Their eyes were wide as they told of the countless +myriads of the Bow-legs who were pouring into the head of the valley, +led by Mawg and a gigantic black-faced chief as tall as Bawr himself. + +"Are they as many," asked Grom, "as they who came against us in the +Little Hills?" + +But the panting men threw up their hands. + +"As a swarm of locusts to a flock of starlings," they replied. + +To their astonishment the Chief smiled with grim satisfaction at this +appalling news. + +"It is well," said he. Mounting a rock by the cave-door, he gazed up +the valley, striving to make out the vanguard of the approaching +hordes; while Grom, marshalling the servitors of the fire, stationed +them by the range of piles, ready to set light to them on the given +word. + +It was nearly an hour--so swift had been the terror of the scouts--before +a low, terrible sound of crashings and mutterings announced that the hordes +were drawing near. It was now twilight, with the first stars appearing in +a pallid violet sky; and up the valley could be discerned an obscurely +rolling confusion among the thickets. Bawr gave orders, rapid and concise; +and the combatants lined out in a double rank along the front of the +plateau some three or four paces behind the piles of wood. + +They were armed with stone-headed clubs, large or small, according to +personal taste, and each carried at least three flint-tipped spears. +At the head of the narrow path leading up from the lower cave were +stationed half a dozen women, similarly armed. Bawr had chosen these +women because each of them had one or more young children in the cave +behind her; and he knew that no adventurous foe would get up that path +alive. But A-ya was not among these six wild mothers, for her place +was at the service of the fires. + +The ominous roar and that obscure confusion rolled swiftly nearer, and +Bawr, with a swing of his huge club, sprang down from his post of +observation and strode to the front. Grom shouted an order, and light +was set to all the crescent of fires. They flared up briskly; and at +the same time the big central fire, which had been allowed to sink to +a heap of glowing coals, was heaped with dry stuff which sent up an +instant column of flame. The sudden wide illumination, shed some +hundreds of yards up the valley, revealed the front ranks of the +Bow-legs swarming in the brush, their hideous yellow faces, gaping +nostrils and pig-like eyes all turned up in awe towards the glare. + +The advance of the front ranks came to an instant halt, and the low +muttering rose to a chorus of harsh cries. Then the tall figure of +Mawg sprang to the front, followed, after a moment of wondering +hesitation, by that of the head chief of the hordes, a massive +creature of the true Bow-leg type, but as tall as Bawr himself, and in +color almost black. This giant and Mawg, refusing to be awed by the +tremendous phenomenon of the fire, went leaping along the lines of +their followers, urging them forward, and pointing out that their +enemies stood close beside the flames and took no hurt. + +On the front ranks themselves this reasoning seemed, at first, to +produce little effect. But to those just behind it appeared more +cogent, seconded as it was by a consuming curiosity. Moreover, the +masses in the rear were rolling down, and their pressure presently +became irresistible. All at once the front ranks realized that they +had no choice in the matter. They sagged forward, surged obstinately +back again, then gave like a bursting dam and poured, yelling and +leaping, straight onward toward the crescent of fires. + +As soon as the rush was fairly begun, both Mawg and the Black Chief +cleverly extricated themselves from it, running aside to the higher, +broken ground at the left of the plateau whence they could see and +direct the attack. It was plain enough that they accounted the front +ranks doomed, and were depending on sheer weight of numbers for the +inevitable victory. + +Standing grim, silent, immovable between their fires, the Chief and +Grom awaited the dreadful onset. In all the tribe not a voice was +raised, not a fighter, man or woman, quailed. But many hearts stood +still, for it looked as if that living flood could never be stayed. +Presently from all along its front came a cloud of spears. But they +fell short, not more than half a dozen reaching the edge of the +plateau. In instant response came a deep-chested shout from Bawr, +followed by a discharge of spears from behind the line of fire. + +These spears, driven with free arm and practised skill, went clean +home in the packed ranks of the foe, but they caused no more than a +second's wavering, as the dead went down and their fellows crowded on +straight over them. A second volley from the grimly silent fighters on +the plateau had somewhat more effect. Driven low, and at shorter +range, every jagged flint-point found its mark, and the screaming +victims hampered those behind. But after a moment the mad flood came +on again, till it was within some thirty paces of the edge of the +plateau. + +Then came a long shout from Grom, a signal which had been anxiously +awaited by the front line of his fighters. Each fire had been laid, on +the inner side, with dry faggots of a resinous wood which not only +blazed freely but held the flame tenaciously. These faggots had been +placed with only their tips in the fire. Seizing them by their +unlighted ends, the warriors hurled them, blazing, full into the +gaping faces before them. + +The brutal, gaping faces screeched with pain and terror, and the whole +front rank, beating frantically at the strange missiles, wheeled about +and clawed at the rank behind, battling to force its way through. But +the rolling masses were not to be denied. After a brief, terrible +struggle, the would-be fugitives were borne down and trodden +underfoot. The new-comers were greeted with a second discharge of the +blazing brands, and the dreadful scene repeated itself. But now there +was a difference. For many of the assailants, realizing that there was +no chance of retreat, came straight on, heedless of brand or spear, +with the deadly, uncalculating fury of a beast at bay. + +For some seconds, under the specific directions of the Chief on the +right center and of Grom far to the left, many of the blazing brands +had been thrown, not into the faces of the front rank, but far over +their heads, to fall among the tinder-dry brushwood. Long tongues of +flame leaped up at once, here, there, everywhere, curling and licking +savagely. Screeches of horror arose, which brought all the hordes to a +halt as far back as they could be heard. A light wind was blowing up +the valley, and almost at once the scattered flames, gathering volume, +came together with a roar. The hordes, smitten with the blindest +madness of panic, turned to flee, springing upon and tearing at each +other in the desperate struggle to escape. + +Shouting triumph and derision, the defenders bounded forward, down +over the edge of the plateau, and fell upon the huddled ranks before +them. But these, with all escape cut off, and far outnumbering their +exultant adversaries, now fought like rats in a pit. And the men of +the caves found themselves locked in a struggle to the death just when +they had thought the fight was done. + +A-ya, no longer needed at the fires, was just about to follow Grom +down into the thick of the reeking battle, when a scream from the +cave-mouth made her whip round. She was just in time to see Ook-ootsk +hurl his spear at the tall figure of Mawg, leaping down upon him from +the broken slope on the left. A half score of the Bow-legs were +following hard upon Mawg's heels. With a scream of warning to Grom she +rushed back to the cave. But Grom did not hear her. He had been pulled +down, struck senseless and buried under a writhing heap of foes. + +Her long hair streaming behind her, her eyes like those of a tigress +protecting her cubs, A-ya darted to the cave-door. But she did not +reach it. Just outside the threshold a club descended upon her head, +and she dropped. Instantly she was pounced upon, and bound. A moment +later three Bow-legs, followed by Mawg, streaming with blood, came +running out of the cave. Mawg swung the limp form across his shoulder +with a grin of satisfaction, and the party beat a hurried retreat up +the slopes. + +In a few minutes that last death-grapple along the front of the +plateau came to an end, and Bawr, leaving nearly a third of his +followers slain with the slain Bow-legs, led the exultant survivors +back to the cave. It had been a costly victory for the Children of +the Shining One; but for the invaders it was little less than +annihilation. The flames were raging for a mile up the valley, +wherever they were not choked by the piles and windrows of the dead +or dying Bow-legs. The lurid night was shaken with the incessant +rising and falling chorus of shrieks, and far off under the glare +rolled that awful receding wave of fugitives, with the flames +leaping upon them and slaying them as they fled. Leaning upon his +club and gazing thoughtfully across the scene of incredible +destruction, Bawr told himself that never again, so long as the +memory of this night survived, would the Bow-legs dare to come +against his people. + +Then wild lamentation from the women drew the Chief into the cave. +Here he found that half the little ones had been killed in that swift +incursion of Mawg, and that nearly all the old men and women had been +slaughtered in defending their charges. Across Grom's doorway, +crouching on his face and with his great teeth buried in the throat of +a dead Bow-leg, lay the lame captive, Ook-ootsk. Seeing that he still +breathed, and marking the fury with which he had fought in defense of +their little ones, the warriors lifted him aside gently. Beneath him, +and safely guarded in the crook of his shaggy arm, they found Grom's +baby, without a hurt. The women defending the head of the path on the +right having seen the rape of A-ya, Bawr handed the babe to one of his +own wives to cherish. + +Then search was made for Grom. At first the Chief imagined that he had +followed the captors of A-ya, in a desperate hope of effecting her +rescue alone. But they found him under a heap of dead, so nearly dead +himself that they despaired of him. Realizing that it was he who had +saved the tribe, they began over him that great keening lamentation +hitherto reserved strictly for the funeral of the supreme Chief +himself. But Bawr, his massive features furrowed with solicitude, +stopped them, vowing that Grom should not die. And lifting the hero in +his arms he bore him into the cave. + +Grom's wounds proved to be deep, but not fatal to one of these +clean-blooded sons of the open and the wind. It was some days before +it was clearly borne in upon him that A-ya had been carried off alive +by the Bow-legs. Then, with a great cry, he sprang to his feet. The +blood spouted afresh from his wounds, and he fell back in a swoon. +When he came to himself again, for days he would speak to no one, and +it looked as if he would die, not of his wounds so much as of the +insufficient will to live. But a chance word of the captive Ook-ootsk, +who was being nursed back to life beside him, reminded him that there +was vengeance to be lived for, and he roused himself a little. Then +Bawr, ever subtle in the reading of his people's hearts, suggested to +him that even such a feat as the rescue of the girl A-ya might not be +impossible to the subjugator of the fire and the slayer of a whole +people. + +And from that moment Grom began climbing steadily back to life. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE RESCUE OF A-YA + + +The clay-colored, ape-like, bow-legged men squatted in council. + +It was not long, as time went in the long, slow morning of the +world--perhaps a half-score thousand years or so--since their +ancestors, in the pride of their dawning intelligence, had swung down +from their tree-tops, to walk upright on the solid earth and challenge +the supremacy of the hunting beasts. Their arms were still of an +unhuman and ungainly length, their short powerful legs were still so +heavily bowed that they had no great speed in running; and they still +had their homes high among the branches, where they could sleep secure +from surprise. They were still tree dwellers; but they were men, +intent upon asserting their lordship over all the other dwellers upon +earth's surface. + +They were not beautiful to look upon. Their squat, powerful forms, +varying in color from a dingy yellow-brown to blackish mud-color, were +covered unevenly with a thin growth of dark hairs. On thigh and +shoulder, down the backbone, and on the outer side of the long +forearm, this growth was heavier and longer, forming a sort of +irregular thatch; while the hair of their heads was jet black, and +matted into a filthy tangle with grease and clay. Their faces were +broad and flat, with powerful protruding jaws, low and very receding +foreheads, and wide noses which seemed to have been punched in at the +bridge so that the flaring red nostrils turned upwards hideously. + +It was but a battered and crestfallen remnant of the tribe which now +took counsel over their diminished fortunes. In an irregular +half-circle they squatted, pawing gingerly at their wounds or +scratching themselves uncouthly, while their apish women loitered in +chattering groups outside the circle, or crouched in the branches of +the neighboring trees. Those who were perched in the trees mostly held +babies at their breasts, and were therefore instinctively distrustful +of the dangerous ground-levels. Here and there on the outskirts of the +crowd, either squatting on hillocks or clinging in a tree-top, +wary-eyed old women kept watch against surprise; though there were few +among either beasts or men who would be likely to venture an attack +upon the ferocious tribe of the Bow-legs. + +On a low, flat-topped bowlder, which served the purpose of a throne, +sat the Chief of the Bow-legs, playing with his unwieldy club (which +was merely the root end of a sapling hacked into shape with sharp +stones), as if it had been a bulrush. In height and bulk he was far +above his fellows, though similar to them in general type except for +the matter of color, which was dark almost to blackness. His jaws were +those of a beast, and his whole appearance was bestial beyond that of +any other in the whole hideous throng--except for his eyes. These, +though small and deep-set, blazed with fierce intelligence, and swept +his audience with an air of assured mastery which made plain why he +was chief. He was talking rapidly, with broad gestures, and in a +barking, clicking speech which sounded little more than half +articulate. He was working himself up into a rage; and the squatting +listeners wriggled apprehensively, while they applauded from time to +time with grunts and growls. + +Near the end of the foremost rank of the semi-circle, very close to +the haranguing Chief, sat one who was plainly of superior race to his +companions. Something in the harangue seemed to concern him +particularly, for he sprang to his feet and stood leaning on his +club--which was longer and more symmetrically fashioned than that of +the chief. In color he was manifestly white, for all that dirt and +the weather could do to disguise it. He was taller even than the great +Black Chief himself--but shorter in the body, and achieving his +height through length and straightness of leg. He had chest and +shoulders of enormous power; but, unlike the barrel-shaped Bow-legs +he was comparatively slim of waist and hips. He had less hair on +the body--except on the chest and forearm--than his companions; +but far more on the head, where it stood out all around like an +immense black-tawny mane. His face, though heavy and lowering, _was_ +a face--with square, resolute jaws, a modelled mouth, a big, +fully-bridged nose, and a spacious forehead. His eyes were blue, and +now, deep under their shaggy brows, glared upon the Chief with +desperate defiance. Close behind his heels crouched a girl, +obviously of his own race--a tall, strong, shapely figure of a +woman, as could well be seen, though her attitude was one of utter +dejection, her face sunk upon her knees, and half her body hidden +in the tangled torrent of her dull chestnut hair. + +The tall alien, so dauntlessly eyeing the Chief, was Mawg the +renegade. Arrogant in his folly, he had not realized that the Tree Men +would hold him to account for the calamity which he had brought upon +them. He had not realized that the girl A-ya, with her straight limbs +and her strong comeliness, might stir the craving of others besides +himself. Now, as he listened to the fierce harangue of the Chief, as +his alert ears caught the mutterings behind and about him, he saw the +pit yawn suddenly at his feet. But though a brute and a traitor, he +was no coward. His veins began to run hot, his sinews to stretch for +the death struggle which would presently be upon him. + +As for the girl, unseeing, unhearing, her head bowed between her naked +knees, she cared nothing. She loathed life, and all about her, +equally. Her baby and her lord, if they yet lived, were far away +beyond the mountains and the swamps, in the caverned hillside behind +the smoke of the fires. Her captor, Mawg, she loathed above all; but +she was here behind him because he held her always within reach lest +the filthy women of the Bow-legs should tear her to pieces. + +Suddenly, without looking around, Mawg spoke to her, in their own +tongue, which the Bow-legs could not understand. "Be ready, girl. They +are going to kill me now. The Black Chief wants you. But I kill him +and we run. They are all dirt. _Come!_" + +On the word, he sprang straight at the great Black Chief, where he +towered upon his rock. But the girl, though she heard every syllable, +never stirred. + +The spring of Mawg was like a leopard's; but the Black Chief, though +slow of foot, was not slow of hand or wits. Though taken by surprise, +he swung up his club in time to partly parry Mawg's lightning stroke, +which would otherwise have broken his bull neck. As it was, the club +was almost beaten from his grasp. He dropped it with a snarl and +leaped at his assailant's throat with clutching hands. + +Had it been possible to fight it out man to man, Mawg would have liked +nothing better, though the issue would have been a doubtful one. But +he had no mind to face the whole tribe, which was now surging forward +like a pack of wolves. He had no time to repeat his blow fairly; but +as he eluded the gigantic, clutching fingers he got in a light +glancing stroke with the butt which laid open his adversary's cheek +and closed one furious little eye. At the same instant he whirled away +lithely, sprang from the rock on the further side, and ran off like a +deer through the trees, cursing the girl because she had not followed +him. About half the tribe went trailing after him, yelling hoarsely, +while the rest drew back and waited uneasily to see what their Chief +would do. + +The Chief, clapping one hairy hand over his wounded eye, glared after +the fugitive with the other. But he knew the folly of trying to catch +his fleet-footed adversary, and after a moment he dismissed him from +his mind. With a grunt he stepped down from his rock, and heedless of +his wound, strode over to the girl. Through all the tumult she had +never lifted her head from between her knees, or shown the least sign +of concern. The Chief seized her by the shoulder and shook her +roughly, ordering her to come with him. She did not understand his +language, but his meaning was obvious. She looked up and stared +straight into his one open eye. In her own eyes shifted the dangerous, +lambent flame of a beast at bay, and for a moment she was on the point +of darting at his throat. + +But not without reason was the Black Chief dictator of the Bow-legs. +Brutal and filthy though he was, and hideous beyond description, and +horrible with his gashed face and the blood pouring down over his huge +and shaggy chest, he was all a man, and the mastery in him checked +her. She felt the hopelessness of fighting her fate. The flame +flickered out, leaving her eyes dull and leaden. She rose listlessly, +and followed her new lord to the tree in which he had his dwelling of +woven branches. + +At the foot of the tree the Black Chief stopped, stood back, and +signed the girl to ascend. A climber as expert as himself, she +clutched the rough trunk with accustomed hands. Then she hesitated, +and shut her eyes. Should she obey, yielding to her fate? Mawg, her +late captor, she had hated with a murderous hate; yet she had +submitted to him, in a dim way biding her time for vengeance. He was +of her own race; and it was in her mind, her spirit--though she +herself could not so analyze the emotion--that she hated him. But this +new master was an alien, and of a lower, beastlier type. Toward him +she felt a sick bodily repulsion. Behind her tight-shut lids the dark +went red. She stood rigid and quivering, stormed through by a raging +impulse to tear out either his throat or her own. She was herself a +more advanced product of her own advanced race, and urged by impulses +still new and imperfectly applied to life. But the countless centuries +of submission were in her blood also; and they whispered to her +insidiously that she was lawful prey. A huge hand fell significantly +upon the back of her neck. She jumped, gave a sobbing cry, and sprang +up into the tree. Who was she to challenge doom for an idea, a hundred +thousand years before her time. + + * * * * * + +Some days' journey to the westward of the swampy refuge of the +Bow-legs, a tall hunter was making his way warily through the forest. +His color, his build, and his swift grace of movement proclaimed him +of the same race as Mawg and the girl A-ya, acquitting him easily of +any kinship with the People of the Trees. In height and weight he was +much like Mawg, but lighter in complexion, somewhat less hairy, and of +a frank, sagacious countenance. His eyes were of a blue-gray, calm and +piercing, yet with a look in them as of one who broods on mysteries. +He was obviously much older than Mawg, his long, thick hair and short, +close-curling beard being liberally touched with gray. He carried in +one hand a peculiar long-handled club, which he had fashioned by +lashing, with strips of green hide, a split and jagged flint-stone +into the cleft head of a stick. In the other hand he bore two long, +slender spears, their tips hardened and pointed in fire. + +On the day, now many weeks back, when Grom set out from the Caves +behind the Fire to seek for A-ya in the far-off country of the +Bow-legs, he had carried also two hollow tubes of green bark, with the +seeds of fire, kept smouldering in a bed of punk, hidden in the hearts +of them. But the need of stopping frequently to build a fire and renew +the vitality of the secret spark had soon exasperated his impatient +spirit. Intolerant of the hindrance, and confident in his own strength +and craft, he had thrown the fire-tubes away and fallen back upon the +weapons which had sufficed him before his discovery and conquest of +the Shining One. + +Engrossed in his purpose, thinking only of regaining possession of the +girl, the mother of his man-child, he shunned all contest with the +great beasts which crossed his path, and fled without shame from those +which undertook to hunt him. + +He would risk no doubtful battle. He satisfied his hunger on wild +honey, and the ripe fruits and tubers with which the forest abounded +at this season. At night he made his nest, of hurriedly woven +branches, in the highest swaying of the tree-tops, where not even the +leopard, cunning climber though she was, could come at him without +giving timely warning. And so, doggedly and swiftly making his way due +east, he came at length to the fringes of that vast region of swampy +meres and fruitful, rankly wooded islets which was occupied by the +Bow-legs. + +Here he had need of all that wood-craft which had so often enabled him +to stalk even the wary antelope. The light color of his skin being a +betrayal, he rubbed himself with clayey ooze till he was of the same +hue as the Bow-legs. Crawling through the undergrowth at dusk as +soundlessly as a snake, or swinging along smoothly through the +branches like a gray ape in the first confusing glimmer of the dawn, +he made short incursions among the outlying colonies, but could find +no sign of the girl, or Mawg, in whose hands he imagined her still to +be. But working warily around the outskirts of the tribe, to +northward, he came at last upon the stale but unmistakable trail of a +flight and a pursuit. This he followed up till the pursuit came +stragglingly to an end, and the trail of the fugitive stood out alone +and distinct. One clear footprint in the wet earth revealed itself +clearly as Mawg's--for there was no such thing as confounding that +arched and moulded imprint with those left by the apish men. +Feverishly the hunter cast about for another trail, smaller and +slimmer. Forward he searched for it, and then back among the trampings +of the pursuers. But in vain. Clearly Mawg had been the sole +fugitive. + +Grom sat down in sudden despair. If Mawg, who at least was no coward, +had fled alone, then surely the girl was dead. Grom's club and his +spears dropped from his nerveless hands. His interest in life sank +into a sick indifference, a dull anguish which he did not even try to +understand. It was well for him that no prowling beast came by in that +moment of his unseeing weakness. Then a new thought came to him, and +his despair flamed into rage. He leapt to his feet, clutching at his +shaggy beard. The girl had been seized, without doubt, by the great +Black Chief. The thought of this defilement to his woman, the mother +of his man-child, drove him quite mad for the moment. Snatching up his +weapons, he roared with anguish, and ran blindly forward along the +trampled trail, ready to hurl himself upon the whole loathsome tribe. +A gigantic leopard, crouching in a thicket of scarlet poinsettia +beside the trail, made as if to pounce upon him as he went by--but +shrank back, instead, with flattened ears, daunted by his fury. + +But presently the madness burned itself out. As sanity returned he +checked his rush, glanced once more watchfully about him, and at +length stepped furtively into the thick of the jungle. Now more than +ever was his coolest craft demanded, that A-ya might be plucked from +the monster's arms. + +Following up the plain clue of that tremendous pursuit, Grom worked +his way deep into the Bow-legs' country. With all his craft and his +lynx-like stealth, it was at times hair-raising work. Not only the +ground thickets, but the tree-tops as well, were swarming with his +keen-eyed foes. He had to worm his way between swamp-sodden roots, and +sometimes lie moveless as a stone for hours, enduring the stings of a +million insects. Sometimes, not daring to lift his head to look about +him, he had to trust to his ears and his hound-like sense of smell for +information as to what was going on. And sometimes it was only his +tireless immobility that saved him from the stroke of a startled adder +or a questioning and indignant crotalus. After long swaying, poised +for the death-stroke, the serpent would decide that the menacing thing +before it was not alive. It would slowly dissolve its tense coils, and +glide away; and Grom would resume his shadowy progress. + +Then, about sunrise (for the Bow-legs, like the birds, were early +risers) of the second day after the discovery of Mawg's footprints, +the patient hunter's eyes fell upon A-ya. He had crept in to within a +hundred yards or so of the Council Rock, which was surrounded by a +horde of the Bow-legs. Crouching low as he was, in a dense thicket, +Grom's view was limited; but he could see, over the heads of the +listening mob, the Black Chief seated on the rock, his ragged club in +his hand. He was haranguing his warriors in rapid clicks and +gutturals, which conveyed no meaning to Grom's ear. The harangue came +soon to an end. The Chief stood up. The bestial crowd parted--and +through the opening Grom saw A-ya, crouched, with her hair over her +knees, at the Chief's feet. Stepping down from the rock, the Chief +seized her by the wrist and dragged her upright. She took her place at +his heels, dejectedly, like a whipped dog. Grom, from within his +thicket, ground his teeth, and with difficulty held himself in leash. +Surrounded as A-ya was, at that moment, by the hordes of her captors, +any attempt at her rescue would have been hopeless folly. + +There was something going on among the bow-legged mob which Grom, from +his hiding-place could not at first make out. Then he saw that the +Chief was trying to instruct his powerful but clumsy followers in the +handling of the club and spear. Having been taught by the white +renegade, Mawg, the Chief used his massive club with skill, but he was +still clumsy and absurdly inaccurate in throwing the spear. After he +had split the face of one of his followers by a misdirected cast, he +gave up the spear-throwing, turned to the girl, and ordered her to +teach this art of her people. It was obvious that the mob had vast +confidence in her powers, as one of superior race, although a mere +woman, for they opened out at once on two sides to leave room for the +expected display. The heart of the watcher in the thicket began to +thump as he saw a way clearing itself between his hiding-place and the +wild-haired woman he loved. + +A-ya affected to misunderstand the Chief's orders. She took the spear, +but stood holding it in stupid dejection. The Chief threatened her +angrily, but she paid no attention. At this moment the whistling cry +of a plover sounded from the thicket. The girl straightened herself +and every muscle grew tense. The melancholy cry came again. It was a +strange place for a plover to lurk in, that rank thicket of jungle; +but the Bow-legs took no notice of the incongruity. Upon the girl, +however, the effect of the cry was magical. She gave no glance toward +the thicket, but suddenly, smilingly, she seemed to understand the +orders of the Chief. Poising the rude spear at the height of her +shoulder, she pointed to a huge, whitish fungus which grew upon a +tree-root some sixty or seventy feet away. With a flexing of her whole +lithe body--as Grom had taught her--she made her throw. The white +fungus was split in halves. + +With a hoarse clamor of admiration, the mob surged forward to examine +the fragments. Even the Chief, though disdaining to show the interest +of his followers, took a stride or two in the same direction. For a +second his back was turned. In that second, the girl fled, light and +swift as a deer, speeding toward the thicket whence the cry of the +plover had sounded. Her long bushy hair streamed out behind her as she +ran. + +With a bellow of wrath, the Black Chief, the whole mob at his heels, +came pounding after her. The next instant, out from the thicket leapt +Grom, a towering figure, and stood with spear uplifted. Like a lion at +bay, he glanced swiftly this way and that, balancing the chances of +battle and escape, while he menaced the foes immediately confronting +him. + +At this amazing apparition, the mob paused irresolute; but the Black +Chief came on like a mad buffalo. Grom hurled one of his two spears. +He hurled it with a loathing fury; but he was compelled to throw high, +to clear A-ya's head. The Chief saw it coming, and cunningly flung +himself forward on his face. The weapon hurtled on viciously, and +pierced the squat body of one of the waverers a dozen paces behind. At +his yell of agony the mob woke up, and came on again with guttural, +barking cries. But already Grom and the girl, side by side, were +fleeing down an open glade to the left, toward a breadth of still +water which they saw gleaming through the trunks. Grom knew that the +way behind him was swarming with the enemy. He had seen that there was +no chance of getting through the hordes in front and to the right. But +in this direction there were only a few knots of shaggy women, who +shrank in terror at his approach; and he gambled on the chance of the +bow-legged men having no great skill in the water. + +All the Folk of the Caves could swim like otters, and both Grom and +the girl were expert beyond their fellows. The water before them was +some three or four hundred yards in width. They did not know whether +it was a sluggish fenland river, or the arm of a lake; but, heedless +of the peril of crocodiles and water-snakes they plunged in, and with +long powerful side-strokes went surging across toward the opposite +shore. They had a clear start of thirty or forty yards, and their pace +in the water was tremendous. Some heavy splashes in the water behind +them showed how the clumsy missiles of their foes--ragged clubs and +fragments of broken branches--were falling short; and they looked back +derisively. + +The bow-legged, shaggy men with their wide, red, skyward nostrils were +ranged along the shore, and the Chief was fiercely urging them into +the water. They shrank back in horror at the prospect--which, indeed, +seemed little to the taste of the Chief himself. Presently he seized +the two nearest by their matted manes, and flung them headlong in. +With yells of terror they scrambled out again, and scurried off to the +rear like half-drowned hens. + +The Chief screeched an order. Straightway the mob divided. One part +went racing clumsily up the shore to the left, the other followed the +Chief along through the rank sedge-growth to the right--the Chief, by +reason of his superior stature and length of leg, rapidly opening up +his lead. + +"It's nothing but a pond," said Grom, in disgust, "and they're coming +round the shore to head us off." + +But the girl, her hair trailing darkly on the water behind her, only +laughed. She was free at last. And she was with her man. + +Suddenly Grom felt a sharp, stabbing pain in the calf of his leg. With +a cry, he looked back, expecting to see a water-snake gliding off. He +saw nothing. But in the next instant another stab came in the other +leg. Then A-ya screamed: "They're biting me all over." A dozen +stinging punctures distributed themselves all at once over Grom's +body. Then he understood that their assailants were not water-snakes. + +"Quick! To shore!" he ordered. Throwing all their strength into a +breath-sapping, over-hand roll, they shot forward, gained the weedy +shallows, and scrambled ashore. Their bodies were hung thickly with +gigantic leeches. + +Heedless of the wounds and the drench of blood, they tore off their +loathsome assailants. Then, after a few seconds' halt to regain breath +and decide on their direction, they started northwestward at a rapid, +swinging lope, through a region of open, grassy glades set with +thickets of giant fern and mimosa. + +They had run on at this free pace for a matter of half-an-hour or +more, and were beginning to flatter themselves that they had shaken +off their pursuers, when almost directly ahead of them, to the right, +appeared the Black Chief, lumbering down upon them. Nearly half-a-mile +behind, between the mimosa clumps, could be seen the mob of his +followers straggling up to his support. He yelled a furious challenge, +swung up his great club, and charged upon Grom. Waving A-ya behind +him, Grom strode forward, accepting the challenge. + +As man to man, the rivals looked not unfairly matched. The fair-skinned +Man of the Caves was the taller by half a head, but obviously the +lighter in weight by a full stone, if not more. His long, straight, +powerfully muscled legs had not the massive strength of his bow-legged +adversary's. He was even slim, by comparison, in hip and waist. But +in chest, arms and shoulders his development was finer. Physically, +it seemed a matter of the lion against the bear. + +To Grom there was one thing almost as vital, in that moment, as the +rescue of his woman. This was the slaking of his lust of hate against +the filthy beast-man who had held that woman captive. Fading ancestral +instincts flamed into new life within him. His impulse was to fling +down spear and club, to fall upon his rival with bare, throttling +hands and rending teeth. But his will, and his realization of all that +hung upon the outcome, held this madness in check. + +Silent and motionless, poised lightly and gathered as if for a spring, +Grom waited till his adversary was within some thirty paces of him. +Then, with deadly force and sure aim, he hurled his one remaining +spear. But he had not counted on the lightning accuracy, swifter than +thought itself, with which the men of the trees used their huge hands. +The Black Chief caught the spear-head within a few inches of his body. +With a roar of rage he snapped the tough shaft like a parsnip stalk, +and threw the pieces aside. Even as he did so, Grom, still voiceless +and noiseless, was upon him. + +Had the vicious swing of Grom's flint-headed club found its mark, the +battle would have been over. But the Black Chief, for all his bulk, +was quick as an eel. He bowed himself to the earth, so that the stroke +whistled idly over him, and in the next second he swung a vicious, +short blow upwards. It was well-aimed, at the small of Grom's back. +But the latter, feeling himself over-balanced by his own ineffective +violence, leapt far out of reach before turning to see what had +happened. The Chief recovered himself, and the two lashed out at each +other so exactly together that the great clubs met in mid-air. So +shattering was the force of the impact, so numbing the shock to the +hairy wrists behind it, that both weapons dropped to the ground. + +Neither antagonist dared stoop to snatch them up. For several seconds +they stood glaring at each other, their breath hissing through +clenched teeth, their knotted fingers opening and shutting. Then they +sprang at each other's throats--Grom in silence, the Black Chief +snarling hoarsely. Neither, however, gained the fatal grip at which he +aimed. They found themselves in a fair clinch, and stood swaying, +straining, sweating, and grunting, so equally matched in sheer +strength that to A-ya, standing breathless with suspense, the dreadful +seconds seemed to drag themselves out to hours. Then Grom, amazed to +find that in brute force he had met his match, feigned to give way. +Loosing the clutch of one arm, he dropped upon his knees. With a grunt +of triumph the Black Chief crashed down upon him, only to find himself +clutched by the legs and hurled clean over his wily adversary's head. +Before he could recover himself, Grom was upon him, pinning him to the +earth and reaching for his throat. In desperation he set his huge ape +teeth, with the grip of a bull-dog, deep into the muscular base of +Grom's neck, and began working his way in toward the artery. + +At this moment A-ya glanced about her. She saw two bodies of the +Bow-legs closing in upon them from either side--the nearest not much +more than a couple of hundred yards distant. Her lord had plainly +ordered her to stand aside from this combat, but this was no time for +obedience. She snatched up the sharpened fragment of the broken spear. +Gripping it with both hands she drove it with all her force into the +side of the Black Chief's throat, and left it there. With a hideous +cough his grip relaxed. His limbs straightened out stiffly, and he lay +quivering. + +Covered with blood, Grom sprang to his feet, and turned angrily upon +A-ya. "_I_ would have killed him," he said, coldly. + +"There was no time," answered the girl, and pointed to the advancing +hordes. + +Without a word Grom snatched up his club, wrenched the broken spear +from his dead rival's neck, thrust it into the girl's hands, and +darted for the narrowing space of open between the two converging +mobs. + +With their greatly superior speed it was obvious that the two +fugitives might reasonably expect to win through. They were surprised, +therefore, at the note of triumph in the furious cries of the +Bow-legs. A few hundred yards ahead the comparatively open country +came to an end, and its place was taken by a belt of splendid crimson +bloom, extending to right and left as far as the eye could see. It was +a jungle of shrubs some twenty feet high, with scanty, pale-green +leaves almost hidden by their exuberance of blossom. But jungle though +it was, Grom's sagacious eyes decided that it was by no means dense +enough to seriously hinder their flight. When they reached it, the +jabbering hordes were almost upon them. But, with mocking laughter, +they slipped through, and plunged in among the gray stems, beneath the +overshadowed rosy glow. Their pursuers yelled wildly--it seemed to +Grom a yell of exultation--but they halted abruptly at the edge of the +rosy barrier and made no attempt to follow. + +"They know they can't catch us," said Grom, slackening his pace. But +the girl, puzzled by this sudden stopping of the pursuit, felt uneasy +and made no reply. + +Loping onward at moderate pace through the enchanting pink light, +which filtered down about them through the massed bloom overhead, they +presently became conscious of an oppressive silence. The cries of +their pursuers having died away behind them, there was now nothing but +the soft thud of their own footfalls to relieve the anxious intentness +of their ears. Not a bird-note, not the flutter of a wing, not the hum +or the darting of a single insect, disturbed the strangely heavy air. +No snake or lizard or squeaking mouse scurried among the fallen +leaves. They wondered greatly at such stillness. Then they wondered at +the absence of small undergrowth, the lack of other shrubs and trees +such as were wont to grow together in the warm jungle. Nothing +anywhere about them but the endless gray stems and pallid slim leaves +of the oleander, with their rose-red roof of blossom. + +Presently they felt a lethargy creeping over their limbs, which began +to grow heavy; and a dull pain came throbbing behind their eyes. Then +understanding of those cries of triumph flashed into Grom's mind. He +stopped and clutched the girl by the wrist. "It is poison here. It is +death," he muttered. "That's why they shouted." + +"Yes, everything is dead but the red flowers," whispered A-ya, and +clung to him, shuddering with awe. + +"Courage!" cried Grom, lifting his head and dashing his great hand +across his eyes. "We _must_ get through. We _must_ find air." + +Shaking off the deadly sloth, they ran on again at full speed, peering +through the stems in every direction. The effort made their brains +throb fiercely. And still there was nothing before them and about them +but the endless succession of slender gray stems and the downpour of +that sinister rosy light. At last A-ya's steps began to lag, as if she +were growing sleepy. + +"Wake up!" shouted Grom, and dragged so fiercely at her arm that she +cried out. But the pain aroused her to a new effort. She sprang +forward, sobbing. The next moment, she was jerked violently to the +left. "This way!" panted Grom, the sweat pouring down his livid face; +and there, through the stems to the left, her dazed eyes perceived +that the hated rosy glow was paling into the whiteness of the natural +day. + +It was a big white rock, an island thrust up through the sea of +treacherous bloom. With fumbling, nerveless fingers they scaled its +bare sides, flung themselves down among the scant but wholesome +herbage, which clothed its top, and filled their lungs with the clean, +reviving air. Dimly they heard a blessed buzzing of insects, and +several great flies, with barred wings, lit upon them and bit them +sharply. They lay with closed eyes, while slowly the throbbing in +their brains died away and strength flowed back into their unstrung +limbs. + +Then, after perhaps an hour, Grom sat up and looked about him. On +every side outspread the fatal flood of the rose-red oleanders, +unbroken except toward the north-west. In that quarter, however, a +spur of the giant forest, of growths too mighty to feel the spell of +the envenomed blooms, was thrust deep into the crimson tide. Its tip +came to within a couple of hundred yards of the rock. Having fully +recovered, Grom and A-ya swung down, with loathing, into the pink +gloom, fled through it almost without drawing breath, and found +themselves once more in the rank green shadows of the jungle. They +went on till they came to a thicket of plantains. Then, loading +themselves with ripe fruit, they climbed high into a tree, and wove +themselves a safe resting-place among the branches. + +For the next few days their journey was without adventure, save for +the frequent eluding of the monsters of that teeming world. Grom had +his club, A-ya her broken spear; but they were avoiding all combats in +their haste to get back to their own country of the homely caves and +the guardian watch-fires. At the approach of the great black lion or +the saber-tooth, or the wantonly malignant rhinoceros, they betook +themselves to the tree-tops, and continued their way by that aerial +path as long as it served them. The most subtle of the beasts they +knew they could outwit, and their own anxiety now was Mawg, whose +craft and courage Grom could no longer hold in scorn. He was doubtless +at large, and quite possibly on their trail, biding his time to catch +them unawares. They never allowed themselves, therefore, to sleep both +at the same time. One always kept on guard: and hence their progress, +for all their eagerness, was slower than it would otherwise have +been. + +On a certain day, after a long unbroken stretch of travel, A-ya rested +and kept watch in a tree-top, while Grom went to fetch a bunch of +plantains. It was fairly open country, a region of low herbage dotted +with small groves and single trees; and the girl, herself securely +hidden, could see in every direction. She could see Grom wandering +from plantain clump to plantain clump, seeking fruit ripe enough to be +palatable. And then, with a shiver of hate and dread, she saw the dark +form of Mawg, creeping noiselessly on Grom's trail, and not more than +a couple of hundred paces behind him. At the very moment when her eyes +fell upon him, he dropped flat upon his face, and began worming his +way soundlessly through the herbage. + +Her mouth opened wide to give the alarm. But the cry stopped in her +throat, and a smile of bitter triumph spread over her face. + +If Mawg was hunting Grom, he was at the same time himself being +hunted. And by a dreadful hunter. + +Out from behind a thicket of glowing mimosa appeared a monstrous bird, +some ten or twelve feet in height, lifting its feet very high in a +swift but noiseless and curiously delicate stride. Its dark plumage +was more like long, stringy hair than feathers. Its build was +something like that of a gigantic cassowary, but its thighs and long +blue shanks were proportionately more massive. Its neck was long, but +immensely muscular to support the enormous head, which was larger than +that of a horse, and armed with a huge, hooked, rending, vulture's +beak. The apparent length of this terrible head was increased by a +pointed crest of blood-red feathers, projecting straight back in a +line with the fore-part of the skull and the beak. + +The crawling figure of Mawg was still a good hundred paces from the +unsuspecting Grom, when the great bird overtook it. A-ya, watching +from her tree-top, clutched a branch and held her breath. Mawg's ears +caught a sound behind him, and he glanced around sharply. With a +scream, he bounded to his feet. But it was too late. Before he could +either strike or flee, he was beaten down again, with a smash of that +pile-driving beak. The bird planted one huge foot on its victim's +loins, gripped his head in its beak, and neatly snapped his neck. Then +it fell greedily to its hideous meal. + +At Mawg's scream of terror, Grom had turned and rushed to the rescue, +swinging his club. But before he had covered half the distance, he saw +that the monster had done its work; and he hesitated. He was too late +to help the victim. And he knew the mettle of this ferocious bird, +almost as much to be dreaded, in single combat, as the saber-tooth +itself. At his approach, the bird had lifted its dripping beak, half +turned, and stood gripping the prey with one foot, swaying its grim +head slowly and eyeing him with malevolent defiance. Still he +hesitated, fingering his club; for the insolence of that challenging +stare made his blood seethe. Then came A-ya's voice from the tree-top, +calling him. "Come away!" she cried. "It was Mawg." + +Whereupon he turned, with the content of one who sees all old scores +cleanly wiped out together, and went back to gather his ripe +plantains. + +The peril of Mawg being thus removed from their path, they journeyed +more swiftly; and when the next new moon was a thin white sickle in +the sky, just above the line of saw-toothed hills, they came safely +back to the comfortable caves and the clear-burning watch-fires of +their tribe. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE BENDING OF THE BOW + + +Before the Caves of the Pointed Hills the fires of the tribe burned +brightly. Within the caves reigned plenty and an unheard-of security; +for since the conquest of fire those monstrous beasts and gigantic +carnivorous, running birds, which had been Man's ceaseless menace ever +since he swung down out of the tree-tops to walk the earth erect, had +been held at a distance through awe of the licking flames. Though the +great battle which had hurled back the invading hosts of the Bow-legs +had cost the tribe more than half its warriors, the Caves were +swarming with vigorous children. To Bawr, the Chief, and to Grom, his +Right Hand and Councilor, the future of the tribe looked secure. + +So sharp had been the lessons lately administered to the prowling +beasts--the terrible saber-tooth, the giant red bear of the caves, the +proud black lion, and the bone-crushing cave hyena--that even the +stretch of bumpy plain outside the circle of the fires, to a distance +of several hundred paces, was considered a safe playground for the +children of the tribe. On the outermost skirts of this playground, to +be sure, just where the reedy pools and the dense bamboo thickets +began, there was a fire kept burning. But this was more as a reminder +than as an actual defense. When a bear or a saber-tooth had once had a +blazing brand thrust in his face, he acquired a measure of discretion. +Moreover, the activities of the tribe had driven all the game animals +to some distance up the valley; and it was seldom that anything more +formidable than a jackal or a civet-cat cared to come within a +half-mile of the fires. + +It was now two years since the rescue of A-ya from her captivity among +the Bow-legs. Her child by Grom was a straight-limbed, fair-skinned +lad of somewhere between four and five years. She sat cross-legged +near the sentinel fire, some fifty yards or so from the edge of the +thickets, and played with the lad, whose eyes were alight with eager +intelligence. Behind her sprawled, playing contentedly with its toes +and sucking a banana, a fat brown flat-nosed baby of some fourteen or +fifteen months. + +Both A-ya and the boy were interested in a new toy. It was, perhaps, +the first whip. The boy had succeeded in tying a thin strip of green +hide, something over three feet in length, to one end of a stick which +was several inches longer. The uses of a whip came to him by unerring +insight, and he began applying it to his mother's shoulders. The +novelty of it delighted them both. A-ya, moreover, chuckled slyly at +the thought that the procedure might, on some future occasion, be +reversed, not without advantage to the cause of discipline. + +At last the lithe lash, so enthusiastically wielded, stung too hard +for even A-ya, with all her stoicism, to find it amusing. She snatched +the toy away and began playing with it herself. The lash, at its free +end, chanced to be slit almost to the tip, forming a loop. The butt of +the handle was formed by a jagged knot, where it had been broken from +the parent stem. Idly but firmly, with her strong hands she bent the +stick, and slipped the loop over the jagged knot, where it held. + +Interested, but with no hint of comprehension in her bright eyes, she +looked upon the first bow--the stupendous product of a child and a +woman playing. + +The child, displeased at this new, useless thing, and wanting his whip +back, tried to snatch the bow from his mother's hands. But she pushed +him off. She liked this new toy. It looked, somehow, as if it invited +her to do something with it. Presently she pulled the cord, and let it +go again. Tightly strung, it made a pleasant little humming sound. +This she repeated many times, holding it up to her ear and laughing +with pleasure. The boy grew interested thereupon, and wanted to try +the new game for himself. But A-ya was too absorbed. She would not let +him touch it. "Go get another stick," she commanded impatiently; but +quite forgot to see her command obeyed. + +As she was twanging the strange implement which had so happily +fashioned itself under her hands, Grom came up behind her. He stepped +carefully over the sprawling brown baby. He was about to pull her +heavy hair affectionately; but his eyes fell upon the thing in her +hands, and he checked himself. + +For minute after minute he stood there motionless, watching and +studying the new toy. His eyes narrowed, his brows drew themselves +down broodingly. The thing seemed to him to suggest dim, cloudy, vast +possibilities; and he groped in his brain for some hint of the nature +of these possibilities. Yet as far as he could see it was good for +nothing but to make a faintly pleasant twang for the amusement of +women and children. At last he could keep his hands off it no longer. +"Give it to me," said he suddenly, laying hold of A-ya's wrist. + +But A-ya was not yet done with it. She held it away from him, and +twanged it with redoubled vigor. Without further argument, and without +violence, Grom reached out a long arm, and found the bow in his grasp. +A-ya was surprised that such a trifle should seem of such importance +in her lord's eyes; but her faith was great. She shook the wild mane +of hair back from her face, silenced the boy's importunings with an +imperative gesture, and gathered herself with her arms about both +knees to watch what Grom would do with the plaything. + +First he examined it minutely, and then he fastened the thong more +securely at either end. He twanged it as A-ya had done. He bent it to +its limit and eased it slowly back again, studying the new force +imprisoned in the changing curve. At last he asked who had made it. + +"I did," answered A-ya, very proud of her achievement now that she +found it taken so seriously by one being to whom her adventurous +spirit really deferred. + +"No, _I_ did!" piped the boy, with an injured air. + +The mother laughed indulgently. "Yes, he tied one end, and beat me +with it," said she. "Then I took it from him, and bent the stick and +tied the other end." + +"It is very good!" said Grom, nodding his approval musingly. He +squatted down a few feet away, and began experimenting. + +Picking up a small stone, he held it upon the cord, bent the bow a +little way, and let go. The stone flew up and hit him with amazing +energy in the mouth. + +"_Oh!_" murmured A-ya, sympathetically, as the bright blood ran down +his beard. But the child, thinking that his father had done it on +purpose, laughed with hearty appreciation. Somewhat annoyed, Grom got +up, moved a few paces farther away, and sat down again with his back +to the family circle. + +As to the force that lurked in this slender little implement he was +now fully satisfied. But he was not satisfied with the direction in +which it exerted itself. He continued his experiments, but was careful +to draw the bow lightly. + +For a long time he found it impossible to guess beforehand the +direction which the pebbles, or the bits of stick or bark, would take +in their surprising leaps from the loosed bow-string. But at length a +dim idea of aim occurred to him. He lifted the bow--his left fist +grasping its middle--to the level of his eyes, at arm's length. He got +the cord accurately in the center of the pebble, and drew toward his +nose. This effort was so successful that the stone went perfectly +straight--and caught him fair on the thumb-knuckle. + +The blow was so sharp that he dropped the bow with an angry +exclamation. Glancing quickly over his shoulder to see if A-ya had +noticed the incident, he observed that her face was buried between her +knees and quite hidden by her hair. But her shoulders were heaving +spasmodically. He suspected that she was laughing at him; and for a +moment, as his knuckle was aching fiercely, he considered the +advisability of giving her a beating. He had never done such a thing +to her, however, though all the other Cave Men, including Bawr +himself, were wont to beat their women on occasion. In his heart he +hated the idea of hurting her; and it would hardly be worth while to +beat her without hurting her. The idea, therefore, was promptly +dismissed. He eyed the shaking shoulders gloomily for some seconds; +and then, as the throbbing in the outraged knuckle subsided, a grin of +sympathetic comprehension spread over his own face. He picked up the +bow, sprang to his feet, and strolled over to the edge of a thicket of +young cane. + +The girl, lifting her head, peered at him cautiously through her hair. +Her laughter was forgotten on the instant, because she guessed that +his fertile brain was on the trail of some new experiment. + +Arriving at the cane-thicket, Grom broke himself half a dozen +well-hardened, tapering stems, from two to three feet in length, and +about as thick at their smaller ends as A-ya's little finger. + +These seemed to suggest to him the possibility of better results than +anything he could get from those erratic pebbles. + +By this time quite a number of curious spectators--women and children +mostly, the majority of the men being away hunting, and the rest too +proud to show their curiosity--had gathered to watch Grom's +experiments. They were puzzled to make out what it was he was busying +himself with. But as he was a great chief, and held in deeper awe than +even Bawr himself, they did not presume to come very near; and they +had therefore not perceived, or at least they had not apprehended, +those two trifling mishaps of his. As for Grom, he paid his audience +no attention whatever. Now that he had possessed himself of those +slender straight shafts of cane, all else was forgotten. He felt, as +he looked at them and poised them, that in some vital way they +belonged to this fascinating implement which A-ya had invented for +him. + +Selecting one of the shafts, he slowly applied the bigger end of it to +the bow-string, and stood for a long time pondering it, drawing it a +little way and easing it back without releasing it. Then he called to +mind that his spears always threw better when they were hurled heavy +end first. So he turned the little shaft and applied the small end to +the bow-string. Then he pulled the string tentatively, and let it go. +The arrow, all unguided, shot straight up into the air, turned over, +fell sharply, and buried its head in a bit of soft ground. Grom felt +that this was progress. The spectators opened their mouths in wonder, +but durst not venture any comment when Grom was at his mysteries. + +Plucking the shaft from the earth, Grom once more laid it to the +bow-string. As he pulled the string, the shaft wobbled crazily. With a +growl of impatience, he clapped the fore-finger of his left hand over +it, holding it in place, and pulled it through the guide thus formed. +A light flashed upon his brooding intelligence. Slightly crooking his +finger, so that the shaft could move freely, he drew the string +backward and forward, with deep deliberation, over and over again. To +his delight, he found that the shaft was no longer eccentrically +rebellious, but as docile as he could wish. At last, lifting the bow +above his head, he drew it strongly, and shot the shaft into the air. +He shouted as it slipped smoothly through the guiding crook of his +finger and went soaring skyward as if it would never stop. The eyes of +the spectators followed its flight with awe, and A-ya, suddenly +comprehending, caught her breath and snatched the boy to her heart in +a transport. Her alert mind had grasped, though dimly, the wonder of +her man's achievement. + +Now, though Grom had pointed his shaft skyward, he had taken no +thought whatever as to its direction, or the distance it might travel. +As a matter of fact, he had shot towards the Caves. He had shot +strongly; and that first bow was a stiff one. Most of the folk who +squatted before the Caves were watching; but there were some who were +too indifferent or too stupid to take an interest in anything less +arresting than a thump on the head. Among these was a fat old woman, +who, with her back to all the excitement, was bending herself double +to grub in the litter of sticks and bones for some tit-bit which she +had dropped. Grom's shaft, turning gracefully against the blue came +darting downward on a long slope, and buried its point in that +upturned fat and grimy thigh. With a yell the old woman whipped round, +tore out the shaft, dashed it upon the ground, stared at it in horror +as if she thought it some kind of snake, and waddled, wildly +jabbering, into the nearest cave. + +An outburst of startled cries arose from all the spectators, but it +hushed itself almost in the same breath. It was Grom who had done this +singular thing, smiting unawares from very far off. The old woman must +have done something to make Grom angry. They were all afraid; and +several, whose consciences were not quite at ease, followed the old +woman's example and slipped into the Caves. + +As for Grom, his feelings were a mixture of embarrassment and elation. +He was sorry to have hurt the old woman. He had a ridiculous dislike +of hurting any one unnecessarily; and when he looked back and saw A-ya +rocking herself to and fro in heartless mirth, he felt like asking her +how she would have liked it herself, if she had been in the place of +the fat old woman. On the other hand, he knew that he had made a great +discovery, second only to the conquest of the fire. He had found a new +weapon, of unheard-of, unimagined powers, able to kill swiftly and +silently and at a great distance. All he had to do was to perfect the +weapon and learn to control it. + +He strode haughtily up to the cave mouth to recover his shaft. The +people, even the mightiest of the warriors, looked anxious and +deprecating at his approach; but he gave them never a glance. It would +not have done to let them think he had wounded the old woman by +accident. He picked up the shaft and examined its bloodstained point, +frowning fiercely. Then he glared into the cave where the unlucky +victim of his experiments had taken refuge. He refitted the shaft to +the bow-string, and made as if to follow up his stroke with further +chastisement. Instantly there came from the dark interior a chorus of +shrill feminine entreaties. He hesitated, seemed to relent, put the +shaft into the bundle under his arm, and strode back to rejoin A-ya. +He had done enough for the moment. His next step required deep thought +and preparation. + +An hour or two later, Grom set out from the Caves alone in spite of +A-ya's pleadings. He wanted complete solitude with his new weapon. +Besides a generous bundle of canes, of varying lengths and sizes, he +carried some strips of raw meat, a bunch of plantains, his spear and +club, and a sort of rude basket, without handle, formed by tying +together the ends of a roll of green bark. + +This basket was a device of A-ya's, which had added greatly to her +prestige in the tribe, and caused the women to regard her with +redoubled jealousy. By lining it thickly with wet clay, she was able +to carry fire in it so securely and simply that Grom had adopted it at +once, throwing away his uncertain and always troublesome fire-tubes of +hollow bamboo. + +Mounting the steep hillside behind the Caves, Grom turned into a +high, winding ravine, and was soon lost to the sight of the tribe. +The ravine, the bed of a long-dry torrent, climbed rapidly, +bearing around to the eastward, and brought him at length to a high +plateau on a shoulder of the mountain. At the back of the plateau the +mountain rose again, abruptly, to one of those saw-tooth pinnacles +which characterized this range. At the base of the steep was a +narrow fissure in the rock-face, leading into a small grotto which +Grom had discovered on one of his hunting expeditions. He had used +it several times already as a retreat when tired of the hubbub of +the tribe and anxious to ponder in quiet some of the problems which +for ever tormented his fruitful brain. + +Absorbed in meditations upon his new weapons, Grom set himself to +build a small fire before the entrance of the grotto. The red coals +from his fire-basket he surrounded and covered with dry grass, dead +twigs, and small sticks. Then, getting down upon all fours, he blew +long and steadily into the mass till the smoke which curled up from it +was streaked with thin flames. As the flames curled higher, his ears +caught the sound of something stirring within the cave. He looked up, +peering between the little coils of smoke, and saw a pair of eyes, +very close to the ground, glaring forth at him from the darkness. + +With one hand, he coolly but swiftly fed the fire to fuller volume, +while with the other he reached for and clutched his club. The eyes +drew back slowly to the depths of the cave. Appearing not to have +observed them, Grom piled the fire with heavier and heavier fuel, till +it was blazing strongly and full of well-lighted brands. Then he stood +up, seized a brand, and hurled it into the cave. There was a harsh +snarl, and the eyes disappeared, the owner of them having apparently +shrunk off to one side. + +A moment or two later the interior was suddenly lighted up with a +smoky glare. The brand had fallen on a heap of withered grass +which had formerly been Grom's couch. Grom set his teeth and swung +up his club; and in the same instant there shot forth two immense +cave-hyenas, mad with rage and terror. + +The great beasts were more afraid of the sudden flare within than of +the substantial and dangerous fire without. The first swerved just in +time to escape the fire, and went by so swiftly that the stroke of +Grom's club caught him only a light, glancing blow on the rump. But +the second of the pair, the female, was too close behind to swerve in +time. She dashed straight through the fire, struck Grom with all her +frantic weight, knocked him flat, and tore off howling down the +valley, leaving a pungent trail of singed fur on the air. + +Uninjured save for an ugly scratch, which bled profusely, down one +side of his face, Grom picked himself up in a rage and started after +the fleeing beasts. But his common sense speedily reasserted itself. +He grunted in disgust, turned back to the fire, and was soon absorbed +in new experiments with the bow. As for the blaze within the cave, he +troubled himself no more about it. He knew it would soon burn out. And +it would leave the cave well cleansed of pestilential insects. + +All that afternoon he experimented with his bundle of shafts, to find +what length and what weight would give the best results. One of the +arrows he shattered completely, by driving it, at short range, +straight against the rock-face of the mountain. Two others he lost, by +shooting them, far beyond his expectations, over the edge of the +plateau and down into the dense thickets below him, where he did not +care to search too closely by reason of the peril of snakes. The bow, +as his good luck would have it, though short and clumsy was very +strong, being made of a stick of dry upland hickory. And the cord of +raw hide was well-seasoned, stout and tough; though it had a +troublesome trick of stretching, which forced Grom to restring it many +times before all the stretch was out of it. + +Having satisfied himself as to the power of his bow and the range of +his arrows, Grom set himself next to the problem of marksmanship. +Selecting a plant of prickly pear, of about the dimensions of a man, +he shot at it, at different ranges, till most of its great fleshy +leaves were shredded and shattered. With his straight eye and his +natural aptitude, he soon grasped the idea of elevation for range, and +made some respectable shooting. He also found that he could guide the +arrow without crooking his finger around it. His elation was so +extreme that he quite forgot to eat, till the closing in of darkness +put an end to his practice. Then, piling high his fire as a warning to +prowlers, he squatted in the mouth of the cave and made his meal. For +water he had to go some little way below the lip of the plateau; but +carrying a blazing balsam-knot he had nothing to fear from the beasts +that lay in ambush about the spring. They slunk away sullenly at the +approach of the waving flame. + +That night Grom slept securely, with three fires before his door. +Every hour or two, vigilant woodsman that he was, he would wake up to +replenish the fires, and be asleep again even in the act of lying +down. And when the dawn came red and amber around the shoulder of the +saw-toothed peak, he was up again and out into the chill, sweet air +with his arrows. + +The difficulty which now confronted him was that of giving his shafts +a penetrating point. Being of a very hard-fibered cane, akin to +bamboo, they would take a kind of splintering-point of almost needle +sharpness. But it was fragile; and the cane being hollow, the point +was necessarily on one side, which affected the accuracy of the +flight. There were no flints in the neighborhood, or slaty rocks, +which he could split into edged and pointed fragments. He tried +hardening his points in the fire; but the results were not altogether +satisfactory. He thought of tipping some of the shafts with thorns, or +with the steely points of the old aloe leaves; but he could not, at +the moment, devise such a method of fixing these formidable weapons in +place as would not quite destroy their efficiency. Finally he made up +his mind that the thing to use would be bone, ground into a suitable +shape between two stones. But this was a matter that would have to +await his return to the Caves, and would then call for much careful +devising. For the present he would perforce content himself with such +points as he had fined down and hardened in the fire. + +This matter settled in his mind, Grom burned to put his wonderful new +weapon to practical test. He descended cautiously the steep slope from +the eastern edge of his plateau--a broken region of ledges, +subtropical thickets, and narrow, grassy glades, with here and there +some tree of larger growth rising solitary like a watch-tower. Knowing +this was a favorite feeding-hour for many of the grass-eaters, he hid +himself in the well-screened crotch of a deodar, overlooking a green +glade, and waited. + +He had not long to wait, for the region swarmed with game. Out from a +runway some thirty or forty yards up the glade stepped a huge, +dun-colored bull, with horns like scimitars each as long as Grom's +arm. His flanks were scarred with long wounds but lately healed, and +Grom realized that he was a solitary, beaten and driven out from his +herd by some mightier rival. The bull glanced warily about him, and +then fell to cropping the grass. + +The beast offered an admirable target. Grom's arrow sped noiselessly +between the curtaining branches, and found its mark high on the bull's +fore-shoulder. It penetrated--but not to a depth of more than two or +three inches. And Grom, though elated by his good shot, realized that +such a wound would be nothing more than an irritant. + +Startled and infuriated, the bull roared and pawed the sod, and glared +about him to locate his unseen assailant. He had not the remotest idea +of the direction from which the strange attack had come. The galling +smart in his shoulder grew momentarily more severe. He lashed back at +it savagely with the side of his horn, but the arrow was just out of +his reach. Then, bewildered and alarmed, he tried to escape from this +new kind of fly with the intolerable sting by galloping furiously up +and down the glade. As he passed the deodar, Grom let drive another +arrow, at close range. This, too, struck, and stuck. But it did not go +deep enough to produce any serious effect. The animal roared again, +stared about him as if he thought the place was bewitched, and plunged +headlong into the nearest thicket, tearing out both arrows as he went +through the close-set stems. Grom heard him crashing onward down the +slope, and smiled to think of the surprise in store for any antagonist +that might cross the mad brute's path. + +This experiment upon the wild bull had shown Grom one thing clearly. +He must arm his arrows with a more penetrating point. Until he could +carry out his idea of giving them tips of bones, he must find some +shoots of solid, pithless growth to take the place of his light hollow +canes. For the next hour or two he searched the jungle carefully and +warily, looking for a young growth that might immediately serve his +purpose. + +But there in the jungle everything that was hard enough was crooked or +gnarled, everything that was straight enough was soft and sappy. It +was not till the sun was almost over his head, and the heat was urging +him back to the coolness of his grotto, that he came across something +worth making a trial of. On a bleak wind-swept knoll, far out on the +mountain-side, lay the trunk of an old hickory-tree, which had +evidently been shattered by lightning. From the roots, tenacious of +life, had sprung up a throng of saplings, ranging from a foot or two +in height to the level of Grom's head. They were as straight and slim +as the canes. And their hardness was proved to Grom's satisfaction +when he tried to break them off. They were tough, too, so that he +almost lost his patience over them, before he learned that the best +way to deal with them was to strip them down, in the direction of the +fiber, where they sprang from the parent trunk or root. Having at +length gathered an armful, he returned to his grotto and proceeded to +shape the refractory butts in the fire. As he squatted between the +cave door and the fire he made his meal of raw flesh and plantains, +and gazed out contemplatively over the vast, rankly-green landscape +below him, musing upon the savage and monstrous strife which went on +beneath that mask of wide-flung calm. And as he pondered, the fire +which he had subjugated was quietly doing his work for him. + +The result was beyond his utmost expectations. After judicious +charring, the ends being turned continually in the glowing coals, he +rubbed away the charred portions between two stones, and found that he +could thus work up an evenly-rounded point. The point thus obtained +was keen and hard; and as he balanced this new shaft in his hand he +realized that its weight would add vastly to its power of penetration. +When he tried a shot with it, he found that it flew farther and +straighter. It drove through the tough, fleshy leaf of the prickly +pear as if it hardly noticed the obstruction. He fashioned himself a +half-dozen more of these highly-efficient shafts, and then set out +again--this time down the ravine--to seek a living target for his +practice. + +The ravine was winding and of irregular width, terraced here and there +with broken ledges, here and there cut into by steep little narrow +gullies. Its bottom was in part bare rock; but wherever there was an +accumulation of soil, and some tiny spring oozing up through the +fissures, there the vegetation grew rank, starred with vivid blooms of +canna and hibiscus. In many places the ledges were draped with a dense +curtain of the flat-flowered, pink-and-gold mesembryanthemum. It was a +region well adapted to the ambuscading beasts; and Grom moved +stealthily as a panther, keeping for the most part along the upper +ledges, crouching low to cross the open spots, and slipping into cover +every few minutes to listen and peer and sniff. + +Presently he came to a spot which seemed to offer him every advantage +as a place of ambush. It was a ledge some twenty feet above the valley +level, with a sort of natural parapet behind which he could crouch, +and, unseen, keep an eye on all the glades and runways below. Behind +him the rock-face was so nearly perpendicular that no enemy could +steal upon him from the rear. He laid his club and his spear down +beside him, selected one of his best arrows, and hoped that a fat buck +would come by, or one of those little, spotted, two-toed horses whose +flesh was so prized by the people of the Caves. Such a prize would be +a proof to all the tribe of the potency of his new weapon. + +For nearly an hour he waited, moveless, save for his ranging eyes, as +the rock on which he leaned. To a hunter like Grom, schooled to +infinite patience, this was nothing. He knew that, in the woods, if +one waits long enough and keeps still enough, he is bound to see +something interesting. At last it came. It was neither the fat buck +nor the little two-toed horse with dapple hide, but a young +cow-buffalo. Grom noticed at once that she was nervous and puzzled. +She seemed to suspect that she was being followed and was undecided +what to do. Once she faced about angrily, staring into the coverts +behind her, and made as if to charge. Had she been an old cow, or a +bull, she would have charged; but her inexperience made her +irresolute. She snorted, faced about again, and moved on, ears, eyes +and wide nostrils one note of wrathful interrogation. She was well +within range, and Grom would have tried a shot at her except for his +seasoned wariness. He would rather see, before revealing himself, what +foe it was that dared to trail so dangerous a quarry. The buffalo +moved on slowly out of range, and vanished down a runway; and +immediately afterwards the stealthy pursuer came in view. + +To Grom's amazement, it was neither a lion nor a bear. It was a man, +of his own tribe. And then he saw it was none other than the great +chief, Bawr himself, hunting alone after his haughty and daring +fashion. Between Grom and Bawr there was the fullest understanding, +and Grom would have whistled that plover-cry, his private signal, but +for the risk of interfering with Bawr's chase. Once more, therefore, +he held himself in check; while Bawr, his eyes easily reading the +trail, crept on with the soundless step of a wild cat. + +But Grom was not the only hunter lying in ambush in the sun-drenched +ravine. Out from a bed of giant, red-blooming canna arose the +diabolical, grinning head and monstrous shoulders of a saber-tooth, +and stared after Bawr. Then the whole body emerged with a noiseless +bound. For a second the gigantic beast stood there, with one paw +uplifted, its golden-tawny bulk seeming to quiver in the downpour of +intense sunlight. It was a third as tall again at the shoulders as the +biggest Himalayan tiger, its head was flat-skulled like a tiger's, and +its upper jaw was armed with two long, yellow, saber-like tusks, +projecting downwards below the lower jaw. This appalling monster +started after Bawr with a swift, crouching rush, as silent, for all +its weight, as if its feet were shod with thistledown. + +Grom leapt to his feet with a wild yell of warning, at the same time +letting fly an arrow. In his haste the shaft went wide. Bawr, looking +over his shoulder, saw the giant beast almost upon him. With a +tremendous bound he gained the foot of a tree. Dropping his club and +spear, he sprang desperately, caught a branch, and swung himself +upward. + +But the saber-tooth was already at his heels, before he had time to +swing quite out of reach. The gigantic brute gathered itself for a +spring which would have enabled it to pluck Bawr from his refuge like +a ripe fig. But that spring was never delivered. With a roar of rage +the monster turned instead, and bit furiously at the shaft of an arrow +sticking in its flank. Grom's second shaft had flown true; and Bawr, +greatly marveling, drew up his legs to a place of safety. + +With the fire of that deep wound in its entrails the saber-tooth +forgot all about its quarry in the tree. It had caught sight of Grom +when he uttered his yell of warning, and it knew instantly whence the +strange attack had come. It bit off the protruding shaft; and then, +fixing its dreadful eyes on Grom, it ceased its snarling and came +charging for the ledge with a rush which seemed likely to carry it +clear up the twenty-foot perpendicular of smooth rock. + +Grom, enamored of the new weapon, forgot the spear which was likely to +be far more efficient at these close quarters. Leaning far out over +the parapet, he drew his arrow to the head and let drive just as the +monster reared itself, open-jawed, at the wall. The pointed hickory +went down into the gaping gullet, and stood out some inches at the +side of the neck. With a horrible coughing screech the monster +recoiled, put its head between its paws, and tried to claw the anguish +from its throat. But after a moment, seeming to realize that this was +impossible, it backed away, gathered itself together, and sprang for +the ledge. It received another of Grom's shafts deep in the chest, +without seeming to notice the wound; and its impetus was so tremendous +that it succeeded in getting its fore-paws fixed upon the ledge. +Clinging there, its enormous pale-green eyes staring straight into +Grom's, it struggled to draw itself up all the way--an effort in which +it would doubtless have succeeded at once but for that first arrow in +its entrails. The iron claws of its hinder feet rasped noisily on the +rock-face. + +Grom dropped his bow beside him and reached for the spear. His hand +grasped the club instead; but there was no time to change. Swinging +the stone-head weapon in air, he brought it down, with a grunt of huge +effort, full upon one of those giant paws which clutched the edge of +the parapet. Crushed and numbed, the grip of that paw fell away; but +at the same moment one of the hinder paws got over the edge, and +clung. And there the monster hung, its body bent in a contorted bow. + +Bawr, meanwhile, seeing Grom's peril, had dropped from his tree, +snatched up his spear and club, and rushed in to the rescue. It was +courage, this, of the finest, counting no odds; for down there on the +level he would have stood no ghost of a chance had the beast turned +back upon him. Grom yelled to him to keep away, and swung up his club +for another shattering blow. But in that same moment the great glaring +eyes filmed and rolled upwards; blood spouted from between the gaping +jaws; and with a spluttering cough the monster lost its hold. It fell, +with a soft but jarring thud, upon its back, and slowly rolled over +upon its side, pawing the air aimlessly. The arrow in the throat had +done its work. + +With fine self-restraint Bawr refrained from striking, that he might +seem to usurp no share in Grom's amazing achievement. He stood leaning +upon his spear, calmly watching the last feeble paroxysm, till Grom +came scrambling down from the ledge and stood beside him. He took the +bow and arrows, and examined them in silence. Then he turned upon Grom +with burning eyes. + +"You found the Fire for our people. You saved our people from the +hordes of the Bow-legs. You have saved my life now, slaying the +monster from very far off with these little sticks which you have +made. It is you who should be Chief, not I." + +Grom laughed and shook his head. "Bawr is the better man of us two," +said he positively, "and he is a better chief. He governs the people, +while I go away and think new things. And he is my friend. Look, I +will teach him now this new thing. And we will make another just like +it, that when we return to the Caves Bawr also shall know how to +strike from very far off." + +With their rough-edged spear-heads of flint they set themselves to the +skinning of the saber-tooth. Then they went back to the high plateau, +where Bawr was taught to shoot a straight shaft. And on the following +day they returned to the fires of the tribe, carrying between them, +shoulder high, slung upon their two spears, this first trophy of the +bow, the monstrous head and hide of the saber-tooth. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE DESTROYING SPLENDOR + + +I + +To Grom, hunting farther to the south of the Tribal Fires than he had +ever ranged before, came suddenly a woman running, mad with fright, a +baby clutched to her bosom. She fell at Grom's feet, gibbering +breathlessly, and plainly imploring his protection. Both she and the +child were streaming with blood, and covered with strange cup-like +wounds, as if the flesh had been gouged out of them with some +irresistible circular instrument. + +Grom swiftly fitted an arrow to his bow, and peered through the trees +to see what manner of adversary the fugitive was like to bring upon +him. At the same time, he gave a piercing cry, which was answered at +once from some distance behind him. + +Having satisfied himself (the country being fairly open) that the +woman's pursuer, whatever it might be, was not close upon her heels, +and that no immediate danger was in view, he turned his attention upon +the woman herself. She was not of his race, and he looked down upon +her with cold aversion. At first glance he thought she was one of the +Bow-legs. But the color of her skin, where it could be seen for the +blood, was different, being rather of a copper-red; and she was +neither so hairy on the body nor of so ape-like proportions. She was +sufficiently hideous, however, and of some race plainly inferior to +the People of the Caves. The natural instinct of a Cave Man would have +been to knock her and her offspring on the head without ceremony--an +effective method of guarding his more highly developed breed from the +mixture of an inferior blood. But Grom, the Chief and the wise man, +had many vague impulses moving him at times which were novel to the +human play-fellows of Earth's childhood. He disliked hurting a woman +or a child. He might, quite conceivably, have refused to concern +himself with the suppliant before him, and merely left her and her +baby to the chances of the jungle. But the peculiar character of her +wounds interested him. She aroused his curiosity. Here was a new +mystery for him to investigate. The woman was saved. + +Knowing a few words of the Bow-legs' tongue, which he had learned from +his lame slave Ook-ootsk, he addressed the crouching woman, telling +her not to fear. The tongue was unintelligible to her, but the tones +of his voice seemed to reassure her. She sat up, revealing again the +form of the little one, which she had been shielding with her hair and +her bosom as if she feared the tall white hunter might dash its brains +out; and Grom noted with keen interest that the child also had one of +those terrible, cup-shaped wounds, almost obliterating its fat, +copper-colored shoulder. He saw, also, that the woman's face, though +uncomely, was more intelligent and human than the bestial faces of the +Bow-legs' women. It was a broad face, with very small, deep-set eyes, +high cheek bones, a tiny nose, and a very wide mouth, and it looked as +if some one had sat on it hard and pushed it in. The idea made him +smile, and the smile completed the woman's reassurance. She poured a +stream of chatter quite unlike the clicks and barkings of the +Bow-legs. Then she crept closer to Grom's feet, and proceeded to give +her little one the breast. It was twisting uneasily with the pain of +its dreadful wound, but it nursed hungrily, and with the prudent +stoicism of a wild creature it made no outcry. + +As Grom stood studying the pair, the mother kept throwing glances of +horror over her shoulder, as if expecting her assailants to arrive at +any moment. Grom followed her eyes, but there was no sign of any +pursuit. Then he observed the fugitives' wounds more closely, and +noted that the blood upon them was already, in most cases, pretty well +coagulated. He noted also certain other wounds, deep, narrow +punctures, like stabs. He guessed that they could not be much less +than an hour old. The Thing, whatever it was, which had inflicted +them--the Thing with so strange a mouth, and so strange a way of using +it--had apparently given up the pursuit. Grom's curiosity burned +within him, and he was angry at the woman because she could not speak +to him in his own language, or at least in that of the Bow-legs. It +seemed to him willful obstinacy on her part to refuse to understand +the Bow-legs' tongue. He stooped over her, and roughly examined one of +the wounds with his huge fingers. She winced, but made no complaint, +only covering her baby with her hair and her arms in terror lest it +should suffer a like harsh handling. + +With a qualm of compunction, which rather puzzled him, Grom gave over +his investigating, and turned to a tall, slim youth with a great mop +of chestnut hair who at this moment came running up to him. It was +A-ya's young brother, Mo, Grom's favorite follower and hunting mate; +and he had come at speed, being very swift of foot, in answer to +Grom's signal. Breathing quickly, he stood at Grom's side, and looked +down with wonder and dislike upon the crouching woman. + +Briefly Grom explained, and then pointed to the inexplicable wounds. +The youth, unable to believe that any human creature should be unable +to comprehend plain human speech, such as that of the Cave People, +tried his own hand at questioning the woman. He got a flow of chatter +in reply, but, being able to make nothing out of it, he imagined it +was not speech at all, and turned away angrily, thinking that she +mocked him. Grom, smiling at the mistake, explained that the woman was +talking her own language, which he intended presently to learn as he +had learned that of the Bow-legs. + +"But now," said he, "we will go and see what it is that has bitten the +woman. It is surely something with a strange mouth." + +Mo, who was not only brave to recklessness, but who would have +followed Grom through the mouth of hell, sprang forward eagerly. Grom, +who realized that the mystery before him was a perilous one, and who +loved to do dangerous things in a prudent manner, looked to his +bow-string and saw that his arrows were handy in his girdle, before he +started on the venture. Besides his bow he carried the usual two +spears and his inseparable stone-headed club. Though danger was his +delight, it was not the danger itself but the thrill of overcoming it +that he loved. + +The moment he stepped forward, however, the woman divined his purpose +and leapt wildly to her feet. She sprang straight in front of him, +screaming and gesticulating. She was plainly horror-stricken at the +thought that the two men should venture into the perils from which she +had so hardly escaped. To Grom's keen intelligence her gestures were +eloquent. She managed to convey to him the idea of great numbers, and +the impossibility of his dealing with them. When he attempted to pass +her, she threw herself down and clung to his feet, shaking with her +terror. When she saw that Grom was at last impressed, she stretched +herself out as if dead, and then, after a few moments of ghastly +rigidity, with fixed, staring eyes, she came to and held up one hand +with the fingers outspread. + +This frantic pantomime Grom could read in no other way than as an +attempt to tell him that the unknown Something had killed five of the +woman's companions. The information gave him pause. Adventurous as he +was, he had small respect for mere pig-headed recklessness. He was +resolved to solve the problem--but after all it could abide his more +thorough preparation. + +"Come back," he ordered, turning to the impetuous Mo. "She says they +are too many for us two. They have killed five of her people. We will +go back to the Caves, and after three sleeps for good counsel, we will +return with fire and find the destroying Thing." + + +II + +On their return to the Caves, Grom gave the strange woman and her baby +to his faithful slave Ook-ootsk, who accepted the gift with enthusiasm +because, being a Bow-leg, he had not been allowed to take any of the +Cave Women to wife. He lavished his attentions upon the unhappy +stranger, but he could make no more of her speech than Grom had done. +The girl A-ya, however, in a moment of peculiar insight had gathered, +or thought she gathered, from the stranger's signs, that the dreadful +and destroying Thing was something that flew--therefore, a great +flesh-eating bird. But she gathered, also, that it was something which +in some way bore a resemblance to fire--for the woman, after getting +over her first terror of the dancing flames, kept pointing to them and +then to her wounds in a most suggestive way. This, however, as Grom +rather scornfully pointed out, was too absurd. There was nothing that +could be in the least like fire itself; and the wounds of the +fugitives had no likeness whatever to the corrosive bites of the +flame. A-ya took the correction submissively, but held her own +thought; and when a day or two later, events proved her to have been +right, she discreetly refrained from calling her lord's attention to +the fact--a point upon which Grom was equally reserved. + +With so provocative a mystery waiting to be solved, Grom could not +long rest idle. Had she not known well it would be a waste of +breath, A-ya would have tried to dissuade him from the perilous, and +to her mind profitless, adventure. It was one she shrank from in +spite of her tried courage and her unwavering trust in Grom's prowess. +The mystery of it daunted her. She feared it in the same way that +she feared the dark. But she kept her fears to herself, and claimed +her long-established right to go with Grom on the expedition. Grom +was willing enough, for there was no one whose readiness and nerve, in +a supreme crisis, he could so depend upon, and he wanted her close at +hand with her fire-basket. There was nothing to keep her at home, as +the children were looked after by Ook-ootsk. + +It was a very little party which started southward from the +Caves--simply Grom, A-ya, young Mo, and a dwarfish kinsman of Grom's, +named Loob, who was the swiftest runner in the tribe and noted for his +cunning as a scout. He could go through underbrush like a shadow, and +hide where there was apparently no hiding-place, making himself +indistinguishable from the surroundings like a squatting partridge. +Each one carried a bow, two light spears, and a club--except A-ya, who +had no club, and only one spear. The weapon she chiefly relied upon +was the bow, which she loved with passion. She considered herself the +inventor of it; and in the accuracy of her shooting she outdid even +Grom. In addition to these weapons, each member of the party except +the leader himself carried a fire-basket, in which a mass of red coals +mixed with punk smouldered in a bed of moist clay. + +The little expedition traveled Indian file, Grom leading the way, with +A-ya at his heels, then Loob the Scout, and young Mo bringing up the +rear. They had started about dawn, when the first of the morning rose +was just beginning to pale the cave-mouth fires. They traveled +swiftly, but every two hours or so they would make a brief halt beside +a spring to drink and breathe themselves and to look to the precious +fires in the fire-baskets. When it wanted perhaps an hour of noon, +they came to a little patch of meadow surrounding a solitary +Judas-tree covered with bloom. Here they built a fire, for the +replenishing of the coals in the fire-baskets, and as a menace to +prowling beasts. Then they dined on their sun-dried meat and on ripe +plantains gathered during the journey. Having dined, the three younger +members of the party stretched themselves out in the shade for their +noon sleep, while Grom, whose restless brain never suffered him to +sleep by day, kept watch, and pondered the adventure which lay before +them. + +As Grom sat there, ten or a dozen paces from the fire, absorbed in thought, +his eyes gradually focussed themselves upon a big purple-and-lemon orchid +bloom, which glowed forth conspicuously from the rank green +jungle-growth fringing the meadow. The gorgeous bloom seemed to rise out of +a black, curiously gnarled elbow of branch or trunk which thrust itself out +through the leafage. Grom's eyes dwelt for a time, unheeding, upon this +piece of misshapen tree trunk. Suddenly he saw the blackness wink. His +startled vision cleared itself instantly, and revealed to him the hideous, +two-horned mask of a black rhinoceros, peering forth just under the +orchid blossom. + +Grom's first impulse was to wake the sleepers with a yell and shepherd +them to refuge in the tree--for the gigantic woolly rhinoceros, with +his armor of impenetrable hide, was a foe whom Man had not yet learned +to handle with any certainty. But a deeper instinct held Grom +motionless. He knew that the monster, whose eyesight was always dim +and feeble, could not see him distinctly, and was in all probability +staring in stupid wonder at the dancing flames of the camp-fire. As +long as no smell of man should reach the brute's sensitive nostrils to +rouse its rage, it was not likely to charge. There was no wind, and +the air about him was full of the spicy bitterness of the wood-smoke. +Grom decided that the safest thing was to keep perfectly still and +wait for the next move in the game to come from the monster. He +devoutly trusted that the sleepers behind him were sleeping soundly, +and that no one would wake and sit up to attract the monster's +attention. + +Grom could now see plainly that it was the fire, and not himself, +which the rhinoceros was staring at. The shifting flames, and the +smell of the smoke, apparently puzzled it. After a moment or two, it +took a step forward, so that half of its huge, black, shaggy bulk +projected from the banked greenery as from a frame. Then it stood +motionless, blinking its little malignant eyes, till the silent +suspense grew to be a strain even upon Grom's well-seasoned nerves. + +At last a large stick, laid across the fire, burned through and fell +apart. The flames leapt upwards with redoubled vigor, preceded by a +volley of crackling sparks. Knowing the temper of the rhinoceros, Grom +expected it to fly into a fury and charge upon the fire at once. His +mouth opened, indeed, for the yell of warning which should wake the +sleepers and send them leaping into the tree. But he checked himself +in time. The monster, for once in its life, seemed to be abashed. The +curling red flames were too elusive a foe for it. With a grunt of +uneasiness, it drew back into the leafage; and in a moment or two Grom +heard the giant bulk crashing off through the jungle at a gallop. The +unwonted sensation of alarm, once yielded to, had swollen to a panic, +and the dull-witted brute fled on for a mile or more before it could +forget the cause of its terror. + +That afternoon toward sundown the expedition reached the point where +the fugitive had made her appeal to Grom. For fear of giving +information to the unknown enemy, no fires were lighted. The night was +passed in a dense and lofty tree-top. For Grom, strung up with +excitement, suspense and curiosity, there was little sleep. For the +most part he perched on his woven platform with his arms about his +knees, listening to the sounds of the night--the occasional sudden +rush of a hunting beast, the agonized scream and scuffle, the +gurglings and noisy slaverings that told of the unseen tragedies +enacted far down in the murderous dark. But there was no sound novel +to his own experience. Once there came a scratching of claws and a +sniffing at the base of the tree. + +But Grom dropped a live coal from his fire-basket, and chanced to make +a lucky shot. With a snarl some heavy body bounced away from the tree. +The coal then fell into a tuft of dry grass, which flared up suddenly. +Grom had a glimpse of huge shapes and startled, savage eyes backing +away from the circle of light. The blaze died down as quickly as it +had arisen; and thereafter the night prowlers kept at a distance from +the tree. But the sleepers had all been thoroughly aroused and till +dawn they sat discussing, for the hundredth time, the chances of the +morrow's venture. + +Before the sun was clear of the horizon, the little party was again +upon the march, but now going with the wariness of a sable. They no +longer went Indian file, but flitting singly from tree to tree, from +covert to covert, Grom picking up the old trail of the fugitive, the +rest of the party keeping him in view and peering ahead for some sign +of the unknown Terror. The red woman in her flight had left a sharp +trail enough; but in the lapse of three days it had been so +obliterated that all Grom's wood-craft was needed to decipher it, and +his progress was slow. He began to be puzzled at the absence of any +other trail, of any footsteps of a mysterious, unknown monster. Such +tracks as crossed those of the fugitive, however terrible, were all +familiar to his eye. + +Suddenly he almost stumbled over a hideous sight. A low whistle +brought his followers closing in upon him. The skeleton of a +full-grown man lay outstretched in the grass. The bones were +fresh--bloodstained and bright--and a swarm of blood-sucking insects +arose from them. They were picked minutely clean, except for a portion +of the skull, where the long, strong, densely matted hair seemed to +have served as an effective armor. The bones were not pulled about, or +crushed for their marrow, as they would have been if the victim had +been the prey of any of the great carnivorous beasts. And there were +no tracks about it save those of a few small rat-like creatures. It +was clear that the Mystery, whatever it might be, had wings. + +"A bird!" whispered A-ya, with a gleam of triumph in her eyes, at the +same time glancing up into the tree-tops apprehensively. But Grom did +not think so. There were no marks of mighty claws on the turf around +the skeleton. + +Grom cast about him an eager but anxious eye. The country was not +densely wooded at this point, but studded with low thickets, and set +here and there with scattered trees. From a little way ahead came a +gleam of calm water through the greenery. It was a scene of peace, and +security, and summer loveliness. Its very beauty seemed to Grom an +added menace, as if some peculiar treachery must lurk behind it. + +In the center of an open glade, not far from the skeleton, Grom set +his party to building a circle of fires, as likely to afford the +surest kind of a refuge. A supply of fuel having been gathered, he +directed A-ya and Mo to remain and tend the fires and not to leave the +circle unless he should summon them. Loob, the cunning scout, he sent +off to the left through the underbrush. He himself followed the trail +of the fugitive--now doubled by that of the other fugitive whose +skeleton lay there in the sun--down toward that gleam of water through +the trees. A-ya gazed after him anxiously as he vanished, half minded +to dare his displeasure and follow him. + +Grom was presently able to make out that the water was a wide, reedy +lake or the arm of a shallow river. There was no wind, and the surface +shone like clear glass. But once and again his eyes were dazzled by a +dart of intense radiance, a great flash of rose or violet or +blue-green flame, shooting over the surface of the water. A memory of +what A-ya had professed to gather from the stranger woman rushed into +his mind. Perhaps the Destroying Thing was like a bird, and +nevertheless, at the same time, something like fire. He felt himself +confronted by a mystery which made even his tried nerves creep; and he +hid himself in the densest undergrowth as he stole forward toward the +water. He had forgotten, and forsaken, the trail he was following, in +his haste to solve the problem of those darting splendors. + +A few moments more and he gained the edge of an open glade which led +straight to the water. He paused behind the screening leaves. Out over +the water a bar of ruby light, surrounded by a globe of rose-pink +mist, shot by and vanished from his narrow field of vision. He was +just about to thrust out his head and crane his neck to follow the +gorgeous apparition, when a peculiar dry rustling in the air above +checked him. He glanced up cautiously, and saw hovering, not more than +twenty or thirty yards away, a beautiful and dreadful being. + +In shape it was exactly like a dragon-fly; but the length of its +flaming violet body was greater than that of Grom's longest arrow. The +spread of its two pairs of transparent, crystal-shining, colorless +wings was even greater than the length of its body. Its enormous eyes, +wells of purple fire which took up the whole of the top and sides of +its monstrous head, seemed to see everywhere at once; and Grom +shivered with the feeling that they had spied him out and were peering +into his very soul. + +The awful eyes may have seen him, indeed; but at that moment they +spied out something else which apparently concerned them more. With a +pounce like a flash of violet lightning--and, indeed, almost as +swift--the bright shape swooped to the grass. The four shining wings +waved there for a moment, and there seemed to be a mild struggle. Then +the giant fly rose again, lightly, into the air, holding in the clutch +of its six slender, jointed legs the body of one of those black, +rat-like animals which Grom knew so well as infesting the grass of all +meadows near the water. The captor flew to a naked branch near the +waterside, alighted upon it, and proceeded to make its meal, holding +up the body between the end joints of its front pair of legs and +turning it over and over deftly while its appalling jaws both crushed +and mangled it. The process was amazingly swift. In the space of a +couple of minutes all the blood, flesh, and soft material of the rat +were squeezed out and sucked down. The remnants were rolled into a +hard little ball, perfectly spherical, and scornfully tossed aside. +And the monster, leaping into the air with a rustle of its glittering +wings, flashed off over the water. + +Almost in the same moment an amazingly loud rustle, like the sweep of +a fierce gust of rain upon a rank of palmetto leaves, filled the air +above the glade, and Grom, looking up with a start, saw a great shoal +of the radiant shapes storm by, as if with the rainbow entangled in +their wings. He wondered upon what foray they were bent; and now for +the first time he realized, with a creeping of the flesh, what it was +that had overtaken the man whose skeleton he had found in the grass. +The shoal swept out over the lake a little way, and then down the +shore toward the left; and Grom drew a long breath as he assured +himself that their course was taking them far from the fires of A-ya +and Mo. + +When Grom lowered his eyes to earth again he started. On the side of +the stump of a fallen tree, out in the glade not more than eight or +ten yards distant, clung one of the monsters, scintillating blue-green +and amethyst in the full blaze of the sun. Its wings, exquisitely +netted and of crystal transparency, were tinged with an ineffable +purple iridescence. Its jointed body, slightly longer than Grom's arm, +was nearly as thick as his wrist, and ended at the tail with a +formidable double claw. Its six legs, arranged in three pairs under +the thorax, were armed on the inner sides with powerful spines, +needle-pointed and steel hard, with which to grip and hold its +victims. The thorax, from the back of which sprouted the four great +wings, was of the thickness of Grom's forearm, while its head was as +big as Grom's two great fists put together. It was this head which +held Grom's fascinated gaze, giving him more of the sensation of cold +fear than he had ever known before. More than two-thirds of the head +consisted of a pair of huge, globose eyes, without pupil, ethereally +transparent, yet unfathomable. From the depths of them flamed a +ceaselessly changing radiance of blue-green, purple and violet. Grom +found the stare of those blank, pupilless eyes almost intolerable. + +It was plainly straight at him, through the ineffectual screen of the +leafage, that the dreadful insect was staring. At first it stared with +the back of its head. Then, very deliberately, it turned its head +completely around, without moving its body a hair-breadth, till its +mouth was in the same plane with its back. This gave Grom a sense of +disgust, and his shrinking dread began to give way to a sort of rage. + +Then he took note of the monster's mouth--and understood those great +cup-shaped wounds on the woman and the child. The mouth took up the +remaining third of the head, and seemed to consist of globular discs +working one over the other, so as either to cut cleanly or to grind. +They were working, slowly, now--and Grom felt suddenly that he must +put a stop to it, that he must put out the awful light in those +monstrous devil eyes. Stealthily, almost imperceptibly, he fitted an +arrow to his bow, raised it, drew it, and took a long, steady aim. He +must not miss. The shaft flew--and the great fly was pinned, through +the thorax, to the soft, rotten wood of its perch. + +To Grom's horror that stroke, which to any beast he knew would have at +once been fatal, did not kill the monstrous fly. Its struggles, and +the beating of its four great wings were so violent that the +arrow-head was presently wrenched loose from its hold in the wood, and +the raging splendor, with the shaft half-way through its thorax, +bounded into the air. It darted straight at Grom, who had prudently +edged in among a tangle of stems. Its fury carried it through the +screen of leafage--but then, its wings impeded by the branches, and +the arrow hampering it, it dashed itself to the earth. Instantly Grom +was upon it, stamping its slim body, as it lay there blazing and +quivering, into the soil. The violet light in the huge, pupilless eyes +still stared up at him implacable, from a head turned squarely over +the back. But in a cold fury Grom shattered the gleaming head with his +club. Then he trod the silver wings to dust. + +Having slaked his wrath effectually, Grom turned to stare forth again +at those destroying splendors darting and glittering above the surface +of the lake. To his surprise there were no more of them to be seen. +Then far off down the shore he heard the voice of Loob, shouting for +help. The shouting changed at once to a scream of terror, and Grom +started to the rescue on the full run--taking care, however, to keep +within cover of the thickets. But before he had gone a quarter of a +mile he heard A-ya's voice calling him, wildly, insistently, mingled +with excited yells from Mo. He shouted in reply and dashed madly for +the fires. The peril of A-ya put all other considerations out of his +mind. + +As he burst forth into the glade of refuge, he saw A-ya and young Mo +leaping about frantically among their fires, now trying to stir the +fires to a fiercer blaze, now beating upwards with their spears, while +above them darted and gleamed and swooped and scintillated, with a +horrid dry rustling of their silver wings, shoal upon shoal of the +devouring monsters. As he burst into the open, with a great shout of +encouragement, something dropped upon him. He felt his head instantly +caged by six steel-like legs which gripped like jaws, their spines +sinking deep into the flesh of neck and cheek. He reached up his left +hand, caught his dreadful assailant just where the head and thorax +join, and strove to throttle it. This was impossible, by reason of the +insect's armor, but he succeeded in holding off those horrid jaws from +his face as he dashed for the circle. Another monster swooped and +struck its spines into his back, and bit a great mouthful out of his +shoulder. But he gained the fires, and, holding his breath, sprang +right through the fiercest flame. The wings of his assailants +shrivelled instantly, and the flame, drawn into the mouth of their +breathing tubes, sealed them up. Grom tore them off, and slammed the +writhing, wingless bodies into the fire. + +Inside the circle, now that the fires were burning high, it was +possible to defend oneself effectually, as the bulk of the assailants +seemed to realize that the flames were fatal to their frail wings. But +there were enough so headlong in their ferocity that both Grom and Mo +were kept busy beating them off with spears, while A-ya fed the fires; +and the ground inside the circle was littered with the radiant bodies +of the dying insects, which, even in dying, bit like bull-dogs if foot +or leg came within reach. Grom noticed that their supply of fuel was +all but gone, and his heart sank. He measured with his eyes the +distance to the nearest thickets that looked dense enough for a +shelter. + +"We'll have to run for those bushes," he said presently. "They can't +fly in where the branches are thick. It breaks their wings." + +"Good," said young Mo. But A-ya, whose shapely shoulders and thighs +were already covered with hideous wounds, trembled at the prospect. + +At that moment, however an amazing change came over the scene. A black +thunder-cloud passed across the face of the sun. The moment the +sunshine vanished the destroyers seemed to forget their fury. All the +life and energy went out of them. They simply flocked to the nearest +trees and hung themselves up, gigantic, jewelled blooms, upon the +branches. In less than a minute every dreadful wing was stilled. + +"Now is our time. Come!" commanded Grom, leading the way out of the +circle. + +"Let's stop and kill them all!" pleaded young Mo, his eyes red with +rage. + +But Grom pointed to the cloud. "It will pass quickly," said he. "We +must be far from here before the sun shows his face again." + +He paused, however, to transfix upon his spear-head one of their +wounded but still fluttering foes, that he might be able to show the +tribe what manner of monsters they had had to deal with. Both A-ya and +Mo followed his example; and they all ran off down the glade searching +for Loob, whom they soon found and bearing their strange trophies on +their spear-heads they went on. The monsters, clinging sullenly to +their perches, rolled baleful eyes of emerald and rose and amethyst +upon them as they went, but lifted never a wing to follow them. Ten +minutes later the sun came out again. Then the monsters all sprang +hurtling into the air, and darted hither and thither above the glade +in shoals of iridescent radiance, seeking their prey. But Grom and +A-ya, Mo and Loob triumphant in spite of their wounds, were by this +time far away among the inland thickets, where those intolerable eyes +could not search them out, nor the clashing wings pursue. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE TERRORS OF THE DARK + + +I + +From the topmost summit of that range of pointed hills which held the +caves and the cave-mouth fires of his people, Grom stared northward +with keen curiosity. To east and south and west he had explored, ever +seeking to enlarge the knowledge and strengthen the security of his +tribe. But to northward of the pointed hills lay league on league of +profound jungle--grotesque and enormous growths knitted together +impenetrably by a tangle of gigantic, flame-flowered lianas. And in +those rank, green glooms, as Grom had reason to believe, there lurked +such monsters as even he, with all his resources of fire and novel +weapons, had so far shrunk from challenging. + +But beyond the expanse of jungle stretched another line of hills, +their summits not saw-toothed like his own, but low and gently +rounded, and of a smoky purple against the pure turquoise sky. These +hills Grom was thirsting to explore. They might contain caves more +roomy than those of his own hills--spacious and suitable to give +shelter to his tribe, which was now finding itself somewhat cramped. +Moreover, it had always seemed to Grom that there might be a mystery +behind those hills, and to his restless imagination a mystery was +always like a stinging goad. + +In all this neighborhood the crust of earth was thin as plainly +appeared from the fringe of wavering volcanic flames which, during all +the five years since the coming of the tribe, had been dancing from +the lip of the narrow fissure across the mouth of their valley. Night +and day, now high and vehement, now low and faint, they had danced +there, guarding the valley entrance--until just one moon ago. Then had +come an earthquake, shaking the hearts of all the tribe to water. The +dancing flames had died. The fissure had closed up, and its place had +been taken by a pool of boiling pitch. And one of the caves had fallen +in, burying several members of the tribe, who had been too stupefied +with panic to flee into the open at the first alarm. For some days +after this catastrophe the tribe had camped in the open, huddled about +their great fires. Then, but with deep misgivings, they had all +crowded back into the remaining caves. + +But now there was not room enough, and Bawr, the wise Chief, had taken +frequent counsel upon the matter with Grom, whom, loving him greatly +he called sometimes his Right Hand and sometimes the Eye of the +People. At last, it had been settled that Grom should lead a party +through the jungle land to those other hills, to spy out the prospect. +And Grom, like the foresighted leader that he was, had spent many +hours on the mountain-top, planning his route and studying the +luxuriant surface of the jungle outstretched below him, before +plunging into its mysterious depths. + +As was his custom when on a perilous venture, Grom would have few +followers to share the peril with him. He took A-ya, not only because +of her oft-proved courage and resourcefulness, not only because he +wanted her always at his side, but, above all, because he knew he +could not leave her behind. Had he tried to leave her, she would have +disobeyed and followed him by stealth--and perhaps fallen a prey to +prowling beasts. He took also A-ya's young brother, the hot-head Mo; +and Loob, the shaggy, little sharp-faced scout, who could run like a +hare, hide like a fox, and fight like a cornered weasel. This he would +have accounted, ordinarily, a sufficient party. But the present +enterprise being one of peculiar difficulty, he decided at the last +moment to strengthen his following by the addition of a dark-faced, +perpetually-grinning giant named Hobbo, who was slow of wit, but +thewed like a bull, and a mighty fighter with the stone-headed club. + +This little but greatly daring band, which Grom, one flaming sunrise, +led down into the unknown jungle, was well armed. Besides the spear +and the club, each member of the party but Hobbo (who had displayed no +aptitude for its use) carried Grom's wonderful invention--the bow. +Hobbo, however, because of his immense strength, bore the heavy +fire-basket, wherein the smoldering coals were cherished in a bed of +clay. As a food reserve, everyone carried a few strips of half-dried +meat; but their main dependence, of course, was to be upon the spoils +of their hunting and the fruits that they might gather on their +march. + +The forest into whose depths Grom now led the way was in reality a +survival from a previous age, into which the forms, both vegetable and +animal, of contemporary life had been gradually infiltrating. The +soil, of incredible fertility, still poured forth those gigantic tree +grasses, and colossal, sappy ferns and psuedo-palms, which had +flourished chiefly in the carboniferous period. But here they were +mingled with the more enduring hard-wood growths of the later tropical +forests; and only these were strong enough to support the massive, +strangling coils of the cable-like lianas, which wound their way up +the huge trunks and reached out in aerial, swaying bridges from +tree-top to tree-top. On every side, high or low, the deep-green gloom +was splashed with color from the gorgeous orchids and other epiphytes, +which flowered out into grotesque or monstrous wing-petaled shapes of +vermilion and purple and orange and rose and white, eyed with velvet +black or streaked with iridescent bronze. + +To men of to-day this jungle would have been impenetrable, except by +the incessant use of axe or machete. But Grom and his party were +Cave-Men, and had not yet forgotten all the instincts and capacities +of their tree-dwelling ancestors. Sometimes, where it seemed easiest, +they forced their way along the ground, or followed the trodden trail +of some great jungle beast, so long as it led in the right direction. +But here they had to be ceaselessly on the watch against surprise by +creatures whose monstrous tracks were unlike any that they had ever +seen before. Whenever possible, therefore, they preferred to journey, +after the fashion of their apish ancestors, by way of the high +branches and the liana bridges. Hampered as they were by their +weapons, their progress by this aerial way was slow. But it was +comparatively secure. And it was also comparatively cool; while down +at the ground-level the steaming heat and the stinging insects were +almost beyond endurance. + +Yet before the end of that first day's journey they learned that even +in tree-tops it was necessary to be always on the watch. Once the +little hairy scout, Loob, who traveled always on the outskirts of the +party, was struck at suddenly by a huge black leopard, which lay +ambushed in the crotch of a tree. Loob, however, who was so +quick-sighted that he seemed to see things before they actually +happened, leapt to a higher branch in time to escape the deadly +paw. In the next instant he struck down furiously with his spear, +catching his assailant between the shoulder-blades and driving the +stroke home with all his strength. With a screech, the beast stiffened +out, and then, somewhat slowly, collapsed. As Loob wrenched his +weapon free, the great animal slumped limply from its branch. For a +moment or two it hung by the fore-paws, coughing and frothing at +the mouth. Then this last hold relaxed and it fell, bumping with a +curious deliberation from branch to branch. It vanished through a +floor of thick leafage, and struck the ground with a dull crash. It +must have fallen under the very jaws of an unseen waiting monster; for +there arose at once a strange, hooting roar, followed by the sound +of rending flesh and cracking bone. Loob grinned over his feat, +and Grom, glancing at A-ya, muttered quietly: "It is better to be up +here than down there." As he spoke, and they all peered downwards, +a dreadful head, with the limp body of the leopard gripped like a +rat between its long jaws and dripping yellow fang, thrust itself +up through the floor of leafage and stared at them with round eyes +as cold and black as ice. + +Grom itched to shoot an arrow into one of those unwinking, devilish +eyes. But arrows were too precious to be wasted. + +That night they slept profoundly on a platform which they wove of +branches in one of the tallest and most unscalable trees. They kept +watch, of course, turn and turn about; but nothing attempted to +approach them, and they cared little for the sounds of strife, the +crashings of pursuit and desperate flight, which came up to them at +intervals from the blackness far below. + +On the morrow, however, as they were pursuing their aerial path along +the borders of a narrow, sluggish bayou, they were suddenly made to +realize that the tree-tops held perils more deadly than that of the +lurking leopards. They were all staring down into the water, which +swarmed with gigantic crocodiles and boiled immediately beneath them +with the turmoil of a life-and-death struggle between two of the +brutes, when harsh jabbering in the branches just across the water +made them look up. + +The tree-tops opposite were full of great apes, mowing and gibbering +at them with every sign of hate. The beasts were as big and massive as +Hobbo himself, and covered thickly with long, blackish fur. Their +faces, half human, half dog-like, were hairless and of a bright but +bilious blue, with great livid red circles about the small, furious +eyes. With derisive gestures they swung themselves out upon the +overhanging branches, till it almost seemed as if they would hurl +themselves into the water in their rage against the little knot of +human beings. + +The girl A-ya, overcome with loathing horror because the beasts were +so hideous a caricature of man, covered her eyes with one hand. Young +Mo, his fiery temper stung by their challenge, clapped an arrow to his +string and raised his bow to shoot. But Grom checked him sternly, +dreading to fix any thirst of vengeance in the minds of the terrible +troop. + +"They can't come at us here. Let them forget about us," said he. +"Don't take any more notice of them at all." + +As he led the way once more through the branches along the edge of the +bayou, the apes kept pace with them on the other side. But presently +the bayou widened, and then swept sharply off to the west. Grom kept +on straight to the north, by the route which he had planned. And the +mad gibbering died away into the hot, green silence of the tree-tops. + +The adventurers now pushed on with redoubled speed, unwilling to pass +another night in the tree-tops when such dangerous antagonists were in +the neighborhood. The hills, however, were still far off when evening +came again. Not knowing that the great apes always slept at night, +Grom decided to continue the journey in order to lessen the risk of a +surprise. When the moon rose, round and huge and honey-colored, over +the sea of foliage, traveling through the tree-tops was almost as easy +as by day, while the earth below them, with its prowling and battling +monsters, was buried in inky gloom. When day broke, there were the +rounded hills startlingly close ahead, as if they had crept forward to +meet them in the night. + +And now the hills looked different. Between the nearest--a long, +rolling, treeless ridge of downland--and the edge of the jungle +lay an expanse of open, grassy savannah, dotted with ponds, and +here and there a curious, solitary, naked tree-trunk, with what +looked like a bunch of grass on its top. They were like gigantic +green paint-brushes, with yellow-gray handles, stuck up at random. +Far off they saw a herd of curious beasts at pasture, and away to +the left a giant bird, as tall as the tree by which it stood, seemed +to keep watch. A little to the right, where the treeless ridge came +abruptly to an end, gleamed a considerable stretch of water. It was +toward this point, where the water washed the steep-shouldered +promontory, that Grom decided to shape his course across the plain. + +By the time the sun was some three hours high they had arrived within +a couple of hundred yards of the open. Sick of the oppressive jungle, +and eager for the change to a type of country with which they were +more familiar, they were swinging on through the tree-tops at a great +pace, when that savage, snarling jabber which they so dreaded was +heard in the branches behind them. Grom instantly put A-ya in the +lead, while he himself dropped to the rear to meet this deadliest of +perils. There was no need to urge his party to haste; but it seemed to +them all as if they were standing still, so swiftly did the clamor of +the apes come upon them. + +"Down to earth," ordered Grom sharply, seeing that they must be +overtaken before they could reach the open, and realizing that in the +tree-tops they could not hope to match these four-handed dwellers of +the trees. + +As they dropped nimbly from branch to branch, the foremost of the apes +arrived in sight, set up a screech of triumph, and came swooping down +after them in vast, swinging leaps. In the hurry Hobbo dropped his +fire-basket, which broke as it fell and scattered the precious coals. +Grom, guarding the rear of the flight, made the mistake of keeping his +eye too much on the enemy, too little on where he was going. In a +moment or two, he found himself cut off, upon a branch from which +there was no escape without a drop of twenty feet to a most uncertain +foothold. Rather than risk it, he ran in upon his nearest assailant at +the base of the branch, thrusting at the blue-faced beast with his +spear. But his position being so insecure, his thrust lacked force and +precision. The great ape caught it deftly; and Grom, to preserve his +balance, had to let the spear be wrenched from his hand. At the same +moment another ape dropped on the branch behind him. + +For just one second Grom thought his hour had come. He crouched to +steady himself, then darted forward and hurled his club straight at +his foe's protruding and shaggy paunch. Again the beast caught the +missile in its lightning clutch; but in the next instant it threw up +its long arms, without a sound, and fell backwards out of the tree. +A-ya, who had been the first to reach the ground, had drawn her bow +and shot upwards with sure aim. The shaft had caught the great ape +under the center of the jaw, far back at the throat, and pierced +straight up to the brain. + +Surprised at seeing their leader fall with so little apparent reason, +the other apes halted for a moment in their onset, chattering noisily. +In that moment Grom swung himself to the ground. As he reached it both +Mo and Loob discharged their arrows. Another ape fell from his perch, +but caught himself on a lower branch and hung there writhing; while a +third, with a shaft half buried in his paunch, fled back yelling into +the tree-top. Then the adventurers snatched up their fallen weapons +from the ground and made for the open as fast as they could run. And +the apes, with a hellish uproar of barks and screams, came swarming +after them through the lower branches. + +At this point, fortunately for the travelers, the jungle was already +thinning, and they had a chance to show their speed. The raging +blue-faces were speedily distanced, and the fugitives ran out +breathless upon the sunny savannah. Here, feeling themselves safe, +they halted to look back. The lower branches all along the edge of the +grass were thronged with leaping brown forms, and gnashing blue masks, +and red-rimmed, devilish eyes. But not one of the great beasts, for +all their rage, seemed willing to venture forth into the open. + +"There must be something out here that they fear greatly," commented +Grom, peering warily about him. But there was nothing in sight to +suggest any danger, and he led the way onward through the rank grass +at a long, leisurely trot. + + +II + +For the most part the grass grew hardly waist high; but here and there +were patches, perhaps an acre or so in extent, where it was more cane +than grass and rose to a height of twelve or fifteen feet. To such +patches, which might serve as lurking-places to unknown monsters, Grom +gave a wide berth. He had a vivid remembrance of that colossal head, +with the awful dead eyes, which had reared itself through the leafage +to stare up at him. + +In spite of the strange and enormous trails which crossed their path +at times; in spite of occasional massive swayings and crashings in the +deep beds of cane, the adventurous party accomplished the journey +across the savannah without encountering a single foe. The mid-noon +blaze of the sun upon the windless grass, which was almost more than +they could endure, was probably keeping the monsters to their lairs; +and the only living things to be seen, besides the insects and a +high-wheeling vulture or two, were a few shy troops of a kind of small +antelope, incredibly swift of foot. + +Grom drew a breath of relief as they reached the foot of the hills. +But just here it was impossible to climb them. A range of high +limestone downs, they were fringed at this point by an unbroken line +of cliff, perpendicular and at times overhanging, from forty or fifty +to perhaps a couple of hundred feet in height, and so smooth that even +these goat-footed cave-folk could not scale them. The rich plain-land +at their feet had once been a shallow, inland sea, and now its grasses +washed along their base in a gold-green, scented foam. + +Turning to the right, Grom led the way close along the cliff-foot +toward the water, which glowed like brass about a mile ahead. Along +the right of their path the ground sloped off gently to a belt of that +high cane-like growth which Grom regarded with such suspicion. Before +they had gone many hundred yards his suspicion was more than +justified. + +From a little way behind them there arose all at once a chorus of +explosive gruntings, mixed with a huge crashing of the canes. Glancing +over their shoulders, they saw a great rust-red animal, about the size +of a rhinoceros, which burst forth from the canes and stood staring +after them. Its hideous head was larger than that of any rhinoceros +they had ever seen, and armed with a pair of enormous conical horns, +each more than a foot in diameter at the base and tapering to a keen +point. Set side by side, at a moderate angle, upon the bridge of the +snout, they were far more terrible than the horns of any rhinoceros. +Their bearer lowered them menacingly, and charged down upon Grom's +party with a sound that was something between the grunting of a hog +and the braying of an ass. Immediately upon his massive heels a whole +herd of the red monsters surged forth from the canes, and came +charging after their leader at a ponderous gallop which seemed +literally to shake the earth. + +For a moment or two Grom's party had paused, confident in their own +fleetness of foot, and wondering at that pair of amazing horns on the +monster's snout. But when the rest of the terrific herd came +thundering down upon them, they fled in all haste. To their amazement, +they found that their speed was none too great for their need. The red +monsters, in spite of their bulk, were disconcertingly swift. + +As he neared the swift promontory which terminated with the range of +downs, Grom began to fear that he and his followers would have to take +refuge in the water. This water, as it chanced, was the brackish +estuary of a river which, sweeping down from the east, here made its +way to the sea through a long, slanting break in the limestone hills. +It was now near low tide, and there opened before the hard-pressed +fugitives, as they approached the shore, a strip of damp beach running +around the base of the bluff. As they left the grass and ran out upon +the beach they were astonished to find that the thundering pursuit had +stopped short. Just at the turn of the cliff they halted and stared +back wonderingly. Their pursuers, though swinging their great horns +and braying with rage, were evidently unwilling to venture so near the +waterside. They drew back, indeed, as if they feared it, and at last +went crashing away into the canes. The fugitives, glad of an +opportunity to rest their laboring lungs, squatted down with their +backs against the cliff and congratulated themselves on having got rid +of such perilous attentions. But Grom's sagacious eyes searched the +cliff face anxiously, without neglecting to watch the unruffled water. +If that water was so dreaded that even the mighty herd of their +pursuers durst not approach it, surely its smiling surface must hide +some peril of surpassing horror. + +For the next few hundred yards, till it vanished around the curve, the +strip of naked beach was not more than twenty or thirty feet in width. +Not without some apprehensions, Grom decided to push forward. There +seemed nothing else to do, indeed, seeing that the cane-beds behind +them were occupied by that irresistible red herd. Somewhere ahead, he +argued, there must be a break in the cliff which would give access to +the rolling downs above, where they might travel in safety. + +Disguising his growing uneasiness that he might not discourage his +followers--who were now full of elation at having reached the foot of +the hills--he led on again in haste, though there seemed to be no need +of haste. Both Hobbo and young Mo, indeed, were for staying a while +and sleeping in the shade of an overhanging rock. But A-ya, who sensed +through sympathy her lord's disquietude, and the little scout Loob, +who was always, on principle, ill at ease in any spot where there was +no tree to climb, were as eager as their chief to push ahead; and the +others would never have dared, in any case, to question Grom's +decision. + +As they rounded the next bend of the cliff, however, a clamor of +excited satisfaction arose from all the party. Straight ahead, and not +fifty paces distant, there opened before them a spacious cave-mouth, +with a somewhat wider strip of beach before it. Immediately beyond the +cave the strip of beach came sharply to an end, and the tide lapped +softly against the foot of the cliff. + +But just then, in the moment of their elation, a terrifying thing +happened. As if aroused by their voices, the still surface a few yards +from shore boiled up, and was lashed to foam by the strokes of a +gigantic tail. + +"Run!" yelled Grom; and they all dashed forward, there being no chance +to go back. In the same instant, an appalling head--like that of a +thrice magnified and distorted crocodile, with vast, round, painted +eyes--was upthrust from the water and came rushing after them at a +pace which sent up a curving wave before it. + +Quick as thought, Grom drew his bow and shot at the appalling head. +The arrow drove straight into the gaping throat, eliciting a +thunderous bellow of rage, but producing no other effect. Then Grom +sprang after his fleeing companions, and raced for his life toward the +cave mouth. The cave might be nothing more than a death-trap for them +all; but it seemed to offer the one possibility of escape. + +As they dashed into the cave the awful, gaping head was close behind +them. They had a flashing glimpse, through the gloom, of high-arched +distance melting into blackness, of a strip of black water along the +right, and to the left a gentle ascent of smooth white sand, whose end +was out of sight. + +Up this slope they raced, with the clashing of monstrous fangs close +behind them. But they had not gone a dozen strides when the slope +quivered, and heaved upwards shudderingly beneath them; and they all +fell forward flat upon their faces. From all but Grom there went up a +shriek so piercing that in their own ears it disguised the stupendous +rending roar which at that moment seemed to stun the air. The mighty +arch of the cave mouth had slipped and crashed down, completely +jamming the entrance, and opening up a gash of blue heaven above their +heads. + +To Grom's unshaken wits, it was clear on the instant what had +happened. He staggered to his feet and looked back through a rain of +falling rock-splinters. He had a vision of their colossal pursuer, its +jaws stretched to their utmost width, the vast globes of its eyes +protruding from their armored sockets, its ponderous, bowed fore-legs +pawing the air aimlessly in the final convulsion. The falling +rock-mass had caught it on the middle of the back, crushing its mighty +frame like an eggshell. + +For a second or two, Grom stood there rigid, staring, his gnarled +fingers clenched upon his weapons. Then a second earthquake tremor +beneath his feet warned him. With an unerring instinct, he sprang on +up the slope after his companions, who had fled as soon as they could +pick themselves up. And in the next moment the rock above his head, +fissured deep by the rains, slipped again. With a growling screech, as +if torn from the bowels of the mountain, it settled slowly down, and +sealed the mouth of the cave to utter blackness. + +Grom stopped short, having no mind to dash out his brains against the +rock. There was stillness at last, and silence save for the faint, +humming moan of the earthquake which seemed to come from vast depths +beneath his feet. Profoundly awed, but master of his spirit, he stood +leaning upon his spear in the thick dark till the last of that strange +humming note had died away. Then, through a silence so thick it seemed +to choke him, he called aloud: + +"A-ya! where are you?" + +"_Grom!_" came the girl's answer, a sobbing cry of relief and joy, +from almost, as it seemed, beneath his outstretched hand. + +"We are all here," came the voices of the three men. + +They had fallen headlong at the second shock, as at the first; and in +the darkness they had not dared to rise again, but lay waiting for +their leader to tell them what to do. In half a dozen cautious, +groping steps he was among them, and sank down by A-ya's side, +clutching her to him to stop her trembling. + +"What are we to do now?" asked the girl, after a long silence. Without +Grom, they would probably have died where they were, not daring to +stir in the darkness. But their faith in their chief kept them +cheerful even in this desperate plight. + +"We must find a way out," answered Grom, with resolute confidence. + +"If Hobbo had not dropped the fire!" said young Mo bitterly. + +The giant groaned in self-abasement, and beat his chest with his great +fists. But Grom, who would allow no dissensions in his following, +answered sternly: + +"Be silent. You might have done no better yourself." + +Then for a time there was no more said, while Grom, sitting there +in the dark with the girl's face buried in his great shaggy chest, +thought out his plans. It was plain to him, from what he had seen in +that last instant of daylight, that the entrance was blocked +impregnably. Moreover, he judged that any attempt to work an +opening in that direction would be likely, for the present, to bring +more rocks down upon them. It would be better, first, to feel their +way on into the cave in the hope of finding another exit. He was +not afraid of getting lost, no matter how absolute the dark, because +he possessed that sixth sense, so long ago vanished from modern +man's equipment--the sense of direction. He knew that, as a matter of +course, he could find his way back to this starting-point whenever +he would. + +"Come on!" he ordered at last, lifting A-ya and holding her hand in +his grasp. Reaching out with his spear, he kept tapping the ground +before him as he went, and occasionally the wall upon his left. +Sometimes, too, he would reach upwards to assure himself that there +was no lowering of the rocky ceiling. A spear's length to the right, +more or less, he got always a splash of water. + +With their fine senses intensely alert, they were able to make fair +progress, even though unaided by their eyes. But Grom checked his +advance abruptly. He had a perception of some obstacle before him. He +reached out his spear as far as he could. It touched a soft object. +The object, whatever it was, surged violently beneath the touch. His +flesh crept, and the shaggy hair uplifted on his neck. "Back!" he +hissed, thrusting A-ya off to arm's length and bracing his spear point +before him to receive the expected attack. A pair of faintly +phosphorescent eyes, small, but so wide apart as to show that their +owner's head must have been enormous, flashed round upon them. There +was a hoarse squeal of alarm, and a heavy body went floundering off +into the water. They could hear it swimming away in hot haste. + +Every one drew a long breath. Then, after a few moments, A-ya laughed +softly: + +"It's good to find something at last that runs away from us instead of +after us!" said she. + +A little further on the cave wall turned to the left. A few steps, and +their path came to an end. There was water ahead of them, and on both +sides. Grom's exploring spear assured them that it was deep water. + +"We must swim," said he. "Leave your clubs behind." And leading the +way down into the unknown tide, he struck out straight ahead. + +It was nerve-testing work swimming thus through that unseen water to +an unguessed goal; but Grom was unhesitating, and his companions +rested upon his steady will. The water was of a summer warmth, and +slightly salt, which convinced him that it had free communication with +the sunlit tides outside. Several times he came within touch of the +rocky walls of the cavern, and found that they went straight down to a +depth he could not guess. But he kept on with hope and confidence at a +leisurely pace, which, in that bland and windless flood, he knew that +every member of his party could have maintained for half a day. + +Suddenly there appeared ahead of them a faint, bluish gleam upon the +water's surface. It was something elusive and unreal, and vaguely +menacing. + +"Daylight!" exclaimed young Mo eagerly. But Grom said nothing. He did +not think it was daylight, and he was apprehensive of some new peril. + +The strange light grew and spread. It was evident now that it rose +from the water, and also that it was advancing rapidly to meet the +astonished swimmers. After a few moments it was bright enough in its +blue pallor to show the swimmers that they were traversing a vast hall +of waters, whose roof was lost in darkness. Some fifty yards ahead of +them, and a little to the right, a low spit of rock, half awash for +the greater part of its length, ran out slantingly from the wall of +the stupendous chamber. + +Toward this ledge Grom now led the way, hurling himself through the +water on his side at top speed. He could not fathom this mysterious +phosphorescence, and he wished to get his people out upon dry land +before it reached them. But fast as the adventurers swam, the ghostly +radiance spread faster. Before they got to the ledge, the light was +all about them; but it seemed to be coming from a great depth. + +Nervously they all glanced down, and a low cry of horror broke from +their lips. The depths were swarming with monstrous, luminous forms, a +moon-bright, crawling, sliding field of claws and feelers, and broad, +flat backs, and dreadful, protruding eyes. + +The eyes all stared straight up at them with a fixed malignancy that +froze even Grom's blood. They seemed innumerable, and all together +they came suddenly floating upwards. + +Already the fugitives were dragging themselves out upon the ledge, in +frantic haste, when the diabolical swarm reached the surface. But +Hobbo, who was the slowest swimmer, was merely clutching at the rock +when the water boiled all about him in a froth of light. A pair of +huge, pincer-like claws seized him by the neck, and another pair by +one arm, plucking him back. His convulsed face stared upward for an +instant, and then, with a choked scream, he was dragged under. He +disappeared in a swirl of pale blue, frantically waving claws, and +eyes, and feelers, and black-fringed, chopping mouths. + +Beside himself with rage and horror, Grom stabbed down wildly into the +whirling struggle, and his example was followed at once by Loob and +young Mo. Some of their random blows went home, and as one or another +of the gigantic crabs turned over in its death-throes, its nearest +fellows seized it, tore it to pieces, and devoured it. + +But A-ya, who had taken no part in this vengeance, now snatched Grom +by the arm, shrieking wildly: + +"Look! They are coming out!" + +Recovering their senses, the three half-maddened men stared about +them. On every side the gigantic crabs--some with claws eight or ten +feet long, and eyes upon the ends of long waving stalks--were crawling +up upon the ledge. + +The ledge, fortunately, was of some width. At its landward end it rose +into a mass of tumbled rocks perhaps twenty or thirty feet above the +water. Toward this post of vantage the adventurers fought their way, +striking and thrusting desperately with their spears as the monsters, +crowding up from the water on either side, snatched at them with their +terrible mailed claws. Over and over again one or another of the party +was seized by the foot or the leg; but his companions would beat the +long, jointed limb to fragments, or drive their spear-points deep into +the awful, drooling mouth, and set him free. + +At last, bleeding from many wounds, they reached the end of the ledge +and clambered to the top. Here but three or four of the giant +crustaceans tried to follow them. These were easily speared from +above, and hurled back disabled among their ravening kin. And the +whole swarm, apparently forgetting their intended victims as soon as +they were out of reach, fell to fighting hideously among themselves +over the convulsed bodies of these wounded. The lower portion of the +ledge, and the water all about it, was a crawling mass of horror that +seemed to froth with blue light. And a confused noise of crackling, +snapping and hissing arose from it. + +Every eye but Grom's was glued in fascination to the baleful scene. +But Grom now thought only of using that pervasive light to best +advantage while it should last. The wall of the cavern at this point +was so broken and fissured that it was not unscalable; and a little +way off to the right he marked, at some height above the water, what +looked like the entrance to a lateral gallery. + +"Come! While the light lasts," he ordered, setting off over the rocks. +The others followed close. Now sidling along knife-like ledges, now +clinging by fingers and toes to almost imperceptible projections, they +made their way across the face of the steep, and gained the mouth of +the gallery. It was spacious, and easy to traverse, its floor sloping +upwards somewhat steeply. They plunged into it with confidence. And +the blue light of the Hall of Terrors faded out behind them. + +Not many minutes later, another light, as it were a white star, +gleamed ahead of them. It grew as they went, and turned to gold. Then +a patch of turquoise sky, flecked sweetly with small fleeces of cloud, +opened before them, and in a moment more they came out upon a high, +blossoming down, blown over by a breeze that smelt of honey and salt. +Below them was a lovely, land-locked bay, with a herd of deer +pasturing among scattered trees by the shore. Away behind them +undulated the gracious line of the downs, inviting their feet. + +"It is a pleasant land," said Grom, "and we will surely come back to +it. But I think we must find another way than that by which we came." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE FEASTING OF THE CAVE FOLK + + +I + +At last, and reluctantly, the Folk of the Caves had withdrawn from +their earthquake-harassed valley and betaken themselves to the new +dwelling-place which Grom had found for them, on the green hill-slope +beside the Bitter Waters. They had lost no time, however, in accepting +the new conditions; for these caves in the limestone were ample and +secure--it was hard for any invader to come at them save by way of the +long, bare ridge of the downs running westward behind the caves; a +sweet-water brook ran almost past their threshold to fall with a +pleasant clamor into the bay,--and the surrounding country was rich in +game. The vast basin of marshy plain and colossal jungle, to be sure, +which stretched and steamed below the downs to southward, was the +habitation of strange monsters; but these, apparently, had no taste +for exploring the high, clean, windy downs. + +On a certain golden morning it chanced that the caves were well-nigh +deserted. The men of the tribe, including the chiefs themselves, Bawr +and Grom, together with most of the women and the half-grown children, +had gone off down the shore to a shallow inlet five or six miles +distant to gather shell-fish--great luscious mussels and peculiarly +plump and savory whelks. The girl A-ya, absorbed in her special +occupation of fashioning bows and arrows for the tribe, had remained, +with a half-score of old men and women and Grom's giant slave, the +lame Bow-leg, Ook-ootsk, to guard the little children and the tribal +fires. As Grom's mate, and his confidential associate in all his +greatest ventures, A-ya's prestige in the tribe had come to be only +less than that of Bawr and Grom themselves. + +On the open, grassy level before the cave mouth, the two great fires +burned steadily in the sun. The giant Ook-ootsk, hideous with his +ape-like forehead, his upturned, flaring nostrils, his protruding jaw, +his shaggy, clay-colored torso, and his short, massive, grotesquely +bowed legs--of which one was twisted so that the toes pointed almost +backwards--lay sprawling and chuckling benevolently near the entrance, +while a swarm of little ones, A-ya's two among them, clambered over +him. The old men and the old women most of them dozed in the shade, +save two or three of the most diligent, who occupied their gnarled +fingers in twisting thin strips of hide into bow-strings, or lashing +slivers of stone into the heads of spears. A-ya sat cross-legged a +little apart, beside a tiny fire, laboriously fashioning her bows and +arrows by charring the wood in the embers and then rubbing it between +two rough stones. With her head bent low over her work, the heavy, +tangled masses of her hair fell upon it and got in her way, and from +time to time she shook them aside impatiently. It was a picture of +primeval peace. + +But peace, in the days when earth was young, was something more +precarious than a bubble. + +From around the green shoulder of the hill came a sound of trampling +hooves and labored breathing. A-ya sprang to her feet, snatching up +her own well-tried bow and fitting an arrow to the string. At the same +time she gave a sharp alarm-cry, at which the lame slave, Ook-ootsk, +arose, shaking off the swarm of children, and came hobbling towards +her with his weapons in both hands. An old woman pounced upon the +startled, wide-eyed children, and in a twinkling had them shepherded +into the cave-mouth, out of sight. The old men, springing from their +sleep, and blinking, hurried forth into the sunlight, with such spears +or clubs as they could lay instant hand upon. + +A breathless moment, while all stood waiting for they knew not what. +Then around the corner appeared a tall, wide-antlered elk, its eyes +showing the whites with terror, its dilated nostrils spattering bloody +froth. A long, raking wound ran scarlet down one flank. Staggering +from weariness or loss of blood, it came on straight toward the +cave-mouth, so blinded by its terror that it seemed not to see the +human creatures awaiting it, or even the fires before them. + +A-ya fetched a deep breath of relief when she saw that this was no +ravening monster. Her immediate thought was the hunter's thought. She +drew her bow to the full length of her shaft, and as the panting beast +went by she let drive. The arrow pierced to half its span, just behind +the straining fore-shoulder. Blood burst from the animal's nostrils. +It fell on its knees, struggled up again, blundered on for half a +dozen strides, and dropped half-way across the second fire. + +There was a chorus of triumphant shouts from the old men and women; +and A-ya started forward with the intention of dragging her prize from +the fire. But a look of apprehension and warning in the keen little +eyes of Ook-ootsk, who had by this time hobbled to her side, checked +her. In a flash the meaning of it came to her. + +"What do you suppose was chasing it, Ook-ootsk?" she queried; and +whipped about, without waiting for his answer, to stare anxiously at +the green shoulder of the hillside. + +"Black lion, maybe," said Ook-ootsk, in his harsh, clucking voice, +dropping his spear and club beside him and setting a long arrow to the +string of his massive bow. + +But the words were hardly out of his throat, when his guess was proved +wrong. Around the turn came lumbering, with huge heads hung low and +slavering, half-open jaws a pair of those colossal red bears of the +caves which had always been A-ya's peculiar terror. + +"Hide the children!" she yelled, and then let fly an arrow, almost +without aim, at the foremost of the monsters. She was the best shot in +the tribe, and the shaft sped even too true. It struck the bear full +in the snout, and pierced through the palate and into the throat--a +wound which, though likely to prove mortal after a time, only made the +beast more dangerous for the moment. It paused, coughing, and tried to +paw the torment from its jaws, and then rushed forward, screaming +hideously. + +In that pause, however, though it was but for a second or two, the +second bear had forged ahead of its companion. It was greeted +instantly by an arrow from the massive bow of Ook-ootsk, aimed with +cool deliberation. The long shaft of hickory, delivered thus at close +range, caught the enemy in the front of the right shoulder and drove +clean in to the joint, so that the leg gave way and the gigantic brute +almost fell upon its side. With a roar, it bit off the protruding half +of the tough hickory, and then came on again, on three legs. From +A-ya's nimble bow it got another arrow, which went half-way through +its neck; but to this deadly wound, which sent the blood gushing from +its mouth, it seemed to pay no heed whatever. A-ya's next shot missed; +and then, screaming for the old men to come into the fray, she +snatched up her stone-headed spear and ran around behind the nearest +fire, expecting the bears to follow her and be led away from the +hiding-place of the children. + +But she had forgotten that the slave, Ook-ootsk, with his twisted and +shrunken leg, could not run. That valiant savage, blinking his little +eyes rapidly and blowing defiantly through his upturned nostrils as he +saw his doom rushing upon him, let drive one more of his long shafts +into the red, towering bulk, then dropped his bow, sank upon one knee, +and held up his spear slantingly before him, with its butt firmly +braced upon the ground. As the monster reared itself and fell upon +him, the jagged point of the spear was forced deep into its belly, +straight up till it reached the backbone. Then the shaft snapped, +Ook-ootsk sprawled forward upon his face, and the monster, in the +paroxysm of its amazement and agony, leapt onward and plunged right +over him, involuntarily hurling him aside and clawing most of the +flesh off his back with a kick of one gigantic hind paw. + +He clenched his teeth stoically, shut his eyes, folded his long, hairy +arms about his head, and rolled himself into a ball, confidently +expecting in the next moment to feel the life crunched out of him. + +But just as the monster, recovering itself, was turning madly to +finish off its insignificant but torturing opponent, A-ya came leaping +back to the rescue, with a blazing and sparkling faggot in each hand, +and the old men, some with fire-brands, some with spears, clamoring +resolutely behind her. With fearless dexterity, she thrust the fire +straight into the monster's eyeballs, totally blinding him. As he +wheeled to strike her down, she slipped aside with a mocking laugh, +and threw one of the brands between his jaws, where he crunched upon +it savagely before he felt the torment of it and spat it out. + +Depending now upon his ears, the monster blundered straight forward in +the direction of the shouting voices. He had quite forgotten +Ook-ootsk. He raged to come at this last intolerable foe, who had +scorched the light from his eyes. He made for her voice straight +enough; but it chanced that exactly in his path lay the second +fire--that into which the body of the elk had fallen. Already too +maddened with the anguish of his wounds to notice the fire at +once, he stumbled upon the body. Here, surely, was one of his foes. +He fell to rending the carcase with his claws, and biting it, +crawling forward upon it to reach its throat with the fire licking up +derisively about his head; till at length the flames were drawn deep +into his laboring lungs, searing them and sealing them so that they +could no more perform their office. With a shallow, screeching gasp he +threw himself backwards out of the fire, rolled upon the turf, and +lay there fighting the air with his paws as he strangled swiftly and +convulsively. + +The second bear, meanwhile, wallowing with astonishing nimbleness on +three legs, had charged roaring into the group of old men. In a +twinkling he had three or four spears sticking into him; but the arms +that hurled the spears were weak, and the monster ramped on unheeding. +Several fire-brands fell upon him, scorching his long, red fur, but he +shook them off, too maddened to remember his natural dread of the +flames. + +The group scattered in all directions. But one brave old gray-beard, +who had marked A-ya's success, lingered in the path, and tried to +thrust his blazing faggot into the monster's eyes, as she had done. He +was not quick enough. The monster threw up its muzzle, dodging the +stroke, and the next moment it had struck down its feeble adversary +and crushed his head between its tremendous jaws. + +In its folly, it now forgot its other enemies, and fell to wreaking +its madness on the lifeless victim. But in another second or two it +was fairly overwhelmed with the red brands descending upon its head. +A-ya, with all the force of her strong young arms, drove her short +spear half-way through its loins. Then, with one eye blinded and its +long fur smouldering, its rage gave way suddenly into panic. Lifting +its giant head high into the air, as if thus to escape its fiery +assailants, it turned and scuttled back the way it had come, while the +old men swarmed after it, belaboring and jabbing its elephantine rump +with their live brands. + +A-ya, racing like a deer and screaming with exultation, ran round the +pack of old men and stabbed the frantic brute in the neck, with her +spear held short in both hands. Shrinking abjectly from this attack, +he swerved off toward the left. It was his left eye that was blinded, +and the other was full of smoke and ashes. He missed the path, +therefore, and plunged squalling over the edge of the bluff, which at +this point dropped about a hundred feet, almost perpendicularly, to +the beach. Rolling over and over, and bouncing out into space every +time he struck the cliff face he fell to the bottom amid a shower of +stones and dust, and lay there as shapeless as a fur rug dropped from +an upper window. + +The old men, jabbering in triumph, craned their shaggy gray heads out +over the brink to grin down upon him, while A-ya, with a wild light in +her eyes and her strong white teeth gleaming savagely, turned back to +tend the wounds of her slave, Ook-ootsk. + + +II + +Having assured herself that the hurts of Ook-ootsk, dreadful though +they were, were yet not mortal (our sires of Cave and Tree took a lot +of killing!), A-ya stepped over to the further fire to see about +rescuing the carcase of the slain elk before it should be quite burned +up. As a matter of fact, there was little of it actually consumed by +the fire, but it was amazingly shredded by the clawing of the blinded +bear; and an odor of roasted venison steamed up from it, which seemed +rather pleasant to A-ya's nostrils. Under her direction, the old men +hauled the body from the fire by the hind-legs, and dragged it over to +the edge of the bluff before cutting it up, for convenience in getting +rid of the offal. Every one followed, to secure their due share of the +tit-bits, except Ook-ootsk and one old woman. This old woman sat +rocking and keening beside the body of her mate whom the bear had +slain; while Ook-ootsk crawled off into a neighboring hollow to look +for certain healing herbs which should cleanse and astringe his +wounds. + +The hide of the elk was too much burnt, too ripped and torn by the +claws of the bear, to be of any use except for thongs; but the old men +skinned it off expertly before dividing the flesh. Though their +gnarled fingers were feeble, they were amazingly clever in the use of +the sharp-edged flakes of stone which served them as knives. A-ya +stood by them, watching closely, to see that none of the specially +dainty cuts were appropriated. These delicacies were reserved for +herself and her two children, and for Grom when he should return. She +had the right to them, not only because she was the mate of Grom, but +because the kill was hers. + +As she stood over the carcase--the fore-part of which had been +superficially barbecued in the fire--the smell of the roasted flesh +began to appeal to her even more strongly than at first. As she +sniffed it, curiously, it began to entice her appetite as nothing had +ever tempted it before. She touched a well-browned, fatty morsel, and +then put her fingers into her mouth. The flavor seemed to her as +delightful as the smell. She cast about for a suitable morsel on which +to experiment. + +Now it chanced that the elk's tongue, having lain in the heart of the +fire, but enclosed within the half-open jaws, had been cooked to a +turn. A-ya possessed herself of this ever-coveted delicacy. It looked +so queer, in its cooked state, charred black along the lower edge, +that she hesitated to taste it. At last, persuaded by its fragrance, +she brought herself to nibble at it. + +A moment more and she was devouring it with a gusto which, had manners +been greatly considered in the days when the earth was young, might +have seemed unbecoming in the wife of a great chief. Never before had +she eaten anything that seemed to her half so delicious. It was the +food she had all her life been craving. Her two little boys, pulling +at her, aroused her from her ecstasy. She gave them each a fragment, +which they swallowed greedily, demanding more; and between the three +of them the great lump of roast tongue quickly vanished. + +The rest of the crowd meanwhile had been looking on with instinctive +disapproval. The portions of the meat which the fire had cooked, or +partly cooked, seemed to them spoiled. A-ya might, indeed, like the +strange food; but she was different from the rest of them in so many +ways! When, however, they saw her two boys follow her example, and +noted their enthusiasm, several of the old men ventured to try for +themselves. They were instant converts. Last of all, the old women and +the children--always the most conservative in such matters, took the +notion that they were losing something, and dared to essay the novel +diet. One taste, as a rule, proved enough to vanquish their +prejudices. In a very few minutes every shred of the carcase that +could claim acquaintance with the fire had been eaten, and all were +clamoring for more. Fully three-parts of the carcase remained, indeed, +but it was all raw flesh. A-ya looked down upon it with disdain. + +"Take it back and throw it on the fire again!" she ordered angrily. +The generous lump of steak, which she had hacked off for herself from +the loin, had proved to be merely scorched on the outside, and she was +disappointed. She stood fingering the raw mass with resentful +aversion, while the old men and women, chattering gleefully and +followed by the horde of children dragged the mangled carcase back to +the fire, lifted it laboriously by all four legs, and managed to +deposit it in the very midst of the flames. A shrill shout of triumph +went up from the withered old throats at this achievement, and they +all drew back to wait for the fire to do its wonderful work. + +But A-ya was impatient, and vaguely dissatisfied as she watched that +crude roasting in the process. She stood brooding, eyeing the fire and +turning her lump of raw flesh over and over in her hands. The attitude +of body was one she had caught from Grom, when he was groping for a +solution to some problem. And now it seemed as if she had caught his +attitude of mind as well. Into her brain, for the moment passive and +receptive, flashed an idea, she knew not whence. It was as if it had +been whispered to her. She picked up a spear, jabbed its stone head +firmly into the lump of meat, and thrust the meat into the edge of the +fire, as far as it could go without burning the wood of the spear +shaft. + +It took her a very few minutes to realize that her idea was nothing +less than an inspiration. Moving the morsel backwards and forwards to +keep it from charring, she found that it seemed to do best over a mass +of hot coals rather than in a flame; and being a thin cut, it cooked +quickly. When it was done she burnt her fingers with it, and her big +red mouth as well; and her two boys, for whom she had torn off shreds +too hot for herself to hold, danced up and down and wept loudly with +the smart of it, to be instantly consoled by the savor. + +Noting the supreme success of A-ya's experiment, the spectators rushed +in, dragged the carcase once more from the fire, and fell to hacking +off suitable morsels, each for himself. In a few minutes every one who +could get hold of a long arrow, or a spear, or a pointed stick, was +busy learning to cook. Even the wailing old mourner, finding the +excitement irresistible, forsook the body of her slain mate and came +forward to take her share. Only the dead man, lying outstretched in +the sun by the cave-door, and the crippled giant Ook-ootsk, away in +the green hollow nursing his honorable wounds, had no part in the +rejoicing, in this revel of the First Cooked Food. The hot meat +juices, modified by the action of the fire, were almost as stimulating +as alcohol in the veins of these simple livers, and the revel grew to +something like an orgie as the shriveled nerves of the elders began to +thrill with new life. A-ya, seeing the carcase of the elk melt away +like new snow under a spring sun, gave orders to skin and cut up the +body of the first bear. + +But the old men were too absorbed in their feasting to pay any +attention to her orders; and she herself was too exhilarated and +content to make any serious effort to enforce them. Every one, old and +young alike, was sucking burnt fingers and radiating greasy, happy +smiles, and she felt dimly that anything like discipline would be +unpopular at such a moment. + +During all this excitement the main body of the tribe came straggling +back along the beach from their hunting of whelks and mussels. At the +foot of the bluff below the cave they found the body of the second +bear, and gathered anxiously about it, clamoring over its spear-wounds +and the arrows sticking in it, till Bawr and Grom, who were in the +rear, came up. It was plain there had been a terrific battle at the +Cave. With most of the warriors the two Chiefs dashed on and up the +path, to find out how things had gone, while a handful remained behind +to skin the bear and cut up the meat. + +When the anxious warriors arrived before the cave, they were amazed at +the hilarity which they found there--and inclined, at first, to resent +it, being something to which they had no clue. What were all the old +fools doing, dancing and cackling about the fire, and wasting good +meat by poking it into the fire on the ends of sticks and spears and +arrows? + +The younger women, coming up behind the warriors, were derisive. They +were always critical in their attitude towards A-ya--so far as they +dared to be--and now they ran forward to scold and slap their +respective children for putting this disgusting burnt meat into their +mouths. + +To Grom and Bawr, however, A-ya explained the whole situation in a few +pertinent phrases, and followed up her explanation by proffering them +each a well-cooked morsel. They both smelled it doubtfully, tasted it, +broke into smiles, and devoured it, smacking their bearded lips. + +"Did _you_ do this, girl?" demanded Grom, beaming upon her proudly and +holding out his great hairy hand for another sample. But Bawr strode +forward, thrust the old men aside, hacked himself off a generous +collop, stuck it on his spear-head, and thrust it into the fire. + +In his impatience, Bawr kept pulling the roast out every minute or +two, to taste it and see if it was done enough. His enthusiasm--and +that of Grom, who was now following his example--cured the rest of the +warriors of their hesitation, so effectually that in five minutes +there was nothing more left of the great elk's carcase but antlers, +bone and offal. Those who had got nothing fell upon the body of the +bear, skinning it and hacking it in greedy haste. The young women, +having satisfied convention by slapping their bewildered and +protesting brats, soon yielded to curiosity and began surreptitiously +to nibble at the greasy cooked morsels which they had confiscated. +Then they, too, grabbed up spears and sticks for toasting-forks and +came clamoring shrilly for their portions. And A-ya, standing a little +apart with Grom, smiled with comprehending sarcasm at their +conversion. + +For the next few hours the fires were surrounded each by a seething +and squabbling mob, the innermost rings engaged in toasting their +collops with one hand, while with the other they tried to shield their +faces from the heat. As fast as those in the front rank wriggled out +with their browned and juicy tit-bits, others battled in to take their +places; and the Tribe of the Cave Men, mindful of nothing but the +gratification of this new taste, feasted away the afternoon with such +unanimous and improvident rejoicing as they had never known before. At +last, radiant with gravy and repletion, they flung themselves down +where they would and went to sleep, Bawr and Grom, and two or three +others of the older warriors, who had been wise enough to banquet +without gorging themselves, thought with some misgiving of what might +happen if an enemy should steal upon them at such an hour of torpor. + +But no enemy approached. With the fall of the dew the moon arose over +the bay, honey-colored in a violet sky, and played fantastic tricks +with the shifting light of the fires. And from within the cave came +softly the voice of A-ya, soothing a restless child. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +ON THE FACE OF THE WATERS + + +I + +The People of the Cave were running short of arrows. The supply of +young hickory sprouts, on which they had depended for their shafts, +was almost exhausted. And within a two days' journey of the Caves +there was nothing to be found that would quite take the place of those +hickory sprouts. Neither Grom himself nor any other member of his +tribe had as yet succeeded in so fixing a tip of bone or flint to a +shaft of cane as not to interfere with its penetration. Some growth +must be found that was tough, perfectly straight, and tapering, while +at the same time so solid and hard of grain that it would take and +hold a point, and heavy enough for driving power. All this was +difficult to find, and Grom was convinced that it must be sought for +far afield. Life had been running uneventfully for months at the Great +Caves, and Grom's restless spirit was craving new knowledge, new +adventure. + +On this quest of the arrow Grom took with him only two companions--his +slim, swift-footed mate, A-ya and that cunning little scout, Loob, the +Hairy One. + +For the space of three days they journeyed due west from the Caves. +Then the range of downland which they had been following swept off +sharply to the south. + +Being bent upon exploring to the westward--though he was not very +clear as to his reasons for his preference--Grom led the way down from +the hills into the rankly wooded plain. For two days more they pushed +on through incessant perils, the country swarming with black lions, +saber-tooth, and woolly rhinoceros. As they were not fighting, but +exploring, the price of safety was a vigilance so unremitting that it +soon began to get on their nerves, and they were glad to take a whole +day's rest in the spacious security of a banyan top, where nothing +could come at them but leopards or pythons. Neither leopards nor +pythons gave them any great concern. + +On the second day after quitting their refuge in the banyan top, they +emerged from the jungle so suddenly that they nearly fell into a +river, whose whitish, turbid flood ran swirling heavily before their +feet. It was a mighty stream, a good half-mile in width, and at this +point the current was eating away the bank so hungrily that whole +ranks of tree and bush had toppled over into the tide. + +The great river barred their way, flowing as it did toward the +north-east, and Grom reluctantly turned the course of the expedition +southward, following up the shore. Swift as was the current, these +folk of the Caves might have crossed it by swimming; but Grom knew +that such waters were apt to swarm with giant crocodiles of varying +type and unvarying ferocity, as well as with ferocious flesh-eating +fish that swarmed in wolfish packs, and were able to tear an aurochs +or a mastodon in pieces with their razor-edged teeth. He gazed +desirously at the opposite shore, however--which looked to him much +more beautiful and more interesting than that on which he stood--and +wondered if he should ever be able to devise some way of reaching it +other than by swimming. + +Along the river shore the travelers had endless variety to keep them +interested, with a less exhausting imminence of peril than in the +depths of the jungle. Sometimes great branches, draped and festooned +with gorgeous-flowered lianas, thrust themselves far out over the +water, affording easy refuge. Sometimes the river was bordered by a +strip of grassy level, behind which ran the edge of the jungle in the +form of a steep bank of violent green, with here and there a broad +splotch of magenta or violet or orange bloom flung over it like a +curtain. At times, again, it was necessary to plunge back into the +humming and steaming gloom behind this resplendent screen, in order to +make a detour around some swampy cove, whose dense growth of sedge, +fifteen to twenty feet in height, was traversed by wide trails which +showed it to be the abode of unfamiliar monsters. The travelers were +curious as to the makers of such colossal trails, but were not tempted +to gratify this curiosity by invading their lairs. + +In all this time, and through all difficulties and dangers, neither +Grom nor A-ya, nor the unsleeping Loob had lost sight of the object of +their journey. Every straight and slender sapling and seedling of hard +grain they tested, but hitherto they had found nothing that came +within measurable distance of their requirements. + +In the customary order of their going, Grom went first, peering ahead, +ever studying, pondering, observing, with his bow and his club swung +from his shoulder, his heavy, flint-headed spear always in readiness +for use at close quarters. Loob the scout, little and dark and hairy, +with the eyes of a weasel and the heart of a bull buffalo, went +darting and gliding soundlessly through the undergrowth a few paces to +the left, guarding against the approach of any attack from the +jungle-depths. While A-ya, whose quickness and precision with the bow, +her darling weapon, were nothing less than a miracle to all the tribe, +covered the rear, lest any prowling monster should be following on +their trail. + +It chanced that A-ya dropped back some paces further, without saying +anything to Grom. She had marked a slim shaft of a seedling which +looked suitable for an arrow; and in case the discovery should prove a +good one, she wanted the credit of it to herself. She stooped to pull +the seedling up by the roots, since it seemed too tough to break. It +was obstinate. In the effort her naked side and shoulder leaned fully +against the trunk of a small tree of which she had taken no notice. In +a second it seemed to her as if the tree trunk were made of red-hot +coals. The stinging fire of it ran like lightning all over her arms +and body. With a piercing scream she sprang away from the tree, and +began tearing and beating frantically at her body with both hands. She +was covered with furious ants--the great, red, stinging ants whose +venom is like drops of liquid flame. + +At the sound of her scream, Grom was back at her side in two leaps, +his hair and beard bristling stiffly, his eyes blazing with rage. But +there was no assailant in sight on whom to hurl himself. For a second +or two he glared about him wildly, with Loob crouched beside him, +snarling for vengeance. Then, perceiving the woman's plight, he flung +himself upon her, trying to envelop her in one sweeping embrace that +should crush all the virulent pests at once. In this he failed +signally; and in an instant the liquid fire was running over his own +body. The torture of it, however, was a small thing to him compared +with the torture of seeing them sting the woman, and feeling himself +impotent to effect her instant succor. He slapped and beat at her with +his great hands, while she covered her face with her own hands to +protect it from disfigurement. + +Loob came to help, but Grom, his brain keen in every emergency, +stopped him. + +"Keep off!" he ordered. "Keep off! and keep watch!" + +Then he seized A-ya by one arm, rushed her to the edge of the bank, +and dragged her with him into the water. + +At this point the water was not much more than three feet deep. They +crouched down in it, heads under, for nearly a minute; while Loob, +spear in hand, stood over them, his wild little eyes scanning the +water depths in front and the jungle depths behind for the approach of +any foe. + +When they could hold their breath no longer, they stood up. Their red +assailants were floating off on the current; but the fiery poison +remained, and they bathed each other's scarlet and scorched shoulders +assiduously, forgetful for the moment of everything besides. At this +moment a gigantic water python reared its head from the leafage close +by, fixed its flat, lidless, glittering eyes upon them, and drew back +to strike. But in the next second Loob's ready spear was thrust clean +through its throat, and his yell of warning tore the air. Grom and +A-ya whipped up onto the bank like a pair of otters: and the python, +mortally stricken, shot out into the water over their heads, carrying +Loob's spear with it, gripped tight in the constriction of its throat +muscles. + +As the lashing body struck the surface the water boiled about it, +suddenly alive with crocodiles. Balked of their human prey, they fell +upon the python. One of the monsters shot straight up, half-way out of +the water, with two convulsive coils of the python's tail wrapped +crushingly about its jaws; but the python, with Loob's spear through +its throat, could only struggle blindly. A moment more and it was +bitten in two, and the crocodiles were fighting monstrously among +themselves for the writhing fragments. + +"You got us out of that just in time," said Grom, grinning upon the +little scout with approval. + +A-ya wrung the water out of her heavy hair with both hands, and threw +the masses back with an upward toss of her head. + +"I hate ants," she said, shuddering. "Let's get away from here." + + +II + +Some two hours after sunrise of the following day they came to a place +where a belt of woods, perhaps a hundred to two hundred yards in +depth, ran bordering the river, while behind it a broad stretch of +grassy plain thrust back the jungle. Along the edge of the plain, +skirting the belt of woods, the grass was short and the traveling was +easy; but off to the left the growth was ranker, and interspersed with +thickets such as Grom always regarded with suspicion. He had learned +by experience that these dense thickets in the grass-land were a +favorite lurking-place of the unexpected--and that the unexpected was +almost always perilous. + +Suddenly from the deeper grass a couple of hundred yards or so to the +left rose heavily the menacing bulk of a red Siva moose bull, and +stood staring at them with mingled wonder and malevolence in his +cruelly vindictive eyes. In stature surpassing the biggest rhinoceros +that Grom had ever seen, he gave the impression of combining the +terrific power of the rhinoceros with the agile speed and devilish +cunning of the buffalo. His ponderous head, with its high-arched +eagle-hooked snout, was armed with two pairs of massive, keen-tipped, +broad-bladed horns, that seemed to be a deadly-efficient compromise +between the horns of a buffalo and the palmated antlers of a moose. +This alarming apparition snorted loudly, and at once from behind him +lurched to their feet some two score more of his like, and all stood +with their eyes fixed upon the little group of travelers by the edge +of the wood. + +Grom had heard vague traditions of the implacable ferocity of these +red monsters, but having before never come across them he answered +their stare with keen interest. At the same time, edging in closer to +the wood, he whispered: + +"Don't run. But if they come we must go up the first tree. They are +swift as the wind, these great beasts, and more terrible than the +saber-tooth." + +"Can't go in _these_ trees!" said Loob, whose piercing eyes had +investigated them minutely at the first glimpse of the monsters in the +grass. + +"Why not?" demanded Grom, his eyes still fixed upon the monsters. + +"Oh! The bees! The terrible bees!" whispered A-ya. "Where can we go?" + +Grom turned his head and scanned the belt of woodland, his ears now +suddenly comprehending a deep, humming sound which he had hitherto +referred solely to the winged foragers in the grass-tops. Scattered at +intervals from the branches, in the shadowy green gloom, hung a number +of immense, dark, semi-pear-shaped globes. They looked harmless +enough, but Grom knew that their inhabitants, the great jungle-bees, +were more to be dreaded than saber-tooth or crocodile. To disturb, or +seem to threaten to disturb, one of their nests, meant sure and +instant doom. + +"No, we must trust to our running--and they are very swift," said +Grom. "But let us go softly now, and perhaps they will not charge upon +us." + +The words were hardly out of his mouth when the giant red bull, with a +grunt of wrath, lurched forward and charged down at them. And +instantly the whole herd, with their ridiculous little tails stuck up +stiffly in the air, charged after him. Swift as thought A-ya drew her +bow. The arrow buried itself deep in the red giant's muzzle. With a +bawl of fury, he paused, to try and root the burning torment out of +his nose. The whole herd paused behind him. It was only for a few +seconds, and then he came on again, blowing blood and foam from his +nostrils; but they were precious seconds, and the fugitives, running +lightly, and stooping low for fear of offending the bees, had gained a +start of a hundred yards or more. + +The three were among the swiftest runners of the tribe; but Grom soon +saw that the utmost they could hope was to maintain their distance. +And there was the imminent risk that the bees, disturbed by the noise +of flight and pursuit, might take umbrage. To lessen this frightful +risk, he swerved out till he was some thirty or forty paces distant +from the belt of woods. And he noticed, too, that the pursuing herd +seemed to have no great anxiety to approach the frontiers of the Bee +People. They were following on a slant that gave the woods a wide +berth. + +About a mile further on the woods came to an end, and Grom, though he +feared the pace might be beginning to tell on A-ya, and though there +was no refuge in sight, breathed more freely. He feared the bees more +than the yellow monsters, because they were something he could not +fight. The grass-land now ran clear to the river's edge, and gave firm +footing; and the fugitives raced on, breathing carefully, and trusting +to come to trees again before they should be spent. + +At last a curve of the bank showed them the woods sweeping down again +to the water, but three or four miles ahead! Grom, looking back over +his shoulder, realized that their pursuers were now gaining upon them +appreciably. With an effort he quickened his pace still further. Loob +responded without difficulty. But A-ya's face showed signs of +distress, and at this Grom's heart sank. He began to scan the water, +weighing the chances of the crocodiles. It looked as if they were +trapped beyond escape. + +Perhaps half a mile up the shore a spit of land ran out against the +current, and behind its shelter an eddy had collected a mass of +uprooted trees and other flood refuse, all matted with green from the +growth of wind-borne seeds. It was in reality a great natural raft, +built by the eddy and anchored behind the little point. For this Grom +headed with new hope. It might be strong enough--parts of it at +least--to bear up the three fugitives. But their furious pursuers +would surely not venture their giant bulks upon it. + +Approaching the point he slackened his pace, and steadied A-ya with +one hand. At the edge of the eddy he stopped, casting an appraising +eye over the collection of debris, in order to pick out a stable +retreat and also the most secure path to it. In this pause the +monsters swept up with a thunder of trampling hooves and windy +snortings. They had their victims at last where there was no escape. + +The raging brutes were not more than a dozen paces behind, when Grom +led the way out upon the floating mass, picking his steps warily and +leaping from trunk to trunk. Loob and A-ya followed with like care. +Certain of the trunks gave and sank beneath their feet, but their feet +were already away to surer footing. And at the very outermost point of +that old collection of debris, where the current and the eddy wavered +for mastery, on a toughly interwoven tangle of uprooted trunks and +half-dead vines, they found a refuge which did not yield beneath them. +Here, steadying themselves by upthrust branches, they turned and +looked back, half apprehensive and half defiant, at their mighty +pursuers. + +"They'll never dare to try to follow us here," gasped A-ya. + +But she was wrong. Quite blind with rage through that galling shaft in +his muzzle, the giant bull came plunging on, and half a dozen of his +closest followers, infected with his madness, came with him. The inner +edge of the mass gave way at once beneath them--and the bank at this +point was straight up and down. The monsters floundered in deep water, +snorting and spluttering, while their fellows on the shore checked +themselves violently and drew back bawling with bewilderment. As the +drowning monsters battled to get their front legs up upon the raft, +the edges gave way continually beneath them, plunging them again and +again beneath the surface, while A-ya stabbed at them vengefully with +her spear, and Loob shot arrows into them till Grom stopped him, +saying that the arrows were too precious to waste. Thereupon Loob +tripped delicately over the surging trunks and smote at the struggling +monsters' heads with his light club. + +The anchorage of this natural raft having been broken, the weight of +the monsters striving to gain a foothold upon it soon thrust its firm +outer portion forth into the grip of the current. In a minute or two +more this solid portion was torn away from the rest, and went sailing +off slowly down stream with its living freight. The incoherent remnant +was left in the eddy, where the snorting monsters struggled and +threshed about amongst it, now climbing half-way out upon some great +trunk, which forthwith reared on end and slid them off, now vanishing +for a moment beneath the beaten stew of leaves and vines. + +A couple of the horned giants, being close to the bank, now seemed to +recover their wits sufficiently to turn and clamber ashore. But the +others were mad with terror. And in a moment more the fascinated +watchers on the raft perceived the cause of this madness. All round +the scene of the turmoil the water seethed with lashing tails and +snapping jaws; and then one of the monsters, which had struggled out +into clear water, was dragged down in a boiling vortex of jaws and +bloody foam. A few moments more and the whole eddy became a bubbling +hell of slaughter, and great broad washes of crimson streamed out upon +the current. The monsters, for all their giant strength, and the +pile-driving blows of their huge hoofs, were as helpless as rabbits +against their swarming and ravenous assailants; and the battle--which +indeed was no battle at all--soon was over. The eddy had become but a +writhing nest of crocodiles. + +"It was hardly worth while wasting arrows, you see?" said Grom, +standing erect on the raft and watching the scene with brooding +interest. + +"Do you suppose those swimming beasts with the great jaws can get at +us here?" demanded A-ya with a shudder. + +"While this thing that carries us holds together, I think we can fight +them off," replied Grom. And straightway he set himself to examine how +securely the trees were interknit. The trunks had been piled by flood +one upon another, and the structure seemed substantial; but to further +strengthen it he set all to work interweaving the free branches and +such creepers as the mass contained, with the skill that came of much +practice in the weaving of tree-top nests. + +When all was done that could be done, the voyagers took time to look +about them. They had by now been swept far out into the river, and the +shores on either side seemed low and remote. A-ya felt oppressed, the +face of the waters seeming to her so vast, inscrutable and menacing. +She stole close up to Grom and edged herself under his massive arm for +reassurance. The little scout sat like a monkey between two branches, +and scratched his hairy arms, and, with an expression of pleased +interest, scanned the water for the approach of new foes. As for Grom, +he was entranced. This, at last, was what he had really come in search +of, the stuff for arrows being merely his excuse to himself. This was +the utterly new experience, the new achievement. He was traveling by +water, not in it, but upon it--upborne, dry and without discomfort, +upon its surface. + +For a little while he did not ask whither he was being borne. To his +surprise the crocodiles and other formidable water-dwellers, which +were quite unknown to him, paid them no attention whatever; and he +concluded that they looked upon the raft as nothing more than a mass +of floating driftwood containing nothing for them to eat. He could see +them everywhere about, swimming with brute snouts half above water or +basking on sandy spits of shore. Then he observed that the current was +bearing them gradually towards that further shore which he so longed +to visit, and he thrilled with new anticipation. But when, after +perhaps an hour, the capricious tide blew them again to mid-stream, a +new idea took possession of him. He must find some way of influencing +the direction of their voyage. He could not long relinquish himself to +the blind whim and chance of the current. + +Just as he was beginning to grapple with this problem, A-ya +anticipated his thought--as he had noticed that she often did. Looking +up at him through her tossed hair, she enquired where they were +going. + +"I am just trying to think," he answered, "how to make this thing take +us where we want to go." + +"If the water is not too deep, couldn't you push with your long +spear?" suggested the girl. + +Acting at once on the suggestion, Grom leaned over the edge and thrust +the spear straight downwards. But he could find no bottom. + +"It is too deep," said he, "but I'll find a way." + +As he stood near the forward end of the raft he began sweeping the +spear in a wide arc through the water, as if it were a paddle, but +with the idea merely of testing the resistance of the water. Poor +substitute as the spear was for a paddle or an oar, his great strength +made up for its inefficiency, and after a few sweeps he was astonished +and delighted to notice that the head of the raft had swung away from +him, so that it was heading for the shore from which they had come. + +He pondered this in silence for a little, then stepped over to the +other side and repeated the experiment. After several vigorous efforts +the unwieldy craft yielded. Its head swung straight, and then, very +gradually, toward the other side. Yes, there was no doubt about it. He +had found a way of influencing their direction. + +"I am going to take you over to the other shore," he announced +proudly. + +And now, laboring in a keen excitement, he set himself to carry out +his boast. First he so overdid it that he made the raft turn clean +about and head upstream. He puzzled over this for a time, but at +length got it once more headed in the direction which he wished it to +take. Then he found that he could keep it to this direction--more or +less--by taking a few strokes on one side, then hurriedly crossing to +take a few strokes on the other. And in this way they began once more +to approach the other bank. The process, however, was slow; and Grom +presently concluded that it was wasteful. He hit upon the idea of +setting A-ya and Loob together to stroking with their spears on one +side, while he, with his great strength, balanced their effort on the +other. Whereupon the sluggish craft woke up a little and began to make +perceptible progress, on a slant across the current toward shore. + +"I have found it!" he exclaimed in exultation. "On this thing we can +travel over the water where we will." + +"But not against the current," objected A-ya, whose enthusiasm was a +little damped by the fact that she did not like the look of that +further shore. + +"That will come in time," declared Grom confidently. + +"Here's something coming now," announced Loob, springing to his feet +and grabbing his bow. At the same moment the flat, villainous head of +a big crocodile shot up over the edge of the raft, and its owner, with +enormous jaws half open, started to scramble aboard. + +A-ya's bow was bent as swiftly as Loob's, and the two arrows sped +together, both into the monster's gaping gullet. Amazed at this +reception it shut its jaws with a loud snap, halted and came on again. +Then a stab of Grom's great spear caught it full in the eye, and this +wound struck fear into its dull mind. It rolled back hastily into the +water and sank, leaving a foamy wake of blood behind it. + +By this time they were getting nearer the other shore. But on close +view, Grom was bound to admit that it was not alluring. It was so low +as to be all awash, and fringed deep with towering reeds, which were +traversed by narrow lanes of water. Of dry land there was none to be +seen. + +"Oh, we don't want to go ashore there!" protested A-ya fervently. As +she spoke a hideous head, with immense, round, bulging eyes and long, +beak-like mouth arose over the sedge tops on a long, swaying neck and +stared at them fixedly. + +"No, we don't," said Grom, with decision, making haste to swing the +head of the raft once more out into the channel. They were pursued by +a dense crowd of mosquitoes, voracious and venomous, which followed +them to mid-stream and kept tormenting them till an up-river gust blew +them off. + +Grom made up his mind that the exploration of that unknown shore could +wait a more convenient season. He was now deeply absorbed in the +complex problem of directing and managing his raft. As he pulled his +spear through the water, and noted the additional effect of its flat +head, the conception came to him of something that would get a more +propulsive grip upon the water than was possible to a round pole. +Furthermore, he was quick to realize that the immense, shapeless mass +of debris on which they were traveling might be replaced by something +light and manageable which he would make by lashing some trimmed +trunks together with lengths of bamboo to give additional buoyancy. As +he brooded this in silence, with that deep, inward look in his eyes +which always kept A-ya from breaking in upon his vision, he came to +the idea of a formal raft, and a formal paddle. And to this he added, +with a full sense of its value, A-ya's suggestion that this new +structure might very well be pushed along, in shallow water, with a +pole. Having thought this out, he drew a deep breath, looked up, and +met A-ya's eyes with a smile. His eager desire now was to get back +home and put his new scheme into execution. + +"Where are we going now?" asked A-ya. + +Grom looked about him wildly--at the sky, at the far-off hills on +their right, at the course of the stream, which had changed within the +past few miles. His sense of direction was unerring. + +"This river," he answered, "flows towards the rising sun, and must +empty into the bitter waters not more than a day or a half day from +the Caves. We are going home. We will come again to look for arrows in +a new raft which I will make." + +As he spoke, Loob's spear darted down beside the raft, and came up +with a big, silvery fish writhing upon it. He broke its neck with a +blow and laid the prize at A-ya's feet. + +"I wish we had fire with us, to cook it with," said she. + +"On the new raft, as I will make it," said Grom, "that may very well +be. Our journey will be safe and easy, and the good fire we will have +always with us." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE FEAR + + +The People of the Caves were beginning to dread their good fortune. +Plenty was being showered upon them with so lavish and sudden a hand +that they looked at it askance, distrustful of the unsought-for +largess. For a week or more their hunting-grounds had been swarming +with game, in amazing and daily increasing numbers, till there was +little more of chance or of excitement in the hunt than in plucking a +ripe mango from its branch. It was game of the choicest kinds, +too--deer of many varieties, and antelope, and the little wild horse +whose flesh they accounted such a delicacy. They slew, and slew, and +their cooking-fires were busy night and day, and the flesh they could +not devour was dried in the sun in long strips or smoked in the reek +of green-wood fires. They feasted greedily, but there was something +sinister in the whole matter, something ominous; and they would stop +at times to wonder anxiously what stroke of fate could be hanging over +the Caves. + +During the past day or two, moreover, there had been a disquieting +influx of those great and fierce beasts which the Cave Men were by no +means anxious to hunt. The giant white and the woolly rhinoceros had +arrived by the score in the dense thickets of the steaming savannah +which unrolled its green-and-yellow breadths along the southward base +of the downs. These half-blind brutes appeared to be waging a dreadful +and doubtful war with the red herds of those monstrous, cone-horned +survivals from an earlier age, the Arsinotheria, who had ruled the +reeking savannah for countless cycles. The roar and trampling of the +struggle came up from time to time to the dwellers in the Caves, when +the hot breeze came up from the southward. + +What concerned the Cave Folk far more than any near-sighted and +blundering rhinoceros, however malignant, was the sudden arrival of +the great red bears, the black lions, the grinning and implacable +saber-tooth tigers, and giant black-gray wolves which hunted in small, +handy packs of six or seven in number. All these, the dread foes of +Man for as long as tradition could remember, had been mercifully few +and scattered. Now, in a night, they had become as common as conies; +and not a child could be allowed to play beyond shelter of the +cave-mouth fires, not a woman durst venture to the spring without a +brightly blazing fire-brand in her hand. Yet--and this seemed to the +Tribe the most portentous sign of all--these blood-thirsty beasts +appeared to have lost much of their ancient hostility to Man. They +were all well fed, of course, their accustomed prey being now so +abundant that they had little more to do than put forth an armed paw +and seize it. But they all seemed uneasy and half-cowed, as if weighed +down by a menace which they did not know how to face. When a man +confronted them, the fiercest of them made way with a deprecating air, +as if to say that they had troubles enough on their minds. + + * * * * * + +Bawr, the Chief, and Grom, his right hand and his counselor, stood +upon the bare green ridge above the Cave-mouth, and stared down +anxiously upon the sun-drenched plain. Of old it had taken keen eyes +to discern the varied life which populated its bamboo-thickets and +cane-choked marshes. Now it was as thronged as the home pastures of a +cattle-farm. Here and there a battle raged between such small-brained +brutes as the white rhinoceros and the cone-horned monster; but for +the most part there was an apprehensive sort of truce, the different +kinds of beasts keeping as far as possible to themselves. + +Further out in the plain pastured a herd of gigantic creatures such as +neither Bawr nor Grom had ever seen before. A pair of rhinoceros +looked like pygmies beside them. They were both tall and massive, of a +dark mud-color, with colossal heads, no necks whatever, huge ears that +flapped like wings, immensely long, up-curving tusks of gleaming +yellow--mighty enough to carry a bison cradled in their curve--and it +seemed to the astonished watchers on the ridge that from the snout of +each monster grew a great snake, which reared itself into the air, and +waved terribly, and pulled down the tops of trees for the monster's +food. + +It was the Cave Man's first view of the Mammoth--which had not yet +developed the shaggy coat it was later to grow on the cold sub-Artic +plains. + +Recovering at length from his amazement, Bawr remarked: + +"They seem to have two tails, those new beasts--a little tail behind, +in the usual place, and a very big tail in front, which they use as a +hand. They are very many, and very terrible. Do you think it is they +who are driving all these other beasts upon us to overwhelm us?" + +Grom thought long before replying. + +"No," said he, "they are not flesh-eaters. See! They do not heed the +other beasts. They eat trees. And they, too, seem restless. I think +they are themselves driven. But what dreadful beings must be they who +can drive them!" + +"If they are driven over us," muttered Bawr, "they will grind us and +our fires into the dust." + +"It must be men," mused Grom aloud, "men far mightier than ourselves +and so countless that the hordes of the Tree Men would seem a handful +in comparison. Only men, or gods, and in swarms like locusts, could so +drive all these mighty beasts before them as a child drives rabbits." + +"Before they come," said Bawr, dropping his great craggy chin upon his +breast, "the People of the Caves will be trodden out. Whither can we +escape from such foes? We will build great fires before the caves, and +we will go down fighting, as befits men." + +He lifted his maned and massive head, and shook his great spear +defiantly at the unknown doom that was coming up from the south. But +Grom's eyes were sunken deep under his brows in brooding thought. + +"There is one way, perhaps," he said at length. "We have learned to +journey on the water. We must build us rafts, many rafts, to carry all +the tribe. And when we can no longer hold our fires and our caves we +will push out upon the water, and perhaps make our way to that blue +shore yonder, where they cannot follow us." + +"The waves, and the monsters of the waves, will swallow us up," +suggested Bawr. + +"Some of us, perhaps many of us," agreed Grom. "But many of us will +escape, to keep the tribe-fires burning, if the gods be kind upon that +day and bind down the winds till we get over. If we stay here we shall +all die." + +"It is well," grunted Bawr, turning to hurry down the steep. "We will +build rafts. Let us hasten." + + * * * * * + +On the beach below the Caves the Men of the Tribe worked furiously, +dragging the trunks of trees together at the water's edge, lashing +them with ropes of vine and cords of hide, and laboriously lopping +some of the more obstructive branches by the combined use of fire and +split stones. The women, and the lame slave Ook-ootsk--with the old +men, who, though their hearts were still high, were too frail of their +hands for such a heavy task as raft-building--remained before the +Caves under the command of A-ya, Grom's mate. They had enough to do in +feeding the chain of fires, keeping the children out of danger, and +fighting back with spear and arrow the ever-encroaching mob of +wild-eyed beasts. The beasts feared the fires, and feared the human +beings who leaped and screamed and smote from among the fires. But +still more they seemed to fear some unknown thing behind them. For a +time, however, the crackling flames and the biting shafts proved a +sufficient barrier, and the motley but terrifying invaders went +sheering off irresolutely to westward over the downs. + +Down by the edge of the tide the raft-builders worked under Grom's +guidance. The broad water--some four or five miles across--was the +tidal estuary of a great river which flowed out of the north-west. Its +brimming current bore down from the interior jungles the trunks of +many uprooted trees, which the tides of the estuary hurled back and +strewed along the beach. The raft-builders, therefore, had plenty of +material to work with. And the fear that lay chill upon their hearts +urged them to a diligence that was far from their habit. + +It was rather like working in a nightmare. From time to time would +come a rush, a stampede, of deer or tapirs, along the strip of beach +between the water and the cliff. The toiling men would draw aside till +the rabble went by, then fall to work again. + +Once, however, it was a herd of wild cattle, snorting, and tossing +their wide, keen-pointed horns; and their trampling onrush filled the +whole space so that the men had to plunge out into deep water to +escape. Several, afraid of the big-mouthed, flesh-eating fish which +infested the estuary at high tide, stayed too close in shore, and paid +for their irresolution by being gored savagely. + +It was about the full of the moon and the time of the longest days, +and the raft-builders toiled feverishly the whole night through. By +sunrise Bawr and Grom estimated that there were rafts enough to carry +the whole tribe, provided the present calm held on. They decided, +however, to construct several more, in case some should prove less +buoyant than they hoped. + +But for this most wise provision Fate refused to grant the time. + +A naked slip of a girl, her one scant garment of leopard skin caught +upon a rock and twitched from off her loins as she ran, came fleeing +down the hill-path, her hair afloat upon the fresh morning air. +Straggling far behind her came a crowd of children, and old women +carrying babies or bundles of dried meat. + +"They must not come yet. They'll be in the way!" cried Bawr angrily, +waving them back. But they paid no attention--which showed that there +was something they feared more even than the iron-fisted Chief. + +"There are none of the young women or the old men, who can fight, +among them," said Grom. "A-ya must have sent them, because the time +has come. Let us wait for the young girl, who seems to bring a +message." + +Breathless, and clutching at her bosom with one hand, the girl fell at +Bawr's feet. + +"A-ya says, 'Come quick!'" she gasped. "They are too many. They run +over the fires and trample us." + +Grom sprang forward with a cry, then stopped and looked at his Chief. + +"Go, you," said Bawr, "and bring them to us. I will stay here and look +to the rafts." + +Taking a half-score of the strongest warriors with him, Grom raced up +the steep, torn with anxiety for the fate of A-ya and the children. + +It was now about three-quarters tide, and the flood rising strongly. +By way of precaution some of the rafts had been kept afloat, let down +with ropes of vine to follow the last ebb, and guided carefully back +on the returning flood. But most of them were lying where they had +been built, or left by the preceding tide, along high-water mark, as +hopelessly stranded, for the next two hours, as a birch log after a +freshet. As the old women with children arrived, Bawr rushed them down +the wet beach to the rafts which were afloat, appointing to each +clumsy raft four men, with long, rough flattened poles, to manage it. +For the moment, all these men had to do was hold their charges in +place that they might not be swept away by the incoming tide. + +When Grom and his eager handful, passing a stream of trembling +fugitives on the way, reached the level ground before the Caves, the +sight that greeted them was tremendous and appalling. It looked as if +some great country to the southward had gathered together all its +beasts and then vomited them forth in one vast torrent, confused and +irresistible, to the north. It was a wholesale migration, on such a +scale as the modern world has never even dreamed of, but suggested in +a feeble way by the torrential drift of the bison across the North +American plains half a century ago, or the sudden, inexplicable +marches of the lemming myriads out of the Scandinavian barrens that +give them birth. + +The shrill cries of the women, fighting like she-wolves in defense of +the children and the home-caves, the hoarse shouts of the old men, +weak but indomitable, were mingled with an indescribable medley of +noises--gruntings, bellowings, howlings, roarings, bleatings and +brayings--from the dreadful mob of beasts which besieged the open +space behind the fires. Some of the beasts were maddened with their +terror, some were in a fighting rage, some only wanted to escape the +throng behind them. But all seemed bent upon passing the fires and +getting into the Caves, as if they thought there to find refuge from +the unknown fear. + +At the extreme right of the line the two farthest fires were already +overwhelmed, trodden out by frantic hooves, and three or four old +men, with a couple of desperate young women, behind a barrier of +slain elk and stags were fighting like furies to hold back the +victorious onrush. Two of the old men were down, trodden out between +the fires by blind hooves, and a third, jammed limply against the +rocky wall beside the furthest cave, was being worried by a +bear--hideously but aimlessly, as if the great beast hardly heeded +what it was doing. There was something peculiarly terrifying in the +animal's preoccupation. + +At the center of the line, immediately before the main Cave-mouth--whose +yawning entrance seemed to be the objective of the swarming +beasts--A-ya was heading the battle, with the lame slave, Ook-ootsk, +crouched fighting at her side like a colossal frog gone mad. Here the +fires were almost extinguished--but the line of slain beasts formed a +tolerable barricade, upon the top of which the women leapt, stabbing +with their spears and screeching shrill taunts, while the old men +leaned upon the gory pile to save their strength with frugal +precision. Here and there among the carcases was the body of a woman or +an old man, impaled on the horn of a bull or ripped open by the +rending antler of an elk. As Grom and his men came shouting across the +level a huge woolly rhinoceros plunged over the barrier, his bloody +horn ploughing the carcases, trod down a couple of the defenders without +appearing to see them, dashed through the nearest fire, and charged +blindly into the Cave-mouth with his matted coat all ablaze. The +children and old women who had not already fled down to the beach +shrieked in horror. The frantic monster heeded them not at all, but went +thundering on into the bowels of the cavern. + +"Go back, all you women!" yelled Grom above the tumult, as he and his +men raced to the barrier. "Get down to the beach with the children. +We'll hold the rush back till you get down. Run! Run!" + +Sobbing with the fury of the struggle, the women obeyed, darting back +and pouncing upon their own little ones--all but A-ya, who remained +doggedly at Grom's side. + +"Go," ordered Grom fiercely. "The children need you. Get them all +down." + +Sullenly the woman obeyed, seeing he was right, but still lusting for +the fight, though her wearied arm could now do little more than lift +the spear. + +Under the shock of these fresh fighters, with lionlike heads, +masterful eyes, and smashing, irresistible weapons, the front ranks of +the animals recoiled, trampling those behind them; and for a few +minutes the pressure was relieved. Grom turned to the old men. + +"You go now," he ordered. + +But they refused. + +"We stay here," cried one, breathless, but with fire in his ancient +eyes. "None too much room on the rafts." And they fell again grimly to +the fight. + +Grom laughed proudly. With such mettle even in withered veins, the +Tribe, he thought, was destined to great things. He turned to the lame +slave, whom he had ever favored for his faithfulness. + +"You go! You are lame and cannot run." + +The crouching giant looked up at him with a widemouthed grin. + +"I am no woman," said he. "I stay and hold them back when you all go. +I kill, and kill. And then I go very far." + +He waved one great gnarled hand, dripping with blood, toward the sun +and the high spaces of air. + +Before Grom could answer, from below the southward edge of the plateau +there came a mad, high trumpeting, so loud that every other voice in +that pandemonium was silenced by it. At that dread sound the rabble of +beasts surged forward again upon the barrier, upon the clubs and +spears of the defenders. Up over the brow of the slope came a forest +of waving trunks, and tossing tusks, and ponderous black foreheads. + +"The Two-Tails are upon us!" cried Grom, in a voice of awe. And his +followers gasped, as the colossal shapes shouldered up into full +view. + +Grom looked behind him, and saw the last of the women and children, +shepherded vehemently by A-ya with the butt of her spear, vanishing +down the steep toward the beach. + +"It is time for us to go too," shouted Grom, clutching the lame slave +by the arm to drag him off. But Ook-ootsk wrenched himself free. + +"I'll hold them back till you get away," he growled, and drove his +great spear into the heart of a bull which came over the barrier at +that instant. Grom saw it would be useless now to try and save him. +With the rest of his band he ran for paths leading down to the beach. +It was well, he thought, that the valiant slave should die for the +Tribe. + +The beasts came over the barrier and the fires like a yelling flood. +But now, finding all opposition so suddenly withdrawn, the flood +divided upon the massive, thrusting figure of Ook-ootsk as upon a +black rock in mid-stream. It united again behind him, surging +pell-mell for the Cave-mouths, where in the crush the weaker and +lighter were savagely torn and trampled underfoot. + +Then the Mammoths came thundering and trumpeting across the plateau, +going through and over the lesser beasts like a tidal wave. Grom, +having seen the last of his warriors pass down the beach paths, turned +for one more glimpse of the monstrous and incredible scene. He had a +swift vision of the squatting form of Ook-ootsk thrusting upward with +reddened spear at the breast of a black monster which hung over him +like a mountain. Then the mountain rolled forward upon him, blotting +him out, and Grom slipped hurriedly over the brink and down the path. + + * * * * * + +At the rafts it was bedlam. A score or more of the women and children, +as they were crossing to the water's edge, had been wiped out of +existence by the rush of maddened bison along the beach, and the +keenings of their relatives rose above the shouts and cries of +embarkation. Fully half the rafts were afloat, with their loads, by +now, and men grunted heavily in the effort to pry the others free, +while women and children crowded into the water around them, waiting +to struggle aboard as soon as the men would let them. + +As Grom and his panting band, covered with blood from head to foot, +reached the waterside and flung their dripping weapons upon the rafts, +a fringe of animals came over the edge of the steep, crowded aside +from the caves. Some, being sure-footed, like the lions and bears, +made their way with care down the paths. Others, pushed over and +struggling frantically, came rolling downward, bouncing from rock and +ledge, and landing on the beach a mass of broken bones. Then behind +them, along the brink, black and gigantic against the blue sky-line, +appeared a group of the Mammoths. They waved their long trunks, and +trumpeted piercingly, but hesitated to try the descent. + +"Hurry! hurry!" thundered Bawr, straining at the stranded timbers till +the great veins stood out on neck and forehead as if they would +burst. + +Under the added efforts of Grom and his band the last of the rafts +floated. The children were thrown aboard, the women clambered after +them, and the men, wading and guiding, lest the rafts should ground +again, began to follow cautiously. + +At this moment, along the beach came a new rush of animals--chiefly +buffalo, headed by three huge white rhinoceros. These all seemed quite +blind with panic. They dashed on straight ahead, paying no heed +whatever either to the people on the rafts or to the other beasts +coming down the steep. On their heels thundered a second herd of +Mammoths, their trunks held high in the air, the red caverns of their +mouths wide open. + +As these colossal, rolling bulks came abreast of the rafts, a child +shrieked at the terrifying sight. The leader of the herd turned his +malignant little eye upon the rafts, seeming to perceive them for the +first time. Without pausing in his huge stride he reached down his +trunk, whipped it about the waist of Bawr, and swung him aloft, +crushing in his ribs with the terrific pressure, and carried him along +high in the air above the trumpeting ranks. + +A howl of rage went up from the rafts; and A-ya, whose bow was quick +as thought, let fly an arrow before Grom could stay her hand. The +shaft struck deep in the monster's trunk. Dashing down its lifeless +victim among the feet of the herd, the monster tried to turn back to +take vengeance for the strange wound. But unable to stem the avalanche +behind, it was borne up the beach, screaming with rage. + +Grom, who was now sole chief and master of the tribe, signed every +raft to push out into deep water, beyond reach of further attack. With +all responsibility now upon his shoulders, he had little time to +grieve for the death of Bawr, who, after all, had died greatly, as a +Chief should. The rafts were now traveling inland at a fair rate, on +the last half-hour of the flood; and, as the estuary narrowed rapidly +above their starting-place, he hoped to be able, during the slack of +tide, to work the clumsy rafts well over towards the northern shore +before getting caught in the full strength of the ebb. As he studied +out this problem, and urged the warriors to their utmost effort on the +heavy and awkward pole-paddles, he kept puzzling all the time over the +great mystery. What was it that swept even the mighty mammoths before +its face? How should he name the Fear? + +Then all at once, when the rafts were about three or four hundred +yards out from shore, he saw. A low cry of wonder broke from his lips, +and was reechoed in chorus from all the burdened rafts. + +Down over the heights where the Cave Folk had been dwelling, up along +the beach from which the rafts had just escaped, in countless +ravening, snapping swarms, poured hyenas by the myriad--huge hyenas, +bigger than the mightiest timber wolves, their deep-jowled heads +carried close to the ground. It was clear in a moment that they were +mad with hunger, driven by nothing but their own raging appetites. +They fled from nothing, but some of them stopped, in struggling +masses, to devour the bodies of the beasts which they found slain, +while the rest poured on insatiably, to pull down by sheer weight of +numbers and the might of their bone-crushing jaws the mightiest of the +monsters which fled before them. Here and there a mammoth cow, +maddened by the slaughter of her calf, or an old rhinoceros bull, +indignant at being hunted by such vermin, would turn and run amuck +through the mass, stamping them out by the hundred. But this made no +impression at all, either upon their numbers or the rage of their +hunger, and in a few minutes the colossus, its feet half eaten off, +would come crashing down, to be swarmed over and disappear like a fat +grub in an ant-heap. Here and there, too, a mammoth, more sagacious +than its fellows, would wade out belly deep into the water--upon +finding its escape cut off--and stand there plucking its foes one by +one from the shore to trample them under its feet, screaming shrill +triumph. + +Grom turned with a deep breath from the unspeakable spectacle, looked +across to the green line of the opposite shore, and thanked his +unknown gods that it was so far off. With that great river rolling its +flood between, he thought the Tribe might rest secure from these +fiends and once more build up its fortunes. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE LAKE OF LONG SLEEP + + +Driven from their home beside the Bitter Water by the great +migration of the beasts, the Tribe of the Cave Folk, diminished in +numbers and stricken in spirit, had escaped on rafts across the +broad river-estuary which washed the northern border of their +domain. There they had found a breathing-space, but it had proved a +perilous one. The whole region north of the estuary was little +better than a steaming swamp, infested with poisonous snakes and +insects, and with strange monsters, survivals from a still earlier +age, whose ferocity drove the Cave Folk back to their ancestral life +in the tree-tops. Under these conditions it was all but impossible +to keep alight the sacred fires--as precious to the tribe as life +itself--which they had brought with them in their flight upon the +rafts. And Grom, the Chief, saw his harassed people in danger of +sinking back into the degradation from which his discovery and +conquest of fire had so wonderfully uplifted them. + +From the top of a solitary jobo tree, which towered above the rank +surrounding jungle, Grom could make out what looked like a low bank of +purple cloud along the western and north-western horizon. As it was +always there, whenever he climbed to look at it, he concluded that it +was not a cloud-bank, but a line of hills. Where there were hills +there might be caves. In any case, the People must have some better +place to inhabit than this region of swamps and monsters. The way to +that blue line of promise lay across what would surely be the path of +the migrating beasts, if they should take it into their heads to swim +across the river. The possibility was one from which even his resolute +spirit shrank. But he felt that he must face any risk in the hope of +winning his way to those cloudy hills. Within an hour of his reaching +this decision the Tribe of the Cave Folk was once more on the march. + +The first few days of the march were like a nightmare. Grom led the +way along the shore of the river, both because that seemed the +shortest way to the hills, and because, in case of emergency, the open +water afforded a door of escape by raft. Had it been possible to make +the journey by raft matters would have been simplified; but Grom had +already proved by experience that his heavy unwieldy rafts could not +be forced upwards against the mighty current of the river. At the last +point to which the flood-tides would carry them the rafts had been +abandoned--herded together into a quiet cove, and lashed to the shore +by twisted vine-ropes against some possible future need. + +At the head of the dismal march went Grom, with his mate A-ya, and her +two children, and the hairy little scout Loob, whose feet were as +quick as his eyes and ears and nostrils, and whose sinews were as +untiring as those of the gray wolf. Immediately behind these came the +main body of the warriors, on a wide line so as to guard against +surprise on the flank. Then followed the women and children, bunched +as closely as possible behind the center of the line; and a knot of +picked warriors, under young Mo, the brother of A-ya, guarded the +rear. There were no old men and women, all these having gone down in +the last great battle at the Caves, selling their lives as dearly as +possible to cover the retreat. Such of the young women as had no small +children to carry bore the heavy burdens of the fire-baskets, or +bundles of smoke-dried meat, leaving the warriors free to use their +bows and spears. + +In traversing the swamp the march was sometimes at ground-level, +sometimes high in the tree-tops. In the tree-tops it was safer, but +the progress was slow and laborious. At ground-level the swarms of +stinging insects were always with them, till Grom invented the use of +smudges. When every alternate member of the tribe carried a torch of +dry grass and half-green bark, the march was enveloped in a cloud of +acrid smoke, which the insects found more or less disconcerting. + +Of the grave perils of this weary march to the hills a single instance +may suffice. The nights, as a rule, were passed by the whole tribe in +the tree-tops, both for the greater security, and because there was +seldom enough dry ground to sleep upon. But one evening, toward +sunset, they came upon a sort of little island in the reeking jungle. +Its surface was four or five feet above the level of the swamp. The +trees which dotted it were smooth, straight, towering shafts with wide +fans of foliage at their far-off tops. And the ground between these +clean, symmetrical trunks was unencumbered, being clothed only with a +rich, soft, spicy-scented herbage, akin to the thymes and mints. Such +an opportunity for rest and refreshment was not to be let slip, and +Grom ordered an immediate halt. + +A fat, pig-like water beast, of the nature of the dugong, had been +speared that day in a bayou beside the line of march, and with great +contentment the tribe settled themselves down to such a comfortable +feasting as they had not known for many days. While the fat dugong was +being hacked to pieces and divided under the astute direction of A-ya, +Grom made haste to establish the camp-fires in a chain completely +encircling the encampment, as a protection against night-prowlers from +the surrounding jungle. As darkness fell the flames lit up the soaring +trunks, but the roof of the over-arching foliage was so high that the +smoky illumination was lost in it. + +While the rest of the tribe gave itself up to the feasting, Grom and +Loob, and half a dozen of the other warriors, kept vigilant watch +whilst they ate, distrusting the black depths of jungle and the deep, +reed-fringed pools beyond the circle of light. Suddenly, all along one +side of the island there arose a sound of heavy splashing, and out of +the darkness came a row of small, malignant eyes, all fixed upon the +feasters. Then into the circle of light swam the masks of giant +alligators and strange, tusked caymans. Quite unawed by the fires they +came ashore with a clumsy rush, open-mouthed. + +While the clamoring women snatched the children away to the other side +of the encampment, Grom and the other warriors hurled themselves upon +the hideous invaders as they came waddling with amazing nimbleness in +between the fires. But these were no assailants to be met with bow and +spear. At Grom's sharp orders each warrior snatched a blazing brand +from the fire, and drove it into the gaping throat of his nearest +assailant. In their stupid ferocity the monsters invariably bit upon +the brand before they realized its nature. Then, bellowing with pain, +they wheeled about and scrambled back toward the water, lashing out +with their gigantic tails, so that three of the warriors were knocked +over and half a dozen of the fires were scattered. + +The feasters had hardly more than settled down after this startling +visitation, when from the darkness inland came a hoarse, hooting cry, +followed by a succession of crashing thuds, as if a pair of mammoths +were playing leap-frog in the jungle. All the men sprang again to +their weapons, and stood waiting, in a sudden hush, straining their +eyes into the perilous dark. Some of the women herded the children +into the very center of the island, while others fed the fires with +feverish haste. The hooting call, and the heavy, leaping thuds, came +nearer and nearer at a terrifying speed; and suddenly, amid the +far-off, vaguely-lighted tangle of the tree-trunks appeared a giant +form, seven or eight times the height of Grom himself. Leaping upon +its mighty hind-legs, and holding its mailed fore-paws before its +chest, it came bounding like a colossal kangaroo through the jungle, +smashing down the branches and smaller trees as it came, and balancing +itself at each spring with its massive, reptilian tail. Its vast head, +something like a cross between that of a monstrous horse and that of +an alligator, was upborne upon a long, snaky neck, and its eyes, huge +and round and lidless, were like two discs of shining and enamelled +metal where they caught the flash of the camp-fires. + +This appalling shape had apparently no dread whatever of the flames. +When it was within some thirty or forty yards of the line of fire, +Grom yelled an order and a swarm of arrows darted from the bows to +meet it. But they fell futile from its armored hide, which gleamed +like dull bronze in the fire-light. Grom shouted again, and this time +the warriors hurled their spears--and they, too, fell harmless from +the monster's armor. Its next crashing bound brought the monster to +the edge of the encampment, where one of its ponderous feet +obliterated a fire. With a lightning swoop of its gigantic head it +seized the nearest warrior in its jaws and swung him, screaming, high +into the air, as a heron might snatch up a sprawling frog. At the same +instant A-ya, who was the one unerring archer in the tribe, let fly an +arrow which pierced full half its length into the center of one of +those horrifying enamelled eyes; while Grom, who alone, of all the +warriors, had not recoiled in terror, succeeded in driving a spear +deep into the unarmored inner side of the monster's thigh. But both +these wounds, dreadful though they were, failed to make the colossus +drop its prey. With mighty, braying noises through its nostrils it +brushed the spear shaft from its hold like a straw, flopped about, and +with the arrow still sticking in its eye, went leaping off again into +the darkness to devour its victim. + +For several hours, with the fires trebled in number and stirred to +fiercer heat, the tribe waited for the monster to return and claim +another victim. But it did not return. At length Grom concluded that +his spear-head in its groin and A-ya's arrow in its eye had given it +something else to think of. Once more he set the guards, and gradually +the tribe, inured to horrors, settled itself down to sleep. It slept +out the rest of the night without disturbance--but the following +night, and the next two nights thereafter, were spent in the +tree-tops. Then, on the fourth day, the harassed travelers emerged +from the swamp into a pleasant region of grassy, mimosa-dotted, +gently-rolling plain. The hills, now showing green and richly wooded, +were not more than a day's march ahead. + +And just here, as the Fates which had of late been pursuing them would +have it, the worn travelers found themselves once more in the line of +the hordes of migrating beasts. + +Grom's heart sank. To reach the refuge of the hills across the march +of those maddened hordes was obviously impossible. Were his people to +be forced back into the swamp, to resume the cramped and ape-like life +among the branches? Having ordered the building of a half-circle of +fire around a spur of the jungle, he climbed a tree to reconnoiter. + +The river ran but a mile or two distant upon his left. Immediately +before him the fleeing beasts were not numerous, consisting merely of +small herds and terrified stragglers. Further out, however, toward the +hills, the plain was blackened by the fugitives, who were thrust on by +the myriads swimming the river behind them. Assuredly, it was not to +be thought of that he should attempt to lead his people across the +path of that desperate flight. But a point that Grom noted with relief +was that only certain kinds of beasts had ventured the crossing of the +river. He saw no bears, lions or saber-tooths among those streaming +hordes. He saw deer of every kind--good swimmers all of them--with +immense, rolling herds of buffalo and aurochs, and scattered companies +of the terrible siva moose, and some bands of the giant elk, their +antlers topping the mimosa thickets. Here and there, lumbering along +sullenly as if reluctant to retreat before any peril, journeyed a huge +rhinoceros, stopping from time to time for a few hurried mouthfuls of +the rich plains grass. But as yet there was not a mammoth in +sight--whereat Grom wondered, as he thought they would have been among +the first to dare the crossing of the river. Had they kept on up the +other shore, hesitating to trust their colossal bulks to the current, +or had they turned at bay, at last, in uncontrollable indignation, and +gone down before the countless hordes of their ignoble assailants? + +The absence of the mammoths, which he dreaded more than all the other +beasts because of the fierce intelligence that gleamed in their eyes, +decided Grom. He would lead his people along to the right, skirting +the swamp and marching parallel to the flight of the beasts, +calculating thus to have the jungle always for a refuge, though not +for a dwelling, until they should come to a region of hills and caves +too difficult for the migrating beasts to traverse. + +For several days this plan answered to a marvel. The fugitives nearest +to the swamp-edge were mostly deer of various species, which swerved +away nervously from the line of march, but at the same time afforded +such good hunting that the travelers revelled in abundance and rapidly +recovered their spirits. Once, when a great wave of maddened buffalo +surged over upon them, the whole tribe fled back into the jungle, +clambering into the trees, and stabbing down, with angry shouts, at +the nearest of their assailants. But the assault was a blind one. The +buffalo, a black mass that seemed to foam with tossing horns and +rolling eyes, soon passed on to their unknown destination. And the +tribe, dropping down from the branches, quite cheerfully resumed its +march. + +On the fifth day of the march they saw the jungle on their right come +to an end. It was succeeded by a vast expanse of shallow mere dotted +with half-drowned, rushy islets, and swarming with crocodiles. After +some hesitation, Grom decided to go on, though he was uneasy about +forsaking the refuge of the trees. Some leagues ahead, however, and a +little toward the left, he could see a low, thick-wooded hill, which +he thought might serve the tribe for a shelter. With many misgivings, +he led the way directly towards it, swerving out across the path of a +vast but straggling horde of sambur deer which seemed almost +exhausted. + +To Grom's surprise these stately and beautiful animals showed neither +hostility nor fear toward human beings. According to all his previous +experience, the attitude of every beast toward man was one of fear or +fierce hate. These sambur, on the contrary, seemed rather to welcome +the companionship of the tribe, as if looking to it for some +protection against the strange pursuing peril. His sleepless sagacity +perceiving the value of this great escort as a buffer against the +contact of less kindly hordes, Grom gave strict orders that none of +these beasts should be molested. And the Cave Folk, not without +apprehension, found themselves traveling in the vanguard of an army of +tall, high-antlered beasts which stared at them with mild eyes of +inquiry and appeal. + +Marching at their best speed, the Tribe kept easily in the van of the +distressed sambur, and more than once in the next few hours, Grom had +reason to congratulate himself upon his venture into this strange +fellowship. First, for instance, he saw a herd of black buffalo +overtake the sambur host and dash heavily into its rear ranks. The +frightened sambur closed up, instead of scattering, and the impetus of +the buffalo presently spent itself upon the unresisting mass. They +edged their way through to the left leaving swathes of gored and +trodden sambur in their wake, and went thundering off on another line +of retreat, caroming into a herd of aurochs, which fought them off and +punished them murderously. It was obvious to Grom, as he studied the +dust-clouds of this last encounter, that the buffalo herd, here in the +open, would have rolled over the tribe irresistibly, and trampled it +flat. + +Journeying thus at top speed toward that hill of promise before them, +the travelers came at length to a wide space of absolutely level +ground which presented a most curious appearance. It was as level as a +windless lake, and almost without vegetation. The naked surface was of +a sort of indeterminate dust-color, but dotted here and there with +tiny patches of vegetation so stunted that it was little more than +moss. Grom, with his inquiring mind, would have liked to stop to +investigate this curious surface, unlike anything he had ever seen +before. But the hordes of the sambur were behind, pressing the tribe +onwards, and straight ahead was the wooded hill, dense with foliage, +luring with its promise of safe and convenient shelter. He led the +way, therefore, without hesitation, out across the baked and barren +waste, sniffing curiously, as he went, at a strange smell, pungent but +not unpleasant, which steamed up from the dry, hot surface all about +him. + +The first peculiarity that he noticed was a remarkable springiness in +the surface upon which he trod. Then he was struck by the fact that +the dust-brown surface was seamed and criss-crossed in many places by +small cracks--like those in sun-scorched mud, except that the cracks +were almost black in color. These things caused him no misgivings. But +presently, to his consternation, he detected a slight but amazing +undulation, an immensely long, immensely slow wave rolling across the +dry surface before him. He could hardly believe his eyes--for +assuredly nothing could look more like good solid land than that +stretch of barren plain. He stopped short, rubbing his eyes in wonder. +A-ya grabbed him by the arm. + +"What is it?" she whispered, staring at the unstable surface in a kind +of horror. + +Before he could reply, cries and shouts arose among the tribe behind +him, and they all rushed forward, almost sweeping Grom and A-ya from +their feet. + +The surface of the barren, all along the edge of the grass land, +had given way beneath the weight of the sambur herds, and the front +ranks were being engulfed with frantic snortings and awful groans, +in what looked like a dense, blackish, glistening ooze. The ranks +behind were being forced forward to this awful doom, in spite of +their panic-stricken struggles to hold back; and it was the +pressure of this battling mass that was creating the horrible, +bulging undulation on the plain. + +Grom's quick intelligence took in the situation on the instant. +The naked brown surface beneath the feet of the tribe was nothing +more than a thin crust overlying a lake of some dense, dark, +strange-smelling liquid. + +His first impulse, naturally, was to turn back--and A-ya, with wide +eyes of terror, was already dragging fiercely at his elbow. But to +turn back was utterly impossible. That way lay the long strip of +engulfing pitch, swallowing up insatiably the ranks of the groaning +and kicking sambur. There was but one possible way of escape left +open, and that was straight ahead. + +But would the crust continue to uphold them? Already, under the weight +of the whole tribe pressing together, it was beginning to sag +hideously. With furious words and blows he tried to make the tribe +scatter to right and left, so as to spread the pressure as widely as +possible. Perceiving his purpose, A-ya and Loob, and several of the +leading warriors, seconded his efforts with frantic vehemence; till in +a few minutes the whole tribe, amazed and quaking with awe, was +extended like a fan over a front of three or four hundred yards. +Seeing that the perilous sagging of the crust was at once relieved, +Grom then ordered the tribe to advance cautiously, keeping the same +wide-open formation, while he himself brought up the rear. + +But in a few minutes every one, from Grom downwards, came to a halt +irresistibly, in order to watch the monstrous drama unfolding behind +them. + +For nearly half a mile to either side of their immediate rear, between +the still unbroken surface of the dust-brown expanse and the edge of +the trampled grassy plain, stretched a sort of canal, perhaps ten +paces wide, of brown-black, glistening pitch, beaten up with thrashing +antlers, and tossing heads that whistled despairingly through wide +nostrils, and heaving, agonizing bulks that went down slowly to their +doom. After several ranks of the herd had been engulfed those next +behind turned about in terror and fought madly to force their way back +from the fatal brink. But the inexorable masses behind them rolled +them on backwards, and slowly they too were thrust down into the +pitch, till the canal was filled to the brink, and writhed horribly +along its whole length. By this time, however, the alarm had spread +through the rest of the sambur ranks. By a desperate effort they got +themselves turned, and went surging off to the left in a direction +parallel to the edge of the plain of death. + +Thrilled with the wonder and the horror of it, Grom drew a deep breath +and relaxed the tension of his watching. He was just about to turn and +order the tribe forward again, when he was arrested by the sight of a +vast cloud of dust rolling up swiftly upon the left flank of the +retreating sambur. + +A confused cry of alarm went up from the watching tribe, as they saw a +forest of waving trunks appear in the front of the dust-cloud. A +second or two more and a long array of mammoths emerged along the path +of the cloud. Among the mammoths, here and there, raced a black or a +white rhinoceros, or a towering, spotted giraffe. Behind this front +rank, vague and portentous through the veiling cloud, came further +colossal hordes, filling the distance as far as eye could see. + +This advance looked as if nothing on earth, not even the lake of +pitch, could ever stop it, and certain of the tribe started to flee. +But Grom, after a moment of misgiving and hasty calculation, checked +the flight sternly. He must, at all risks see the incredible thing +that was about to happen. And he felt certain that, at this distance +out upon the crust of the gulf, the tribe would be secure. + +The stupendous wave of dust and waving trunks and galloping black +bulks thundered up at a terrific pace, and fell with irresistible +impact upon the flank of the marching sambur. These unhappy beasts +went down like grass before it. They were rolled flat, trodden out +like a fire in thin grass, annihilated. And the screaming, trumpeting +monsters, hardly aware that there had been an obstacle in their path, +arrived at the edge of the canal. + +Here and there an old bull, leading, took alarm, trumpeted wildly, and +strove to stop. But the belt of pitch was full to the brink with the +packed bodies of the sambur, and did not look to be a very serious +barrier to the spacious brown levels beyond it. Moreover, the panic of +a long flight was upon them, and the rear ranks were thrusting them +on. The trumpeting leaders were overborne in a twinkling. The +ponderous feet of the front rank sank into the mass of bodies and +horns and pitch, stumbled forward, belly deep, and strove to clamber +out upon the solid-looking further edge. With trunks eagerly +outstretched as if seeking to grip something, the huge, bat-eared +heads heaved themselves up. The next moment the treacherous crust +crumbled away beneath them like an eggshell, and with screams that +tore the heavens they sank into the gulfs of pitch. The next two or +three ranks went over on them, trod them deeper down, heaved and +surged and battled for some moments along the edge of the crumbling +crust. With mad trumpetings, they were themselves swallowed up in that +sluggish, implacable flood. Here and there a black trunk, twisting in +agony, lingered long, awful moments above the pitch. Here and there +the pallid head of a giraffe, tongue protruding and eyes bursting from +their sockets, stood up rigid on its long neck and screamed +hideously. + +As the thick tide closed slowly, slowly over its prey, the hosts in +the rear, having taken alarm at the agonized trumpetings, succeeded by +a gigantic effort in checking their career. Those nearest the edge of +doom reared up and fell back upon those next behind, to be ripped with +frantic tusks in the mad confusion. But presently the whole colossal +array brought itself to a halt, got itself turned to the left, and +went thundering off on the trail of the sambur remnants. + +Grom stood staring for a long time, with wide, brooding eyes, at the +still-bubbling and heaving breadths of dark pitch. He was stunned by +the sudden engulfing and utter disappearance of such a monstrous +horde. He seemed to see the countless gigantic shapes heaped one upon +the other, laid to their long sleep there in the deeps of the pitch. +At last he shook himself, passed his shaggy hand over his eyes, and +shouted to the tribe that all was well. Then he set himself once more +at their head, and led them, slowly and cautiously, onward across the +dreadful level, till they gained the shelter of that sweetly wooded +and rivulet-watered hill. + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's In the Morning of Time, by Charles G. D. Roberts + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE MORNING OF TIME *** + +***** This file should be named 28936.txt or 28936.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/9/3/28936/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |